When I was within months of graduating from college, one of my professors gave each of us the opportunity to have a mock interview with her. During my interview I remember I was very nervous yet I was trying to sound very smart and determined. However, when the interview was over, my professor gave me the most shocking and eye opening feedback. She told me that she did not think I was cut out for the industry I was going into! What? I was within months of graduating with a Bachelor's Degree in Merchandising Management which I had spent 4 years and countless hours of my life working towards and my leader felt I was not cut out for it? Are you kidding me? Needless to say, I was crushed. She told me I seemed too nice and she got the impression that I thought everything should be the way it would be at Rebecca's Sunny Brook Farm!
Because going into that field was my dream, I did go on to graduate on-time and continued in the field I had studied. Through the years I have held many positions with a number of different companies. Throughout my years of being in the Work Force, I've been criticized, yelled at, worked till I thought I might fall over, questioned and put in positions to make decisions that could make my integrity questionable, but I've always made it through because I always had a dream that something better will come along, I just had to hold on for a bit, and you know what? Another opportunity always did come along. An opportunity that was more in-line with my dream and what I wanted out of my life.
I have friends and family that constantly complain about the people they work with, and it always makes me wonder how in the world they could stay in that environment day after day? Most of us will have to work in an environment with other people for most of our lives so why would you spend your life hating it? That just bothers me! People use all sorts of excuses like, "I'll lose my benefits" or "I'll never be able to make the same income somewhere else" or I'm just too old to make a change". Really?
I now have to pinch myself everyday. I am so blessed to work with a group of people (see the photo below) that, although we are all very different, we all have a common thread and that's a DREAM! Each of our dreams is different, but none less important than another. Each day we come together in a building or on Social Media or over the phone and we encourage and support each other to keep going after our dreams and to not let discouragement and distractions keep us from our ultimate goal! It's an amazing thing! The profession I now work in is Real Estate which means we actually compete against each other each day, in the same market, but we still encourage each other! We don't stab each other in the back to get what we want, we just do the right thing! We think about the Golden Rule and do to others what we would want done to us.
Why is this our culture? Is it because of our leadership? Is it just because Like Minded People attract Like Minded People? I don't know! I can't explain it, but it's a model that if more offices could follow, I think we'd have more HAPPY people walking this earth.
So, thank you, my college professor that said I couldn't do it! You gave me the drive I needed to do it! I am proving that you can still make it in this world if you are nice! You will always run across people that will pooh pooh everything you say or do, but that's ok! Just surround yourself with positive, like minded people and I promise, the sky's the limit!
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