Hi everyone,
I've revamped and relaunched my blog! If you aren't immediately redirected, head on over to www.nikitatmitchell.com to check it out.
See you there!
2010 is officially behind us. This I know because I spent my New Years Eve in the freezing cold with hundreds of thousands of other folks out on the strip in Las Vegas (I thought it was supposed to be a desert!). I couldn't possibly have missed all of the fireworks at midnight.
So I'm officially back from vacay and while I'm a bit late ringing in the new year on this site, I'm still beyond excited about 2011 and all of the opportunities that await! I have been doing lots of reflecting and planning over the last few weeks and a lot less writing as a result, as I'm sure you've noticed. I'm pumped about some of the things I've got going on right now, some of which you'll be getting word of very soon!
Overall, 2010 was a great year for me. It was full of lots of challenges, but most importantly it was full of tremendous growth. About a year ago I decided that I wanted to do more than just randomly write thoughts on my personal blog. After a few months of thinking it through, I kicked off this blog and dove right into a blogging challenge in August.
When I look back to the progress I've made since then I'm proud of myself. I've started taking my love for writing seriously by challenging myself to write more regularly than I ever have before - with this blog being the most significant outlet for my passion.
To start the new year off right I find it fitting to share the top 10 posts of 2010... a combination of those with the most views and my personal favorites:
When I look back to the progress I've made since then I'm proud of myself. I've started taking my love for writing seriously by challenging myself to write more regularly than I ever have before - with this blog being the most significant outlet for my passion.
To start the new year off right I find it fitting to share the top 10 posts of 2010... a combination of those with the most views and my personal favorites:
- You work in Corporate America. How could you possibly change the world?
- Creating My Story Bird by Bird
- Stop Acting Like Personal Branding Is Pointless
- 5 Things I Wish I Knew About the Real World Before I Started Working
- Hiring Me is Like Picking the Right Pink Nail Polish
- My Story: Living With FOMO
- Lighting the Flame: The Black Girl Project
- Volunteering Not Only Rocks Socks, It Helps Your Corporate Career Too
- Reflections: My Climb Up the Career Ladder
- Why I Started This Blog
As young professionals, feedback is one of the most valuable tools we have as our careers progress. We’re still new and rather inexperienced; but as we progress we are not only expected to be able to perform at more advanced levels, we also want to hold ourselves to a higher standard. As the year wraps up, there is no better time than now to reflect on your goals and performance on the job over the last twelve months.Check out my latest Zora & Alice post to find out how to start.
I’ve been spending a lot of time over the last month reflecting on my personal and professional goals for the next year. It started off as a really trying exercise because I have absolutely no idea where I want to be in five to ten years, therefore making it difficult to figure out what I’m working toward.After a bit of struggling, I’m proud to say that I’ve made some progress. I can now articulate the type of work I’d like to be doing and the skills I would love to be using. However, I still find it pretty frustrating to essentially be working on a map that guides me to nowhere and everywhere at the same time.
Last week I picked up Bird by Bird, a surprisingly captivating book about writing and life. The author, Anne Lamott, is a professor and in the book she shares everything she knows about being a writer while tying in life lessons along the way.
In one of my favorite chapters, she talks about the common myth that every successful writer is able to sit down and immediately write the most beautiful, engaging pieces of work without any effort. Much like selfish and naive teenagers, so many of us budding and aspiring writers believe that we’re the only ones who become distracted and grow frustrated with the crappy words, thoughts and phrases that will flow from our brains to our fingertips when we sit down to write.
Lamott tells us to stop fooling ourselves, explaining that the process is no different from one writer to the next. She then proceeds to share the following story:
Thirty years ago my older brother, who was ten years old at the time, was trying to get a report on birds written that he’d had three months to write. It was due the next day. We were out at our family cabin in Bolinas, and he was at the kitchen table close to tears, surrounded by binder paper and pencils and unopened books on birds, immobilized by the hugeness of the task ahead. Then my father sat down beside him, put his arm around my brother’s shoulder, and said, “Bird by bird, buddy. Just take it bird by bird.That’s when I realized that life is no different.
The pressure of thinking I should know where I want to be professionally in the next five to ten years is beyond overwhelming. And that’s perfectly okay.
In life, we will hardly ever have a solid sense of what our destination will be. Each of us has a unique story to tell that can only be written one day at a time. The only way for it to get told, though, is for us to start somewhere. Even the best authors had to start by sitting down to write.
So that’s what I’ll be doing doing. I’m starting right where I am, with what I know. Taking it day by day, word by word, and bird by bird until my story has been told.
