For the Love of Lists

Engineering life one step at a time

Why 12 Resolutions are Better than 1

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Did you set a New Year’s Resolution this year?  An estimated 45% of Americans do, according to a University of Scranton study.  Yet only 8% are likely to achieve their goal by December 31st.  How is your progress towards your resolution this year?  Are you still trucking, or did you choose to celebrate “National Drop Your New Year’s Resolution Day” on January 17th?  Have you achieved your resolutions in the past?  If you’re among the majority struggling to meet your NYR, fear not!  I have a new strategy for you, and you can start it right now.

I’ve spent some time discerning the reasons that I’ve failed to meet my own goals in the past, and I’d bet you’ve experienced some of the same:

  • I set a REALLY vague goal (ex. save money)
  • I set goals because I thought they were the “right” ones to set (ex. lose weight)
  • I didn’t know where to start or how to accomplish it
  • I procrastinated because I had a whole year to work at it
  • I caved to immediate gratification (ex. “I’ll just work off the pizza later…”)
  • I got discouraged because I saw no progress

As to the first three issues, take a look at the top five most popular resolutions (do any look familiar?):

  1. Lose weight
  2. Get organized
  3. Spend less/save more
  4. Enjoy life to the fullest
  5. Stay fit and healthy

None of these can be considered “SMART” goals: Specific, Measurable, Achievable, Relevant, Time-bound.  These qualities add the necessary definition to your goal.  Without it, you’ll never know if you’re truly successful or how to go about it.  For example, instead of “lose weight” state “Run for 30 minutes 3x/week to improve my health and lose 20lbs by Dec 31st”.  On top of that, if your only reason for setting the goal is because you think you should set it, you’ll have no motivation when you reach an obstacle.  You need to know WHY you want to reach your goal; purpose is what will keep pushing you forward.  Don’t set someone else’s goal – set one that will improve your life and make you happier.

While it’s easy to find resources on SMART goals and purpose, we’re still faced with a bigger issue: a year is too long.  A year is full of distractions and procrastination.  We need to change our perspective on resolutions: instead of setting one large goal, break it up into 12 smaller ones.  If we alter our perspective to include 12 “milestones” (one per month), then the deadline is always within our sights instead of being 365 days away.  The best part?  You get a new start each and every month.

Here’s how to do it (and stick to it):

  1. Decide your SMART goal and why you want to achieve it

Think: Specific, Measureable, Achievable, Relevant, Time-bound.  Ex. “I want to save $5,000 for a down payment on a car by December 31st”

  1. Choose your strategy

How you are going to do it: before you jump into your goal, do some research and create an action plan containing all of your resources/tools and steps you can take to make progress.  Ex. weight loss: nutrition plan, gym/home workouts, health/fitness blogs.

  1. Break up your goal into 12 action steps

Set yourself an achievable goal for each month that will bring your closer to your overall goal.  Your goals can be as small or large as you want, so long as they are achievable and will add up to your total objective.  Choices: Divide your overall goal by 12 or determine 12 actions you can take to reach it.  Ex. Health: lose 8lb/month by swapping fast food for home-cooked meals and lifting weights 3x/week.  Ex. Career: Jan – Research openings at 5 companies, Feb – Write 5 cover letters, Mar – Attend 2 networking events, etc.

  1. Decide how you’ll track your progress

It’s crucial to map your progress, even on the “bad” months.  When and how you measure it is up to you.  Just set reminders and don’t forget to write it down.  Ex. start of the month, end of the month, weekly; via journal, app, chart.

  1. Assign rewards for progress at each milestone (optional)

If you think it’ll help motivate you, setup a reward for each month you reach your milestone goal.  However, be sure not to choose a reward that detracts from your progress (i.e. no chocolate cake for losing your 8lbs).  Even better, assign rewards that motivate you towards your goal.  Ex. new workout gear, a new book, a massage.

  1. Decide how you’ll get back on track if you slip

Have a plan to deal with cravings, procrastination, or distractions.  This way, when the going gets tough you’ll be better prepared to handle it and get back on course.  Ex. If I don’t have time to get to the gym, I’ll do a workout video at home or go for a walk around the neighborhood.  If I splurge on a donut at work, I’ll add an extra workout over the weekend.

