One Lesson

Knowing when to worry and when to not. I’ve learned valuable lessons over my years of experience in my professional life, through booming times, and current bust times. I work in the land/construction/development design world. One of the most valuable lessons I’ve learned is that you aren’t going to change a company. In other words, find a company that does what you want to do and that you think is going to give you opportunity to grow. For instance, if you are a Landscape Architect and you want to design golf courses, don’t go to work for a company that does housing development thinking that they’ll get work. Or, if you want to work internationally, work for a company that already has international projects. They must have a history of the types of projects, not ‘one on the way.’ I spent 3 years at a company that I thought was going to break onto the international scene but never did. I was wondering if they were just blowing smoke up my ass to get me to work there.

I may have learned this lesson too well. So well that I now don’t believe that companies are able to change. In a world driven by technology, you must be willing to accept change because the rate that the business environment is changing, you will need to stay abreast of current policies and procedures. I am a strong believer in career phases. Phase 1 you learn everything you can, Phase 2 you learn what’s good and what’s bad, Phase 3 you find the right company which provides you opportunity, Phase 4 you build your vault of works, Phase 5 you become selective and work on projects you feel warrant your abilities, Phase 5 you retire. Or something to that effect. I’m in between Phase 2 and Phase 3 right now. Being between Phases is no fun, and I’ve lost a lot of ambition because of it. I am a patient person and I know that that ambition will return, I’m just in no hurry and can enjoy life while I wait. I guess it’s a sign of maturity. Generation X is much different than previous generations because we all have ADD. If we don’t get the opportunity now and see change by 5p.m. this evening, we’re already looking to see who else is hiring and checking our options. I’m guilty of this, but I’ve become much more patient in recent years. How does this all relate to not worrying? I’ve learned as part of the purgatory between phases not to worry about things you have no control over. When Wall Street learns this lesson, they too will see things return to normalcy.

Vocabulary word of the Week: polemicist
I’m studying to get into a program which would make me a better polemicist and then ultimately a lawyer. This is a true statement.