Break through the limits
Have you ever wondered why someone would leave a successful career to pursue higher education such as an MBA? I spent nearly 10 years as a project engineer and manager for a subsea oil and gas engineering firm. I was well compensated, given opportunities to grow, and loved the variety of people I worked with in the oilfield. Still, I felt the urge to take another path. I believe there is at least one common theme amongst people that choose to take on any new challenge: a desire to break through the limits. Whether you are preparing to start your journey or are already underway, I want to encourage you to think about the illusory limits that you or others have placed on your life and how you are going to remove them.
On October 26, 1967, Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. asked a group of junior high students in Philadelphia, “What is your life’s blueprint?” In this speech, he delivered the street sweeper message that so eloquently encourages us to be the absolute best at whatever it is that we do. To take pride in our work and our lives. But first, we must discover what we are called to do in this life. If you are feeling the desire to do more than what you are doing now, then like me, you have not yet figured it out.
When I finished undergrad I said I could never go back to school. After many years in the oilfield, I said I could never leave that industry. These are some examples of my mental limits. Everyone has some and they can hold us back from discovering what we are supposed to do. Michael Jordan said, “Never say never, because limits, like fears, are often just an illusion.” In my experience, you don’t know which limits are real unless you try to go past them. So, get to it.
The One-Year MBA program at Goizueta Business School has given me opportunities to explore the various limits I placed on myself personally and professionally. More than that, it has opened my eyes to many new career trajectories and an incredible network of people that are willing to help me get there. It is early in my journey, but the challenge of breaking through my limits is already a deeply fulfilling endeavor.
