Starting out on my own...
From when I got my first job at age 15 working in a candy store, I always knew that I'd open my own business one day. At the time I wanted to open a wholesale food distribution company, and over the years that vision changed to, hookah bar, wine store, and real estate developer and now, finally to brokering commercial mortgages for real estate investors.
Over the last 15 years, through every job that I had, I always took it as a learning experience. Working for small business owners I was able to get a well rounded understanding of how the business worked, and how the owner thinks. I always learned what to do and sometimes learned what not to do. Through the ups and downs I always gave my best work, as if the company were my own.
At times I worked for as little as three months in a company and when I felt that I've learned enough, I would move on. but usually I would stay in a job from six months to year before I got totally bored and needed to move on. To have a fulfilling job, for me, it needed to be A) challenging, B) Dynamic and C) Purposeful.
I also needed to work for a company that was ethical with their clients and honest with me so if I had to name the three crucial components of a positive work space they'd be 1.) Good Ethics 2.) Edification and 3.) Innovative. The role of an innovator is one that comes naturally. If you are always trying to find the most efficient ways of doing things, always putting your best foot forward to get the most output per dollar or per company minute, you will naturally find ways to innovate and take on the roll of an innovator in the company.
So there are three stages in learning a position and the infrastructure of a business. Step one is the learning stage, step two is the mastery stage, and step three is innovation. There is a fourth step, the creative stage, however, this will be used for starting your own business one day, I'll explain later.
The first stage is crucial, and many employees totally miss out on this when starting a new job, The learning phase is when you just start the new job, you learn the process flow, the logistics, you get familiar with the software, the work environment, the clients. It's the stage where you merge your identity with that of the business.
In the learning phase it's important to come on tie and do what your told without bringing your experience to the table. Use your skills but when learning the processes of the new company, I've always learned new ways of completing tasks that were different from the previous companies I've worked in, in the same industry. As a manger I've seen new employees get defensive when being taught. I just lengthens the learning stage and slows down the process flow.
Every manger understands you have experience, and is confident in your skill set, otherwise you wouldn't be hired. If you want to get the most out of your new job, take the time to study the proccess flow and compare it to what you know. Find the patterns, similarities and journal your experience. It will come to use down the road. My biggest regret is that I didn't journal enough throughout my years in the workforce.
For me, the work force was a better alternative to school so journal-ling helped me retain the information,and use it in future jobs and startups. The 2nd stage is mastery. In the mastery phase we have all the skills we need to perform daily tasks, and we are functioning. This usually comes at about 3 months into each job I've had. In this stage we bridge from being a good employee to being a master of trade.
As a master, you do not only serve costumer needs, take orders and complete tasks, as a master of trade I would study the product lines, I would read about the industry, and I would challenge myself to go beyond the boundaries of my responsibilities as an employee. I would read books, sign up for trade shows, and research the competition to have a better edge on selling products.
Mastering the job at hand will sometimes take stepping outside the boundaries of day to day responsibilities. In the third stage, the innovative stage, after mastering our tasks at hand we begin to suggest better ways of completing tasks. Efficiency is key in every job opportunity when we come up with better ways to complete tasks and when we go beyond our individual responsibility we become a.) the most valuable employee and b.) we learn new things about the business that the average employee would not ever know.
When you innovate you awaken the creative mind, but it's important to have a good foundation in learning and mastering the job at hand so you first satisfy the team around you and then improve on it. Once we've awakened the creative mind, it's usually time to leave the company. At this point you know so much about how the company runs and you're so knowledgeable that you can seemingly start your own company and take out the competition.
When I started my first company, I was selling sodas out of a locker. I had no business experience, I was in sixth grade and I just knew that if I buy them for 25 cents and sell them for 50 cents, I'd be making a profit. I never thought that the thrill of making a profit would lead me to one day opening a real estate brokerage. But here I am.
When I was in the moving industry I took it upon myself to open a new marketing channel for the company I was working in, start a google ad-words campaign, When I was working in the appliance repair & HVAC field, I realized there was a problem with accounting, I jumped right in a managed the books. These are only a few examples of the skills I acquired along the way that help me today in my business.
