Frame how your job moves you closer to your goals
Not only are you learning from your job in an arbitrary way, but you’re taking an important step on your journey towards where you ultimately want to end up.
You may dream of someday being a marketing manager for a fashion company, but right now you’re stuck in an entry-level customer service role. How is that role making you better? What skills are you gaining that relate to the bigger picture? You’re learning discipline and focus. You’re learning how to communicate with people clearly and effectively — something that’s imperative in both marketing and management. You’re learning how to convey value to people and re-sell them on products — again, imperative in a marketing role. You’re learning how to communicate with your own managers, the visionaries of the company, and you’re learning how to convey your ideas to them in a value-focused way. All of these skills relate directly to the work you want to be doing someday. This is your training ground. Training grounds sometimes come in unusual shapes and sizes — they’re not always an entry-level position in the role type you’d like to end up in — but each one is an imperative part of your professional journey. Rather than getting restless, focus on capitalizing on what’s important to you.
Treat your work as play
Remember when you were a kid and you were driven by pure curiosity and fun? You don’t have to lose that just because you grow up. Your work can have the same quality that your play once did. Instead of approaching work as a chore, or as something to feel pressured by, or stressed about, treat it with the spirit of play. Be curious, be joyful, be open to experimentation.
Have ideas and say, “let’s try that,” the same way you would if you were a kid playing pretend. Run into problems and get excited by them, because they’re an opportunity to solve something. Have your driving motivator (second only to ‘success’) be ‘fun.’
Take pride in your work. Treat it as a reflection of yourself
You’re putting your work out into the world with your name attached to it. You’re creating content, interacting with other people, driving results. You’re creating tangible things and driving an impact on other people.
That’s a big (and exciting) accomplishment. Take pride in that. Enjoy the craft of making something you’re proud to put your name on.
Note: If you want to be working in a deeply focused state, I’d recommend combining this one in practice with #3, enjoying the process. The two of these together are a powerful combination.
Own your work. Do it not for someone else, but for yourself
At the end of the day, your day-to- day isn’t about your employer. It’s about yourself. You’re in a contractual relationship, and while half of that contract is about meeting your employer’s needs, at the end of the day, you entered this relationship for your own benefit. Don’t do what you’re doing just because it’s required (and don’t do the bare minimum just to get by). Do it because you want to do it, because it’s your job and you take responsibility for doing it well. Do it like there was no one watching and you were just here because you wanted to be here.
When you take ownership of your work, you find you enjoy the process far more than you do when you do it solely out of obligation.
This post was originally published by Praxis, a one-year startup apprenticeship program and career accelerator for young people who want more than college. We combine a 6-month bootcamp with a 6-month apprenticeship where we place you at a high-growth startup working alongside entrepreneurs while also completing our rigorous education experience, which includes one-on-one coaching, self-guided projects, skills training, and more.
Praxis gives young people a more direct path to a fulfilling professional life. We give you the experience, education, and training required for you to become successful now, not in four years. 96% of Praxis participants are fully employed upon graduation with the average starting salary of Praxis graduates being $50k in their first year. Learn more at discoverpraxis.com
