You’re Never too Good to Photocopy.
Four lessons to help you thrive in and out of college.
My brother and I are 11 years apart. At his 18th birthday I was giving some thought to the obligatory advice everyone feels the need to give at this type of occasion. Reflecting on my relatively short time as an “adult” there were 4 things I wish I had-of-known at his age. Four things, which, when used appropriately will assist you immensely in developing as a young adult and professional. They were…
Rule 1 — Bet on your strengths
One thing I don’t believe we do well enough is teach people to bet on their strengths. I certainly wasn’t. If anything, we encourage people to work on their weaknesses. But the truth is, this can only get you marginally further. In reality every one of us has one or two things we do phenomenally well. The first step to surviving in, and after college is working out what these are. Some simple questions to ask yourself are:
- What is it that people compliment me on as doing exceptionally well?
- What do I find easy?
- What do I find engaging and meaningful?
- What do I go when my mind wanders?
Whatever this is, bet on it, go all in and don’t give a fuck about what anyone else says. Trust me. Life is far too short to be spent hacking your way through shit you’re mediocre at and uninterested in.
Rule 2 — Develop the habit of stretching your comfort zone
Jim Rohn once said —
“If you want an above average income, you must first become an above average person”.
Importantly, these above average people are made, and they are made through hard work. The type of hard work that is often uncomfortable and anxiety inducing.
Developing the habit of stretching your boundaries will reap phenomenal benefits over the long term. Seriously; that job you really want, guarantee it’s just a little out of your ‘comfortable experience’. How about that presentation you know you should give but you’re avoiding because you’re not really sure you’ll be able to nail it… Or even, that cute girl you like, you think she’s just a bit too pretty for you? Well guess what, all of things you desire, all these things that would be good for you, they are scary and you need to do them.
I’m not saying you should be reckless, indeed you need to prepare, you need to work, you need to put the grit in, but you also need to jump in and do it. You will fail, you will flounder, you will feel like you’re spinning your wheels, but I guarantee, if you develop this habit, when it’s all said and done you’ll be far further ahead than you ever thought possible.
Rule 3 — If your gut says no, then SAY no!
Over the course of your life, and particularly as you start out, there are going to be an innumerable number of good opportunities which come your way. Some will be very attractive, and some once in a life-time. Unfortunately with the very really pressures of family, work, finance, society, not to mention your own expectations knowing which way to turn can be seriously tough!
However, luckily, each and every one of us has a fantastic decision making machine built in called our gut. Follow it. Seriously… If something presents itself as being a great opportunity, but your gut is vehemently shouting no, then don’t fucking do it! Period.
Rule 4 — You’re never too good to do the photocopying
Finally, and I think this was probably the hardest one to learn. You’re NEVER too good to do photocopying. Seriously, if you EVER entertain this idea then get the fuck out. A sense of entitlement will ruin your career and your happiness.
In all honesty, this could be a post in itself, but here are just a few reasons why you should ditch the entitled mindset:
A shit to be around
Nobody likes that office junior with a sense of entitlement, and everyone likes the executive that rolled up her sleeves and helped out. I’m not kidding, if you’re a few years into your role and you feel that basic administrative tasks are below you, you don’t deserve to have a job. I’m not saying you should let people walk all over you, but no one wants to be around the kid that clearly thinks they are above everyone. By the same token, that senior manager, or executive, that bought you a coffee, or got their hands dirty and helped out, people love them. Seriously, THEY DO have better things to do than photocopy but their effort was greatly respected.
The Devil is in the Detail
Let’s say you were doing a statistical analysis on a large data-set. Would you, a) look broadly over the data and make your conclusion from that? Or, b) include every piece of data and analyse accordingly?
The answer is clearly b.
Sure, you can get a reasonable idea of what’s going on from a, but without b, you will never really know what is happening.
The same goes for all that boring administrative work. It sucks, I know, but it will yield serious insights into the running of the business, your role within it and the roles of others. These are insights which you would have understood at a deep and nuanced level otherwise. Take these conclusions and use them to your advantage later.
Opportunity
People give to those they like. They also give to those who show up. Don’t like to take minutes? Well guess what, no grad gets invited to a senior meeting unless they do. Being willing to do more than others, and do the things that others don’t necessarily want to do, will, quite often, put you in situations where opportunity presents itself unexpectedly. You’re also much more likely to be awarded these opportunities if people like you, and people like people that help them.
Expectation management
Finally, and this is an important one — it’s also what I believe if likely a cause of much of our generational “unhappiness” (currently); It’s expectations. Believing you are above something, particularly if it’s ultimately part of your routine work, will make you exceptionally unhappy and unfulfilled over the long term. Imagine that, showing up every day, only to be disappointed… Do you think you’d feel satisfied? Of course not! Drop those expectations, get the little things right, and bigger things will indeed be handed to you.
So there it is, a few simple lessons I’ve found to be exceptionally helpful in advancing both professionally and personally. Did you find any of these resonated with you? Do you have any others to add? I’d like to hear.
Many thanks for reading,
Hugh.