I can give you examples from her until tomorrow but if you'd put these words to use in your own work environment you will see how this applies to you specifically. Each of us have our own unique life mission and purpose, if we harness the challenges that life sends us we are able to move mountains and embark on new frontiers that exponentially extend far beyond the horizons of the yesteryear.
Over the last 15 years, through every job that I had, I always took it as a learning experience. Working for small business owners I was able to get a well rounded understanding of how the business worked, and how the owner thinks. I always learned what to do and sometimes learned what not to do. Through the ups and downs I always gave my best work, as if the company were my own.
At times I worked for as little as three months in a company and when I felt that I've learned enough, I would move on. but usually I would stay in a job from six months to year before I got totally bored and needed to move on. To have a fulfilling job, for me, it needed to be A) challenging, B) Dynamic and C) Purposeful.
I also needed to work for a company that was ethical with their clients and honest with me so if I had to name the three crucial components of a positive work space they'd be 1.) Good Ethics 2.) Edification and 3.) Innovative. The role of an innovator is one that comes naturally. If you are always trying to find the most efficient ways of doing things, always putting your best foot forward to get the most output per dollar or per company minute, you will naturally find ways to innovate and take on the roll of an innovator in the company.
So there are three stages in learning a position and the infrastructure of a business. Step one is the learning stage, step two is the mastery stage, and step three is innovation. There is a fourth step, the creative stage, however, this will be used for starting your own business one day, I'll explain later.
The first stage is crucial, and many employees totally miss out on this when starting a new job, The learning phase is when you just start the new job, you learn the process flow, the logistics, you get familiar with the software, the work environment, the clients. It's the stage where you merge your identity with that of the business.
In the learning phase it's important to come on tie and do what your told without bringing your experience to the table. Use your skills but when learning the processes of the new company, I've always learned new ways of completing tasks that were different from the previous companies I've worked in, in the same industry. As a manger I've seen new employees get defensive when being taught. I just lengthens the learning stage and slows down the process flow.
Every manger understands you have experience, and is confident in your skill set, otherwise you wouldn't be hired. If you want to get the most out of your new job, take the time to study the proccess flow and compare it to what you know. Find the patterns, similarities and journal your experience. It will come to use down the road. My biggest regret is that I didn't journal enough throughout my years in the workforce.
For me, the work force was a better alternative to school so journal-ling helped me retain the information,and use it in future jobs and startups. The 2nd stage is mastery. In the mastery phase we have all the skills we need to perform daily tasks, and we are functioning. This usually comes at about 3 months into each job I've had. In this stage we bridge from being a good employee to being a master of trade.
As a master, you do not only serve costumer needs, take orders and complete tasks, as a master of trade I would study the product lines, I would read about the industry, and I would challenge myself to go beyond the boundaries of my responsibilities as an employee. I would read books, sign up for trade shows, and research the competition to have a better edge on selling products.Mastering the job at hand will sometimes take stepping outside the boundaries of day to day responsibilities. In the third stage, the innovative stage, after mastering our tasks at hand we begin to suggest better ways of completing tasks. Efficiency is key in every job opportunity when we come up with better ways to complete tasks and when we go beyond our individual responsibility we become a.) the most valuable employee and b.) we learn new things about the business that the average employee would not ever know.
When you innovate you awaken the creative mind, but it's important to have a good foundation in learning and mastering the job at hand so you first satisfy the team around you and then improve on it. Once we've awakened the creative mind, it's usually time to leave the company. At this point you know so much about how the company runs and you're so knowledgeable that you can seemingly start your own company and take out the competition.
When I started my first company, I was selling sodas out of a locker. I had no business experience, I was in sixth grade and I just knew that if I buy them for 25 cents and sell them for 50 cents, I'd be making a profit. I never thought that the thrill of making a profit would lead me to one day opening a real estate brokerage. But here I am.
When I was in the moving industry I took it upon myself to open a new marketing channel for the company I was working in, start a google ad-words campaign, When I was working in the appliance repair & HVAC field, I realized there was a problem with accounting, I jumped right in a managed the books. These are only a few examples of the skills I acquired along the way that help me today in my business.
I can give you examples from her until tomorrow but if you'd put these words to use in your own work environment you will see how this applies to you specifically. Each of us have our own unique life mission and purpose, if we harness the challenges that life sends us we are able to move mountains and embark on new frontiers that exponentially extend far beyond the horizons of the yesteryear.
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