Success Isn’t Convenient: Career Edition

Success Isn't Convenient: Career Edition

This line came to me last week as I was sweating my butt off in the gym which definitely seems like an appropriate place to think something like that. But it’s a truth that applies to every area of our lives. If you want to be successful in anything the path won’t be convenient.

There is no such thing as an overnight success. There is no guarantee that your college degree will land you a job, let alone your dream job making a load of money. The road to a successful career is filled with inconvenience. Whether you are an entrepreneur, executive leader, manager or working in a cube your journey to success won’t be convenient.

You may have to make a geographic move to take a position with another company to advance your career. My career has consisted of several moves that have included four states and five cities. Each time I moved it was inconvenient; it was inconvenient for me and my family. You may have to make the hard choice to leave behind friends and family.  Sometimes, many times, when you grow in your career there are times of loneliness.

Nothing is easy. Nothing ever comes as quickly as you want it too. If you are going to accomplish anything worthwhile you are going to face challenges and you will have to fight.

As you move to a new level in your career you will encounter things you don’t know how to do. You will experience things that will cause you to be anxious and sometimes fearful. You will find yourself in situations, personally and professionally that are inconvenient and uncomfortable.

It’s during the inconvenient moments that the familiar things of your past will tap you on the shoulder and tempt you to return to where you came from. When things become inconvenient you have two choices – embrace the challenge and grow OR back down from the challenge and return to your previous level of success. To move forward you have to overcome the fear of letting go of the past.

Don’t let inconvenience rob you of the next level of your career.

Say NO! to giving up – keep grinding so that tomorrow you won’t have any regrets.

 

 

My 3 Words For 2016

IMG_2576Last year I tried the 3 word experiment inspired by the amazing Chris Brogan. If you aren’t familiar with this alternative approach to New Years resolutions check out this post from Brogan where he explains it. In addition to choosing 3 words I took on the challenge of writing 10 ideas each day inspired by the incredible James Altucher.

In 2016 I’m again writing 10 ideas everyday. I’ll also be focusing on becoming 1% better each day. 1% better each day with my health, gaining knowledge, more effective at my job, relationships, awakening dormant dreams and more. Again, this idea came from James Altucher – you can read more about it here.

3 Words

My three words are Grind, Regret and NO! These three words will help guide my 10 ideas each day and provide me with the fuel to become 1% better each day.

GRIND

Grind is more than action to me – it’s a core value. There is no such thing as an overnight success. There is no such thing as something for nothing. What there is such thing as is people who GRIND are people who succeed. When you put in the work you get results. No pain, no gain is real. When you grind you see and experience results.

REGRET

Regret is a powerful two edged sword. You can let regret overcome you and cause you to be depressed or you can let it fuel you to become better. Last year I posted an article on LinkedIn about the topic of regret – you can check out it here. This year I’m embracing the word as a positive. I’m looking to the future and asking myself the question, “If I don’t _(fill in the blank)_ what will I regret?” If I don’t continue to improve my health, what will I regret? If I don’t continue to grow in my professional skills, what will I regret? If I don’t GRIND what will I REGRET?

NO!

NO! with an exclamation mark – you read it correctly. I’m committing to saying no to more and more things. If it’s not helping become 1% better in any area of my life than I’m saying NO! to it. And trust me, this is a challenge. I’m a guy who loves “shiny objects” and “squirrels”. Before FOMO (fear of missing out) became popular I was/am addicted. So, to try and help me overcome my addiction to FOMO and stay focused on things that will bring real value to my present and future I’m going to say NO! more.

If I say NO! to unimportant things I can GRIND at the important things and have NO REGRETS!