  1. Assess your support system

While vague resolutions are at the top of reasons why we fail, having a good support system is the #1 reason people can succeed.  Sharing your trials and successes with others not only holds you accountable, but it reminds you that others are rooting for you to succeed too.  Ex. family, friends, social media, blogs.

  1. Get started!

 Here are a few last important tips for you:

  • This is an iterative process – each month, evaluate your progress and decide what worked and what didn’t. Change it or improve it for the next month.
  • Don’t be discouraged – if you don’t meet your goal one month, don’t try to overcompensate and don’t lose hope. For example, my friend bases her next goal on the progress from the month before (if she only loses 6lbs in one month, her goal is 8lb less than that the next month).  It’s better to keep making some progress than to give up after pushing yourself too hard.
  • Don’t set too many goals at once – we have limited will power and are easily distracted. Set one main goal and divide it up into your milestones.
  • Set your own milestones – if a month-long milestone is still too much, try bi-weekly.
  • Don’t let yourself get bored – change up your strategy to keep you on your toes (ex. new workouts).
  • Don’t give up! – you get a new start every month, and every day.

Remember: we never would have reached the Moon if no one had put action steps and milestones to Kennedy’s words.

It’s not too late to restart or set your resolution for the year.  If you’ve got one to share, please post below and tell me about any strategies that have worked for you.  I’d love to hear them!

10 Phrases Girls Face in STEM Careers

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While it’s common knowledge that women are in the minority in most STEM careers, that number has been steadily growing over the past few decades.  For example, in 1970 women represented only 3% of engineering occupations, whereas in 2011 they represented 13%.  The number of bachelor’s degrees awarded to women in engineering rose to 19% in 2012.  However, even with the upward trend, there are still several challenges that women face when starting such careers, some even before they start college.  Here are 10 phrases I’ve heard with regard to my chosen path:

  1. “Engineering is for boys.”
  2. “You’d make a better nurse/teacher.”
  3. “Be careful not to break a nail.”
  4. “Your job is to take notes.”
  5. “You only got in because they needed more girls.”
  6. “Are you from HR?”
  7. “Great, we’ll have to take that harassment training.”
  8. “Now we have to watch our mouths; there’s a girl around.”
  9. “Aren’t you going to leave when you have children?”
  10. “Are you one of those feminists?”

Many of these are heard across the board for women with careers, but it surely makes the challenges of engineering even more difficult.  Young girls are steered away from STEM towards the jobs others feel are “meant” for them.  If I hadn’t been surrounded by the right people throughout my life, I likely would have been scared away 10 years ago.  That being said, here are several ways you can be supportive of girls entering STEM careers:

Interning with NASA
Interning with NASA
  • Demonstrate good role models: Seeing famous, and even local, role models actively participating in STEM careers is a great motivator. Many female astronauts remember seeing Sally Ride fly into orbit on Discovery and thinking “if she can do it, I can do it too.”  Show examples of women who have succeeded in STEM fields, or find local mentors/groups that can match up future engineers with professional counterparts.

 

  • Limit gender-based expectations: We need to encourage children that their path is up to them and their interests, not expectations of what role they should fill. While historically men and women flocked to particular jobs, this should not define people’s choices for the future.  If a girl wants to be an engineer, she should be an engineer (as a recent Twitter conversation discussed).

 

  • Increase gender esteem: How many times have we all heard the phrase “you ____ like a girl”? In fact, a recent commercial highlighted the fact that it’s assumed that “like a girl” is equivalent to “sub-par” or “weak”.  We are almost all guilty of this, but we need to stop relating half our population to inferior skill sets.  Girls need to know that they can be just as strong and intelligent as the boys.

 

  • Avoid pressuring girls to “prove themselves”: This may sound counterintuitive, but I hate when people advise me to go “prove myself” as a woman in engineering. I should be proving myself as an engineer just like the men, but not because I’m female.  We need to focus more on skills than on gender.

 

  • Focus on facts over assumptions: Some of the words that have hurt me most throughout my life were spoken when someone assumed I got a job or scholarship only because I’m a girl. We need to not be skewed by such gender-based views on the world; particularly in STEM it is the facts that matter.  Look at people’s abilities before you attribute their traits to gender.

