I was also never prepared for the harsh reality that often it\u2019s not just what you know, but who you know \u2013 and going into your first business venture, you\u2019ll always think you know more than you do. <\/p>\n\n\n\n
Know that you cannot thrive\nbased on talent alone. <\/em><\/p>\n\n\n\n Looking back, I was so darn naive, and many years ago when the business world became a necessity for me to survive, I was anything but equipped. <\/p>\n\n\n\n Equip yourself early \u2013 meet people \u2013 take those internships \u2013 network \u2013 always be planning for the future.<\/em> <\/p>\n\n\n\n Every person you meet has something to offer, and you have much\nto offer them; figure out what these things are and become beneficial to each\nother. <\/p>\n\n\n\n Don\u2019t party too much, but don\u2019t shut yourself in either.<\/p>\n\n\n\n Go beyond what you\u2019re\ngood at and learn as many new things as you can \u2013 the more skills you develop,\nthe better. <\/em>Have a fallback and have a fallback for your fallback. <\/p>\n\n\n\n Sometimes, your career will not go as you planned; who you think you are going to be now will often be very different from who you actually become. There\u2019s nothing wrong with revising your future. <\/em><\/p>\n\n\n\n Make sure your skills are marketable across several\npotential career paths \u2013 shoot for the best and plan for the worst, odds are,\nyour first year in business will fall somewhere in the middle. <\/p>\n\n\n\n Don\u2019t get so\ndiscouraged. <\/em><\/p>\n\n\n\n It\u2019s easy to focus on all the wrong things too early and the\nright things a bit late. <\/p>\n\n\n\n Please don\u2019t think that your first love will be your only\nlove because it will interfere with the progress you could be making now and\nall of your infinite potential.<\/p>\n\n\n\n When I entered my first year in business I thought I was\ngoing to be paid a lot more money because I was good at what I did, in fact, I\ndidn\u2019t even think my knowledge, personality, or criteria fit a traditional\nbusiness model. <\/p>\n\n\n\n I struggled at finding\na place for what I knew; an open door that looked inviting. <\/em><\/p>\n\n\n\n I did a lot of freelancing, ate a lot of mac and cheese, drank too much wine, lived in grand cities that I couldn\u2019t afford, and closed myself off from the possibility of other opportunities. <\/p>\n\n\n\n My first year in actual business sucked. I hated my job. I thought it was beneath me \u2013 that my superiors weren\u2019t really using my skills and the ones they were using were highly under-compensated. What I didn\u2019t know is that there was so much more I needed to learn, about myself, about my job, and about the people around me. <\/p>\n\n\n\n My first year in\nbusiness I learned how little I actually knew. This realization could have\nbeaten me, but it didn\u2019t. <\/em><\/p>\n\n\n\n I was a freshman in high school all over again. No one likes a freshman \u2013 you\u2019re scared, you\u2019re fragile, you\u2019re awkward, you\u2019re inexperienced, you lack confidence, and no one wants to hang out with you (except for other freshmen). You are teeming with weakness, and people will sniff it out and eat you up because of it. <\/p>\n\n\n\n But every year you learn a little more and come senior year you rule the school. You laugh at your younger self and how little you knew then. You look at the newbies coming through the hall, and maybe you are wise enough to empathize; to extend a kindness here and there.<\/em> <\/p>\n\n\n\n Looking back on my\nfirst year in business, I would have told my younger self to toughen up. I\nwould have told myself, stop envying what other people have, earn your way up \u2013\nfight harder! <\/em><\/p>\n\n\n\n There will be people around you that move ahead without\nearning any of it, and that\u2019s pretty tough to stomach, but your path can be better\n\u2013 and far more rewarding.<\/p>\n\n\n\n Learn the right time\nand frequency for debate \u2013 always back up your opinions with facts.<\/em><\/p>\n\n\n\n If you want something, you need legitimate reasons as to why\nyou deserve it, and even then you may not get it. Gain your experience, learn your industry, and study the politics <\/em>in\nevery job you take \u2013 there are always\npolitics. <\/em><\/p>\n\n\n\n Stay until you truly\noutgrow your position and strategize your next move<\/em>; don\u2019t blindly abandon\nyour responsibilities because you don\u2019t feel like going into the office that\nday. <\/p>\n\n\n\n Fight for change, but do it amicably. <\/em><\/p>\n\n\n\n Don\u2019t dress like crap either; too many people are taking business casual to a whole new level. <\/p>\n\n\n\n Know what you deserve,\nget there, and don\u2019t let anybody tell you that you are acting like more than\nwhat you are.<\/em> Have confidence, but don\u2019t be a jerk about it. My father always said that you have to fake it until you make it<\/em>; a clich\u00e9, yes, but clich\u00e9s become clich\u00e9s\nbecause they are worth repeating.<\/p>\n\n\n\n Some people are happy with where they are and see no reason for moving forward; I am not one of them. I have learned something valuable from every job I\u2019ve taken, and just as much (if not more) from my failures than successes. <\/em>Every day I want more for my life, because, with each step up the ladder or the ones that I miss, I become wiser. <\/p>\n\n\n\n Standing still is not an option.<\/em><\/p>\n\n\n\n Want more for your life…<\/em><\/p>\n\n\n\n but remember to enjoy all you\u2019ve accomplished so far.<\/em><\/p>\n\n\n\n The people that become most valuable to our lives may be totally unexpected. <\/em>Family, blood or not, fight for you \u2013 they help you get where you need to go \u2013 they call you out on your sh*t \u2013 they maintain loyalty in spite of it \u2013 they are there for the worst and the best \u2013 they laugh with you and cry for you \u2013 maturity is giving them less and less reasons to cry because of you.<\/p>\n\n\n\n Be better for your\nfamily, and yourself.<\/em> <\/p>\n\n\n\n Become a mentor; there is no greater achievement.<\/em><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":" An honest and inspiring assessment about what it’s like to head out into the business world and the life lessons you learn along the way.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":27,"featured_media":11033,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[1957],"tags":[],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/blog.123print.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/11031"}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/blog.123print.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/blog.123print.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/blog.123print.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/27"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/blog.123print.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=11031"}],"version-history":[{"count":26,"href":"https:\/\/blog.123print.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/11031\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":11587,"href":"https:\/\/blog.123print.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/11031\/revisions\/11587"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/blog.123print.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/11033"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/blog.123print.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=11031"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/blog.123print.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=11031"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/blog.123print.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=11031"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}2. You Don\u2019t Start Out with Your Dream Job<\/h2>\n\n\n\n
![\"Dream](\"https:\/\/blog.123print.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2019\/05\/Dream-Job-1024x683.jpg\")
<\/figure><\/div>\n\n\n\n3. Strategize Your Success<\/h2>\n\n\n\n
![\"Chess](\"https:\/\/blog.123print.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2019\/05\/Chess-walk-3-1024x683.jpg\")
<\/figure><\/div>\n\n\n\n