Re-focusing on my future self

A few months ago, in between jobs and generally feeling directionless career-wise, I asked a friend who I admired for some advice. 

He told me to pick something I wanted to be the best at and start chipping away at it a little bit every day. Ten years from now, I’d be at the top. Why? Because persistence, not talent, was the real secret to success. 

Coming away from the conversation I felt energized. I made a list of the skills I wanted to learn or improve — writing, public speaking, and sales — and set about working on them. 

I signed up for a public speaking course through U of T. I attended blogging workshops. I bought books on the art of writing. 

But recently, I noticed my momentum waned. The truth is that — like many people — I got comfortable at my job and got stuck in a rut of complacency. 

It wasn’t until the other night when I was complaining about not feeling challenged enough that my boyfriend asked me, “Are you the best at what you do?” 

I paused for a minute, then answered honestly, “No, but I think I will be really good.” 

He looked at me, unsurprised, then said, “Okay, well, my sense is that if you were doing everything you can to shorten the gap between where you are now and being the best, you’d be feeling pretty challenged”.” 

I’m ambitious, competitive, and have always pictured myself scaling the walls right to the top of whatever it is that I’m doing. But recently, while focusing on other goals (read: getting distracted), I’d lost sight of the long-term vision I had for myself. 

I was more consumed with how I was going to pick up an extra bit of cash on the side — even contemplating getting a second job as a barista or dog walker — than I was with realizing my full potential. 

It was completely short-sighted. 

So, what am I doing about it? 

I’m re-starting here: 

1. On writing: I’ve signed up for a workshop with a copywriter I look up to. I’ve also committed to picking an AI/writing course to enroll in by the end of the week. 

2. Sales: I met with a colleague from my firm’s sales team to ask for advice and see how I can help them out (by connecting with prospects on LinkedIn, etc.). The goal I established with her is to amass connections and gather information on 5 prospect companies per month. 

3. Initiative: I’ve decided to take more initiative at work to further develop my skill set. To keep on track, I’ve also committed to doing one project per month with another team at work — a goal I’ve communicated to my manager as well.    

And since I’ve been here before — at this beautiful point where learning and growing seem both fun and exciting — I know all too well that the vigor can fade easily. So an equally important piece of the puzzle is figuring out how to keep it going. 

My coach and my boyfriend have both been incredible at acting as accountability enforcers in my life. I have restated my commitment to them and trust them to let me know when I begin to veer course. Communicating my work-related goals to colleagues and my manager are also key pieces of the puzzle. 

But I also need to take some accountability into my own hands — it’s important to take ownership of my route to feel more empowered. 

Though I’ve never made one before, I’ve started working on a vision-board for the coming quarter. As someone who believes very much in the power of affirmations and thinking your way into your dream life, being face-to-face with my end goal on a daily basis, I’m sure, can only bring on good things. 

Let’s go. 💪