What Matters Most to You and Why?
What matters most to you and why?
I must confess that, until I read this application question, I had never given much thought to determining exactly what I consider most important in my life. I believe I am one of many applicants who confront this question without a ready-made answer, and I am astonished by the realization that so many of us lead our lives without reflecting on our roles. That is all the more perplexing when we consider that many of these individuals are businesspeople, that is, individuals entrusted with disseminating their companies' visions and missions.
So I took some time over the past few weeks to reflect on my personal history, present context, and future plans. By carefully analyzing my actions, attitudes, and behaviors, I have finally come up with a solid answer to this complex question. My priority, to put it rather succinctly, is a lifelong pursuit to improve myself as a human being.
Greek philosophers divided the human essence into a trilogy of mind, spirit, and body, and I find this a useful framework to break my life down into its three major dimensions: professional, spiritual, and personal. In my quest for self-improvement, I seek to make progress in each of those areas.
THE PROFESSIONAL DIMENSION
For me, work itself is not a goal unto itself; rather, it is a mean to achieve my objectives. Nevertheless, it is a very important aspect of my life; on average, after all, 40% of our time is spent on duty. Besides financial rewards, work gives me the opportunity to refine and share knowledge, build relationships, help people, overcome personal challenges, grow as a professional, and participate in a social environment.
For example, I feel proud of my ability to work with different people, even if they are difficult to deal with. When I was an Executive Trainee in HSBC, I supervised the work of a younger trainee, Aline, in the Credit Scoring Team. After her first weeks at work, everybody considered Aline a person with good
I must confess that, until I read this application question, I had never given much thought to determining exactly what I consider most important in my life. I believe I am one of many applicants who confront this question without a ready-made answer, and I am astonished by the realization that so many of us lead our lives without reflecting on our roles. That is all the more perplexing when we consider that many of these individuals are businesspeople, that is, individuals entrusted with disseminating their companies' visions and missions.
So I took some time over the past few weeks to reflect on my personal history, present context, and future plans. By carefully analyzing my actions, attitudes, and behaviors, I have finally come up with a solid answer to this complex question. My priority, to put it rather succinctly, is a lifelong pursuit to improve myself as a human being.
Greek philosophers divided the human essence into a trilogy of mind, spirit, and body, and I find this a useful framework to break my life down into its three major dimensions: professional, spiritual, and personal. In my quest for self-improvement, I seek to make progress in each of those areas.
THE PROFESSIONAL DIMENSION
For me, work itself is not a goal unto itself; rather, it is a mean to achieve my objectives. Nevertheless, it is a very important aspect of my life; on average, after all, 40% of our time is spent on duty. Besides financial rewards, work gives me the opportunity to refine and share knowledge, build relationships, help people, overcome personal challenges, grow as a professional, and participate in a social environment.
For example, I feel proud of my ability to work with different people, even if they are difficult to deal with. When I was an Executive Trainee in HSBC, I supervised the work of a younger trainee, Aline, in the Credit Scoring Team. After her first weeks at work, everybody considered Aline a person with good