#013 The Simplest Way To Get Ahead of 99% of People
Little responsibilities go a long way.
“Notice that opportunity lurks where responsibility has been abdicated.” – Jordan Peterson
I’ve been thinking a lot about this recently because where I work they just hired a couple new guys.
When you’re on probation you’re constantly looking for ways to impress the officers and prove yourself to your new crew.
You want to be seen as the person who is ready and willing to work and wants to excel at their job.
The simplest way to do this is by doing the jobs nobody else wants to do.
You may think nobody notices, but I promise you, everyone does.
And when everyone notices that you’re a go-getter looking for any and every opportunity to excel and take on responsibility you gain respect and more opportunities.
Ironically, this same rule applies in your personal relationships.
Unless you’re in a relationship with a complete narcissist, over time the amount of little unprompted acts will add up creating an immense amount of goodwill.
A few newsletters ago I wrote about how having too many skills can cause anxiety based on an overwhelming amount of choices.
But if you pay close attention you’ll see an incredible amount of opportunities to use every skill for the benefit of your personal and professional life.
Remember way back in 2020 when the government shut down businesses, industries, and the entire economy unless you were deemed “essential”?
I do, and the amount of devastation caused by picking and choosing who or what was “essential” can be damaging on a smaller scale as well.
When this happened a lot of people shirked their responsibilities at work – leaving a boatload of opportunities for people who were ready and willing to pick up the slack.
But, what if you’re doing a job you believe you are overqualified for? Should you still seek out the opportunity to increase your personal responsibility?
The answer is, unequivocally, yes!
No matter where you work there are problems everywhere. And, if you work in fire and EMS (like many of you do) the opportunities are endless.
Question:
What skills do you have that you can use to address an overlooked responsibility in your life or work?
You’ve got skill and knowledge you can bring to the table. We need you.
You got this.