By MARK PEARSON Follow @Journlaw
My media law students are in their final week of studies for the year so I took the opportunity to offer them my observations on some crucial ingredients for their success in this course and beyond into their lives and careers.
It is encapsulated in this formula:
Ability
We all have talents for some things and but are not so good at others. I know that if I decided suddenly at my age that I wanted to be a concert pianist, never having learned a musical instrument, I guess I might learn to play a basic tune on the piano but my abilities would prevent me actually achieving that dream. On the other hand, if I paid for piano lessons for one of my young grandchildren they would have a much better chance, yet they would still need some inherent ability. I guess the lesson here is that we each need to acknowledge our abilities – and pursue those from that set that really interest us as well.
+ Passion
I’ve found most things I’ve done in my life have been a success if they have had a passion element to them. I’ve really needed the heart for it before I’ve been able to make something a success. And there have been things I’ve done along the way that have not been so successful because they lacked such enthusiasm. I remember my father took me along to join a swim school and I only attended twice because I didn’t have the passion for swimming. My granddaughter, however, has that passion, and she’s in the state championships. She has the ability and the enthusiasm. If you’re going to do well at something – including media law – you need some ability and a good dose of passion.
+ Learning
Then of course you need the learning. No matter how talented you are at something you really need to commit yourself to learning more about it and that comes into play in all walks of our life. I did work at a previous university and I really love the motto of that place – “Forever Learning”. I’ve come to believe we all really are forever learning, and even when we’re really good at something we can always learn more. I think part of my joy in media law is in always learning something new. Only last week a student told me about a new case involving emojis and how they can leave you vulnerable to a defamation action – and that was something new I’d learned so I was really excited to share that on Twitter. Even though you might be a so-called ‘expert’, if you see yourself as forever learning more about something you maintain the passion and you do actually improve in the process.
+ Opportunities
There is no denying we also need opportunities. Those of us attending Griffith University have a certain level of advantage over many of our peers. Others might be deprived of such an opportunity for a host of reasons. We really owe it to ourselves, to our parents, to each other, and to the rest of society to maximise the chances we have been given. That can help drive the passion for what we are doing if we understand it and take advantage of every chance we can to pay it back along the way by creating opportunities for others.
+ Effort
Sometimes it really does take considerable effort, even if you have some natural ability, passion, and you are willing to learn and are presented with the opportunities. There’s a point at which you really have to lift yourself to put in the effort. Some of you are already doing well in media law, but with that extra effort you’ll do even better. It could be you’ve decided by this stage of the course that your ability and passion is not really in media law, but that extra effort can get you over the pass line and perhaps an even higher result.
+ Reflection
Reflection is important in this formula. We need to reflect as we go – as we address a particular problem – but we also need reflection upon our own progress in our career and life. We need time out – whether it is a dedicated meditation period – or something less formal like a mind-mapping or journaling session, or perhaps a brainstorm or heart to-heart chat with a mentor. We need to assess and reassess where we are in our pursuit of our goals and in resetting them along the way, perhaps as we adjust them to ethical or moral frameworks or in response to other priorities that have emerged. We all make our New Year’s resolutions, but how seriously do we take them and how well do they truly map our foreseeable futures? Perhaps we need to engage in that process more frequently than annually. I think we all can benefit from a timetable of serious reflection upon where we have been, where we are headed, what the realistic goals are, whether this is what we really should be doing, and how to perform even better on each of the above criteria.
= Satisfaction (and Success)
These six factors I believe add up to constitute your satisfaction with what you are pursuing – the level of satisfaction in your life, your career and even in a particular course like media law if you apply yourself to each of them in a considered way. You’ll notice I placed in brackets after the word Satisfaction “(and Success)” because success can be measured in so many different ways. Some people finish their careers with others seeing them as extremely successful in terms of wealth, position and other social acknowledgements. But do they actually have satisfaction? Some do – they are indeed satisfied with their lives and what they have achieved in their careers and the opportunities they have created for others. But really I think the success element is linked strongly to satisfaction. We can get substantial satisfaction without those monetary and other tokenistic rewards but through intangible rewards by having pursued and achieved considered goals with passion, to the best of our abilities, making the most of each opportunity – and learning from our studies and our mistakes along the way.
May you be safe. May you be well. May you be content.
Disclaimer: While I write about media law and ethics, nothing here should be construed as legal advice. I am an academic, not a lawyer. My only advice is that you consult a lawyer before taking any legal risks.
© Mark Pearson 2020 – the moral right of the author has been asserted.
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