First!

The hardest part of this thing is writing the first post. I've tried to start a blog four times in the past (though none were intended to have MBA content) and even wrote out a few entries in Word but never posted them.

This time I'm trying a new tact: I'm giving myself a half hour to write a post and then putting it up no matter what, including typos, ramblings, or unfinished thoughts. I'll plan to hold myself to these half hour postings weekly (probably Sunday evening?) in addition to anything I write during the week.

I've been a silent reader of MBA blogs for over a year now and have been doing some serious thinking over the past few months about my own goals, career path, and ultimately whether I want to pursue an MBA.


I do.


I came to the realization after some long talks with my Significant Other as well as the first time I actually sat down and wrote out some ideas on what I want to do for the next 5-20 years. What sort of work environment/culture do I want? What is my ideal position in 5, 10, 20 years? Do I want to own my own business? Would I be satisfied "owning" my area of specialty within a larger company? Do I believe an MBA is necessary and/or a significant benefit to helping me achieve these goals? None of the answers were revelations - I've known for a few years what I "want" out of a career - but how much I really wanted those things was brought home.

And so this blog… and so here I am… locked in a windowless conference room at work with my personal laptop at 8pm on a Sunday night and promise not to exit for another 20 minutes…

I suppose I need to lay down my own expectations for this blog if only to set my list-making OCD mind at rest. I'm sure the list will evolve and the blog will deviate but here goes:

* The primary idea here is simply to track my progress and put my thoughts down on paper; help flesh out my ideas so I am better prepared for essays this fall.. I've actually done a fair amount of thinking (okay, a lot) on the subject and I plan to revisit much of it in the coming months
* It always seems like the bloggers applying to the same schools end up finding each other, exchanging ideas, and generally benefiting from the process of blogging even if it’s only moral support during Essay Season
* As mentioned above I’ve been reading a number of MBA blogs over the past year and they have been of huge help to me. Hopefully mine can do the same for others and I can give a bit back to the community.

Until next time…

Soooooo apparently the first post sat in "draft" mode for 5 days. Oops. I'll do better in the future, promise.