Great Opportunities Happen in Unlikely Places
Why reinvesting your free time is the key to professional growth.
There are essentially two kinds of workers; those who show up for a paycheck and those who love what they do and want to make a real impact.
Which one are you?
When I graduated from college in 2017, I thought I lived in the second camp. But the truth is, I wasn’t happy with where I was in my first job.
I didn’t notice real career growth until I started putting in extra effort after 5 pm. In the hours when everyone else was relaxing, I started investing in myself.
Instead of scrolling through YouTube, I read memoirs.
Instead of going out, I wrote articles.
If I had downtime I journaled, practiced my craft, and built passion projects.
Now, I am exactly where I want to be in life. Those seemingly insignificant moments added up to develop a vision for my future that I am excited for. And all it took was a simple mindset shift.
You have to think of time as an investment.
This is what a lot of young professionals don’t understand.
Time is never really “free”. Every second that ticks by is being exchanged for something — whether it be leisure, sleeping, partying, working out, whatever.
By saying “yes” to laying on the couch and watching Netflix, you are saying “no” to dozens of other opportunities that could help you grow.
People who have achieved the substantial success of any kind understand that free time has to be reinvested into something creative, productive, or educational. It needs to further your mission in pursuit of a bigger goal.
“Would you tell me, please, which way I ought to go from here?”
“That depends a good deal on where you want to get to,” said the Cat
— Lewis Carroll, Alice’s Adventures in Wonderland
Setting off on a new path of development isn’t always easy. That’s why most people aren’t willing to do it. But those same people are the ones who end up missing a promotion or complain about quitting their job because it’s unfair and unfulfilling.
Instead of making excuses, make improvements. Invest your time into something meaningful. That’s the only way to achieve what you really want from life.
What are you willing to do when no one is watching?