Being Hospitalized was the Best thing for My Career
Mid-way in my college career, I broke four bones in my foot playing intramural soccer.
At the time, it sucked… hard.
I was in the hospital for several days. I couldn’t walk for months after, which meant I was stuck at home and couldn’t attend classes. There were no virtual classroom I could attend, so I relied on the textbook, notes from classmates, and the internet to complete my homework.
While difficult, this proved to be the single-most-important event in my professional career.
I pivoted from a “push” model for learning (i.e. teacher’s pushing important information my way), to a “pull” model (i.e. where I had to reach out and find what I needed).
I learned that my professors weren’t god’s on earth; all-knowing beings who were the source of all wisdom.
What I discovered instead:
- I could actually move faster without them and learn at my own pace
- I could dive deeper into material that I thought was interesting
- I could find more up-to-date information and best-practices online
I pivoted from merely memorizing information to pass to a test, to actually absorbing the material and being changed by it. I credit a large part of my success today to my continuing practice of following the “pull” model for my own self-improvement.
Don’t wait for others to teach you what you need — go out into the world and find it.
There is no gatekeeper to your own success.
