A Powerful Lesson When the Universe Tests Your Patience (The Wisdom of Creating a Learning Plan)

When I joined Accenture, I had 3 degrees from Purdue and I was a new analyst because they didn't have experienced hires back then. So I was 28, 2 kids, married, and I was the same level analyst as somebody who just graduated from college with a BS in communication. And so I was just like, you know, maturity difference, education difference, all this kind of stuff. And so they didn't know how to staff me. So what happened is, is the first 6 months I was at Accenture, everybody got staffed because they knew how to staff them. And they kept saying to me, we need to find the right project for you. We have to find the right project for you. Oh, we have to find the right project. Now think of the universe telling you, we have to find the right project for Chuck. You know, we have to do the right project for Chuck. And it's just like, we don't know how to because Chuck is special. And, well, you're special, Patrick. And after about 5 months, I sat back and I was like, look, I'm going to be— because back in those days, we cut the bottom 5% or 10% out of the company. I mean, literally fired them. And I was like, at the end of this year, I'm going to get fired. Just give me anything. And they're like, well, you're special. So then what I did was I said, look, I'm an unfinished PhD student at Purdue. So I, and I think I told you the story, I created a learning plan, right? And that learning plan over the holidays, yeah, over the holidays. And then I was like, oh, I got so invested. I was like, this is so good. I'm so— this is the perfect plan. It's the perfect one. I'm gonna love this. It's gonna be great. And, you know, and, you know, I'll get fired from Accenture. I'll have my, my, all my stuff, my research plan laid out. I'll get my PhD, and this is an answer to my prayers. Thank you so much, Accenture. Thank you for giving me the time to do this. And the weekend, the Monday I showed up, it was like, you're staffed at Sears. I'm like, really? We're doing this this way? And it was like, yep. So, so, um, I love this. I love that you have a plan, you know, for learning for yourself. I think it's good. Yeah, the universe will deal that card to you. Right, right. You know, and the universe is chuckling at times too, so it's waiting for you to invest in something to give you something else.