Look closely before you leap

The old adage “Look before you leap” wasn’t coined so cats could get from a comfortable chair to an even more comfortable couch. Anyone who has a cat as a pet knows that these curious – and often crazy – creatures are generally pretty good at finding their way around. Cats just intuitively seem to know what to do and don’t need a lot of instruction.

That being said, the cat in this picture once jumped off a balcony about 10 feet off the ground by accident in an impulsive attempt to catch a passing butterfly. But thankfully, she only tried that once. I guess even cats sometimes need to learn this basic lesson.

But for some of God’s other creatures (i.e. people) life experience is much more complex. Yes, we arrive on the earth with many important capabilities and yet also arrive lacking knowledge in many ways. In order to avoid any confusion, the point of this post is that it will often be necessary for each one of us to aggressively go out and get the knowledge and experience we need.

Please don’t underestimate the amount of time and intentional effort this will take. And please don’t wait too long to get started.

Back in high school, I remember boarding a bus in a bit of a haze with many other students and travelling to the University of Saskatchewan on a career exploration tour. This was a step in the right direction, in terms of gathering more information, but it wasn’t very helpful because the purpose of the trip wasn’t individually specific enough.

Oh yes, some new knowledge was acquired along the way.

What I remember most about that trip was that the agronomy or “Agro” students had a rivalry (sometimes friendly and sometimes not) with the engineers. Not surprisingly, the engineers had the technological upper hand; they had a device capable of firing melon-sized projectiles at unsuspecting agronomy students. But, not to be outdone, the Agros had the tactical advantage of a classroom on the third floor overlooking an important walking path…and access to a water hose.

Which side of the campus war did I want to be on? That was the bizarre question that captured my imagination on the trip back to my home town.

But what is really bizarre, is that I never got around to actually talking to any recent agronomy students or engineering students who had jobs doing what they were trained to do. If I was seriously thinking about becoming an Engineer don’t you think it would make sense to make an effort to talk to one and ask a few questions?

But I never did. Instead, I applied to the College of Engineering (partly because I didn’t know what else to do), got accepted and then privately agonized over whether or not I should go. Looking back, I didn’t make nearly enough effort to get the information I really needed in order to make a wise decision.

Confusion set in for good reason. I didn’t know what I wanted to do partly because I didn’t take the time or put in the right kind of effort to find out.

In case you are wondering, I never did become an Engineer. And for this the world can be eternally thankful. Enough things fall apart as it is. But being a slow learner, I went on to apply to the College of Education without ever talking to anyone who worked as a primary or secondary teacher. What was I thinking!?

Back then, my general approach was to collect as many college catalogues as possible, stare at them in a prolonged and confused state until I ran out of time, and then make a wild leap in a mostly random career direction.

Never again.

Searching for answers

No one arrives on this planet knowing everything they need to know. Then again, one exception comes to mind; one solitary life stands out.

But for most of us, humility always make sense. For there is so much that we do not know.

If knowledge equals power then people like you and me are obviously lacking in both. It’s a no brainer. It is so obvious. We all need help. Human knowledge is as limited as the day is long.

Even considering recent progress, it’s embarrassing how little we know. And getting connected to the Internet doesn’t change anything. Is some ways, this only makes the situation worse. For now there is a much larger filing cabinet to sort through in order to find what we really need. Having access to more and more information isn’t always a good thing.

Trying to make a major decision? Keep in mind that you likely do not intuitively know what you need to know in order to do that. No offense. Don’t be insulted. That’s just the way it is for each person reading this. You will need to spend a significant amount of time gathering information. If you haven’t done that yet, you will need to. Sorry, but there is no other reasonable way to go about it.

Do you really want to routinely make critical decisions in a way that is random or reckless?

Even if you tend to rely more on your emotions when making a decision (and to some extent that is okay) make sure you make the time to take in accurate images and pictures which will in turn shape and inform your feelings.

This friendly word of advice is offered while taking a break from a very extensive information gathering process. This process has gone on for several years now and, frankly, I am getting tired. But there is no other option – none that I can see anyway. Either you wait for the appropriate information to come to you, or you need to make the effort to go out and find it. And usually a bit of both takes place during any significant research project.

It is encouraging every now and then when timely information drifts in your direction. But finding information and sorting through information usually takes a lot of hard work. There is no way around it.

So what do you need to know right now? Identify the information you need, and then be prepared to exert a large amount of energy to find it. Roll up your sleeves. Get ready for a workout. Don’t underestimate the amount of time it will take. Don’t expect someone else to do it for you. Grit your teeth, as they say, and then get at it.

Let’s say that you need to make a major career decision. Well then, be sure to carefully consider what you are thinking about doing before launching out decisively in that particular direction. A lack of quality research now could be very costly down the road. Now is the time to get started. Now is the time to do your homework. And yes, I speak unfortunately from experience.

Lots of enthusiasm and a lack of knowledge is a bad combination. Little enthusiasm and a lack of knowledge might be even worse. But the ideal, of course, it to be well-informed and enthusiastic. Take the time, make the time, to become knowledgeable. Make an effort to learn as much as possible when faced with a big decision.

Did I mention that searching for answers will be time-consuming and difficult?

Life isn’t easy down here on the earth. Are there any inhabitable planets where daily life might be easier? Perhaps you have pondered this question looking up into the night sky after a very long day. Maybe someone has an answer. But as far as I can tell, we could be living on this one for quite some time.

Might as well make the best of it, I guess.

Information overload

Clarifying your career direction will require taking the time to find the strategic information that you need to make decisions and move ahead. Being unable to choose which direction to take often indicates that, while you may have all sorts of information bouncing around in your brain, you do not have the specific information you need right now.

So, if you feel stuck, turn off your TV/Internet/cell phone and sit down with one sheet of paper before you. Write down what you really need to know on the left hand side and how you might go about acquiring that information in a timely fashion on the right. You might be surprised how this simple exercise will focus your attention and your energy.

If you wanted to, say, plant a flower garden you would need to know what type of flowers would do well where your flower garden is going to be. It may be interesting but it really won’t help much to read up on flourishing flower gardens in Siberia – unless of course that is where you live. Once you have determined what you need to know you can figure out how to find what you need. Watching the evening news for the next 10 years might eventually provide you with that information and so would one phone call to the local flower shop.

If you wanted to learn how to provide a specific, marketable, tangible service that is in demand, like nursing care, you could then easily determine the research that is required. If you really do not have any idea what you want to do your situation will be more difficult, but you can still consider how you might get to know yourself and more accurately discern your authentic desires.

Focus. Focus. Focus. Most of the information that drifts in your direction will be useless when it comes to clarifying and acquiring a career. Determine what you need to know and only then get back on the Internet and the phone in order to find it.