 

  • Demonstrate all sides of STEM: while not everyone wants to become an electrical engineer, they may be interested in biomedical engineering. STEM fields cover such a broad area of work, that there’s nearly something for all interests.  We need to show off all of the different aspects of technical careers so that aspiring engineers and scientists can understand all that they can achieve.

 

  • Seek out professional groups: The Society of Women Engineers is a good example, but there are a great number of professional STEM groups (both female and mixed) that offer STEM resources and solidarity in dealing with any gender-based prejudices. Plus, it’s always nice to have friends and connections in your field.

 

  • Teach and seek balance: If you ask most people to describe themselves, the first thing they’ll tell you is their job. We are more than our jobs.  Too often I’ve seen or felt that if I participate in any feminine activities then I’m going back on the personality that I’ve established for my career.  So I too need to remind myself that people are multifaceted and can have any number of interests.

I have been fortunate to have highly supportive people in my life, and hopefully these insights will help you to be that person for someone else.  For any girls interested in pursuing a career in engineering or any other STEM field, I have this final piece of advice: no one can tell you what you enjoy doing and no one decides your skills for you; you choose your path with your dedication and passion.

Welcome!

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Welcome to my new site, For the Love of Lists, and thank you for visiting.  I’m looking forward to writing about a variety of topics, all of which can be found in the category menu above.  If you’re a fan of lists as much as I am (and the Internet is full of them, so you probably are), then read on!

www.loveoflists.com

5 Facts You Should Know About Me:

  1. I love to write lists and collect information: to brainstorm, to find a next step, or even just to kill time.
  2. I am an aerospace engineer: by nature I am a space & STEM advocate, I love to solve problems and improve efficiency, and I strive for continuous learning.
  3. I love to read: I have a library of more than 1,500 books at my disposal, and if given the time I’d try to read every one of them.
  4. I work to keep myself inspired: quotes, pictures, role models, challenges, and anything to remind me of my goals in life.
  5. I am still figuring things out: as a recent college graduate and a new wife, I am at the start of my adult life.  What you see here is me learning as I go.

So why lists?  For me, lists are how I’ve always processed information.  Rather than telling you about all of the scientific reasons you’re designed to love lists, I suggest you check out these two articles that explain it wonderfully:

  1. A List of Reasons Why Our Brains Love Lists (The New Yorker)
  2. 10 Reasons Why We Love Making Lists (NPR)

Once again, thank you for visiting.  I hope to post at least once a week (more when time allows).  Subscribe to the email list to stay up to date on any new additions.  Happy listing!

Jessica

5 Career Lessons I’ve Learned From a Musician

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My sister, Allison, performing at my wedding.

It has always been obvious to everyone that my younger sister and I are very different.  While I was studying physics and calculus, she was spending her time in the choral room and rehearsing for musicals.  It seemed easy for people to try to compare us – “smart” versus “artistic”, for example.  The truth is that I’ve always viewed us on two completely different paths, full of apples and oranges, which are wrong to compare in any hierarchy.  And so far I’ve understood those paths to be rather independent of each other, diverging into two separate worlds of personalities and preferences.  But recently I’ve been changing my perspective on just how separate those are.

I am now a launch vehicle engineer and she is an aspiring vocalist and songwriter.  I spend my days conducting vehicle integration procedures and she spends hers recording songs and promoting them.  While I can’t see any alternative future in which our roles are switched, I’ve realized that there are certain aspects of her life and career that draw me in.  As an engineer, sometimes it appears that the path is already well-constructed for you, and that your best bet is to follow it as it’s been laid out by the intellects before you.  From my side of the fence, her path seems like a blank canvas.  There is something exciting about having the freedom to create and reach out in whatever form you like.  Perhaps we can build the strongest careers and lives by inspiration from all of those around us – it was Da Vinci that said asked us to “Learn how to see.  Realize that everything connects to everything else.”  I have given it some thought, and here are five lessons I’ve learned from my sister.

1)      Know what you’re good at and what makes you happy.

