Most people get the idea that your body is what you put into it–diet, exercise. Thus the endless waves of vegan, organic, keto, gluten-free… But you also get what you put into your work, your relationship, and your life! It starts with your mindset.
When I first started out as a marketing manager, I yearned to get into sales and be where the money and action were! Unfortunately, at that time, the workplace was very gender-biased. it was a gender-biased workplace where girls were the support, creating, back office, and men were the sales, tech, and engineers. No opportunities were given to a rookie with no background in sales or accounting.
The opportunity came for me in the form of a craphole bad collectibles. Every sales and accountant had tried to collect 385-days overdue account receivables amounting to $1.2 million USD. I VOLUNTEERED to sort out the mess. It was grueling extra work that I took on top of my job, but the account was the largest US retailer in the sector. In the months that I took to painstakingly locate every discrepancy from hundreds of transactions, I built close relationships with the people from this large account.
When I recovered 100% of the $1.2 mil that was to be written off as a loss, guess who got her shot in sales and business development? I made an impression and opened the door for myself in sales because I had a better relationship with that large account than anyone else at work.
Sometimes, I joke about specializing in putting out fires or taking over the crap nobody else wants to touch. Those “misfortunes” or challenges opened doors for me and made me who I am. Most opportunities don’t come nicely gift wrapped on a silver platter. They come in the disguise of struggles, extra work, or a role that you might deem beneath you.
If it’s the right thing to do, do it wholeheartedly, and start now. And if you want something, put your ego and expectations aside and just start somewhere on the path towards your goal. It doesn’t matter how small.
Do the work, and open your own doors.
