No Direction Home

Recently, I was told I was going to receive a special honor from my alma mater, and I started reflecting on my career, which ultimately started thinking about all the people that have helped me in my life. I can’t say that I am not at the benefit of some amazing people, but as I enter the fourth decade of my life – I realize I am without someone that can help me blaze the path that I want for myself.

There are few things that make me happier than working with college students and young professionals on their careers. It’s the thing that I look forward to the most in my day to day – to sit with someone and help them find their strengths, work on their weaknesses, and give them the confidence to succeed in whatever lies ahead. I think I take such pride in this because it was never afforded to me. I never received such mentoring from family, from friends, and very rarely from colleagues. My current employer is definitely a place where mentoring occurs, and as I navigate through my second year, I am looking forward to finding and cultivating those relationships that have always eluded me. I am an on search to find that person that I strive to be to the young professionals in my life.

It’s somewhat scary. My career has always been powered by my confidence. There have been many people around me that have been smarter than me. More creative than I am. More organized. Very few of them had my confidence. I, however, am at a crossroad. It’s not that the confidence has gone away. In fact, the confidence is stronger than ever. I just wonder where that confidence can be applied. What is the direction for my career? What are the next steps? What tools and weapons do I need as I step into a new arena? These are the questions that I want to ask that mentor that’s eluding me. These are the questions that this year will help me answer.