This post is part of a blog series on Brazen Careerist being sponsored by JobSTART101. They asked Brazen members to answer the question: What do I wish I knew before I started working? Here's my response ...Whether you did it a long time ago or you’re preparing to experience it yourself, I’m pretty sure that it’s not news to you that entering the real world after college is no walk in the park. Everyone deals with it a little differently. Some get their degree and face it head on while others accumulate thousands more in more debt just to avoid it a little longer. The fact of the matter is, though, we all have to face it at some point.
For me the scariest part of learning to be an adult is that there are a lot of things you won't learn until you experience it. I mean, I still struggle to even call myself an adult because more often than not I feel like I’m really just faking this whole independence thing.
Now let me break it down for you: I was good at school growing up. I even loved it (nerd alert!). For me it was simple: determine what the expectations were for an “A”, assess how much energy I had to use to meet those expectations, adjust my strategy when necessary, and get an A.
Most of my life worked that way. That is, until I finished college.
There is no shortage of lessons to be learned in this "real world", and unfortunately none of them come with a syllabus or office hours for when you have questions. Here are five things I had to learn for myself since leaving undergrad:
My instincts rock more than I’m willing to admit sometimes.
This is something that I’m definitely still learning more and more about. However, there have been so many times that once I reflected on past situations, I realize that my gut feeling about certain individuals, various situations and how I should respond were almost always right from the jump. Trust in yourself even when you feel totally inexperienced.
Managing my personal finances is hard.
Keep in mind that you’re reading the blog of an individual who not only was required to take a considerable number of finance classes for her degree, worked two summers on Wall Street, loves Suze Orman and understands what it means to be in good financial health (for the most part). So, clearly, I thought this part of transitioning into adulthood would be a piece of cake. Wrong. Just like so many other things about adulthood, there is no way to just study something and be good at it. Not only do I wish that I’d known how much trial and error it would take, I also wish I had known sooner that so many of my peers are struggling with the same thing.
Difficult situations at work suck. Yes, everyone deals with them, but it’s okay to talk about it.
Of course I’m not saying to go to the water cooler and talk smack about your boss with one of your peers. Absolutely not. I strongly advise against that. But don't be like me and feel like you'll be all "whoa is me" if you talk it out. It is okay to discuss things with your mentors and other managers with whom you have a trusted relationship about how things are going, how you are feeling, and what you can do about it. The first time I learned this was long after I had already let the stress of the situation get the best of me.
My parents won’t always give me the best advice.
GASP! This one is crazy for me to write because I love my parents dearly and think they’re pretty freakin’ awesome (Hi Mommy!). However, despite our parents’ unconditional love for us, they often give us advice based on what they wanted for themselves or within the context of a lesson learned in their own past. Sometimes their advice is extremely valuable and saves us from having to learn hard lessons ourselves. But sometimes you have to take the time to think about how their perspective has been shaped, what you want for yourself and whether that advice is best for you. Disclaimer: I won't promise you that if you turn out to be wrong that you won't get an onslaught of "I told you so"s!
Once you have a walk-in closet, you’ll never want to go without one.
Okay so maybe this doesn't quite qualify as an important life lesson, but I just finished apartment hunting and this is something that hit me hard. Moving from a studio outside of the city to a new place in the city was a little disheartening in the closet space arena. I was so close to asking leasing offices if they were willing to turn the kitchen into a closet. It’s not like I make much use of a stove anyway.
For me the scariest part of learning to be an adult is that there are a lot of things you won't learn until you experience it. I mean, I still struggle to even call myself an adult because more often than not I feel like I’m really just faking this whole independence thing.
Now let me break it down for you: I was good at school growing up. I even loved it (nerd alert!). For me it was simple: determine what the expectations were for an “A”, assess how much energy I had to use to meet those expectations, adjust my strategy when necessary, and get an A.
Most of my life worked that way. That is, until I finished college.
There is no shortage of lessons to be learned in this "real world", and unfortunately none of them come with a syllabus or office hours for when you have questions. Here are five things I had to learn for myself since leaving undergrad:
My instincts rock more than I’m willing to admit sometimes.
This is something that I’m definitely still learning more and more about. However, there have been so many times that once I reflected on past situations, I realize that my gut feeling about certain individuals, various situations and how I should respond were almost always right from the jump. Trust in yourself even when you feel totally inexperienced.
Managing my personal finances is hard.
Keep in mind that you’re reading the blog of an individual who not only was required to take a considerable number of finance classes for her degree, worked two summers on Wall Street, loves Suze Orman and understands what it means to be in good financial health (for the most part). So, clearly, I thought this part of transitioning into adulthood would be a piece of cake. Wrong. Just like so many other things about adulthood, there is no way to just study something and be good at it. Not only do I wish that I’d known how much trial and error it would take, I also wish I had known sooner that so many of my peers are struggling with the same thing.
