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Tell me about a time you changed your mind about something important. What caused that shift, and how has it shaped the way you approach learning, leadership, or your future goals?

Whether its a time in the workplace or during a random day.

careeradvice leadership careerdevelopment problemsolving selfimprovement goals teamwork criticalthinking storytelling decisionmaking adaptability emotionalintelligence selfreflection lifelessons selfawareness
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Emily’s Answer

When I was younger, I always dreamed of working in healthcare. I worked hard by volunteering, studying, doing externships, and trying different jobs in the field. Eventually, I found my place in healthcare administration and stayed there for eight years. I loved it, and being in a leadership role helped me grow beyond my comfort zone.

While in administration, I had the chance to try an interim manager role, hoping it would become permanent. I gave it my all, even changing myself to fit what I thought was needed. Unfortunately, my efforts went unnoticed by higher leadership, and they filled the role from outside. This knocked my confidence, but instead of staying in my old role, I decided to explore an area I was interested in and good at—project management.

After experiencing burnout, I made the tough choice to leave healthcare administration. I became a stay-at-home mom for eight months, focusing on myself and earning a project management certificate while studying for the CAPM certification. I reflected on my life and sought what was next for me, continuing to invest in my professional growth.

I took a bold step and applied for an IT Associate Project Management role, even without IT experience. To my surprise, I got an interview and showcased my skills. I never looked back. Now, I'm with a company that has a supportive culture, I work from home, have work-life balance, and feel valued by my peers and leaders. Taking the hardest step can be incredibly rewarding. Don't hesitate to leave something that no longer makes you happy and search for what does. Life can change and grow with you.
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Lixia’s Answer

A major change in my thinking came when I changed my view on health and fitness. At first, I thought fitness was all about how you look and perform, focusing on workouts and strength. But as I learned more about nutrition and overall health, I saw that fitness involves more. Good nutrition, mental health, recovery, and long-term habits are just as important as exercise.

This change was due to my own experiences and what I saw in others. I noticed that people who only did intense workouts without proper nutrition or rest often got burned out or injured. Learning how diet affects energy, mood, and health made me rethink my approach.

Now, I focus on balancing all parts of health—nutrition, rest, and consistency—rather than just intensity. This experience has made me more open to new ideas and willing to question my first thoughts. It also affects how I lead, as I try to be more thoughtful and consider different views when working with others.

Looking forward, this mindset is key for my goal of a career in medicine. Since healthcare is always changing, being able to adapt, learn, and rethink is crucial to giving the best care to patients.
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Steve’s Answer

When I moved from St. Louis to Los Angeles at 18 to attend USC Film School, I dreamed of becoming a movie and TV director. After earning my BA in Film Production, I landed a job at Disney at 23, writing and developing TV shows and movies. I soon realized that screenwriting wasn't my true calling, and the film industry didn't offer the stability I needed. So, I shifted my focus to entertainment advertising. I worked in advertising and promotion at broadcast networks and became a Vice President at CBS On-Air Promotion by 33. I managed creative teams and launched many shows and movies, enjoying a successful career in that field.

Later, I took another big leap and started creating and producing non-entertainment video content for various sectors like non-profits, hospitality, tech, fitness, and telecom. Now, at 71, I'm actively creating video content for non-profits and other clients. Throughout my career, I've made significant decisions to change direction, adapt, and learn new technologies and skills. This willingness to grow and evolve has been rewarding, and the work I do for non-profits is some of the most fulfilling I've ever done.
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Hsu Wei’s Answer

