If You Want to Find Work You Love…
(Its Not Where You Think It Is)
I don’t like cold call selling, but I’m good at it. I’ve had to develop this skill to create the results that I wanted in my life.
I should have quit because I was really bad. I remember my first cold call.
It was to a sweet old lady sitting behind a desk. She asked me a question after I had just introduced myself. I attempted to respond but all that happened was my mouth opened and there was silence.
As I stood there speechless, my sales trainer who was standing next to me had to step in and take over. The next several calls didn’t go much better.
I wasn’t good at it and I certainly wasn’t passionate about it. But I wanted to learn to sell and have influence. To do that, I had to figure out this one thing.
11 years later, I still don’t like it but I’m good at it and I like the results it can get me.
Be So Good They Can’t Ignore You
“If your goal is to love what you do, you must first build up “career capital” by mastering rare and valuable skills, and then cash in this capital for the traits that define great work.” — Cal Newport
Cal Newport, in his book Be So Good They Can’t Ignore You, teaches that we need to look for opportunities to develop “career capital” early on in our journey.
These rare and valuable skills enable us to find the work we love. Once we develop career capital three things happens:
- We gain control of one of the most important areas of our lives.
- Our contribution increases and we are able to have more impact.
- There is connection formed with the work we do and the people we do it with.
The Number One Thing That Leads to The Work You Love
There are a lot of elements that lead to the work you love. But the number one trait is if you have control of what you do and how you do it.
This type of control isn’t just handed to us. It must be earned through the development of rare and valuable skills. With this goal in mind I was able to stay focused on a skill that I seldom feel like doing but know produces what I want.
As my abilities improved I gained more control of what I did and how I did it.
Once you’ve develop skills and become effective, you’ll gain more freedom in your day. This freedom must not be taken for granted.
This One Thing Can also Be The Number One Reason You Fail (Beware)
In sales, you have a lot of control of your time. But I’ve seen this flexibility lead to failure — for those who don’t know how to use it.
The same would apply to those who spend their hours in creative work or entrepreneurship. Nothing happens until you initiate it.
Getting clear on your vision, developing a plan, staying consistent and deciding on and taking your next step is crucial.
Freedom isn’t free. It takes discipline to do the deep work of getting clear on the purpose in life you want to create. Most of all, it takes work: hard, relentless, consistent work.
Start here: if you want more control in your life, then spend time on how exactly you would use it to get the results you want.
Rare and Valuable Skills Lead to You Having Impact
When we are able to develop skills to the point they become extremely valuable we gain control of our time, what we do, and how we do it.
It happens in that order, which is why its imperative to keep our focus on learning and developing skills that set us apart.
When you are able to blend your skills with a newfound flexibility you can use it for impact. It can be funneled toward expressing your values and purpose.
Your ability to contribute to creating the outcomes you most want to see you will have greater impact. Not only in your life, but in the lives of those you work with as well.
You’ll become passionate about what you do. Why? Because you will have become so damn good it can’t be ignored. You have impact through the contributions you make on a day to day basis.
The Forming of a Mission
“There comes a special moment in everyone’s life, a moment for which that person was born…When he seized it…it is his finest hour.” — Winston Churchill
Your skills and abilities create impact, leading you to your passion.
This passion allows us connect to a deeper purpose. We are able to see the good it can bring into the world. It becomes a mission.
This passion turned mission will transcend your personal results. The focus will turn outward onto the impact you can have for others.
You will begin to contemplate how you can use your gifts to serve both yourself and others in your life.
How can the experiences gained and skills learned on your journey serve others? What impact could you have in their lives?
The Work We Love Is at The Crossroad of our Skills, Impact, and Passion
Conclusion
I don’t like to cold call but I’m good at it and I like the results it creates. It has taught me so much about myself and has given me confidence.
This confidence to have impact allows me to think bigger toward how I can use my skills and passion for a greater purpose.
It starts with skills — don’t miss this. We have to do the deep work of developing tangible, valuable, and rare skills.
Developing skills will lead to passion and passion will turn into a mission.
What is your next opportunity to step out of your comfort zone to learn a new set of skills?
Develop yourself in way that will lead to more control of what you do and how you do it. Learn skills that will allow you to make a greater contribution, that will enable you to have impact.
Most importantly, How can you use your skills to serve a mission that will benefit everyone?
DOWNLOAD MY FREE EXECUTIVE MORNING PLAN!
Click here and download The Executive Morning Plan: Fuel your performance by taking control of your morning (without Inbox Zero and More Task Lists)!