While math and science may not be her strong suits, music has always made my sister happy.  She loves to sing, to play, to write, to listen to a variety of pieces, and every other way it can be involved in her life.  Instead of being held back by a lack of technical skills, she has focused on the skills she does have.  She is a talented performer and she loves to share her passion for music with others.  She knows what motivates her and what traits she can use to excel.  As an engineer, these same principles apply.  You need to understand which skills you possess that you can take advantage of, even if it involves making a list to remind yourself.  You also need to understand why you became an engineer in the first place and which elements of it inspire you the most.  And when you find those elements, surround yourself with them.

2)      Try all venues and media.

There are many doors to enter the life of a successful musician, several of which have popped up in the past few years.  My sister uses Facebook, SoundCloud, YouTube, Twitter, and other social media to promote her songs.  She applies for all types of auditions.  She’s sung at open mic nights, coffee hours, restaurants, school performances, on the street, in the mall, and even at a Broadway fundraiser in Times Square [update: twice!].  She delivers both covers and original songs.  Essentially, she takes advantage of any resource that is available.  The same can be true of engineering.  While you may be used to relying on whatever you learned in school or in your jobs, there is an abundant resource pool available to you.  Free online courseware, LinkedIn, social media, magazines/journals, professional organizations, libraries, blogging, weekend projects, and mentor relationships are just a few of the ways that you can grow as an engineer.  Think outside the box and find new exploits to pursue that will aid in your development.

3)      Seize opportunities and make opportunities happen.

My sister was once in a NYC restaurant with my parents where a man sat playing piano.  She left the table to approach him and ask if she could perform a song in front of everyone.  All of a sudden my parents recognized the voice of the girl singing “Over the Rainbow”.  Another time she reached out to Tony Award-winning star of Once, Steve Kazee, on Twitter stating that the only thing better than seeing his show would be to sing with him.  Wouldn’t you know that night he called her up on stage to perform the musical’s most popular number?  That even led to her participation in the Broadway event mentioned above.  These are just a few examples of times when she’s stepped out to “take a shot”.  She’s constantly looking for new opportunities to advance, to perform, to learn, and this should be true of all of us.  Sometimes we’re lucky and opportunity falls into our laps, and sometimes we need to be constantly looking for them and enabling ourselves to be better positioned for them.  Cross-training, leadership programs, networking connections, and managing projects are a few of the ways we can open ourselves up to opportunity at work. As a whole, we need to be open to new experiences and be ready to make an effort when opportunities come before us.

4)      Learn from and connect with others.

It is rare to be the most talented person in a group, and I expect it would be rather lonely.  In the music business there exist all different styles, instruments, and backgrounds.  My sister loves to collaborate with her friends and learn from their strengths.  She’s studied music and worked with experienced professionals just as much as she’s followed her idols.  And for every one of her videos she asks friends to share, she shares their works as well.  She’s surrounded herself with a support community that loves music as much as she does.  A typical stereotype of engineers is that we are isolated introverts who much prefer data to socializing.  But even we need that support system.  Friends, mentors/mentees, professional contacts, and advisors can all help in building that network.  I am fortunate in that my fiancé is also an aerospace engineer; we can inherently support and understand each others’ careers.  Reach out to colleagues when you have a question or need advice.  Use LinkedIn and start conversations at events to learn more about people who have interesting careers and knowledge.  And be ready to offer them a hand as well.  Some of those connections may just help to inspire you.

5)      Keep working for what you want.

Getting what you want in life is never easy.  There are tradeoffs everywhere and you need to constantly work towards your goals.  My sister works in retail by day and performs/records by night.  She’s been to numerous auditions where she’s failed and plenty of events that have stressed and exhausted her.  But she’ll tell you that it’s worth it, because she’s working at what makes her happy.  She keeps at it because if she really wants it, she will make it happen.  That lesson is as true as any, and one we should all remember.  Use your strengths, use your resources, seize opportunity, form connections, and keep pushing forward because you never know what will work out.

If you’re interested in checking out some of my sister’s music (which by now, I bet you are), you can find her on SoundCloud, YouTube, Facebook, and Twitter.  Here’s one of my favorites:

“If I were not a physicist, I would probably be a musician.  I often think in music.  I live my daydreams in music.  I see my life in terms of music.  I get most of my joy in life out of music.” – Albert Einstein

Who do you learn from in your life?  Feel free to share in the comments below!

 

This article was originally posted on my blog, Discovering Infinity and Beyond, on 7/10/14.