Now is the time

Do you feel as if you’re lagging behind? Perhaps it took you a while to complete school or get a job while your mates seem far ahead. Maybe you don’t even have a job yet. This is not the time to mull over where you could have been if everything worked out right. Rather, this is the time to work hard to make that dream come true in the nearby future.

If you’re a job seeker, this is the time to send in those applications no matter how frustrating writing those cover emails are or how annoying it is to receive rejection letters. Don’t give up! This is also the time to think about your preferred career path. Figure out your strengths and weaknesses. Hone your networking and interviewing skills because there is nothing worse than missing a good opportunity due to ill-preparedness. This is the time to go through those lecture notes or textbooks you used in school to remind you of your subject area. I know some people are rolling their eyes but it will help you speak confidently when asked questions related to your degree program.

If you just got a job, this is the time to understand the company’s business, especially the work assigned to your department. Avoid the comparison trap; don’t be turned off by the fact that your boss is younger than you even if he has a bad attitude. Learn the ins and outs of your department; the professional terms and slangs, hierarchy and culture, roles and responsibilities, so that anytime you’re called upon to do someone else’s work, you can do it without stress. Keep cool and try to maintain a good working relationship with everyone. Remember what Zig Ziglar said about attitude? Because there are many skilled people who fail to reach their potential because of a bad attitude. He said, “Your attitude, not your aptitude will determine your altitude”. Don’t let your attitude get in the way!

If you just started a business, this is the time of hard work so you can achieve the desired growth. Don’t be discouraged by competitors; devise sustainable ways of attracting and retaining new customers. Please believe in your work because that is probably the only thing that will keep you going when things get tough, and they will get tough at some point in time.

To be honest, I am somewhat inexperienced in life but i do know that nothing good comes from comparing ourselves to others. Avoid the comparison trap at all costs! It erodes one’s confidence in themselves to be their best. Even if you’ve had bad experiences, call it a “lesson learned” and apply it to future situations. In fact, research has found that people who refused to dwell on their bad experiences but rather learn from them became successful. Remember Ben Carson, the kid from a single parent home with poor grades in school who later became a renowned neurosurgeon and the first to successfully separate conjoined twins at the head? Your starting point in life shouldn’t affect your future.

All you need do now is stop thinking about how others appear to be more successful than you are; develop yourself in whatever way you can and work hard. Seek help if you need it and if you’re patient enough, you’ll find it. 

I’ll leave you with my favourite quote by Henry Wadsworth Longfellow; “The heights by which great men reached and kept were not attained by sudden flight, but they, while their companions slept, were toiling upwards in the night”. (Thanks to a former commandant in Secondary school who made us recite this during the morning assembly. It is my motivation).

The best time is now...

P.S.

Please let us learn to support others that are lagging behind, instead of deriding them. At the end, it will do us good if we are all comfortable. Many social evils result from a feeling of neglect. Let us fight poverty!