Overcompensating

The OHR mentor coordinator told us that we had until August 28th to turn in our complete Individual Development Plans (IDPs). Oh boy. If you read my post on "The Real World: Goals " you'll know exactly how that statement made me feel. In sum, it activated my sensitive gag reflex. However, this weekend I started jotting down some ideas based on the results of a personal assessment I took. I knew I wanted great knowledge of the Smithsonian Institution (SI), I knew I wanted to increase my professional network (IMPW) and I knew that I wanted to improve my written communication skills (INTIWTIMWCS).

I completed my IDP draft today and emailed it to my mentor. I had 8 goals (as determined by the assessment administered to me by the program coordinator), 16 reasons why these goals would help me professionally and personally, 13 activities I will pursue to accomplish these goals, 9 dates for completion of my goals and sub-goals, 13 resources I will need to accomplish said goals, and 9 methods with which to measure my progress. I thought that's what I was supposed to do. Apparently, I went overboard.

In my defense, the example IDP I received looked a lot like the one I created. Okay, okay, there was no (or little) plagiarism involved. What I mean is that the format looked the same. I thought that for each goal I needed 2 or 3 reasons why said goal would help me personally and professionally and at least 2 activities I would pursue to attain the goals. Then of course I had to have completion dates for the activities, measurements for progress and blah blah blah. Formatting. That's what I was going for. I didn't want to look like a slacker, especially because every time my mentor asked me what I wanted to accomplish I really, really, really sounded like a slacker.

I sent my completed IDP draft to my mentor so he could look over it and make suggestions. This is what he said to me: "It certainly seems like you're going to be pretty busy over the next few months!" Oh garsh. Now he probably thinks I'm an over-achiever. Undo! Undo! Undo!