Career and Life Goals

The topic of goals is difficult for me to really discuss.  As of thirty-two years of age, I am still looking for an entry level opportunity to start my professional vocation.  My so-called career has seen many more low points than high ones.  The trials and tribulations are so numerous I do not know if I can recall any achievements.  So it is fair to say that part of life has not gone so well so far.  Working is one of the rare components of life that features a very intricate duality where you need experience to prove you are employable but that does not give information about how the first door is ever opened.  My history will show that I have not been the model employee at any stop but should that really derail any potential in considering my next position?  The obvious answer to the question is yes but when will that ever be adjusted in the land of second chances?  I am not sure if I need the perfect fit or if I just might not be cut out for a traditional nine to five occupation.  Maybe with the added aspect of maturity, completion of my first degree and a great start towards my second one will create a better leg for me to stand on.  With a bit of luck, ample separation from my past failures can initiate a proverbial bankruptcy for career antiquity and allow a new beginning with a clean slate. 

My life goals are somewhat different.  After explaining parts of my past, I simply want to go in the polar opposite direction in almost every way.  I feel if I only make the right and best choices I have available to me from this moment forth then that alone can provide enough motivation to commit to the path of rectitude.  That would be the short term goal to make the correct decision whenever the chance presents itself to do so.  The long term goal which can be manufactured from that would be to be a great human being in whatever context that can be said.  It would be lofty to be mentioned in the same breath as some of those in the pantheon of the immaculate examples of humanity for which many others should aspire to.  Though there are few, I do not want to create a list of names because I may not name them all but everyone reading this has an idea of what that would mean to them. They may even know who they would like to include on it.  I am not there yet but I just want to begin the process of what it would take to get there.  Some of the indispensable characteristics are having a durable will, natural sense of morality, compassion for others and incredible intellect.  My first step is to simply work to gain those and see where that can lead me to.  But to expatiate those components sans serviceable recourse might not please the indulging plenary audience.  Receiving respect and recognition from others who values those as talents would be the symbolic reward that I would be honored to have.  Then the accolades garnered from that audience can generate the superstar personage and income which that sort of acclaim brings.  And if that bourne can be completed by means of pure intention with more smiles than tears along the way, it would be the ultimate aim for me.  

Historical Leadership

My thoughts on the historical view of leadership and how it has evolved has not been changed that much with the recent readings.  Leadership is usually seen as a head of state or the crucial active agent of a transition.  Niccolo Machiavelli’s contribution of The Prince which is an informational depiction of how leaders are perceived, how they will act and what they should be aware of may have been radical during its time but is not as shocking now(1505).  Written in the 16^th century, Machiavelli goes in depth about principalities, land, governing, followers, armies, enemies, wealth and much more in 26 chapters.  We were asked to read ten of the chapters for the purpose of this assignment.  Some of the ideas that increased or enhanced my understanding were from chapters XV and XVIII.  The following quotation is from chapter XV, “for a man who wishes to act entirely up to his professions of virtue soon meets with what destroys him among so much that is evil”.  The context of the quote and overall chapter is that a man who is virtuous must know about and adapt to the evil of his opposite.  To say a good man will succumb to his foes if he were not to amend his methods is a profound statement to make.  We have seen some of our greatest leaders survived by others who were not as significant for their time.  The leaders were usually lost in the confrontation of opposition to principles and beliefs of which they stood for.  We see this as a moral sacrifice and a testament to the will of an individual for the fight for what is right and good.  The idea I get from Machiavelli’s statement states that the loss of life can be avoidable though the valiant heroism can be negatively affected.  Would history be viewed the same if the person had not died in their prime and lived long enough for the image to be tarnished?  A prevailing thought in accordance with that comes from chapter XVIII.  For any sort of longevity leaders should know about and be talented in the ways of both beasts and men.  The ways of beast are devious while men are honorable but one should be able to combat either when called upon to do so.   

                To address some of the myths of history, gender and leadership I will lean on some of the writings of Laurel Ulrich from the book Well Behaved Women Seldom Make History (2007).  One very important statement found on page 50 says that “History isn’t just what happens in the past.  It is what later generations choose to make of it”.  My take of this is that the events, as they happen, are not imperative if it is not relevant at a later time.  That is a brief but powerful statement to define what history is.  As we grow and advance, how do our values progress when we look at the past?  Something that was significant may no longer reside in the same context for the present audience.  Meaning the present actually rewrites the past simply by maintaining pertinence of the moments as time goes by.  To me, that is a stunning divulgence of not only how we remember history but how what we consider historical is created.  To coincide with that observation is the stories of amazon women in the beginning.  Once the facts are recognized or understood, descriptive language and hyperbole can be added to a story to cause veneration or disillusion.  This aspect can produce a myth with distortion of the actual events which may or may not have held its own against the test of time. 

                My personal plans are not necessarily affected from what I have learned from this reading.  I gained valuable information about how others feel about this subject matter but to be cognizant of what others believe is an honest attribute of critical thinking.  One thing I do take from this exercise is to make sure what I am doing now is worthy of being remembered by anybody with a positive connotation if possible.  I do not want to be the antecedent of nightmares and regrets for people.  I can elude that circumstance at all cost from this point forward.  Another theme that I will try to carry on is to preserve a precise portrayal of how things occurred in the instant it does.  Let me try to minimize the breeding of myths from what I can control first.  All in all history may be best defined by what remains from that period or style of leadership instead of what will be remembered.