Advice I heard far too often while I was in school. On paper, it sounds nice— give yourself time to figure out what your goals are while furthering your education.
But in reality, you’re only delaying your progress.
Sure, it’s possible you’ll realize your life’s work in those 2-3 years of studying case studies.
But realistically, our circumstances won’t change. We’ll have the same habits and routine as our undergraduate years. And if they didn’t work then, they won’t work now.
It takes a hard examination of yourself to undergo extreme changes to your lifestyle. And if you’re seeking to change, then there’s no better way than to find yourself cornered, with your back against the wall, desperate to become better with all your heart.
If you took out a loan to go to college, then you’ll take out another loan to get an MBA. Instead of adding more debt, it would do you better to get your hands dirty and do an assortment of work.
Gain experience and build character. Take odd jobs. Work in different fields. Experiment with different projects. Put yourself out there and show your work.
You’ll learn far more by doing than by speculating.
By then, you’ll have both experience and a closer encounter to your calling. And if your calling requires a graduate degree, then you’ll get through it with a clearer purpose.
No one can deter a man with a purpose.
Here’s my quote of the day.
If the finest genius studies at one of our colleges, and is not installed in an office within one year afterwards in the cities or suburbs of Boston or New York, it seems to his friends and to himself that he is right in being disheartened, and in complaining the rest of his life. A sturdy lad from New Hampshire or Vermont, who in turn tries all the professions, who teams it, farms it, peddles, keeps a school, preaches, edits a newspaper, goes to Congress, buys a township, and so forth, in successive years, and always, like a cat, falls on his feet, is worth a hundred of these city dolls. He walks abreast with his days, and feels no shame in not ‘studying a profession,’ for he does not postpone his life, but lives already.
~ Ralph Waldo Emerson