Why Self Selection is Important

I'm half way through my Masters of HR and OD, and a couple of weeks into trimester 3 this year I realised that it wasn't the right time for me to be undertaking my chosen subject. The subject was 'Leading and Managing People' and was mostly about self-reflection and determining what my leadership plan is for the next three years.

It is a subject and topic I would usually be very passionate about, because well - it's all about me. But I just wasn't in the right frame of mind for it, and thirteen weeks of it turned out to be a real drain. I'm not sure if I learnt anything from the subject but I did learn something else important. I learnt how important self-selection is.

I had the opportunity to defer from the subject and either choose another one or just have a break from study for a little while, but instead I kept going with something I wasn't interested in.

That was a mistake.

I slacked off, I didn't spend the time I should have on my assignments or contribute properly to the online forum. I did the bare minimum, and yeah I still got decent marks, but I didn't enjoy it and certainly didn't get what I should have out of the subject.

Continuing my studies is something I choose to do, it's not mandatory for my job and is completely driven by self-selection which is generally a good thing (except for this subject). When we self select something, whether it's a task or study or a project we're usually going to get better results, we'll put in more discretionary effort and we'll get more satisfaction from it because it's something we have chosen to be accountable for. When we're forced to do something or placed in a role because other people believe it's what we're good at or interested in we'll often see the opposite results and the outcomes won't be as positive.

In my work life I have self-selected the work I do in social media, whether it's twitter or our blog, I do these things not because they are part of my job but because I enjoy them, I get satisfaction from them and they feel natural to me. If blogging was made to be part of someone's role but they weren't interested in it, I can guarantee you it would fail.

So back to study, what did I learn this trimester? Sometimes, it's best to choose to opt out and wait until the timing is right. Forcing myself to do something because I think I should and it's the right thing to do isn't actually rewarding or satisfying.

Study is enough of a chore as it is why make it harder on myself?