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Mohammad Khan's avatar

Great post Wes! It reminds of when I was in college & I had a choice of working in a lab.

There was a list of labs & what they did.

I scanned the list & chose the lab which I knew nothing about. They were working in a field I didn't even know existed at the time, smart materials.

Didn't realize it then but I was building an internal compass that nudged me to go towards the unknown for 2 big reasons:

1) That's where the personal growth is.

2) I was testing the mental model of myself & what I was capable of. Choosing the smart materials lab led to difficult projects but also boost in confidence because I proved to myself I can handle unknown situations.

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Suzanne's avatar

Thank you for sharing this interesting post about reshaping your mental models. This is a great reminder that our inner and outer world are constantly changing and we need to break our rules and continually experiment. I relate to your story about scallops…I thought I didn’t like olives until I tried them in my mid 20s, outdoors at a quaint cafe on a little side street in Cadaques, a fishing village near Girona in Spain. Yes, the setting and that they were a local delicacy may have helped me finally enjoy their sharpness. Your story reminded me I have pivoted in my own life too. As a university student, I thought I could never work in a business and I idealistically wanted a “life of the mind” in academia. But by moving out of that lifestyle and now working for a start up, my mental model as a student was incorrect. Working for a start up is much more interesting than being a professor. I work on challenging problems and use my research and writing skills every day. It is far more rewarding than I ever expected.

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