{"id":1643,"date":"2025-12-15T19:20:17","date_gmt":"2025-12-15T19:20:17","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/meincorporated.me\/?p=1643"},"modified":"2025-12-15T19:20:23","modified_gmt":"2025-12-15T19:20:23","slug":"investing-in-yourself-what-my-dissertation-taught-me-about-persistence-purpose-and-personal-value","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/meincorporated.me\/?p=1643","title":{"rendered":"Investing in Yourself: What My Dissertation Taught Me About Persistence, Purpose, and Personal Value"},"content":{"rendered":"\n

Long before phrases like lifelong learning<\/em>, personal branding<\/em>, or human capital portfolios<\/em> became common language, I was asking a deceptively simple question:<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Why do working adults persist in learning after they already hold a degree?<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n

That question became the foundation of my doctoral dissertation:<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Abeyta, Edward L. (2009). A phenomenological study of post-baccalaureate adult working professionals enrolled in continuing education certificate programs. Capella University.<\/em><\/p>\n\n\n\n

At the time, continuing education was often viewed as transactional\u2014skills in, credentials out. What emerged from listening closely to adult learners told a very different story.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

What they described wasn\u2019t just education.
It was investment<\/strong>.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

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Listening to Lived Experience<\/h2>\n\n\n\n

Using a phenomenological approach, my research focused on the lived experiences of adult working professionals who chose to pursue post-baccalaureate certificate programs while balancing careers, families, and competing responsibilities.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

From their stories, six core drivers of persistence emerged:<\/p>\n\n\n\n

    \n
  1. Purposeful Networking<\/strong><\/li>\n\n\n\n
  2. Professional Enhancement<\/strong><\/li>\n\n\n\n
  3. Cognitive Interest<\/strong><\/li>\n\n\n\n
  4. Internal Expectations<\/strong><\/li>\n\n\n\n
  5. Family Cohesiveness<\/strong><\/li>\n\n\n\n
  6. Institutional Appraisal<\/strong><\/li>\n<\/ol>\n\n\n\n

    These weren\u2019t superficial motivations. They reflected how adults evaluate whether learning is worth the investment<\/em>\u2014of time, money, energy, and identity.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

    Looking back now, I realize something important:<\/p>\n\n\n\n

    \n

    These learners weren\u2019t just enrolling in programs.
    They were investing in themselves.<\/p>\n<\/blockquote>\n\n\n\n

    \n\n\n\n

    The Early Blueprint of MeIncorporated<\/h2>\n\n\n\n

    Years later, as I developed the MeIncorporated<\/strong> concept\u2014the idea that individuals should think of themselves as their own enterprise\u2014it became clear that the roots of this philosophy were already present in that dissertation.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

    Each of the six findings aligns directly with how individuals build their personal stock value<\/strong>:<\/p>\n\n\n\n