On my old commute to work I got to know the routine of my hour-long Metro ride into EBA’s Washington office so well that I’d figured out where to stand on the platform to be right in front of the doors, and memorized the inflections of the train operators voices announcing the stations so I could focus on my book without worrying about missing my exit.
But there’s a problem with such a strategy. I grew complacent. While I had my head down, confident that my well-worn routine would get me where I needed to be, the world around me changed. One day I looked up from my book, and having not realized construction had altered the track route, I had no idea where I was. Lucky for me, the only consequence was arriving late to work as I backtracked on another train. The benefit advising industry is experiencing such a “where am I?” moment now when it comes to youth in the industry.
