Creating an intentional career and playing the long game

Sometimes, patience and persistence are indispensable.

Want to have a solid career? One that you’re excited about?

Well, first that requires you to get clear on what you want.

Your intentions.

At the same time, it means being flexible with those same intentions to help you adapt to changing circumstances and opportunities and discover more about yourself and what you care about. 

It also requires patience.

So instead of just seeking short-term fixes, play the long game. 

You’ll be glad you did!

In today’s newsletter:

• How to create an intentional career

• Play the long game

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CAREER TIPS

How Do You Create an Intentional Engineering Career?

"The power of intention can transform the way you think and create. Intentions are not just thoughts; they carry an energy that can inspire and motivate action." - Deepak Chopra

The pursuit of an intentional engineering career is a profound decision that requires dedication, effort, and a clear sense of purpose. Being intentional means more than just going with the flow; it involves taking ownership of your trajectory and actively deciding what you want to achieve and who you want to become. In this newsletter, we will explore five essential tips that can help you embark on the path of creating an intentional engineering career, ensuring that you are not merely a passenger but an active driver of your professional journey.

Take Some Time To Step Back And Reflect

In order to chart a deliberate career path, it's crucial to spend time reflecting on values, interests, and passions. Introspection helps identify the factors that truly matter to you, laying the foundation for authentic career decisions. Furthermore, recognizing personal strengths and weaknesses aids in determining areas where you can excel and areas that might require growth. By clarifying career goals and aspirations during this self-discovery process, you can gain insights into what resonates with you and aligns with your long-term ambitions.

Do Your Research

The engineering landscape is diverse and multifaceted, offering a plethora of disciplines and industries to explore. This means that to make choices given so many options, you'll need to undertake thorough research. This research involves gaining insights from experienced professionals, attending industry events, and utilizing online resources. Engaging in informational interviews allows you to understand various career paths by talking to those who have "been there, done that." This knowledge accumulation helps in understanding the nuances of different engineering domains and paves the way for more focused decisions.

Set Specific Goals

Intentions gain traction when they are translated into actionable goals. Setting specific, measurable, achievable, relevant, and time-bound (SMART) goals is essential for navigating an intentional engineering career. Whether it's acquiring a specific skill, gaining expertise in a particular area, or obtaining a leadership position, having clear goals provides a sense of direction. Such goals not only help to guide your actions but also help in tracking progress and evaluating achievements along the way.

Take Action

The power of intentionality comes to life through action. Even in the absence of complete clarity, taking steps toward goals can lead to valuable experiences and insights. Networking with industry peers, acquiring new skills, seeking opportunities aligned with goals, and keeping resumes up-to-date are all active measures that drive intentional career growth. As Phil McKernan properly states, "In the absence of clarity, take action." By embracing this mindset, you can propel yourself forward, learn from experiences, and navigate the uncertainty that often accompanies big decisions.

Be Patient

Creating an intentional engineering career requires patience and a commitment to continuous improvement. Intentionality isn't about instant results; it's a journey marked by steady progress, one day at a time. The iterative nature of intentional growth allows you to adapt, learn, and refine your goals based on experiences. Embracing setbacks as part of the process and acknowledging that growth takes time fosters resilience and nurtures a proactive approach to career development.

Creating an intentional engineering career is a journey that demands careful introspection, research, goal-setting, action, and perseverance. The word "intentional" embodies the notion of deliberate choice and ownership. By reflecting on personal values, researching career options, setting specific goals, taking proactive steps, and embracing the patience needed for continuous improvement, you can craft a career and life that aligns with your aspirations. The process is dynamic, requiring you to adapt, learn, and iterate as you navigate your intentional journey through the vast landscape of engineering possibilities, and life in general.

Have fun with the process!

📚 BOOK RECOMMENDATION

The Long Game: How to Be a Long-Term Thinker in a Short-Term World by Dorie Clark

Your personal goals need a long-term strategy.

It's no secret that we're pushed to the limit. Today's professionals feel rushed, overwhelmed, and perennially behind. So we keep our heads down, focused on the next thing, and the next, without a moment to breathe.

How can we break out of this endless cycle and create the kind of interesting, meaningful lives we all seek?

Just as CEOs who optimize for quarterly profits often fail to make the strategic investments necessary for long-term growth, the same is true in our own personal and professional lives. We need to reorient ourselves to see the big picture so we can tap into the power of small changes that, made today, will have an enormous and disproportionate impact on our future success. We need to start playing The Long Game.

As top business thinker and Duke University professor Dorie Clark explains we all know intellectually that lasting success takes persistence and effort. And yet so much of the relentless pressure in our culture pushes us toward doing what's easy, what's guaranteed, or what looks glamorous in the moment. In The Long Game, she argues for a different path. It's about doing small things over time to achieve our goals—and being willing to keep at them, even when they seem pointless, boring, or hard.

In The Long Game, Clark shares unique principles and frameworks you can apply to your specific situation, as well as vivid stories from her own career and other professionals' experiences. Everyone is allotted the same twenty-four hours—but with the right strategies, you can leverage those hours in more efficient and powerful ways than you ever imagined. It's never an overnight process, but the long-term payoff is immense: to finally break out of the frenetic day-to-day routine and transform your life and your career.