I loved my first job.
I loved the people I worked with and wanted to stay with the organization after my 1-year contract was up.
I interviewed for two different positions, hopeful that I would get one of them which would have me based at their HQ.
I was surprised when I got neither, and was offered another assignment that would have me back on college campuses for a year.
If I declined the offer my paycheck would stop in 3 months. I didn’t have a back up plan. I had all my eggs in this basket. But I knew it wasn’t right for me.
I decided to forgo the safety net and find something new.
At the time I was listening to “The Obstacle Is The Way”, by Ryan Holiday. Perfect timing. The theme of the book: what stands in the way becomes the way.
This promoted a sense of urgency which led to some of the most productive months in my life.
I focused on three things:
- Results – I’m a believer that the best thing you can do for your future self, is to perform well now and have a good reputation.
- Skills – I had the most productive reading time of my life, digesting one book a week focused exclusively on professional development.
- Relationships – I started messaging people on LinkedIn and setting up phone calls to build my network.
This all helped me land a job at a company I still happily work for to this day.
Sometimes you need to burn the ships to create urgency. Focus intensifies when the safety net is gone.
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