I’ve spent a lot of my time doing the wrong thing in the right way. It’s one of the only things I’m disappointed in myself for.
I graduated university last year, and hated almost all of my 3 years there. I had a lot of criticism for the university itself, as well as for my classmates and my own behaviour. It wasn’t really the place for me.
One of the main reasons for me being disappointed in the education I got was that I perceived the focus to be on the wrong things. Both from my professors just as well as from my classmates.
We spent loads of time on learning things that we’ll never use, reading reports that none of us remember and having conversations that none of us seemed to want to have.
But it was all done in the right way.
When we had a test, it was properly prepared for by our professors. They’d have lectures, give us practice questions, hold seminars to talk about the material and so on.
My classmates read all of the books, took notes and practiced the subjects doing old examinations. Some stayed up late, some had study groups where they’d quiz each other. It was all very proper.
But when I brought up the question of why it was all done, I can remember only one satisfying answer from a professor. She could explain why her subject was relevant, regardless of what profession we’d take after our education.
The key here is the intention. Most of my classmates wanted to get a regular job, working in human resources or as project managers in the public sector. With that in mind, the right thing to do in most of their cases would be to get experience as project managers, or working in managing positions.
As for me, I was doing the wrong thing the wrong way. I was pretty sure that I wanted to become a freelancer or an entrepreneur right from the start. With that in mind, spending my time in the Uni probably wasn’t the right thing for me to do.
Loads of times we spend time doing the wrong thing, trying our best to do it the right way. It’s probably better than doing the wrong thing the wrong way, but taking a step back to look at the choices we make is really useful.
Are you doing the right thing?