Observe your future self

July 26, 2007 3:06 PM

ATTENTION ANYONE UNDER 25!

If you’re a “young blade,” as my Grandma likes to say, you need to take a good look at the veterans of your industry.

I suggest:

Meet them.
Observe them
Hang out with them.
Ask questions of them.

THEN: create a picture of the type of person that someone who does what you do often becomes.

This is something you need to know going in. To a new career OR a new job.

FOR EXAMPLE: as an entrepreneur under 30, I tend to work with a lot of people who are sometimes 20 years ahead of me.

And a few of the trends I notice (although not for everybody) include:

o Lack of work-life balance
o Incredible stress, physically and mentally
o Sabotaged relationships
o Absentee fathers and husbands
o Complacency and therefore lack of reinvention and/or expansion

That’s not who I want to become! I think.

I remember last year I asked a friend of mine, “Do you ever come into the office on Sundays?”

He said, “I come into the office when I’m in town.”

Wow.

Sure am glad I realize this now!

So. What about you?

What do you want (and not want) to become?

Even if you’re not under 30, here a few steps to help you find the answer:

1. Observe your future self. Create a picture of the type of person that someone who does what you do often becomes.

2. Self-Assessment. Ask yourself three questions:

a. Do I want to end up like them?
b. If not, whom DO I want to end up like?
c. And what steps will I have to take (now) in order to become that person (later)?

3. Journal. Start a “Don’t Ever Let That Happen to Me” Log. Consider doing it with another person or a mastermind group for accountability purposes.

4. Evaluate. On a regular basis, do a check-in. See where you’ve been, where you are and where you’re going. Be sure your path is consistent with what you’ve observed and what you want.

REMEMBER: you don’t have to become what everyone else who does what you do often becomes.

It’s up to you.

Because you always have a choice.

LET ME ASK YA THIS…
What are the trappings of your industry?

LET ME SUGGEST THIS…
Start your accountability TODAY. Make a list right here, right now, of three things you DON’T want to become.

* * * *
Scott Ginsberg
That Guy with the Nametag
www.hellomynameisscott.com

Are you the luckiest person you know?