Ever find yourself doing exactly what you told yourself not to do? Hah. Same, my friends, same. I like to think that I’m pretty gosh darn alright at giving advice and, up until recently, I believed that I, myself, was pretty good at following my own advice. Oh, how wrong I was.
I have caught myself in the act, red handed, being the person I told myself not to be. I am a felon. I turn myself in. Cuff me, officer. My offence? I have been putting a TONNE of pressure on myself.
I want a career. Don’t we all? But I am not ready for a career. I graduated from university with such a sense of entitlement. Gross. I said to myself “I have a degree now, time to go out and get a real adult job.” Fair enough, right? Well, maybe if I had of done a degree relevant to my chosen career path. And that’s still a big maybe.
Who did I think I was, trying to skip doing the hard yards? Because believe you me, university does not count as the hard yards. Them yards ain’t even firm. They are soft as hell.
What counts as rock-hard yards (see what I did there) is experience. The secret is always experience. It’s volunteering your time. It’s taking real time to gain skills through doing. It’s gaining knowledge naturally. It’s networking within your industry. It’s constant study. It’s creating something small and nurturing it, allowing it to grow slowly. It is not cramming. It is not “fake it ’til you make it.”
The key: experience takes time. When I mean time, I mean years. Yep that’s how drastically my brain has adjusted. Oh, how naive I was, thinking I could just begin work in my chosen field and get paid for it. I have not even nearly earned that privilege.
So instead of forcing my career to rear its head, I’m going to let it slowly and naturally blossom into whatever flower it may choose to be.
This is my new game plan: stick to what I know. I know how to make coffee. How? I took a course and worked as a barista. I know how to be a sales assistant. How? I worked in a shop. For now, this is what I know. So, for now, this is how I will make some money.
I didn’t put any pressure on myself to become a barista. It just happened. Why not take the same approach regarding my career? On the side, I will volunteer my time, do internships and gain skills naturally. I will read articles when they pop up. I’ll take an online course when I feel like it. One baby step at a time. Eventually, I will come out the other end knowing how to do a thing. This thing will lead to another thing, and then another, until… I become a real adult and… buy a boat? Is that what they do? Hm, not too sure. Let’s tackle that kettle of fish when we get to it.
Continuing on the marine theme; don’t be a fishy out of water. Good things take time. Like, a lot of time. How long do you think? Now times it by ten. That’s probably how much time. Okay? Just be good to yourself and enjoy living in the now.
Photo by Leio McLaren on Unsplash
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