• Skip to primary navigation
  • Skip to main content
  • Skip to primary sidebar

Engineering Management Institute

  • About
    • Meet Anthony Fasano, P.E.
    • EMI’s Mission, Vision & Values
    • Meet Team EMI
  • Content
    • Blog
    • Podcasts
      • The Engineering Career Coach Podcast
      • The Civil Engineering Podcast
        • Women in Civil Engineering
        • Civil Engineering Entrepreneurs
        • The Civil Engineering CEO Podcast
      • The Structural Engineering Channel
      • The Geotechnical Engineering Podcast
      • The Engineering Quality Control Podcast
      • The Engineering Project Management Podcast
      • AEC Engineering and Technology Podcast
      • This Week in Civil Engineering
    • TV
    • Videos
    • Books
    • Recommended Reading
    • Sponsors
  • Services
    • Training
    • Hiring Solutions
    • Webinars
  • FE-PE Exams
  • Clients
  • Contact
  • Training

  • About
    • Meet Anthony Fasano, P.E.
    • EMI’s Mission, Vision & Values
    • Meet Team EMI
  • Content
    • Blog
    • Podcasts
      • The Engineering Career Coach Podcast
      • The Civil Engineering Podcast
        • Women in Civil Engineering
        • Civil Engineering Entrepreneurs
        • The Civil Engineering CEO Podcast
      • The Structural Engineering Channel
      • The Geotechnical Engineering Podcast
      • The Engineering Quality Control Podcast
      • The Engineering Project Management Podcast
      • AEC Engineering and Technology Podcast
      • This Week in Civil Engineering
    • TV
    • Videos
    • Books
    • Recommended Reading
    • Sponsors
  • Services
    • Training
    • Hiring Solutions
    • Webinars
  • FE-PE Exams
  • Clients
  • Contact
  • Training

Are You Too Focused on the Wrong Thing in Your Engineering Career?

July 8, 2014 By EMI

Staying Afloat in Your Engineering Career

The following post is based on a true story of a walk my son and I took one evening a few weeks ago. It is meant to inspire you to focus more on the things that matter most to you in your career and your life.

Not Your Average Walk 

My five-year-old son has a lot of energy, so every so often after dinner, he and I will take a long walk along a path that we have dubbed “the Secret Passageway.” A few weeks ago, while out for our walk, we saw something that was both scary and eye-opening.

As we neared a river on our route, we heard screams from two young girls. When we got to the river, we saw a large shaggy dog in the water chasing two geese back and forth. A family of four was walking their dog, and he had taken off when he saw the geese and leapt into the river.



So what, dogs swim, right? Right; however, this dog was so focused on catching the geese, he had blinders on to everything else around him, including his family members running up and down the banks of the river screaming. There was no way the dog was going to catch the geese—in fact, they were just playing with him, jumping over him back and forth. He was getting tired, and as I watched, I realized he was literally going to drown in the effort to catch these geese. Finally, a man who lived nearby jumped in, grabbed the dog, and pulled him to safety.

What Are You Ignoring?

Just as dogs are really good at swimming, many engineers are really good at engineering, but at what expense? I have coached many engineers over the years, and they tend to get so wrapped up with projects, clients, and deadlines that they ignore other things, like their own personal development and their families.

There is no doubt that in order to succeed as an engineer, you need to work hard and be dedicated to your projects and your clients, but again, at what cost? Even if you do “catch the goose,” or finish your project, there will be 10 more waiting right behind it.



So I ask you, what you are ignoring?

How Will You Notice This and Make a Change?

When you are so focused on something, like this dog was, you tend to block everything else out. How will you get yourself out of this situation?

For one thing, I hope this article will force you to examine where you are spending your time and energy and whether you are doing so effectively.

Secondly, ask people. Ask colleagues, friends, family members. Are there other things that you should be focusing on? Maybe you should delegate some of your project tasks and take a course on public speaking or business development? Maybe you should try to leave the office early one day and have dinner with your family?

