How many drafts will you go through? (Photo credit: FeatheredTar)
Just a quickie here, to give you a handout that accompanies the most recent lecture (yes I’m one of those unorganized professors who provides materials out of sequence. Aren’t you glad you “enrolled” in such a quality course?). The handout is your very own personalize-able “All I Want to Be” statement. Aw gee, just what you always wanted!
Not sure how to use it? If you want to pass our class with flying colors, then don’t bother to read the following. But if class failure (and career bliss) is your goal, read on:
1) Save it on your computer (it’s a PDF file; if you’d rather be able to alter it, here it is in Word format).
2) Ignore the file for days/months/years (length dependent on the depth of your Career Paralysis).
3) After the waiting period, stumble upon the file on your hard drive and decide to print it out.
4) Ignore the printed copy for another period of time. (You’re really paralyzed, aren’t you?)
5) When you’re ready – really ready (i.e., you’ve exhausted all the excuses explored in our class) – hang the blank print-out somewhere you’ll see it morning and night, like next to your alarm clock.
5b) Be sure to have a snappy one-liner prepared for when your roommates/friends/parents make fun of you for completing this step.
6) Don’t think about the answer too much. Simply look at the blank space daily and let your unconscious mind work on the answer. (This is actually completely serious – psychologists find that letting the unconscious do its work, called incubation, is often key to problem solving.)
7) When your mind one day spurts out a possible completion, jot that jammy down!
8) Live with the drafted statement for a while. Don’t think about it too much, but do look at it daily.
9) When a revision idea hits you, print a new copy and try again.
10) Repeat Steps 7-9 ten, 20, or 500 times. Whatever it takes to get an answer. Yes, it’s that worth it.
11) When your revisions start to revolve around word choice and sentence structure, you’re done! Congratulations on failing this assignment (and being well on your way to failing class)!
(If you’re reading these steps and questioning whether it’s actually worth all this effort to find a fulfilling career, go directly to Step 2. Do not pass Go. Do not collect $200. I’ll meet you there in the next lesson with another good excuse, you star student, you!)
(raising hand nervously) Um prof, I cant download the handout. When I click on the link nothing comes up.
Oh great, now I’m the prof who hands things out late AND can’t work technology. So stereotypical. I made the link a PDF file now instead of Word….does it work? (Please say yes! It works on my computer). Thanks for speaking up!!!
Ok yes now it does work… Very cool, I’ll be pondering about what to write on this magical scroll.
Reblogged this on THE 515 Congress Avenue Austin Texas 78701.
Thanks for the reblog! It’s great to have you “in class”!
I like the wording! It’s easier to think of what type of person you want to be/what you want to accomplish than what specific career you want. I’m also digging this subconscious thing… having myself make a decision without trying to make a decision sounds very appealing.
Unconscious is where it’s at with decision-making. I’ll probably post about that in a bit more detail in the future. When we work too hard to find the answer, it never comes. So glad you find the approach appealing! Thanks for the note
I’m happy to have found your blog because there are very few career related blogs out there with a sense of humor. Great job so far and I look forward to following!
Thanks for the note, Emily! I figure the career search is too overwhelming and somber a thing to be taken seriously all the time – we need to laugh, right? Hope we keep on doing that together in future classes. Thanks for joining us!
Those of us at No 20-Something’s Land can appreciate the fine art of Career Avoidance! Looking forward to following your posts!
Good to hear! As a resident of Not 20-Something’s Land myself, I do hope the info is relatable to many. It’s great to have you in class! I look forward to hearing more from you in future lessons.
[...] ← How To Create Your “Life Goal” [...]
[...] How to Create Your “Life Goal” [...]