5 things I learnt in 2016

So many changes are happening for me professionally and personally right from the beginning of 2017 that my last few days in 2016 have been plagued with restless nights as my head is filled with thoughts that need an outlet. 2016 has taught me so much but I only need share 5 which I hope will inspire anyone out there reading this

Don’t talk about it, DO IT.

Did you know that talking about your goals and future ambitions makes you less likely to achieve them? You can hear more about that in this 3 minute ted talk by Derek Sivers. Sharing your plans to achieve with people tricks your mind into thinking that you have achieved or are close to achieving without having necessarily taken any steps. I happen to be one of those people that likes to rave about my plans for the future with the people around me, and I do it because I found that it makes me accountable to them. I tell friends and sometimes even clients and the next time they see me they’re asking me how far I’ve gone. What I realized however is that most of the time my answer is that I haven’t started, the satisfaction of painting the future has left me immobilized and unwilling to do the work. I still share my plans with those whose opinions I value so that they hold me accountable, but not before making significant strides.

Everyone you meet is a potential contact

Someone told me this a few years ago and I believed it, but I went on to interact with people and I just didn’t see how some people could be of any use to me professionally. I was wrong. Your colleagues, your clients, your managers, the cashier at the grocery store, every one of these people is a potential contact. I tended to think of their personal situation (i.e their current career) and assumed that they could be of no help to me. What you don’t know about people until you get into random conversations with them however is what they know and maybe even more importantly, who they know.

Embrace Your Rejections

I stopped trying for something I had wanted badly for so long around mid-2016 and began to feel paralyzing emptiness. I had heard too many No’s and was simply FED UP. In response to the emptiness I felt I decided it was better to at least keep trying. Every “No” is an indication of continued effort, I was almost there. Soon enough I started to feel an unusual kind of empowerment from the rejections I got. I took every new “No” as feedback that I needed improvement (I asked for feedback when it was possible) and went back every time to see what I could improve on for the next presentation to the next person whose answer might be a yes. Know this. For every “No” that you get from future employers/clients/love interests, you are one step closer to a “Yes” as long as you receive each no, not as an attack on your person, but as an encouragement to try harder. Sometimes things simply don’t work out for you, and that is fine too. Whatever is for you can never pass you by if you’re working hard towards it. If it passes you by then it simply wasn’t your path. Find out what is.

Learn to ignore those that tell you to “Relax. (because) You’re still young. (and also) You still have time”

I don’t want to relax, and that is okay. Telling me to relax is like telling me to go eat (my own food) because I must be hungry. If I’m hungry I will eat, the same way I will relax when I get tired. It’s not advice I want or need because try as I may (or you may), I can never outdo my body and mind. Being someone who actively seeks advice (meaning that I have a large enough sample size to make the following observation) people fuelled by passion to achieve and those empowered by constantly being on their grind never advice you to relax. They advice you to change strategies or course but never to relax. It is those that I see to be slowing down that give me such advice.

Disregard the “I can’t, therefore you can’t”s of the world

It’s simple. When people cannot picture themselves being committed the way that you are to achieving a goal, they tell you it’s not possible or that you can’t do it. I don’t consider myself a genius but I was taken aback when I told someone I intended to graduate with no more than 5 B’s and all A’s and they said it was impossible, I did it. I was unimpressed when someone said most people have to fail the CFA level I the first time and I should prepare for that, I passed it. Don’t let people’s personal shortcomings define your future.