{"componentChunkName":"component---src-templates-docs-js","path":"/nextchapter","result":{"data":{"mdx":{"fields":{"id":"4cd41d8d-9dbd-5e36-b886-c1ffc7e3f77f","title":"Next Chapter","slug":"/nextchapter"},"body":"var _excluded = [\"components\"];\n\nfunction _extends() { _extends = Object.assign || function (target) { for (var i = 1; i < arguments.length; i++) { var source = arguments[i]; for (var key in source) { if (Object.prototype.hasOwnProperty.call(source, key)) { target[key] = source[key]; } } } return target; }; return _extends.apply(this, arguments); }\n\nfunction _objectWithoutProperties(source, excluded) { if (source == null) return {}; var target = _objectWithoutPropertiesLoose(source, excluded); var key, i; if (Object.getOwnPropertySymbols) { var sourceSymbolKeys = Object.getOwnPropertySymbols(source); for (i = 0; i < sourceSymbolKeys.length; i++) { key = sourceSymbolKeys[i]; if (excluded.indexOf(key) >= 0) continue; if (!Object.prototype.propertyIsEnumerable.call(source, key)) continue; target[key] = source[key]; } } return target; }\n\nfunction _objectWithoutPropertiesLoose(source, excluded) { if (source == null) return {}; var target = {}; var sourceKeys = Object.keys(source); var key, i; for (i = 0; i < sourceKeys.length; i++) { key = sourceKeys[i]; if (excluded.indexOf(key) >= 0) continue; target[key] = source[key]; } return target; }\n\n/* @jsxRuntime classic */\n\n/* @jsx mdx */\nvar _frontmatter = {\n  \"title\": \"Next Chapter\",\n  \"metaTitle\": \"What do I want?\",\n  \"metaDescription\": \"This is the meta description\"\n};\nvar layoutProps = {\n  _frontmatter: _frontmatter\n};\nvar MDXLayout = \"wrapper\";\nreturn function MDXContent(_ref) {\n  var components = _ref.components,\n      props = _objectWithoutProperties(_ref, _excluded);\n\n  return mdx(MDXLayout, _extends({}, layoutProps, props, {\n    components: components,\n    mdxType: \"MDXLayout\"\n  }), mdx(\"p\", null, \"This is the exciting part of my adventure. Nothing is set in stone at the moment. Everything is subject to change, and I\\nget to choose where go. Sure, I may not have complete control over what happens around me. However, I have complete and\\nabsolute control as to how I handle it.\"), mdx(\"p\", null, \"Though I may not know explicitly how my next coming years are going to fold out. There is something that should be not\\nbe there in the future. Which is the feeling like I need to prove something every day by committing and pushing code to source\\ncode repositories. Not to saying that writing code in my free time is something I never want to do again. I just do not\\nwant it to be seated with the level of importance it has right now.\"), mdx(\"p\", null, \"The idea that I can grow as a person, without needing to be in-front of a computer or documenting it so others know I am\\nself-improve improving is not far-fetched, right? Convincing myself this is the case is another feat in of itself. I\\nhave a ton of momentum and inertia built up at the moment. There are projects that I \", mdx(\"em\", {\n    parentName: \"p\"\n  }, \"do\"), \" want to be spending my time\\non, however, they are not the only things that I should be working on.\"), mdx(\"p\", null, \"I would like to spend my focused energy on other topics, that are not career building. There has to be more to life than\\njust become a really valuable employee. Knowing that there is vast pool of unknown opportunities not yet experienced, is\\ninvigorating.\"), mdx(\"h1\", null, \"Foreign Experiences\"), mdx(\"p\", null, \"I have been leading a fairly white-bread life so far. Do not get me wrong, being plain is great. Not experiencing\\nadversity is the only thing I have known. However, I feel like I am missing out on various character building exercises.\\nBeing a white late-twenties middle-class male living in America, basically means that I am invisible. Nothing really\\nspectacular jumps out on paper. Yes, my qualifications are good, and I am grateful for that, but I do not stand out.\\nSometimes it is nice being able to blend in and pretend that nobody can see me.\"), mdx(\"p\", null, \"However, I have gotten comfortable with that, and would like to know what it is like to be \", mdx(\"em\", {\n    parentName: \"p\"\n  }, \"different\"), \", an outsider. I\\nfeel like there are many things that I can discover about myself, if I become immersed into a place where I am \", mdx(\"em\", {\n    parentName: \"p\"\n  }, \"not\"), \" the\\nstandard.