Sitting in the campus center, across the table from my academic advisor, our first meeting was about to start. I had many emotions running through me, including both excitement and nervousness. This was the beginning of my freshman year of college. I was just starting out on my journey to becoming an engineer. Little did I know, this meeting would have a profound impact on my college and professional life. She gave me the best advice I ever received as an engineering student when she started the meeting off by asking me a simple question, “What is your WHY?”
Before I could answer, she explained that every engineer she knew had a story. They had a specific reason for why they chose engineering. She was interested in learning my story.
I was a little thrown off by the thought provoking question because I was prepared to dive into my course choices for the semester. But, then I was excited to share with her my WHY.
I knew I wanted to be an engineer from the time I was a freshman in high school.
When I was in eighth grade, I fractured my spine playing basketball. Unfortunately, it took months of tests and x-rays to determine what was wrong with me. The doctors did not determine I had a stress fracture until the summer before I started high school.
I had to wear a plastic back brace that extended from my shoulder blades down to my tailbone. This brace had to be worn 24/7, for six months. I could only take it off to shower. The sad reality was even with that, it only had a 50% chance of healing. If it did not work, then I would need surgery to fuse my spine. Also, I would not be able to play sports again.
I wore the brace religiously and fortunately, my spine healed. Therefore, I did not need surgery. I was so lucky!
This experience had a major impact on my life. Not only did this show me what I could achieve with dedication, positive thinking, and perseverance, it also gave me my WHY for choosing engineering. This was deeper than just being good at math and science. The incident showed me my passion.
I’ll never forget going to get fitted for the brace and entering a massive room filled of every type of brace and prosthetic you could imagine. I was fascinated by everything. Looking around the room, I thought about the engineering that went into all of these different items. At that point, I knew I wanted to design devices that helped people, just like the brace helped me. This experience became my WHY.
The Impact Of Knowing Your WHY
This was the best advice I received in college for many reasons. Here are the top three reasons it helped me and why I think you should define your WHY as soon as possible.
1. It Adds Passion To Your Goal
Every goal needs a WHY behind it. This is important for any dream in your life, not just your major. It adds passion to your goal by giving it a clear sense of purpose. Your goal will mean something to you instead of just being something else you need to do. This WHY will set a fire inside you to help you attain your dreams.
John F Kennedy once said, “Efforts and courage are not enough without purpose and direction.” Your WHY will give you both purpose and direction to ensure you are staying on your path to achieving your goal. Therefore, whenever you set a goal you must also state your WHY.
2. It Pushes You Through The Tough Times
Achieving any goal is challenging, especially becoming an engineer. There will be obstacles and set backs, such as failing a test or doing poorly on an interview. Also, there will also be times you do not feel like studying and going out sounds a lot more fun. Furthermore, you may experience times of self doubt.
Your WHY will get you through all of the tough times. It will give you the motivation you need to overcome the feeling of just giving up.
Keeping my WHY in mind drove me through the challenging times of school. It helped me when I questioned if I had what it takes to be an engineer. Also, it helped me when I felt like I was totally out of my league in my freshman year as a new engineering student. It helped me complete the really challenging projects. Finally, it got me through dealing with difficult team members.
3. It Gives You Clarity
Sometimes when you are in the process of achieving your dreams, you get lost in the daily tasks of everything. You are bogged down with studying, trying to get your resume updated, and interviewing for internships. Your WHY will help give you clarity when the road may not seem so clear.
For example, my WHY guided me into the medical device industry because I wanted to have a direct impact on peoples’ lives. It gave me the courage to turn down my first job offer because it did not fit into my WHY. Even though it seemed crazy at the time and I had some doubt if I was making the best decision. I put faith that I understood my passion and I would not settle for anything less. It ended up working out and I did get a job in the medical device industry!
This WHY transcended college and helped me as an engineer as well. Whenever there was a failure or I discovered an issue that would delay the project, I was reminded that my job was to help people. This pushed me into developing and solving problems to ensure everything that was done would help someone.
Keeping Your WHY In Mind
It is easy to get side tracked with all of life’s day to day obligations. There may be times you feel like quitting on your goal because the task at hand is too challenging. Therefore, you need to keep reminding yourself of why your started this journey.
You can do this a few different ways, but the most important is to write it down. Also, you should put it somewhere you will see it everyday. This could be on a post-it note on your bathroom mirror or create a vision board. Another option would be writing it on the first page of your notebook or planner.
The point is you need to put it somewhere that you can look at and refer back to so that it does not become lost. This may seem trivial, but this is a crucial step to setting yourself up for success.
Let’s dive into the science behind it.
Have you ever noticed when you buy a new car, say a gray Toyota RAV4, you start to see that same car everywhere on the road. It seems like everyone decided to get a gray RAV4 the same time you did!
The truth is, there are no more gray RAV4s out there on the road than before you bought yours. The reason you notice more of them is because it now means something to you. Your Reticular Activating System (RAS) is responsible for this phenomena. This is the section of your brain responsible for filtering all of the information that passes through. It only lets your conscious mind know about the things that you deem important.
Since gray RAV4s are now important and mean something to you because you own one, your RAS makes you consciously aware every time you pass one. Where as before, you would pass one on the road and not even notice it because it did not mean something to you. Pretty cool, right?
Therefore, you can have your RAS help you achieve your goal by writing your goal and your WHY down. This will activate your RAS and let it know this is important to you. It will help your brain focus on it and pay close attention to it. This will help you not lose sight of your WHY when times get tough.
Conclusion
- Little did I know the first meeting with my academic advisor would result in the best advice I ever received as an engineering student. Defining my WHY helped me achieve my dream of becoming an engineer. It brought passion to my goal, helped me through the tough times, and gave me clarity.
Next time you have a goal, make sure to define your WHY. It is also important to write it down, so that your RAS goes to work for you and helps you achieve your dream!
So what’s your WHY? How did you choose to pursue an engineering degree? Let me know in the comments below!
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