This is a guest post by Patrick Sweet, P.Eng.
I’ve worked with thousands of engineers throughout the world, and a common theme has emerged throughout that work: engineers want to see progress in their careers.
We want to climb the corporate ladder faster. We want to get more done. We want to be happier and more successful. We want to improve.
I think this is a noble and worthy thing to pursue. The trouble is that most engineers don’t know where to start with respect to their pursuit of progress.
Today, I’m going to talk about why understanding your “Why” is the single most important thing you can do to kick start your path towards being a better you.
I recently presented a half-day leadership seminar to a group of engineers in Mississippi. The seminar covered the basics of the most important business skills engineers should have namely: communications, productivity, leadership, and professional development.
I was recently reminded of a parable I had heard many years ago. In the story, there are three bricklayers working on a wall for a church. Someone asks the first bricklayer what he’s doing. He says, “I’m building a wall.” The second bricklayer is asked the same question and replies, “I’m building a church.” Finally, the third bricklayer is asked what he’s doing, and he says, “I’m building the house of God.”
I was recently listening to an interview with Ben Brenton, the Chief Innovation Officer of Snap-on Tools on the 
When she was about one year old, my daughter, Charlotte, started mimicking what my wife and I did in a big way. If we did it, she wanted to do it. If I stirred my coffee, she wanted to stir her milk. If my wife went to play the piano, Charlotte wanted to play the piano. If I changed the channel on the TV, Charlotte wanted to try to do it, too. It was adorable, and I almost always got a chuckle out of it. Monkey see, monkey do.