\"), mdx(\"p\", null, \"That means that I get to travel! The real question was, where to?\"), mdx(\"p\", null, \"Growing up just knowing one language has made me feel like I am missing out on something. All I have ever known, is\\nEnglish. What it takes to be fluent in another language is an alien concept. Sure, I have dabbled in learning Spanish in\\nhigh-school, but I wanted to choose something that was difficult to learn and very different from English.\"), mdx(\"p\", null, \"The other acceptance criteria was that it had to be at least applicable to my future career. So skipping over learning\\nArabic was a sound choice. Nothing personal, just business.\"), mdx(\"p\", null, \"Which narrowed down the list to: Russian, Hindi, or Chinese. I did pass on learning Japanese. I feel like one of the\\nweird anime fans where I enjoy consuming Japanese pop culture, but have a small desire to actually visit the country.\"), mdx(\"p\", null, \"A large majority of software developers reside/come from these countries: China, India, The United States, and the\\nRussian Federation. The argument for learning Russian was strong, there are a ton of slavic hackers and the language\\nappears to be in different league of its own. Learning Hindi was also very appealing. It was also very foreign as\\ncompared to English. Another big plus (and this might because of the availability bias) but going to school and starting\\nmy professional career, I have been around a bunch of Indian folk. In fact, at the time that I was deciding what\\nlanguage to learn, both of my co-workers where originally from India.\"), mdx(\"p\", null, \"Ihe end, I decided that learning Mandarin was the best choice. Not only is the language visually nothing like English,\\nit is also spoken by a large mass of people. Granted, that mass is not anywhere near the center of America, but still.\\nWe live in an age where we are becoming more connected, and I felt like China has the most promise. There is a growing\\nwealth of potential sources of information, help, and experiences, that exists across a vast expanse of water.\"), mdx(\"p\", null, \"When I started, I knew that I would be in it for the long haul. All the accounts, from those studying the language, had\\na common theme of not expect to see competency results for over 2 years. \\u867D\\u7136\\u53BB\\u5E74\\u6211\\u5F00\\u59CB\\u5B66\\u4E60\\u4E2D\\u6587\\uFF0C\\u4F46\\u662F\\u6211\\u8FD8\\u662F\\u65B0\\u624B\\u3002Let me tell you right now,\\nlearning Chinese has been \", mdx(\"em\", {\n    parentName: \"p\"\n  }, \"quite\"), \" the challenge. I get to memorise not only the characters, but also the stroke orders\\nand tones of the character, any tone changing rules when it is paired with other characters. Also sprinkle in a bit of\\ngrammar. Thankfully, Chinese grammar is not very difficult.\"), mdx(\"p\", null, \"With that decided, I would like to at least have the chance to visit China before any decisions on where I want to go\\nnext in life occur. Given that 2021 is still a world lingering in a global pandemic, I still have plenty of time to keep\\nstudying before I get a chance to visit.\"), mdx(\"h1\", null, \"Meeting New People\"), mdx(\"p\", null, \"My social life is also another area of my life that has been neglected. While I have spent most of my time building\\nmyself up alone and in my free time, that does not mean that I am completely introverted. I would like to think I have\\nthese things called \\\"social skills\\\". I can hold a conversation on interesting topics, and am generally articulate with\\nmy thoughts. While I do not explicitly seek out social interactions, I am not worn down by or scared of these activities\\neither. Social preferences is something that I believe can be adjusted with the right attitude. Meaning that I feel\\nlike I am not stuck on one end of the spectrum or the other.\"), mdx(\"p\", null, \"Right now, my current goal in life is to be the best version I can possibly be, and other people cannot do that for me.\\nThey can give me the opportunity to allow myself to go to the next level, but I am the one who has to: eat right, stay\\ndisciplined, lift heavy things, and so forth. Therefore, involving others seemed like unnecessary overhead. Becoming\\ngreat was something I thought only I could give myself.