Find Peace and Learn to Love the Process
OUR GENERATION IS CONSTANTLY EXPOSED TO THE SUCCESS OF OTHERS -
IN THIS TIME IT IS IMPORTANT TO FIND PEACE AND TRUST THE PROCESS
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After having a late-night chat with my good friend and fellow "Up & Comer", Guyson Kuruneri, it dawned on me that I had become completely obsessed with achieving my goals and making an impact in this industry.
How could that possibly be a bad thing, right?
I thought the exact same thing. I'm working hard, I'm striving to generate new ideas, I'm constantly thinking about how I can improve myself professionally as well as assisting in growing the agency that so generously hired me after bringing me on as an intern not too long ago.
It's an obsession to make an impact. An obsession to be like the individuals I idolize in this business.
It's not that I am not making significant strides to achieve these goals and go in this positive direction - because, I am. But what I have also realized is that it begins to consume you and can utterly crush your confidence at some points.
You can sit at your desk at one point as a young professional and it will just hit you all at once and you will sit there and question your talents and your abilities.
"How do I get a leg up on everyone else?" "How am I making an impact right this second?
"This guy was way ahead of me at this age - how do I catch up to him?"
I feel as if our generation carries this obsession within them. We are in this age of constant exposure to the successes of our colleagues. We have LinkedIn that is this network that allows us to not only connect but to constantly compare ourselves professionally to others in our age group. You have the 21 year old that sold an app and now he is a billionaire or the 26 year old that has already become an agent in the NHL. These are all people that should be looked up to as a success story but not the token rule for success of your age group. At the end of the day, for some, this can easily become demoralizing.
I nearly reached a point where I was thinking about this when I woke up, on the train ride to work, on my lunch break, on the train ride home from work....you get the point. It was utterly constant and to be honest, for a guy that prides himself on his confidence and ability to rebound, it begins to become slightly disheartening.
Then it dawns on me. I'm 23 years old and I already managed to get my dream job in my dream industry. I've worked my tail off to get here and I shouldn't be discouraged by this personal obsession to succeed and make a name for myself.
By all means, I still intend to do everything in my power to succeed and make a name for myself but it has become less of an obsession and more about finding peace with it and trusting the process. If I continue to do the right things, I will grow and I will succeed. It doesn't need to be an obsession.
When you're just starting out as a young professional you want to succeed immediately. And I know now more than ever that this is a process and success isn't going to come tomorrow. You're on chapter one of your professional book right now and you still have hundreds of pages left to write.
Your professional growth is a process. Today you might learn how to better handle a client, tomorrow you might learn to negotiate a deal, next week you might better develop your problem solving. Latch on to someone you work with that you stand to learn from - and do just that. Learn from them and be an open book, accepting of criticism.
It's important though that during this process you still seek growth through networking, getting to know the industry better and working on ways to get your voice heard. It's not all going to happen in one day but it is important to take baby steps each day.
You're going to learn from your career. You're going to fail. You're going to succeed. But in the end, you're going to grow.
That's what it is all about at the end of the day.
