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Paul Goble Highlight
If I had done what I expected to do, and what I planned to do, I think my life would have been different. It would have been less useful and less interesting.
About Paul
- Says that the biggest mistake most people make is that they narrow their career path too early on.
- Advises road-trippers to get a broad education, plan for 2-3 different careers.
- In his twenties, he made a major career shift; went from planning to be an academic to entering the world of ethnic conflict.
- The CIA hired him as a "Soviet Affairs Analyst" assigned to dissect the war in Afghanistan and "expose the soft underbelly of the USSR."
- He was trained as a specialist on Russia and the Baltic states; now teaches at the University of Tatu in Estonia.
- Although his career, eventually came back around to academia, he says he could've achieved much more in the field if he'd stayed on that track.
- However, he says that "doing better" by those industry standards means more money, better house, better car.
- Instead, he chose to instead live a life with a purpose and to take steps towards changing the world; says he made the right choice.
