Three months ago, I would have scoffed at the idea of renewing my lease and settling down into post-collegiate life in Madison. Phase one of my Wisconsin exit strategy was in full swing – I networked like a banshee at SXSW, contacted everyone from alumni to people my mom sends Christmas cards to, and was geared up to send out job applications en masse. When I got a call to interview for a position here in Madison at Epic, I figured if anything, I should take the chance to sharpen my skills. For once, I wasn’t a bundle of nerves during an interview, and things went surprisingly well. In spite of that, I was still shocked when I got a call two weeks later offering me a position as a Recruiter.
That wasn’t part of The Plan.
For the better part of the last few years, I’ve been living only for the future. Rarely have I done something spontaneously simply because it’s rewarding in and of itself – most everything has been a component of some overarching “bigger picture” that I’ve thoughtfully mapped out (and I did literally map it out as part of a long-term career path project for my capstone marketing course). I somehow convinced myself that it wasn’t a big deal that I had no social life because I’d have one someday. I’d stick my neck out and try to make some new friends someday. I’d be happy…someday.
Here’s one thing you won’t learn in business school: there’s something wholly unsatisfying about living your life as though it’s a 5 year corporate strategy. Maybe that strikes many of you as being obvious, but as someone who thrives in a structured environment, that realization hasn’t come to me overnight. It’s easy to get sucked into the mentality that you’ll achieve that elusive sense of completion once you starting hitting the milestones of The Plan. I hit the first milestone when I landed my gig at a marketing firm here; to put it bluntly, I didn’t feel fulfilled in the slightest.
So when I accepted my new job, I threw The Plan out the window. To paraphrase Jason Fried, plans are irrelevant. Externalities are a bitch. You’ll run yourself ragged (and miss the bigger picture) if you always try to re-chart your course of action to accommodate for them.
The question I wish I had been asking myself throughout my job search is “What do I want to be TODAY?” Many of us get so caught up in the throes of finding the elusive “perfect job” that we rarely pause to re-evaluate and expand our search to consider other options. Had I stuck to the straight and narrow of my idealized career path, chances are I’d still be grinding away doing the same rather uninspiring work that I should have loved because I loved my major. Yikes.
For the time being, the future I’m concerned with extends only as far as next weekend (don’t worry Mom, I’m still contributing to my 401(k)), and it’s liberating in a way I never expected.
Stop micromanaging your life and living for someday. All the planning and foresight in the world is useless if it causes you to miss tremendous opportunities that are right in front of you. Feeling directionless is terrifying, but so is being blind to a world of unconsidered possibilities.
