In the last couple of months, I have learned the importance of goal setting.
This year, before the spring semester, I have decided to find an area of computer engineering that I am interested in, and learn about it as much as I can. So, I went to a professor in my department and asked him for some resources in the area of deep learning. Then, I spent my winter break following those resources.
At the beginning of the spring semester, I learned that he will teach a new course in the department named Introduction to Computer Vision, and asked him whether I can take this course in addition to other courses that I will be taking at that semester. He said that I can, and I did.
It was a tough decision since that semester was already an overloaded one, and I was about to take one more course that I did not know much about. Still, I wanted to take it as a challenge, and try to do as much as I can. A lot of things had changed ever since I decided to push my limits.
It was obvious that I needed to spend my days in a much more planned manner. First, I started by going to the library as much as I can, but as the weeks passed by, it became much harder to find a seat in the library. Therefore, I decided to go to the computer labs in the department instead of library.
I made a lot of good friends who also enjoy spending their time in the computer labs. I also met with people who take the Introduction to Computer Vision course, and we spent a great time in the lab discussing about our projects. We did all-nighters together in order to meet the deadlines. It was the best semester I had in the computer engineering department.
Not only the time I spent with my friends had given me but also the effort of proving myself to show that anyone can achieve success no matter how much load they have if they only work regularly motivated me even more.
For all the years I spent in the department, I did not know which path to take and what to learn about. Yet, through the last couple of months I have decided to learn about a field that I did not have much idea about and it turned out that setting a goal for where I want to keep studying made me much more motivated towards the classes. This decision would have turned out to something that I don’t want to do, but even finding out this would be a great thing since it would made me know much about what I want to do in the future.
So set a goal, make a decision. No one can make progress without accepting those challenges.
I always remember this quote when I am about to make a decision in my life that will push my limits even harder:
If you set your goals ridiculously high and it’s a failure, you will fail above everyone else’s success. -James Cameron
When I started this blog, I have decided to break stereotypes about women in tech. Starting with that, I decided to make more decisions about my life to get ahead. It always encourages you to do more when you know where you belong and what you want to do about your life. So, you can set your goals high. Ridiculously high. Even knowing that the others do not have the courage to do the same will eventually help you succeed.
TL;DR: Find yourself something to do. Set a goal. Even if it will push your limits much harder, accept that challenge.
If you fail you will be surprised by the things that you came through along the way.
And, if you succeed… Keep it going!