You have only just begun…
You have heard this your whole life and I know you are chomping at the bit (is that still an expression) to experience life on your own terms. To apply your work ethic to your dreams and apply your craft in a profession that you have been chasing for what feels like decades.
Whether you are launching your own start-up out of the gate or have joined a firm or business, you are on your path. The most important step in exploring the world and building your skills in your profession is to act — to get started.
Now you must realize, you may bring some new skills to the team you are joining, or you may just providing the team an ability to scale by learning and adopting their work patterns. Either way — you are building your experience and therefore your long term potential. Every step you take is a building block for you. How you treat that building block is your choice.
Life is building blocks, how you choose to appreciate each one defines your ultimate success and happiness
Be patient
Take this time to learn, experience, observe, and follow. Take this time to also sprinkle in your own experience, knowledge, and point of view. Like a good cake, you, must let your craft develop with time and exposure to situations. There will be moments early in your profession where you are 100% right in the idea and execution, but honestly, there will be far more where you are on the learning end.
Be aware, humble, and hungry to build on those experiences. These traits make up the most valuable and powerful partners in any pursuit of life. You are not expected to know everything, so don’t project that you do. It is a vulnerability and will leave you wanting.
Be authentic
Those who pretend to know everything, that act, that lie (brag?), and such only put themselves on notice and insult the people they are working for directly. Either you share where you are in the process and set that bar — balanced with your incredible work ethic and creative ideas this is a strength. Or, you portray you know everything — get no support and when you fall short of those lofty targets, receive only grief for poor performance. (I have personally seen these end very poorly .. nobody wants to fail and nobody expects you to be perfect, honesty and hard work though .. that we do expect)
You have just begun
You will live 10, 20, 40 more lifetimes in your profession. Think of it this way — post graduation, unless you did it while in school, you are only NOW just starting to live your life on your terms and following your passion. Are you 1 year deep … 4 years deep? In the span of time and your future, this but a blip.
Know you have time, know we all went through learning pains, and know we will be patient with you. I hope you will be patient with us, as I and my peers know too well. We too have only just begun in our journeys. We make mistakes and while we may only have 1–2 more lifetimes ahead to enjoy our craft … we too are excited about what the next page will have in store.