Future Learning Goals Essay | MAET-MAEDPortfolio

The Crystal Ball Shows...

So What are your Goals?

Let's face it...it can be a challenge to predict the future. Life can have a tendency to present challenges and obstacles to obscure our initial goals; however, throughout time I have realized that perception is the true determinant of how we shape our futures. For years I viewed failure as a personal flaw that I was ashamed of making, and it often blurred my perception of true success. I never perceived it as a way to grow; but rather, a documented juncture in life where I failed. Failure has to be embraced and celebrated. My future learning goals are also no longer limited to stagnant milestones that do not trigger new goals. My goals clearly deviate from perhaps the ideal example of professional goals; however, my purpose is to never stop evolving successfully. So...what exactly are my goals? To embrace failure as a means to better myself professionally and personally, to seek advancement in my career, and most importantly, to maintain a reflective yet positive perspective when I am rejected professionally.

Listening to My Inner Voice

What do you mean by constant evolution? This part is quite simple: I decided on these three evolving goals because stagnant goals have kept me complacent in the past. For example, if I had a goal for a specific position I would devise logic to keep me in that position despite a looming feeling that I could achieve more. I can still here my parents' sentiments echoing in my head to "find a good job and stay there," and always trying to be complacent with the achievement. It wasn't until I started my first graduate program at Michigan State University that I truly began to understand what it meant to listen to what resonates within you. I read Parker Palmer's work, Let Your Life Speak: Listening for the Voice of Vocation, and I realized I was approaching my goal philosophy based on ideals that were never meant for me. All these years I never sought to gain insight from my failures or real purpose, because I honestly didn't have a professional purpose that was solely created by me.

Goal #1: Embracing Failure

Clearly you've realized that failure hasn't been something that I can easily accept, and I have always been more critical on myself of those perceived failures when they have occurred professionally. Mistakes have always been shunned by my prior colleagues and leaders, and I realized over the course of time I started to realize that I organized my work around avoiding failure. Our professional development never encompassed incorporating strategies to learn from failure; but rather, failure was an occurrence that required punitive impacts to performance evaluations and effectively barred advancement. Luckily, I have transitioned to working with universities that embrace failure as an opportunity for growth! We use incorrect information, processes, or general mistakes as a unique juncture to evaluate the need to change, but also how we can use failure to learn.

I have taken this a step beyond to use failure to incite my passion to be an exemplary higher education professional, but to also embrace failure as a means to help my entire team. I am continuously using TED Talks as a professional development opportunity for myself and my colleagues. Brene' Brown explains how we can use our vulnerability and failures to define a true road to success:

Goal #2: Seek Continuous Professional Advancement

Complacency has been an issue that I have carried for years, and it wasn't until my daughter was born that I had to make a change. I did not want her to see her mother in a mediocre position given the infinite opportunity to make a difference in the lives of others. I have always excelled professionally, yet shunned suggestions that I apply for leadership roles because I didn't want to be "responsible for the success of others or the college/university that I worked for." I know...it sounds like the definition of not only complacency but a true lack of desire to challenge myself! So, after she was born I knew I had limited opportunities to step into leadership so I sought the guidance of my mentor, Dr. Deloris Banks, to help incite change. Not only did she provide examples of how I displayed leadership to my peers at that time, but the skills, traits, and behaviors that could be enhanced by stepping into a vocation that I refused to acknowledge. Her support not only helped me to land a leadership role, but has helped me to continue seeking advancement in more complex roles. My current position as a Retention Analyst Manager is by far my most complex and rewarding leadership role thus far, but I have no intentions on stopping here. There are a number of roles that exist in executive leadership that will allow me to expand this knowledge, and totally intend to grow into those positions so I can leverage my knowledge and experience to support the universities that we serve at Pearson.

Goal #2: Maintaining a Reflective Perspective on Rejection

Failure and advancement are events that are intertwined, and those experiences aren't always positive. Sometimes we don't get the positions that we seek. Sometimes we are looked over by better candidates. Sometimes we fail and that failure can force us to realize that we need more education or experience to qualify. It's easy to become deterred and depressed as we evaluate our experiences but remaining positive and reflective is the only way to redefine objectives and overcome obstacles.

There were countless times that I was interviewed and not selected, but I choose not to give up because I know my worth. I critically access and reflect upon why I wasn't chosen, and even reach out to the hiring managers to see what I could have improved or skills that I could adapt to become a stronger candidate for the future. This has helped tremendously in my own professional development, and has also helped me to support the development of employees that I manage.

The Crystal Ball Shows...Continued Purpose and Success

I know...this isn't the typical goal list that you may see from other professionals, but these are goals that are true to who I am now. I can't say I want this position or that position, because in all honesty, my purpose is to lead and support others in education. I see nothing but success because every experience, positive or negative, leads to it. I no longer define success based on the ideals and perceptions of others, as it does not speak to my own purpose and vocation. I am a unique, flawed, and determined human, and I'm thankful every day for the future failures that are going to catapult me to higher levels of success!