A weekly column by Peter Lawless; Business Growth Specialist and Coach to Entrepreneurs. peter@3r.ie
We must walk before we can crawl and our career always starts on the bottom rung of any ladder. While these facts may not seem to be motivational the secret is how long does each step take and where is the first rung.
Unfortunately we are conditioned to expect that everything has a set time to learn. We start of school in 1 st class, bottom of the ladder, and progress up to 6 th class. Next we go into 1 st class in the senior school, bottom of the ladder again. The same happens in University and your career.
So where does your ladder start, how tall is it, where does it finish and is there anyone holding it for you?
Like all individuals, career ladders are unique. They should take into account your natural abilities, gifts and talents.
I know that I may seem to give parents a hard time in these articles; however I do not blame them, for they knew not what they did. Our parents strive to give us the very best and in doing so they draw on the resources that they had available to them growing up.
In this way, many parents unknowingly bestow limitations upon their children, by being over cautious and always offering advice. A child should be given roots to keep them secure and wings to set them free.
As always these pages strive to give you the freedom to find out how firmly rooted in common sense you really are and give you the lift in your wings to fly to your chosen destination.
The most amazing question you should always ask your self is what if I could. Whatever your dreams or aspirations are, continually asking your self what you would be like if you could achieve them right now, will give you the inspiration and direction to succeed.
How to kick the past and start now
We are all born with a healthy will to survive and huge doses of optimism. Before the age of reason, children can not often see dangers that they may face, like traffic on a busy road. Our parents, in an attempt to keep us safe, often go over the top, with negativity to frighten us into being safe.
This starts as being love, but often as we become independent, our parents may feel a sense of loss and lack of being wanted and can drive us away through over critical analysis of everything we do even as we are parents ourselves.
In knowing what is best for us, our parents often mask our true abilities as they try to model us on themselves.
The great news is that it is never too late to draw a line in the sand now. If you are someone who wants to find out what career will make you happy or wishes to truly help their own children, be the best they can be, just do it.
Only you are in charge of your own destiny, only you can decide who to listen to, only you can decide what actions to take so why not start by understanding where your natural abilities lie.
What are your natural abilities?
ome people just seem great at things; it all just comes naturally to them. You are the same there are some things that you are amazing at, you have a special knack of doing certain things.
As you start to discover your true self, you will come to understand where the first ring on your career ladder is and indeed how long you will spend on it.
Many of you will be familiar with IQ tests, which measure academic prowess. There are many other abilities and they can be measured in many different ways.
Ability can be defined as something that comes completely naturally to a person. I tend to focus on the following 8 abilities.
Mathematical There are always some people who can do calculations in their heads faster than most people can use a calculator. People with this ability actually enjoy playing number games.
Linguistic Some people love reading, learning new things in writing and improving their vocabulary. Maybe you are one of those people who found learning more than one language very easy.
Artistic Some people are naturally creative, they like to do things with their hands and they make or paint things as a way of expressing themselves and even for relaxation.
Musical Did you ever notice some people can hear a tune once and then sing, hum or play it perfectly?
Sporting Sporting ability is either something you have or you don't. I have seen numerous kids that were hugely talented in other areas being made to feel inadequate by over zealous parents.
Social Luckily, for those of you who feel that you are not natural socialisers, this ability can actually be honed. We all have it naturally and any number of events that happen to us in our lives can shake our confidence. Restoration of self belief and some simple exercise can create a social animal in all of us.
Emotional Did you ever notice that some people seem to be very emotional? A person with a strong emotional ability can use their sensitivity to learn from and use their own and other emotions in a positive manner.
Self-Awareness Knowing your self and your own capabilities is probably the most important of all of the abilities. Self aware people know what they want and go straight after it.
Some people never realise that without academic excellence, you can still be excellent. What really matters is that you know what you are great at and that you spend your life doing it and enjoying it.
What if these famous people had not had their parents support?
Just imagine if the following people had been pushed in a different direction by their well meaning parents. I have obviously used fictitious parent examples, because all of the people below were actually lucky enough to get the love, support and encouragement they needed to excel.
David Beckham If David Beckham's dad had been a lawyer and had forced him to stop that soccer nonsense and spend his time in side studying, what would David Beckham have been? I can guarantee it would not have been a soccer star that has brought pleasure and sometimes despair to millions.
Beethoven - While Beethoven was actually born to a father who was a musician, if he had been told to go and study like all normal kids and the join the army at the turn of the 19 th century, we might have never seen some of the most important classical contributions in existence today.
Captain Cook One of 7 children born to a labourer, it was his love of the sea that drew him to become the famous explorer that we know today. How do you think he would have fared as a famous blacksmith's labourer?
Bono A natural showman with charisma and leadership skills. Eking out a living for years with a band going nowhere. Imagine if his Dad had not supported him and made him knuckle down and get a job in the local bank.
Not many people actually realise how self aware they are. If you are reading this article and you want to use this material to further yourself, you have made the first step in self awareness.
Knowing that what you can do or achieve is limited only by your own beliefs, will finally set you free to fly along your own path to your definition of success.
Are you getting clearer on what your definition of success is yet?
<< Previous | Getting Rich in Ireland | Next >>
|
