Deriving Purpose From Within
Personally, my definition of being successful is finding my purpose. After reading some definitions of purpose, I only became more rooted in my own. To me, my purpose is found in using my skill set to do the things that make the most sense to me. This means having a strong sense of self and knowing what I hold to be valuable in my life. This definition of success has changed drastically in recent years. I used to think of success as being financially stable, having a job, and being an independent adult. These came from family, society, and other outside influences. While these things do hold some merit, they are not where I derive my purpose from. Developing my self-awareness and knowledge has led me to my current definition, and it is one that I am incredibly satisfied with.
It should be noted that this sense of purpose will look different for everyone, and that’s okay. That is how it should be.
Some activities that I can do to align myself with my purpose are reading, writing, learning new things, initiating new tasks, and spending time with people (both older connections and new). These activities bring me enjoyment because they are things that I am good at. Doing these things only help me to further develop who I am as an individual. This leads to more meaningful relationships, work, and life altogether. Being grounded in yourself gives you confidence, stability, and virtue.
The NACE Competency I identified myself using the most in my internship was career management. This internship opened several doors for me to explore and deepen my own understanding of the skills that I could bring to the career I want. For example, I used my skills of consolidation and teamwork to work with another intern on putting together a comprehensive outline of ethical issues to put into a learning module. My supervisors recognized that I had these skills, and gave me a project to highlight them. I was able to hone these abilities and will be able to use them in future endeavors.
I remember when I first saw the posting for my internship on my school’s website. I was immediately intrigued. I knew if I got that internship, I would not only be proud of myself, but I would benefit tremendously from the experience. I did the proper preparation, I talked to people in my network who had been through the process before and asked for advice, I went back to papers and assignments I had done that would highlight my strengths. In the interview, I talked about all of these things and followed the advice I was given, and I landed it. Looking back, I think the hardest part was actually believing that I would be given the opportunity to do something like this. Once I knew that I had the opportunity, I never doubted that it was where I belonged and what I should be doing. The rest came naturally. I knew the members of this organization who decided to hire me felt confident enough in my abilities to choose me, and who was I to question that? Every task I was given felt like a gift. I was able to experience things that a 22-year-old typically does not get to, such as policy meetings and conferences between members of the American Medical Association. I was thrilled to be a part of something larger than myself, but also seeing the impact of the things that I was doing.
My point in all of this is that it is important to internalize the fact that you are capable. You have the skill set to do exactly what you are doing when you land that internship, so use it! At that point, there is nothing holding you back. Even when I received what appeared to be an impossible assignment because I did not understand the subject material I had to summarize, I attacked it like I would any other new piece of information. Sure enough, I completed the assignment and it was approved. That assignment helped to inform policy deliberations among the Council. I was capable of doing that.
