In these related posts, I am sharing
quotes from a wonderful book called, “Lead the Field’ by Earl Nightingale.
In summary, the book talks about your
attitude. It determines your actions, as well as the actions of others. Mr.
Nightingale takes our lame excuses for NOT being successful and refutes them
all.
Today’s Quote: “Opportunity
is all around us.”
This tags onto the quote I already
shared about the definition of luck (Quote #3.) I really liked both quotes.
Luck is what happens when preparedness meets opportunity; and opportunity is
all around us. Are you prepared? Are you qualified?
I received a lot of advice as a new
graduate entering into the corporate world. I had a lot of mentors. Some advice
I received too late after I had already accepted the job (ie. Negotiating) but
all the info about 401k and setting up a career plan was helpful. I had one
mentor advise me to show initiative to my functional boss by putting together a
career plan. I took it one step further with showing my ongoing training and
how it paired with my career goals. I had high aspirations that I wasn’t afraid
to share. I’ve since shared this info with other aspiring newbies that are
having to report to the same functional boss I did.
Back to the negotiating of salaries.
Money is a scary subject. People know what they’d like to be making, but may
not feel worth it. (and some people think they are worth more than they truly
are.) The amount of money we receive will always be a direct ratio to the
demand for what we do, our ability to do it, and the difficulty of replacing
us.
I think that explanation really helped
Mr. JCrew decide what he wanted to do with his career. He’s had a lot of "ideas" while in school. All college kids wonder what they want to do when they get out of college. It's hard to make a decision that affects the rest of your life so soon in your young life. I didn't pick my major until I was a junior in college. My AA was in general studies. And most degrees have nothing to do with what your job. It's just a piece of paper employers want to see that shows you can handle responsibility and stick with something.
Mr. JCrew’s job is so specialized and
is not taught in school. He wasn’t sure for a while whether it was something he
wanted to keep doing. He even thought of putting school on hold and becoming a
mortgage broker! (I cried at the thought.) But that’s where this book helped
him. He’s realized not many do his job and he would be hard to replace. An
engineering degree is the best degree to support his current job. He has eight
years experience that he’s not willing to throw away to start all over as a
recent college grad in a new industry.
Mr. JCrew is preparing himself for
future opportunities. You can’t control the future but you can prepare for it.
Quote #11 - Tremendous Potential
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