My Challenge to You

Consider this post a challenge to you to figure out how you can start to focus more on the things that matter. Again, I am in no way saying that your engineering projects don’t matter—they do! However, they shouldn’t consume you completely.

In the Institute for Engineering Career Development (IECD), a community I am building of the 300 most motivated engineers in the world, we will have a call this fall dedicated to this topic. If you are interested in joining the community, contact me and we can discuss it.

No matter what you do, don’t doggy paddle until you drown. Stop yourself now!

  • If you enjoyed this post, please consider downloading our free list of 33 Productivity Routines of Top Engineering Executives. Click the button below to download.

    Download the Productivity Routines

To your success,

Anthony Fasano, PE, LEED AP
Engineering Management Institute
Author of Engineer Your Own Success



Related Posts

  • Are you Focused on Moving your Engineering Career Forward, Every Day?
  • TECC 56: The Engineering Career Coach Podcast – My Five Biggest Career Challenges
  • Can You Explain Your Engineering Career Goals While Standing On One Leg?
  • TECC 003: The Engineering Career Coach Podcast – Overcoming Stagnation in Your Engineering Career
  • TECC 004: The Engineering Career Coach Podcast – Creating Opportunities in Your Engineering Career

Filed Under: Career Goals and Challenges Tagged With: Engineering Career, focus, personal development

Primary Sidebar

Subscribe To Our Newsletter

And Get Custom Content Delivered To You Weekly

PM Training

engineering management lessons

career readiness

Categories

  • AECT – AEC Engineering and Technology Podcast
  • Blog
    • Business Development
    • Business/Entrepreneurship
    • Career Goals and Challenges
    • Communication/Public Speaking
    • COVID19
    • Credentials
    • Enlightenment
    • Ethics & Integrity
    • Job Search/Salary/Relocation
    • Leadership/Management
    • Mentoring
    • Networking/Client Relations
    • News and Events
    • Organization/Productivity/Time Management
    • Personal Development and Professionalism
    • Program Management
    • Project Management
    • Travel
    • Work Life Balance
  • Civil Engineering
  • Engineering Career TV
  • Engineering Technology
  • TCEP-The Civil Engineering Podcast
    • Business Development
    • Business/Entrepreneurship
    • Career Goals and Challenges
    • Civil Engineering Entrepreneurs
    • Communication & Public Speaking
    • Credentials
    • Ethics/Integrity
    • Infrastructure
    • Job Search/Salary/Relocation
    • Leadership/Management
    • Mentoring
    • Project Management
    • Women in Engineering
  • TECC Podcast-The Engineering Career Coach Podcast
    • Business/Entrepreneurship
    • Career Game Changers
    • Career Goals and Challenges
    • Communication/Public Speaking
    • Credentials
    • Enlightenment
    • Job Search/Salary/Relocation
    • Leadership/Management
    • Mentoring
    • Networking/Client Relations
    • News and Events
    • Organization/Productivity/Time Management
    • Personal Development and Professionalism
    • Project Management
    • Work Life Balance
  • TEPM – The Engineering Project Management Podcast
  • TEQC – The Engineering Quality Control Podcast
  • TGEP – The Geotechnical Engineering Podcast
    • Tunneling Series
  • TSEC-The Structural Engineering Channel
  • TWiCE
  • Uncategorized
  • Women in Engineering

TECC Sidebar Featured Final

ENGINEERING MANAGEMENT INSTITUTE

We Can Help You:

  • Build solutions to attract talented professionals.
  • Develop your staff’s people skills.
  • Create career roadmaps for your staff.
  • Provide PM training for your professionals.
  • Build custom development programs.
  • Scale sustainably.

Location:

50 E. Ridgewood Avenue #129

Ridgewood NJ, 07450

800-920-4007

Copyright © 2023 • All Rights Reserved • Property of Engineering Management Institute • Terms of Service • Privacy Policy

SPECIAL DOWNLOAD

33 Productivity Routines of
Top Engineering Executives

x