A topic that continues to surface when I speak with other college students and young professionals is: how are we supposed to prepare for an ever changing world?
This will be a world that we can only imagine. A world where many of the jobs we are preparing for will either be drastically different or eliminated all together. I'm talking about a world where technology, innovation, and big data will fundamentally shift the way the world works. Us youth have grown up with technology all around us--computers, video games, cell phones, wifi, and even virtual realities. But, we just may be at the cusp of what society can reach. The world has evolved so fast in even the last 10 years that us students are left to ponder how we can prepare ourselves for jobs that do not even exist yet and how to cultivate skills for technology that doesn't even exist yet!
To me, there are only a few options for us to prepare.
First, we have to be willing to accept change. We have to have open minds and want to understand what new developments in technology and innovation can do. If that means learning computer coding or being willing to reach outside of our own majors to learn about a different subject, we need to engage in these activities. And, as we transition into the job force, we need to be the people who continue to learn and strive to get better.
This leads me into the second skill we need to cultivate in order to prepare for an uncertain future. We need to be learners. We need to continue to be students throughout our lives. Complacency is not our friend. The only way we can grow an be as prepared as possible for the unknown is to always be learning.
Soak up information like a sponge. There are so many ways we can do this, from reading newspapers, magazines, or journals, to listening to podcasts or even watching a documentary on Netflix instead of another Netflix Original series. Ask questions, meet people, and learn from others. This is the only way we can gather information and prep ourselves.
By no means will we gather enough information to always have the correct answers to solve every situation in our lives, but, part of the challenge of life is making decisions with imperfect information. I think the more perspectives and past history we have to help us make decisions will help improve the outcome of our decisions.
Finally, we can focus on the controlables: work ethic, attitude, and punctuality. We can control how much effort we put forth in our schoolwork, our jobs, our relationships, our preparation, and our daily lives.
Part of controlling our effort and work ethic is having a positive attitude as well as being resilient. Looking at the world positively and having positive self-talk helps keep our motivation high.
But, we also need to display resiliency and be able to come back from being knocked down. Rocky Balboa tells it best, "It's not how hard you can hit. It's how hard you can get hit and get back up." Life will knock us down, but we need to be able to get back up the next day at 5 AM and get back to work, continue to improve and learn in order to succeed in the future.
Finally, punctuality. We as individuals can control showing up on time, as well as control how we allocate our time. Being efficient, having a routine, and organizing our schedules so that we have enough time to do our work is important.
I think one of the hardest skills to learn is saying no. Many of us feel the need to go and try many activities, volunteer, and hang out with friends and family on top of work, classes, papers, working out, and a ton of other daily functions. Sometimes we have to understand our own limits and reign in our schedules in order to have time for what matters to each of us; furthermore, so we can do these activities to their fullest. Having this skill is essential to success. By controlling the controlables we obtain another key to success and have it at our disposal to help prepare for a changing world.
I know that these tasks seem simple. And you want to ask me, Brandon, how does doing this help me prepare to understand computers, or analyze big data? This can't really be your answer?
Yes. This is my solution.
These are the keys to navigating an unknown future. The person who does the little things best sets themselves up for success with greater endeavors. So I challenge you to perfect the little, simple tasks, in order to be ready for the larger challenges ahead.
