Movement brings clarity. I’ve heard it from several life coaches and successful entrepreneurs. I’ve said it to many people on many occasions. How does it apply to you?
Let’s look at a few examples to illustrate the concept.
Movement, literally
I met a former member of the Air Force who went on to get his PhD in engineering and now teaches in Oklahoma. My recollection is that he moved around a lot with the Air Force and settled in Oklahoma because it was a good fit for him. By the look on his face I think he was preparing to defend living where he does, having seen a good portion of the world. But that’s not what I was thinking. I made the comment that “movement brings clarity.” His eyes lit up a bit and he agreed and said that he hadn’t thought of it that way before. In his case the movement was physical movement living in various places in the world.
For those of us not forced to live in different places we may want to travel to get a sense of what it’s like elsewhere. If you’re from a big city visit a small town, and vice versa. If you’re from somewhere quiet, visit somewhere bustling. You get the picture. This type of movement will provide clarity on where you want to work and live. When people ask you about your decision, you’ll be able to tell them with confidence why you made your choice.
Untapped potential
A senior in electrical engineering contacted me about choosing a career after graduation. She had been an intern and worked in product management and in design engineering. She found she really liked working with customers and staying up-to-date on the technical side of things. Had she not had the experience of both a design engineering role and a non-design engineering role (product management), she may not have known how much she liked interacting with people and technology.
When we’re in school, new skills come by way of someone else’s prescribed curriculum. We attend class, we complete homework, and we learn new skills. We may even invent for ourselves how to stay organized, or optimize the process we use for learning.
Once we’re out and about in the world there is no one telling us what to learn, at least not directly. When you hear of a term or concept at work that you’re not familiar with, take the initiative to do a little research. Whether it’s a technical concept or financials or the work from an adjacent group you interact with, take a moment to find out what it is they do. If you find yourself drawn to the topic, go a little deeper. Do some research or reach out to someone to explain their responsibilities to you a bit more. You might find yourself getting excited about a different part of the business or reaffirming that you are right where you belong.
Internships are a great way to explore different aspects of your field of study. If you’ve already graduated or are a seasoned professional, talk to people. Maybe there is something about what they do that will confirm your interest or let you check it off the list as something you are not interested in. Informational interviews are generally easy to come by because people like talking to someone interested in what they are doing.
New interests, new ways to enjoy life
Many years ago my friend and I got on a cooking class kick. We signed up for all sorts of demos and rec center classes. And then one day we discovered we had exhausted our list of classes offered. There was a floral arranging class offered at the same venue as one of the cooking classes. We looked at each other with that, “Really? Us? This is going to be a disaster” look. But we wanted to do something so we took a chance. I’m so happy we did! I found a new creative outlet and I liked it enough that I signed up for more classes and watched a lot of YouTube videos. I can actually put together an arrangement that not only I enjoy, but other people do too. I like that I found something that I can give to people that I made that they actually appreciate (try giving someone a hand-crocheted washcloth and see how much they appreciate that).
Hobbies and interests outside of work are important for us to learn new skills, to create, and to enjoy life. How did you come about being interested in your hobbies now? You had to do something new at least one time. Whether you traveled to another state or country and then picked up the travel bug, or someone showed you how to use woodworking tools, or you learned something on your own, you did it once the first time. There are probably things you tried that you won’t try again either. Trying new things brings clarity in what we find enjoyable and meaningful.
tl;dr
Movement – whether physical movement, research-y movement, or trying-something-new-movement, it all brings clarity. When we have clarity, we have confidence in our choices. When people question us or try to talk us out of our choice we can easily say that we know it’s right for us when we have clarity.
engineer your life
- Where do you want to live? Maybe you are confident that you are where you should be. Awesome. If there’s any doubt, travel to other places and check it out. Talk to people there and see what they like and don’t like. Maybe you’ll find you are still in the right place and maybe you’ll find you want to explore living somewhere else.
- What do you want to do when you grow up? There’s a percentage of people who know at an early age exactly what value they can and want to add to the world. For the rest of us, we need to try out different roles or do some research. Informational interviews are great for this type of discovery.
- What do you enjoy doing? Might be time to look into trying a new hobby or a hobby a friend has. You never know what might spark interest and enjoyment.