Career Capital
Eric Roseman
No matter how you choose to invest, always invest in yourself. Whether you stuff your mattress with your hard earned cash or you're shrewd about investing your money in a killer yield, the best way to grow rich is to improve upon your skillset and invest in your career capital. As Andy Rachleff, CEO of Wealthfront, explains in his Silicon Valley Career Guide, an investment into your career will payout the largest dividends of all.
Share your Art
What makes you unique? What skills do you possess that other's covet? I'm not asking about your double jointed elbow or your ability to stick your foot in your mouth but rather what makes your personality so unique that a company or team couldn't possibly pass up on including or hiring you? In a career setting, is it your tenacious hard work, is it your ability to think clearly under pressure, are you fearless to click the dial button? Everyone has something that makes them unique and indispensable, that is your art. In Linchpin by Seth Godin, Godin proclaims that we all have a certain craft within us. There are endless walls and psychological barriers to unleashing our art at all times but the ultimate gift you can endow on someone is your art. In a sales setting, the ability to find a prospect's pain point and therefore explain how the solution can fix that pain is the art. As an investment banker, your ability to suggest a novel transaction or piece of advise for a client may be the art that you share rather than going through the motions of status quo validation. As an artist, showcasing your work is benevolence in itself of gifting your art. No matter what you're art, strive to unleash it.
Straight Line
Day one at SinglePlatform I learned that to be successful in sales you must always maintain the straight line theory and keep moving forward to the finish line. Sounds overly simplistic but what it means is that throughout the process of anything (writing, sales, art, etc.) there are always going to be distractions, objections, mishaps, etc. but they can be overcome and once you address them, get right back on that line of discipline. Staying on that line will allow you to continue to practice your "art." No matter what your art may be, consider that straight line your homeroom (like you had in middle school) and come back to it regardless of the distractions.
Work hard to find your PASSION vs. PASSION for working hard
"Finding your passion" has become a term synonymous with happiness and meaning. As Cal Newport writes in So Good They Can't Ignore You, to find your passion in your work you need to adopt the Craftsman Mindset. That suggests you need to work hard to hone your craft and strive toward finding passion in your work. He disregards the passion mindset which takes on the "follow your passion" manifesto. For artists/writers/singers whom seemingly have found their life's calling, the craftsman mindset still drives them to write that next short story, design their next piece or strike the perfect chord. They strive to become something great so that their passions justify the means.
"Hard work beats Talent when Talent fails to work hard." -SinglePlatform
