Humanitas (Veteran Voices)
Humanitas/Choice & Creativity (Veteran Voices)
Transcript
Throughout my transition, either creating choices, or rather, even seeing choices that others wouldn't have seen, I think that's a big part to the entrepreneur kind of mindset. It's that rather than seeing things just as setbacks, you see a lot of opportunities where a lot of others might just be willing to overlook it, or complain, or just simply not choose that. I think one, in general, was even deciding to become a part of an MLM community that a lot of people might be against, just because of preconceived notions about it. But the idea, to me, was, I can work as hard as I want. I can help people get healthy. I can help people live better lives. These are things that I want to be doing myself. Now I can be in a group with this.
So I'm going to now see this as an opportunity and create a plan with goals that I can see myself achieving monthly, quarterly, yearly, and then, you know, in a year's time, I'm going to be a step in that direction, whereas my friend might not have ever-- never have seen that as an opportunity, or never taken it. I think even choosing to apply to different schools. And then, you know, choose a school that's going to challenge you more than one that would be just more comforting-- whether in your area, physical, like regional area, near your family or friends, or on a specific coast-- but to go somewhere that really challenges you because you see it as an opportunity to grow and to see from different perspectives, and to also get exposed to different networks that could build your entrepreneurial spirit, your open-mindedness, your awareness, your goal-setting. I think those are all amazing opportunities.
I think everybody's transition is absolutely going to be different. Of course, to speak personally, I mean, I went through a divorce not too long after I transitioned. That was a very tough decision to make, for various reasons. I think one of the most important things that I had to keep in mind during that period was that somewhere down the bend, these things were going to work themselves out, and it was going to lead to something, something greater. I think staying optimistic about those kinds of adverse situations are super-important. Deciding what company to eventually work for was a very important, very tough decision, whether or not I wanted to work for a company, whether I wanted to work for myself and pursue some of my own entrepreneurship ideas, whether I wanted to get into a more creative space. These were all very, very difficult choices.
Eventually, I think the thing that helped the most, the thing that really helped drive me forward was having some opinions and having some mentorship from people who've done those things, and to try to see how they align with my goals. Where do I want to be in five years, or 10 years, or 20 years, for that matter? How does what I do today affect that? What is the line between the decisions I make today about where my career goes, and where I want it to be somewhere down the line? Trying to think holistically about how all of these pieces come together is, I think, an under-taught kind of skill, an under-communicated kind of skill. And I think it's really important that, if you're not finding that kind of information or that kind of mentorship, that you go out and seek it from people who really want to help. Talking with other people who've done these things before is certainly the best way to have a shortcut to success.
So I'm going to now see this as an opportunity and create a plan with goals that I can see myself achieving monthly, quarterly, yearly, and then, you know, in a year's time, I'm going to be a step in that direction, whereas my friend might not have ever-- never have seen that as an opportunity, or never taken it. I think even choosing to apply to different schools. And then, you know, choose a school that's going to challenge you more than one that would be just more comforting-- whether in your area, physical, like regional area, near your family or friends, or on a specific coast-- but to go somewhere that really challenges you because you see it as an opportunity to grow and to see from different perspectives, and to also get exposed to different networks that could build your entrepreneurial spirit, your open-mindedness, your awareness, your goal-setting. I think those are all amazing opportunities.
I think everybody's transition is absolutely going to be different. Of course, to speak personally, I mean, I went through a divorce not too long after I transitioned. That was a very tough decision to make, for various reasons. I think one of the most important things that I had to keep in mind during that period was that somewhere down the bend, these things were going to work themselves out, and it was going to lead to something, something greater. I think staying optimistic about those kinds of adverse situations are super-important. Deciding what company to eventually work for was a very important, very tough decision, whether or not I wanted to work for a company, whether I wanted to work for myself and pursue some of my own entrepreneurship ideas, whether I wanted to get into a more creative space. These were all very, very difficult choices.
Eventually, I think the thing that helped the most, the thing that really helped drive me forward was having some opinions and having some mentorship from people who've done those things, and to try to see how they align with my goals. Where do I want to be in five years, or 10 years, or 20 years, for that matter? How does what I do today affect that? What is the line between the decisions I make today about where my career goes, and where I want it to be somewhere down the line? Trying to think holistically about how all of these pieces come together is, I think, an under-taught kind of skill, an under-communicated kind of skill. And I think it's really important that, if you're not finding that kind of information or that kind of mentorship, that you go out and seek it from people who really want to help. Talking with other people who've done these things before is certainly the best way to have a shortcut to success.