I started my career with a "planned" approach. Fortunately, I met good mentors in the companies I worked for who started to stretch me to go outside of my comfort zone. They thought me to stay open-minded, take risks, and most important to stay curious and take on new projects to keep growing and see how far I can grow.
An opportunity came up for me to leave a job that I like to join a start-up in China. Applying the pros and cons approach show more cons than pros.
I thought hard about the opportunity costs. However, after assessing my interests (love Chinese culture, history and language and was a part-time Chinese tutor), age, and the ability to take the risk then to work in a new country in a not so well-resourced company to learn the faster way I took the leap of faith and left the company to join the start-up.
There were so many learnings including how to work in a different country, and we may think we all speak the same language and yet it means different thing to different people. I also learn how to manage the younger team members who are brought up differently with different values.
This change of mind to not stay in the same company and take a risk, and the exposure from it has taught me to always stay open, adaptable, and consult friends and associates with different experience before deciding what's next to try and learn.
When things don't work out to what I plan, I learn to always stay a step back and ask myself what I have learned that will help me in the next steps.
Nothing is lost, stay open, adaptative, curious and stay connected.
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Liam’s Answer

I wrote an answer for this three times, but each time I changed my mind on something so I erased it and started again.

I used to think that in order to be someone professional you needed to have a specific credential behind you in order to prove you are that specific professional. This was because in school you learn "you'll grow up, go to college for profession, and then live and work as professional". It was that or you were born into that profession and you just inherited it.

I had a lot of great examples of people around me who did not live that path at all but it was really unclear what they did to get there.

Then I read "The Edupunks’ Guide to a DIY Credential" by Anya Kamenetz.

I started to figure out how I can do more to educate myself rather than rely on a person or institution to do so for me. I found that I really like learning all sorts of topics and skills I never really thought I would ever have an interest in. I found that equally I was no longer in interested in chasing a degree or a traditional career path, but also interested in getting a professional credential and the correct schooling for that. It's often I find a topic of interest and just dive right in and learn everything about it. I really figured out I love learning about all sorts of things and have the freedom to just jump in and learn them completely separate from an institution.

Currently I am working in a field I have no traditional schooling in at all. It has been mostly a self learning or learning on the job experience for me. I need to credit youtube creators with a lot of this education as well. Right now my transition is trying to learn more with pen and paper, books, and different projects for myself. I have found Tiago Forte books to help me as well as a book by Sönke Ahrens. This has given me all sorts of ideas on how to think, store my thoughts, and better prepare them for later. This has all changed my thinking and the way I view learning.

Liam recommends the following next steps:

https://media.carolinewoolard.com/texts/the-edupunks-guide-to-a-diy-credential.pdf , https://www.anyakamenetz.net
https://a.co/d/01GnEOEG
https://a.co/d/0gzsgYTZ
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Ashley’s Answer

When you are growing up you feel like it's so important to make a decision and stick with it. That motivation can come internally but also is heavily influenced by what you think others will think of you if you change your mind. As you age, you realize, most people are focused on themselves and not paying attention to you at all. You also realize you have one life and you are in charge of your own life so if you make a decision and want to change it you absolutely can. The only person stopping you is you so get out of your own way.
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Rishi’s Answer

Staying in one place without change can be a real problem. If you don't grow or learn new things, it's hard to move forward and find joy in work or life.

For example, I made a big change after two years in a seven-year medical school program. I realized it wasn't for me, so I left and shifted to a business role in the same field. This opened up opportunities that I find much more rewarding. This experience taught me not to stick to a set path just because I planned it earlier. Now, I focus on growing and enjoying what I do, and being open to making changes when needed, even when it's uncomfortable to do.
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Frank’s Answer

Earlier in my career, I believed that important decisions should only be made once all information was available. That mindset changed during a project with tight timelines and uncertainty, where waiting caused delays. I learned that making informed decisions with partial information, and adjusting as needed, was more effective.
This experience shaped how I approach learning and leadership today. I now value adaptability, early feedback, and decisive action, and it has influenced my goal to grow in roles that require sound judgment in uncertain situations.
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Radhika’s Answer

I used to believe I could plan everything out. But then, I got more opportunities than I ever expected. I learned that instead of spending too much time planning for the future, we should focus on our goals and put more effort into what we're doing right now.
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