Staying inspired at work is no small task, especially as the years drag on. It can be hard to be exhilarated by your work when the demands of daily life have you feeling stressed out and exhausted; it doesn’t help that your boss and coworkers might not be as excited by your ideas as your professors and classmates were in school.
[Tweet “A return to education can expose you to experts & knowledge allowing you to think differently about your career”]In fact, if you’re finding yourself chronically uninspired at work, going back to school for an advanced degree might be the answer. Why? A return to higher education can expose you to experts and knowledge that will help you think differently about your career.
It’ll give you a concrete goal to work toward, with regular milestones in the form of assignments, exams, and grades. It can present you with many networking opportunities, and the chance to bounce your ideas off of supportive colleagues and mentors who can help you develop them.
Most of all, a return to school can help you fight off the boredom that may be enveloping your career, by giving you the chance to learn something new.
Expand Your Horizons
As an undergraduate, you had the chance to study your field and familiarize yourself with its current body of knowledge. But as a graduate student, you’ll go further. In a master’s or doctorate program, you’ll begin to contribute to the knowledge in your field.
[Tweet “Be exposed to ideas & knowledge you never even knew existed…”]Graduate studies offer you the chance to forge personal relationships with experts in your field, that is to say, your professors. You’ll be exposed to ideas and knowledge you never even knew existed, and this exposure is almost guaranteed to get you thinking about your job, and your career path, differently.
Give Yourself a Goal
One of the most important things you can do to re-spark lost feelings of inspiration is to take action. Stop coasting along in your job, hoping that someday inspiration will find you on its own. You have to find it, and in order to do that, you have to get to work.
Of course, this prospect can be overwhelming if you don’t know where to start or what goal to set. Going back to school can give you that concrete goal by allowing you to work toward a post-graduate degree — a credential that will open doors for the rest of your life.
Plus, enrolling in a graduate program — whether it’s an MSN, an MFA, a GMAT waiver MBA, or a JSD — will set you on a path with regular milestones. One of the most demoralizing, and disorienting, things about post-college life, especially for new graduates, is the absence of familiar milestones that show regular progress, in the form of assignments, exams, and end-of-semester grade reports.
You’ll be happy to celebrate these small victories, and you should carry this lesson forward throughout the rest of your life: Celebrating the little things helps you stay motivated to keep working toward the larger goal.
Grow Your Network
Everyone needs a professional network. Networking is an important way to find new professional opportunities, but it’s so much more than that. Going back to school can help you instantly bond with colleagues and mentors who will be excited about your ideas, and ready to help you improve them.
As you leave school and move on to the next opportunity, nurture that network. Their enthusiasm for your work and ideas can help you stay excited for your own career path, wherever it may take you. A supportive circle of friends, colleagues, and mentors can help you maintain your belief in the worth of your ideas and your achievements.
Banish Boredom
Nothing will kill your inspiration faster than allowing boredom to take root in your life. Fortunately, the easiest way to prevent — or treat — boredom is to learn something new.
Graduate school offers ample opportunities to learn new things — and not just on the academic front. You’ll learn from your professors’ professional experience, and from getting know your classmates, who may come from extremely diverse backgrounds.
In addition to polishing and expanding your professional skills, going back to school could also offer opportunities to join new clubs and have new experiences, such as working in a graduate assistantship. And with MCAT online prep courses, you won’t have any trouble getting into medical school!
Have you been feeling uninspired at work lately? Are you wondering if this is just how professional life is? Well, it doesn’t have to be! Going back to school can help you reignite your spark of inspiration, so that going to work every day is exciting once again.
Identity Magazine is all about empowering women to get all A’s in the game of life — Accept. Appreciate. Achieve.™ Every contributor and expert answer the Identity 5 questions in keeping with our theme. Their answers can be random and in the moment or they can be aligned with the above article. As a team, we hope to inspire and motivate ourselves and inspire you to get all A’s.
1. What have you accepted within your life, physically and/or mentally? What are you still working on accepting?
My main acceptance in life would be that “change” itself is a constant and regardless of opinion it is inevitable. Making peace with ones self and accepting the things we CANNOT change is key to living a full and happy life. Within those experiences we grow as people and learn.
2. What have you learn to appreciate about yourself and/or within your life, physically and mentally? What are you still working on to appreciate?
I have learned to appreciate all of my imperfections as it makes me who I am as a person and in reality “perfection” is all up for interpretation. In return I have taught myself to replace the old methods in dealing with situations and problems with ones that will deliver or elicit positive responses and solutions.
3. What is one of your most rewarding achievements in life? Tell us not only what makes YOU most proud but also share the goals and dreams that you still have.
I believe my core values or the personal rules I have set in place for myself and chose to live by have brought nothing but reward to my life as it has created my known presence to be one of value and those things remind me daily of my standards set if ever I were to steer off course.
4. We all have imperfections, so we think. The truth–we are all perfectly imperfect. What are your not-so-perfect ways? What imperfections and quirks create who you are–your Identity?
Over analyzing every situation would definitely be a not-so-perfect quirk about myself, leading my mind to wander with thoughts of what-if’s, that usually are just that, “what-if’s”. Along with spontaneity and positivity it creates my not-so-perfect, but awesome self!! 
5. “I Love My…” is an outlet for you to express and appreciate all the positive traits that make you…well… YOU! Sharing what you love about yourself will make you smile, feel empowered, and uplift your spirit and soul. (we assure you!) Identity challenges you to complete the phrase “I Love My…?”
I love my positive outlook on life and the huge heart I carry with me daily filled with nothing but compassion for others and a willingness to always be learning something new.
