Taking Responsibility For Yourself

It's easy to play a victim; easy to tell yourself that story. 
It's scary to take responsibility; to own up to your flaws, your faults, to simply admit what you know & what you don't know. It's not easy. It takes real courage to fully understand and account for your actions, a lack of, or simply your ignorance.

Today's #WednesdayWisdom is oh too real & a rather challenging topic.
One of the questions I get from young 'soon-to-be' engineers is "what if I don’t know the answer" or "what if they ask me something I don't know".
My response - “that's the point”. Let's think about it. You're a brand new baby engineer.
You're not expected to really KNOW anything. The degree is simply stating that you're a trained learner. You know how to grasp difficult concepts, you're able to work through not so straight forward problems. That's what you're brought in for - as an intern; as an entry level engineer.

The wisdom behind it all is acknowledging you don't know it all and YOU. WILL. FAIL.

It's scary, it hurts, it's not fun but it's a part of the process. The same way all of us didn't turn in a homework, bombed a quiz, or absolutely tanked a test - it will happen to you a professional.
You'll be unprepared. You won't prioritize correctly. You'll completely FORGET about a major milestone or upcoming date & you'll scramble, throw something together, & you'll get called out for it. It happens.

The difference is - how you go about it. You can make every excuse in the book - dog ate my homework, I got sick, it wasn't on my calendar, no one told me about it - or you can own it. Take responsibility. Things get away from us. Rather than make excuses or even give legitimate reasons - create a mitigation plan. Show up, eat humble pie, & admit to how & why you missed it & what you're plan is to never make the same mistake again or how this helped you better understand the expectations, the process, the content - whatever. 
Being a problem solver isn't just about solving the problems around you - but the internal problems you face as an imperfect human, managing yourself, & the crazy chaos that will be life, your company, & your responsibilities.

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