Yet again, I visit this blog page and create another entry.. It seems that my stagnant brain has just eclipsed my sanity and thus dreadfully flood me with blogging ideas, which by the end of this read, you will realise that you have probably wasted some precious time.. I forward my most sincere apology in advance..
However, despite my disturbed judgment and still-mildly-preserved executive cerebral function, I have come to a rather interesting issue, mainly for fellow doctors reading this blog.. I will try to maintain non-discriminating arguments for non-doctor companions.. This is the issue of Career Pathway, as nicely-mentioned at the title..
Dreams and Ambitions
Ever since these ten small toes walked into a school, there is a certain mind-set and 'target' that has been embedded in the mind.. Some kids call it dreams, others call it ambition, a small portion call it motivation.. As for me, I might have fallen into all those three groups.. You may reason that you were in one of the groups, but I assure you, the selection into any of those particular compartments did not deem any significance now, that you are at the level of comprehending and arguing this blog entry..
Let me explain..This 'certain mind-set and target' is not a genetically-driven thought, nor it is environmentally-nurtured spirit.. Rather, depending on the family and parental factor (hence, genetic) and the upbringing and the cluster of nurture (hence, environmental), it is actually a combined and complementing outcome..
Some children 'dream' about being a doctor, or a pianist, or a business executive, or even the Secretary of the United Nations.. Does this dream make him less a motivated person? The answer is 'No'.. As a matter of truthful fact, these dreams are the ones pushing and giving the reason for a child to go to school, to enjoy counting in Maths class, to memorise the notes from nursery rhymes.. That deep inside his mind, these are the baby-steps he needs to walk the entire stairwell towards being his dream person.. Just because he does not share his dreams with his parents, does not mean he does not have one.. Do not, at any particular time, believe that children only have nightmares when the only ones they share are the nightmares..
Some other children are exposed with the word 'ambition' at a very early stage.. No reason to be alarmed at the expression I am relaying with the first sentence.. It is not wrong to expose such big and ambitious word to a child, nor would I say I promote the practice.. From the limited deduction of mine through my minuscule experience in life, I noticed that education-oriented parents tend to use such word to their children.. What it means is that, on top of the dreams that these children have, the nurturing and supportive air in the home environment strengthens the dream.. It enhances the belief within the subconscious territory that the dreams are achievable and attainable.. And within the first few days at school, teachers participate with the parents holding the baton of boosting the belief within the children.. As a material result, we see these children's enthusiasm when they play-act their 'future' role in life..
A small group of children fall into the category of having, what we adults call, 'self-motivation'.. Compared to dreams and ambitions, self-motivation is not a default construct within children's mind.. My proof is self-explanatory when we often see mothers yell and yell for their children to finish their homework! Mankind only develop the capability to self-motivate later in life, usually around the teenage period.. Some children develop this quality quicker than others, especially seen in children entering and spending their teenage lifespan in a boarding school.. The simple reason being the competitiveness of peer-pressure and the cumulative force of individual dream and personal ambition towards, what possibly is, a same goal - good grades..
Translation
But how do all these - dreams, ambitions, motivation - translate to career pathways?
As far as the sane mind concerns, every child, after all these three compartments are thoroughly and fastidiously explored, they develop several major characters which we call intelligence, dexterity and self-confidence.. These are then the characters which we see the children, now eagerly entering adult life, carry and define themselves with.. And these are the characters we collectively label the children with as Personality..
Personality is the definition of a person, who after such tremendous journey through childhood, teenage life and then adulthood, having seen and learned and experienced different tasks and obstacles, and taken all of those in a briefcase named ME! And this Me is the one, along the way, made major and life-changing decisions, which will further define the person.. It all sounds so much like a vicious circle but the reality is this is LIFE..
To cut long story short, one of the life-changing decisions that has to be made is the decision about and around the career.. As for many of us, our initial childhood dream, consolidated by clear ambition statement and further emphasised and driven by motivation, has brought us to where we are today - a professional in what we do.. Despite having gone through all of the hassle and difficulties and having already achieved our ambition, we are now faced with another challenge - carrying our careers to the next desired level..
A doctor now faces the challenge of climbing the ladder through different trainings to achieve specialty consultantship, an accountant now faces the difficulties of paving the path to achieve a level of similar equivalence to a medical consultant, a businessman now faces the hardship of expanding the business to regional, national or even worldwide recognition.. We see this as a challenge, yet the truth is that the path has already been laid out for us by our colleagues before us.. The main challenge is to appreciate and decide which path to take, not how to take it.. And that is the Career Pathway Challenge..
I will not dwell further into the matter of how to choose which path.. The utmost take-home-message for all my readers is, and indeed for my own self, we should not be alarmed, nor be casual of the fact that we are facing such 'turmoil' of holding the steering of life.. Rather, we should take a moment and, possibly a small step back, evaluate all the valid options and available opportunities.. And backed with all the dreams, ambitions, motivation, further driven by intelligence, dexterity and confidence, and coated and strengthened by our own self-developed, self-built personality, we should be able to come up with the best decision for us and our career..
As for me, lastly, I have not made up my mind as yet to what specialty I will spend the rest of my career practising.. Although, despite that, I do know what I will be in five years' time.. Small baby-steps towards a huge trophy.. May Allah help me and grant me strength to walk the path I choose, with His guidance and faith in Him..
Salam..
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