YOU CAN’T GET FLOWERS WITHOUT SOWING SEEDS FIRST
As spring begins to peek its head through the bleak days, along with beautiful weather, it brings us a sense of renewal. There’s something to be said for how nature is revamping itself that encourages us to do the same. Besides the beginning of a new year, there’s no other time when people are filled with hope and future planning. However, just like New Years’, many of those plans don’t happen because people forget about the other part of making dreams come true – doing the work.
One of my favorite quotes is, “Luck is when preparation meets opportunity.” So often, people have hopes and dreams of what they want their lives to be like. Some even make an effort to write it out and make a vision board, but that’s where the hard work stops. They dream of their greatness but don’t take steps to make those dreams happen. They see others living out their dreams and think about how “blessed” or “lucky” those people are without acknowledging the preparation required to be able to seize an opportunity when it presents itself.
If you’re trying to transition into a new career or hobby, often getting your foot in the door can be difficult. Depending on your age, you might feel like a dinosaur entering the arena or as though you’ll never catch up to the level of experience as others. This doesn’t mean you shouldn’t give it your all. “Hard work beats talent when talent doesn’t work hard.” Dedicating the time and effort to learn your new craft will do two things:
1) It’ll improve your skills. It’s easy to dream about what you’d be great at, but it’s much different when you actually try to get hands-on experience. There are very few things that that you can improve at without physically doing the work required. Taking a class or attending a seminar will help you get the knowledge and practice you need to be even more impressive in your field.
2) It’ll expand your circle in the new area in your life. I think we’ve all heard the quote it’s not what you know; it’s who you know. Well, this applies to almost any field. Taking the time to increase your knowledge will often put you in rooms with individuals who are already at the top of their field. These are the people you want to know as you try to get your foot in the door.
Sometimes it is not a lack of drive that stops people from working towards their goals. A big roadblock for many is finances. People think of the startup or education costs and become so overwhelmed that they don’t take that first step. Depending on your aspirations, there are usually free or inexpensive options available for those new to the industry. The two most crucial things that most people need no matter what industry they’re going to is knowledge and experience. Both of these can be obtained at little to no cost.
Knowledge – YouTube – Yes, there are courses and workshops you can pay to take. Many of them have a lot of value-added information. However, when you’re just starting, a lack of funds don’t have to hold you back from obtaining the knowledge you need. Most of the information you learn in paid courses can also be found on YouTube. If you take the time to search, you’ll be able to see who’s really giving out valuable information in your field. Just because there isn’t an official YouTube curriculum and degree for what you want to do doesn’t mean you can’t create a course for yourself. Find the videos that you think will help give you the most knowledge, then create a schedule to watch them. Do critical thinking after each video to make sure you understood what it was trying to teach. Give yourself deadlines and follow up action plans. Treat the free course you make for yourself the same way you would a $300 course someone put together for you to take.
Experience – Volunteer – Besides knowledge of the field, most people want to work with someone who has experience. This can often be the most frustrating part of changing careers. Everyone wants to experience, but few people want to hire someone new and build up to said experience. This is where volunteering is beneficial. While helping make a positive impact and help others, you can also help yourself. Most nonprofits are always looking for volunteers to help with their organization. Take a look at the various nonprofits in your area and see which align with your interests and career goals. If you’d love to be an event planner but have no formal experience, find a local nonprofit that hosts frequent events and let them know you’d like to volunteer your time helping with their events. If you’re a wiz at social media, pick an organization and let them know you’d like to volunteer to help with their social media management. Most people rarely say no to free help. Your resume doesn’t have to say it was a job or you got paid. It just has to show the experience and length of time so start by volunteering your time. It’s also a great way to learn, and often volunteer positions can lead the full-time ones.
Behind the success that you see most people have is often years of hard work. When it appears as though someone was an “overnight success,” if you speak to that individual, you’ll hear a story involving years of trying to make that dream happen. If the work hadn’t been done to prepare them for their big break that opportunity would have been missed.
Just because we don’t always see the hard work and effort in front of our face doesn’t mean it’s not happening. When we walk in a garden, we often see beautiful flowers, but how many people noticed the area when they were just dirt with seeds planted? Everyone appreciates the beauty of a garden but dismisses the steps leading up to the flowers blooming. There would be no blooming flowers without the labor of the seeds being sown. The same applies to us. There’s no success or moments of recognition if the work isn’t done first.
Top Photo by Anete Lusina from Pexels
Bottom Photo by Gary Barnes from Pexels