{"id":87112,"date":"2021-02-01T10:05:15","date_gmt":"2021-02-01T18:05:15","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.pickthebrain.com\/blog\/?p=87112"},"modified":"2021-02-05T10:07:57","modified_gmt":"2021-02-05T18:07:57","slug":"how-to-shape-your-life-with-yourchoices","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.pickthebrain.com\/blog\/how-to-shape-your-life-with-yourchoices\/","title":{"rendered":"Connect the Dots Looking Backward: How to Shape Your Life with Your Choices"},"content":{"rendered":"
<\/div>\n

In his 2005 Commencement Speech at Stanford, Steve Jobs said, \u201cYou can’t connect the dots looking forward; you can only connect them looking backward.\u201d<\/em> When I first heard this quote as a college student, I felt excited \u2013 I wanted to see how the next few years of my life would unfold so that I could connect the dots looking backward. Now, almost a decade out of college and reflecting on my experiences in the last several years, I can confidently say that my life has been a testament to this quote.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

To share a distilled version of my story \u2013 In 2011, during my senior year of college, I landed a job with PricewaterhouseCoopers (PwC), one of the major consulting firms. Around the same time, I also landed a one-year fellowship that would enable me to study intensive Mandarin in China and Taiwan. After some back and forth, I decided to pursue the fellowship and was fortunate enough to defer my start date at PwC by one year. My semester in Taiwan, to this date, proved to be one of the most memorable and happiest periods of my life.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

In 2014, there was a call for applications for individuals to represent the U.S. Pavilion at the 2015 World Expo in Milan, Italy. In particular, they were seeking bilingual individuals because the World Expo draws in people from around the world. Having spent a year studying intensive Mandarin in China and Taiwan, I was able to present a case for my language skills and was selected to represent the U.S. Whilst working at the U.S. Pavilion, I decided to volunteer as a blogger for the Pavilion, documenting different events and profiling guest speakers.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

In 2017, two years after the World Expo, an opportunity opened up on a cruise ship that had been on my radar since college. In 2011, I wanted to work for the cruise ship; however, I wasn\u2019t qualified for any of the positions. However, in 2017, they were looking for a reporter, someone who could write articles, interview individuals and take photographs to document activities onboard and in destinations where the ship docked. At this point in my career, I had roughly 4 years of work experience split between consulting and a startup, neither of which had anything remotely to do with journalism. However, because I had volunteered as a blogger at the U.S. Pavilion, I was able to demonstrate that I can fulfill the duties of a reporter. I landed the reporting gig and sailed around Southeast Asia and Oceania.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

In 2011, when I made the decision to study abroad in China and Taiwan, I could not fathom where that decision would eventually lead me. Steve Jobs was right \u2013 you can only connect the dots looking backward. With these experiences, I want to share with you all the lessons that I\u2019ve learned along the way \u2013<\/p>\n\n\n\n

  1. Listen to your intuition and do what feels right to you, despite the naysayers<\/strong><\/li><\/ol>\n\n\n\n

    Despite receiving a fellowship to study abroad, I was hesitant to accept it because my family didn\u2019t think that it was a good idea \u2013 they thought it was frivolous to spend a year studying Chinese due to the opportunity cost of forgoing one year\u2019s worth of salary. I also felt a responsibility to come back to NYC to support my aging grandparents, the people who raised me. My head was telling me to do the practical thing by taking the job offer. My heart was telling me to go abroad. It then dawned on me \u2013 What\u2019s one year in the grand scheme of things? I\u2019m going to spend the next 50 years working, but a one-year fellowship is a once-in-a-lifetime opportunity.<\/p>\n\n\n\n