During both my time as a manager and in the military, I was constantly faced with situations in which I needed to make judgments that were of significant importance. Nevertheless, one of the most challenging decisions I’ve ever had to make was a personal one that touched my future. This inner struggle has the potential to more accurately portray who I am.
I have put a lot of effort into developing my skills in two different areas over the past four years: the area of business management, and the area of politics. I have accomplished major things in both of these professions, especially taking into account my age. In the realm of commerce, I held the position of Vice President in a private company that was owned by my family. I worked in a few different political positions in my town over the course of my career. My goal was to obtain a wide range of experiences and information, and I was successful in accomplishing this goal.
A year ago, I came to the realization that it was time for me to determine whether or not I wanted to pursue a career in business management or a career in politics in the not-too-distant future (within the next 10 to 20 years). I got to the point where I couldn’t move on to further judgments until I first established some kind of broad objective (my next job, my masters degree field etc.).
My first step toward resolving this dispute was to make the decision that I would make my choice by the timeframe that I had set (June 2000). It dawned on me that the many years I had spent working in both fields were part of an educational and introspective journey that had prepared me with the tools I needed to get to this conclusion. My internal struggle was very intense because I knew that whichever choice I made would require me to give up one field of activity and one professional objective, either political or managerial. This put me in a very difficult position. In addition, there was a significant lack of information regarding the future, which meant that my choice had to be very arbitrary; this is a circumstance that a rationalist would find quite challenging. Nevertheless, I was aware that being presented with a wide variety of options could lead to an unsafe situation. It is possible for a person to fall behind in all aspects if they do not give their full attention to a single career path out of the concern that they will miss out on other opportunities; this went against my goals.
Eventually, somewhere around six months ago, I came to the conclusion that I wanted to spend the rest of my life working in business management. I have the impression that this is the field in which I will be able to properly express my talents and make a big contribution to the advancement of society. After achieving success in the business world as a manager, it seems reasonable and logical to me to transition into a career in politics at some point in the far future.
Since I made up my mind, I have not second-guessed or second-guessed myself once. I quickly got to work figuring out how to put my decision into action. As a direct result of this, a couple of days later I mailed a Request for Application Material to the Harvard Business School.
During the course of making a decision, I gained a lot of insight into who I am as a person. I went through an essential and beneficial phase of maturing, becoming more focused, and developing as a person. I spent a lot of time thinking about fundamental questions like, “What do I enjoy doing?” and “Who am I?” Where do my strengths lie? What part do you think I should play in the community that I am a part of? My viewpoints became more steady, and I emerged from the experience feeling strengthened and resolved.
