The biographies epiphany I mentioned in my previous blog post led me to think about my own personal experience. I realized that, when it came to my own career, I had ended up living my back-up plan. I thought of what I call the Plan A concept, which is simply this: Many people believe that they need to have a contingency plan, in case they can’t make their real dreams come true.
All too often, they go with this “sensible” Plan B instead of pursuing their sincere dreams. But how practical is it to deliberately leave your dreams by the wayside? If you go with your back-up plan, how will you ever know if your genuine dreams might actually be practical and doable were you to invest yourself in staying the Plan A course? Sure, you might be good at whatever your second choice career is, but it still doesn’t make for a very complete and fulfilling life. And settling for plan B leaves you always wondering, “What if?” Don’t get me wrong. I believe in being practical, but I also very strongly believe that in doing so, we must always keep our passions close to the surface so they are not forgotten and we must continually take steps toward achieving those dreams.
I have always known deep down (and not so deep down, truth be told!) that the path I chose, in the field of human resources management (HR), was not truly my Plan A path and that although there are aspects of HR that I love, most days I was simply going through the motions. Very rarely had I had the experience of bouncing out of bed because I was just so excited about the day ahead. And yet, I stayed in my career and actually successfully pursued a master’s degree in human resources management, as if gaining that deeper knowledge of the field would make me happier.
I thought I was alone in feeling confused about and locked in by my earlier choices. After countless conversations while developing my Plan A concept, however, I now know that there are far too many people who can relate to my situation.