Difficult situations at work suck. Yes, everyone deals with them, but it’s okay to talk about it.
Of course I’m not saying to go to the water cooler and talk smack about your boss with one of your peers. Absolutely not. I strongly advise against that. But don't be like me and feel like you'll be all "whoa is me" if you talk it out. It is okay to discuss things with your mentors and other managers with whom you have a trusted relationship about how things are going, how you are feeling, and what you can do about it. The first time I learned this was long after I had already let the stress of the situation get the best of me.
My parents won’t always give me the best advice.
GASP! This one is crazy for me to write because I love my parents dearly and think they’re pretty freakin’ awesome (Hi Mommy!). However, despite our parents’ unconditional love for us, they often give us advice based on what they wanted for themselves or within the context of a lesson learned in their own past. Sometimes their advice is extremely valuable and saves us from having to learn hard lessons ourselves. But sometimes you have to take the time to think about how their perspective has been shaped, what you want for yourself and whether that advice is best for you. Disclaimer: I won't promise you that if you turn out to be wrong that you won't get an onslaught of "I told you so"s!
Once you have a walk-in closet, you’ll never want to go without one.
Okay so maybe this doesn't quite qualify as an important life lesson, but I just finished apartment hunting and this is something that hit me hard. Moving from a studio outside of the city to a new place in the city was a little disheartening in the closet space arena. I was so close to asking leasing offices if they were willing to turn the kitchen into a closet. It’s not like I make much use of a stove anyway.
I'm so excited I can barely type. Yesterday, an amazing resource became available for all the current and aspiring do-gooders of the world: DoSomething U. Started by the organization DoSomething.org, this website is another tool through which they "help young people rock causes they care about." The mission of the site is to help individuals passionate about social change make their ideas a reality. In that vein, the site is full of articles on topics categorized by seven "majors" ranging from activism to technology to human resources.
On the site you'll also find videos on various topics. Each week DoSomething U will release a new one on a different topic. Here are a few to get you started:
- How to Tell a Story Through Video - As someone with little to zero (closer to zero) video media skills this was a great intro to me. And if you haven't heard of Andrew Jenks, he's pretty cool. Google him.
- How to Create a Strong Brand - This one is particularly interesting to me because over the last week or so I've put a lot of thought into how to begin branding the non-profit I work with right now. As a business person, I truly believe in the value of branding for organizations, and not just in the private sector.
- Overcome the Fear of Asking for Money - No matter what kind of organization you intend to start, the money has to come from somewhere. If you're anything like me, it's better to start getting over that fear sooner than later!
So now that DoSomething.org has provided yet another reason to stop putting off any program and venture ideas we may have, how long will it take for you to get started?
Some people are intimidated by networking; and I'd say rightfully so. Even for the social butterflies of the world, it can be an exhausting experience. Add in factors such as introverted personalities, limited time, small budgets, etc. and the networking experience becomes outright frustrating for some folks.
Enter Brazen Careerist, an online community and career center for Generation Y, with a snazzy new tool that eliminates just about all the anxieties you've ever had about networking.
This is how it works. You log into your Brazen account, look for the Network Roulette wheel and click to get started. The first prompt will ask you two questions: (1) What are you looking for?, and (2) What are you providing?
Can I just say how much I love that? I will admit that the first time I participated this intimidated me because everything I've ever learned about networking has taught me to be a little more curteous than to just walk up to someone new and ask for what I want. With Network Roulette you can literally focus all of your networking energy on how you and the other individual can trade information and/or resources.
After answering those questions (and don't be shy...), you will be randomly matched with someone and the 3 minute countdown begins. You will have to use this time wisely as it's all you have to determine if the person on the other side can help you or if you can help them. Once your conversation is done, you have the opportunity to connect with those individuals through their Brazen profile. And, of course, if you've agreed to offer each other something you will want to reach out to the individual once you are done networking.
Now let's just say you're not interested in talking to that person for 3 minutes. You're 30 seconds in and your interests don't match and the conversation is dry. The solution? Move on to the next person. No awkward pauses, exit strategies or having to pretend that someone across the room is calling your name.
And that's it. Simple as that.
But don't just listen to me. Head over to Brazen and give it a try yourself!
Full disclosure: Well there really is no full disclosure since I'm not getting paid or being provided with anything in return for writing this post. I'm simply a fan of the Brazen community, and I'm just spreading the word about the launch of Network Roulette!
Subscribe to:
Posts (Atom)