\"), mdx(\"p\", null, \"My goal of self-actualization does not have a clearly defined end-state. I have no idea if I will ever finish what I\\nstarted. There will always be something else to improve on, and settling for \", mdx(\"em\", {\n    parentName: \"p\"\n  }, \"good enough\"), \" will not cut it. There is a\\ntricky balancing act in trying to find the right reason. Which will allow me to change my life's direction.\"), mdx(\"p\", null, \"Meeting new people has a lot of new challenges to overcome. Forming relationships is not a one-sided endeavour. Whereas,\\nif I am working on just myself I can bend reality in my favor. Such that no matter what I do, I can feel always like I\\nam being successful. The thought of losing this option, is a bit unnerving. I attribute a lot of my current character,\\nto my ability to skew reality to working in my favor. Essentially giving me the ability to overcome great challenges\\nand accomplish goals that I find valuable.\"), mdx(\"p\", null, \"As I make the switch, the way I judge my success is not only dependent on my perspective, but also the others that I\\ninteract with. I still want to be true to myself and do not want to conform just to appease others. There are many\\nunknowns that lie ahead, and I feel uncomfortable about this leg of my journey. However, being uncomfortable is\\nsomething I intentionally seek out, because that means there is an opportunity for growth.\"), mdx(\"p\", null, \"Over the course of time, there are going to be many hurdles to overcome with this the new path that I am taking. Getting\\nstarted, and continuing to work on this part seems to be the greatest challenge. In fact, I still do not know how I am\\ngoing to begin to try. The allure of wanting to fallback and do what I have always done before is strong and needs to\\nbe resisted.\"), mdx(\"p\", null, \"The purpose for starting and continuing to grow this new aspect of my life needs to be stronger than everything else.\\nMuch like everything else that I do. Which is an attempt to give my life purpose and meaning (I guess everybody else does this\\ntoo). As of today, most of the actions that I have taken up until now, has been directed towards growing my career and\\nsetting myself up for financial success in the future. Most of those boxes have been checked at the moment, and I will\\ncontinue to be diligent with these as time passes. Though I may never be at a satisfactory level, I need to accept where\\nI am now to be acceptable.\"), mdx(\"p\", null, \"Meaning that the underlying motives as to why I want to start this new chapter of my life, is probably \", mdx(\"strong\", {\n    parentName: \"p\"\n  }, \"not\"), \" going to\\nbe the same as it has been before. Actually, before I explain anything, they are almost the same thing, just from a\\ndifferent perspective. I will elaborate more once I have actually spent the time explaining the real reason I want to\\nmove on.\"), mdx(\"p\", null, \"Yes, I want to meet new people and get the chance to make more friends. The idea that others have figured things out\\nabout life that I have not yet, is an exciting prospect. I want to build and strengthen relationships with others. Most\\nof the things that I want out of life cannot be bought with just money. Though they can be purchased via time and\\neffort.\"), mdx(\"p\", null, \"The idea is to find a diverse pool of people to connect with. Each of these connections I expect to yield different\\nrewards. For instance, it could be a new opportunity to work on a difficult problem, a chance to impact the lives of\\nothers, or some other great things. I have had a fair amount of time to think about it, and I feel like the only action\\nthat has meaningful purpose is that of helping others. This is not a noble purpose, humanity can only advance if we\\ncooperate. We are all here to help each other out, and I want to excel at that.\"), mdx(\"p\", null, \"A common theme from all the books that I have read, is that when your purpose becomes greater than yourself, you become\\ncapable of more things. When the motive to shifts from the self to others, feats you can accomplish can become greater.\\nDisciple can be fueled by the need to accomplish something greater than yourself.