{"id":495,"date":"2021-03-07T14:07:40","date_gmt":"2021-03-07T14:07:40","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/lettersforzerrius.com\/?p=130"},"modified":"2021-03-07T14:07:40","modified_gmt":"2021-03-07T14:07:40","slug":"the-road-not-travelled-2","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/dynamic.lettersforzerrius.com\/2021\/03\/07\/the-road-not-travelled-2\/","title":{"rendered":"The road not travelled"},"content":{"rendered":"\n

I love Robert Frost. (https:\/\/www.poetryfoundation.org\/poems\/44272\/the-road-not-taken<\/a> )[1]<\/sup><\/a><\/p>\n\n\n\n

When I think about the road not travelled, it is mostly about my career. Perhaps because I don\u2019t think I have a Career. In truth, while I have been seeing professional success and accomplishments for 30 years, I fell into every job I have had. There was no plan. There was no path I was travelling. If you think you cannot fall into a second bachelor\u2019s degree and this one in electrical engineering, \u2026 well that is why you should read this blog.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

I must admit I have been lucky.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

But because I have no plan, I find myself regretting the plan I didn\u2019t execute. I see where I would like to have gone, and I regret not going there. In one moment, I wish I were designing circuits. In another, I wish I were testing algorithms. Sometimes, I wish I were a show runner for a well loved but not top 10 dramady about growing up in the Midwest. At other times, I wish I felt like I reach fluency in a second or third language, and I wish I hadn\u2019t left the study of history behind.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

I will never work those jobs. I probably wouldn\u2019t like working those jobs. (Translating Latin is HARD!)<\/p>\n\n\n\n

There are downsides to pivoting quickly and wanting to know a little bit about everything. I never think I know enough, and it frustrates me. If I hit a bump in the road with my boss, I immediately jump on LinkedIn and try and figure out a different path to fall into and see how it goes. I have a tendency to think I can start in the middle and become an expert in 5 easy steps.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Youtube videos are not really my friend because after watching two on a subject, I think I can do it.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

I do love learning new things and applying them out in the world. I love adding a bit of value and making a difference. And somehow, in my mind, I think I am entitled to make a difference. Because I see a better way, wherever I work should want to follow my better way. One of my core values is to reduce waste. If everyone would just listen to me, I am sure I could reduce the waste.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

As I come up on my five year anniversary in my current career, I find myself wanting two things at once. I am itching to make a change, but I also want the security and compensation of staying right where I am. This perspective is new. While I love this poem, I rarely thought about the path I didn\u2019t travel because I always believed I could go back and travel it later if the first path didn\u2019t work out. I don\u2019t feel that way anymore. There are paths I cannot find my way back to start again.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Maybe there are other paths I am qualified to take that were not an option before?<\/p>\n\n\n\n

I have stopped applying for new jobs in new careers. Instead, I am focusing on looking for other paths and other skills and other ideas I have not considered before. The journey is the goal right now, even if I see things I could change but can\u2019t change along the way.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Thanks for watching as I see where it leads.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\n\n\n\n

[1]<\/sup><\/a> As always, I didn\u2019t remember the wording exactly. I am keeping my title the same. Read the poem. It\u2019s awesome. I first read it in when I was in Mrs. Dobbs\u2019 class in Second Grade, and it has stayed with me for 44 years.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

I love Robert Frost. (https:\/\/www.poetryfoundation.org\/poems\/44272\/the-road-not-taken )[1] When I think about the road not travelled, it is mostly about my career. Perhaps […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[5,11],"tags":[],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/dynamic.lettersforzerrius.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/495"}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/dynamic.lettersforzerrius.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/dynamic.lettersforzerrius.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/dynamic.lettersforzerrius.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/dynamic.lettersforzerrius.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=495"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/dynamic.lettersforzerrius.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/495\/revisions"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/dynamic.lettersforzerrius.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=495"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/dynamic.lettersforzerrius.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=495"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/dynamic.lettersforzerrius.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=495"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}