Heading for the future

Never thought I would be there, never imagined myself to go to Heading for the future conference. Just that when I joined @ there was no such thing as H4TF, while now we have a chance of an official closure. But wait, that is not why I went there. Actually I think I started letting go when I came back from HK and in those 5 months of matching and intense communication with friends, family and @alums. And now after 2/3 a year of reflections and trying to figure out what is my "letting go" of AIESEC means, here is what I came up with:

• Everybody lets go in its own way, no need to compare & no need to strive for some level, just stick to your own believes and desires. There are things you want to keep, there are things you want to let go, things you want to be involved in…and its your own way of becoming an @alum
  

• There's no BIG shift from "in AIESEC" and "out of AIESEC", it’s one of many transitions and decisions we did/do in life, it's a new step, just like the one I took when applying to MC, or going to HK, or going to Belgium, - it’s a new challenge, new opportunities, new chapter in life, so no need to make it so special and dramatic - we've done it before.
  

• Leaving aiesec as an active members is not letting go all the things we love (constant learning, fun, meaningful conversations, diversity, challeng, meaningful job, openminded people etc.), is looking for new sources of finding these things! I don’t get this crying over things we leave - be proactive, if its something you truly value in your life - you can find the right environment or even create it yourself for you and for other people to share. THAT is the test of your proactiveness.

This way I learn to appreciate what I had in AIESEC, respect it, love it and help in any way I want, but to be excited to move on to new heights and new opportunities that are out there! So I am a happy and exciting alum :)

But back to the conference. So made decision on Friday morning, on Saturday morning, woke up at 5.30 am and went to Ghent to my first conference in belgium as a delegate, a first after long time actually as a delegate.

It wasn’t a usual conference - no rollcalls and no dances, just two days…but a lot of talking, and a lot of reflections. I wouldn’t have come if not Katya and Marta going there, so I knew I'll be living this experience with someone I can relate to, which turned out to be true, as we were the oldest delegates in terms of @XP, leaving AIESEC after MC/MCP positions and still finishing the full circle of @XP by being on internship. Which is sometimesjust too much to handle when you try to "wrap it up". Anyway, hav to thanks Marta for pushing us to talk about different questions. So here are some reflections & AHA-moments from discussions and sessions (random order):

Entrepreneurship

Am I entrepreneurial? And what it means for me?

Random thought on that:

- I am not doing new stuff (something never done before or not done here) just for the sake of doing new stuff. It is not my drive.
- I am not doing something just because it brings money (new niche in the market) - not taking opportunities that are obvious if they are not in the area of my passion.
- I would better help those already in market rather than create unneccessary competition (unless there's a need and demand).

I know for sure to work on my own projects I need partner(s). But how do I find partners for the projects in the area of my passion? How do I find same passionate people who would like to start putting ideas on the flip-chart with me and see where we move from there?

Where our career decision pressure comes from?

Even if you're strong enough to ignore peer pressure (you were in AIESEC so u already did it), after AIESEC added to social peer/family pressure you also get AIESEC network pressure - alumnus standard and expectations according to your last @ role. Have to be strong enough to put that aside as well.

Internal Politics: stay aside or be part of it?

Politics inside the company/organization is a neutral phenomenon unless we try to see it as negative. You shouldn’t fight it, just learn how to "surf the waves of politics" because politics is everywhere.

Network and networking

Need to work on my networking skills. And as it is all about attitude, I need to work on my attitude.

Network Question still open: if at some point I want to come back to my country to start making impact/change there - I'll need network, how do I not lose it during years of getting international experience?

The only logical answer found: keep in your network few people who stay at home country, who keep renewing their network - they can be your connecting point when you come back.

Managing your working experience

Instead of constantly complaining that your after-aiesec job is not that perfect, management doesn’t know how to manage and there are not so many learning opportunities, be proactive! -> you can manage your manager: provide information about how to manage you better, what is the best way you work, suggest changes into working style or adjust yourself, initiate regular feedback meeting (first maybe only to receive feedback, but maybe later to give as well), adjust the way you learn as well, see the exsting opportunities and ask to use them an learn form those. There's always somehing you can do.

Source of fulfillment

AIESEC is a unique place, it provides us with so many things at once -> personal & spiritual development, professional development, gives us network of contacts, friends and often love life. No other job will probably provide you with all those in one! But that is no reason to be upset, it doesn’t mean other things can not be in your life anymore. You just need to search for more sources to get everything, and manage all these sources in your life. Isnt it exciting? You get to experince so much more in life now!

Fears

Once we have to make this change happen in our lives - we have a lot of fears about it. Moreover even when we make it, we still have fears left. And you need to recognize them to move on. I started doing it, but i guess its not something I want to share. But its actually fun to see what stops you from moving ahead.

Passionate life

One of the break through sessions was the one of Houston Spencer from Alcatel, who challenged me personally a lot during that session. And one of the points I loved is a challenge of living a passionate life once we claim to be passionate people. The one we dream of, the one we want, the one we dare to want, the one that sets goals ahead of us that scare us a bit but don’t make us afraid.

And if you see people who are not living a passionate life - they just stopped making choices.

On Future Plans

Instead of being scared of making the wrong choice - its better to have any close-to-what-you-want plan, follow it and then change it rather than not moving anywhere. As we always make choices based on what we want now and what opportunities we have now, so its not wise to sit and wait for those to appear, instead use the ones you have to create more opportunities.

More future plans

One thing I didn’t consider before appeared in my plans: Travel around the world. And if possible with purpose :) this still has to be defined.

Its not a step you once make. It doesn’t cut your life in two parts. It is a process, when you find out a lot about what you learnt and experienced and what you want to learn and expereince next.

Soo… in no way I am saying good bye to AIESEC (we're still there for each other :)) - I am just moving forward to new exciting things.

actually this post makes a lot of sense after this one :)