\"), mdx(\"p\", null, \"It is this prospect that excites me the most. Knowing that I can push the boundaries of what I am capable to even\\nfurther limits. However, this new area of focus is not \", mdx(\"em\", {\n    parentName: \"p\"\n  }, \"just\"), \" about self-growth. No, I have also set my sights on one\\nother specific person as well. Though I do not know who she is right now, what I do know is she does exist. We have\\nnever interacted, yet. Her name and face are currently unknown to me, but I cannot stop thinking about her. I have spent\\nenough time with myself to know who I am and what I want out of life. What I want next, is the opportunity to build an\\namazing experience together with someone special. Looking back when we are old, I want to be the reason for her greatest\\nmoments in life. I feel as though that is my next purpose in life, is to become the reason for someone else. While I\\ncould continue to write thousands more words on my romantic fantasies. If I do not do anything about my current life,\\nthey will just remain pleasant thoughts.\"), mdx(\"h1\", null, \"What's Next?\"), mdx(\"p\", null, \"I need to \", mdx(\"em\", {\n    parentName: \"p\"\n  }, \"start\"), \" and see myself through this next chapter I have planned for my life. While these goals have ambiguous\\ndefinitions of success, that should not prevent them from being started. Figuring out where I want to go was the\\ndifficult part. Knowing where the goal resides, will drive the discipline to keep moving forward and remaining on\\ncourse. Sure, there may be days when little to no progress is made, or even setbacks may occur. Having a goal is the\\nbeacon in the foggy night sky guiding me to where I need to be.\"), mdx(\"p\", null, \"It may be a bit clich\\xE9, but it is not totally about the destination the journey there is also important. I have\\nzero idea, what the path to my goals will look like. What I do know, is what I want next. There are people who depend on\\nme whether they know it or not. I owe it to them to take my next steps forward.\"), mdx(\"p\", null, \"As I look back now, the reason that I feel stuck, is a bit silly. I am currently working on a process that I never\\nactively advertised, until now. In attempts to establish a good first impression, that I will never present. All without\\nwanting to stop until I feel like I have reached a level I am satisfied with. Knowing full well that day will never\\ncome.\"), mdx(\"p\", null, \"What I have hoped to have gotten out of this exercise, is the piece of mind needed to let go and take the next steps. My\\nfocus needs to be directed towards the next challenges ahead, and not back to what is comfortable.\"), mdx(\"p\", null, \"I also hope that you found some new nuggets of information. Something that might be helpful for use later in life. If\\nnothing else, you managed to kill sometime though.\"), mdx(\"p\", null, \"Here's to the future!\"), mdx(\"p\", null, \"-Alex\"));\n}\n;\nMDXContent.isMDXComponent = true;","tableOfContents":{"items":[{"url":"#foreign-experiences","title":"Foreign Experiences"},{"url":"#meeting-new-people","title":"Meeting New People"},{"url":"#whats-next","title":"What's Next?"}]},"parent":{"relativePath":"nextchapter.md"},"frontmatter":{"metaTitle":"What do I want?","metaDescription":"This is the meta description"}},"allMdx":{"edges":[{"node":{"fields":{"slug":"/","title":"The Ultramarathon"}}},{"node":{"fields":{"slug":"/introduction","title":"But Why?"}}},{"node":{"fields":{"slug":"/accomplishments","title":"Accomplishments"}}},{"node":{"fields":{"slug":"/accomplishments/a_thecommunicator","title":"Good Word Speaker"}}},{"node":{"fields":{"slug":"/accomplishments/b_machinelearning","title":"Maths Mountain"}}},{"node":{"fields":{"slug":"/accomplishments/c_theperfecttheme","title":"The Perfect Theme"}}},{"node":{"fields":{"slug":"/thestrugglebus","title":"Struggle Bus"}}},{"node":{"fields":{"slug":"/thestrugglebus/a_greatestchallenge","title":"Greatest Challenge"}}},{"node":{"fields":{"slug":"/thestrugglebus/biggestfear","title":"Greatest Fear"}}},{"node":{"fields":{"slug":"/reflections","title":"Reflections"}}},{"node":{"fields":{"slug":"/reflections/durationnotgood","title":"Time !== Merit"}}},{"node":{"fields":{"slug":"/nextchapter","title":"Next Chapter"}}}]}},"pageContext":{"id":"4cd41d8d-9dbd-5e36-b886-c1ffc7e3f77f"}},"staticQueryHashes":["2619113677","3706406642","417421954"]}