Tag: initiative

Skills Pay The Bills

“Sadly, that is no longer the case even though some people seem to be blind to this change in our expectations of people’s professional qualifications.”

As you go through your professional and career pursuits, you realize more and more each year the need to continually invest in your skills. It used to be whereas a high school and more recently a college degree would set you on a path for sustained success whatever field you would enter. Sadly, that is no longer the case even though some people seem to be blind to this change in our expectations of people’s professional qualifications.

More than ever, ‘skills pay the bills’ so even though you may be formally educated, it is simply not enough to compete 5-10-20 years down the line. Technology and the world of work continues to rapidly change, whether you wear a blue collar or a white collar, many types of work nowadays ask you to stay up to date with the latest trends, innovations, and developments including new skills you’ll need to succeed.

This is not advice you are likely to hear as much if you’re a young person reading this article or just having been fresh out of college. You must continually be learning as much as you can and as related to your career interests long-term. Unfortunately, I don’t think our traditional education system from K-12 or at the university level have realized this as much yet to provide skills in the trades or in different areas like STEM, project management, cybersecurity, artificial intelligence, cloud computing, etc.

Hopefully, your employer or your university can provide those skills to you as part of your employment or as part of your time as a student but that is not always the case for us. In our working life, you will often have to take the initiative in learning new skills or building upon your current skillsets to pay the bills especially as you get older and move up the career ladder.

They may even pay for training or for your exam and/or course, but if that’s not in the cards, I do recommend seeking out those skillsets on your own that are marketable to add to your repertoire. It may be financially unaffordable or difficult, but I do recommend at least taking a few low-cost courses or no-cost videos to at least learn on your own. We still live in a day and age with seemingly unlimited access to information, whether online, or in your public library to learn new skills. Learning new skills and being certified or credentialed is worth the financial investment as well if you can save up money for it or at least work your way towards accreditation.

It does not hurt to show initiative to ask directly of your boss or other employees about ways to learn from them or see if you can shadow them to learn a new skill. You can also politely let them know the benefits that you could bring to your workplace from them having invested in your new skillsets over time. It may not take much to convince them, and you would be surprised how your argument could change their mind(s) when they realize the benefits to the company or the organization.

Still, if that does not happen, always, always invest in yourself. Jobs may change, bosses will change, but the skills you learn could last for the life of your career. Try out different skills here and there to see how much you want to invest in it financially and time wise. It can take a while to find out which skill(s) you would like to use for a living. I ask that you keep trying out different skills, learn new ones, and do it for yourself first. It is helpful in keeping yourself mentally sharp too because we can tend to stagnate after our formal education is over whether it was high school, college, or even after an advanced degree.

It is great to test ourselves not only in our teens in 20s, but in our 30s, 40s, 50s, and even beyond that. The current job market is not easy as I can tell so you need to keep investing in your skillsets to stand out amongst stiff competition regardless of what career field, you’re in. Please do not let yourself stagnate and rest on your laurels forever. I do agree it is good to take a break from learning here and there to give yourself time to think about what you want to learn.

However, you won’t be as competitive in your career pursuits if you aren’t improving your skills or learning new ones. The economy is so dynamic and changing rapidly due to advancements in different technologies that you constantly need to adapt to keep up with the job market. I barely mentioned the future of work, but I can say for sure that the future of work will go well for those of us who work hard, stay flexible, learn new skills with or without the support of our employers, and for whom of us have an open mind and a thirst for knowledge that cannot ever be quenched. Keep investing in yourself because as the saying goes, “skills pay the bills.”

Why You Should Take The Initiative

“A lot of times in life, things won’t be handed to you, opportunities won’t just present themselves to you, and relationships or friendships don’t just form out of thin air.”

A lot of times in life, things won’t be handed to you, opportunities won’t just present themselves to you, and relationships or friendships don’t just form out of thin air. You must be making the effort more often than not to take the initiative to do all those things I just mentioned. It is not easy and can cause you rejection, stress, and even heartache, but if you just expect your life to just progress on its own without putting in the work, you will be sorely mistaken.

Making that initial effort will make the difference as you devote 80-90 or even 100% to get the return you were looking for. You may expect others at work, at school, or in your personal life to meet your half-way or 50/50 after a while but you may find that it’s a running theme in that instead of finding it as being equal or meeting them halfway, it’s likely to be more 60-40 or 70-30 in terms of your effort versus theirs. Now, that does not mean you should be taking the initiative all the time to ask for that promotion, or be open to developing a friendship, or seeking a new relationship but you’ll be better off from driving the effort rather than by taking a backseat.

Having more of the effort initially won’t just make an impression on the person but it will also develop your abilities, your relationships, and your professional / educational future more so than if you had made less of the effort. You should be conscious that the initiative you are taking is worth it and that the time you are putting in gets the result(s) that you are looking for. Your hard work, effort, and perseverance should lead to the other party putting in some conscious effort after a while. If it is just a one-way street in terms of that effort months or years later, I think that relationship, job, or friendship is likely to be doomed to fail.

It would not be fair or just for you to be constantly taking the initiative especially when that person isn’t reciprocal at all or even 30-40% of the way in a friendship or relationship. If you are giving all of the effort and feel like you’re not getting anything back from it, you may be dealing with an ‘emotional vampire’, who you may enjoy their company and like them but the fact that you are putting in all the work to keep things going and them not doing anything to reciprocate is not only a form of manipulation but it is also a sign of someone who only wants to take advantage of you.

They may lack certain qualities including introspection or self-awareness so they may not think they are at fault but if you believe that nothing is going to change, your time and efforts aren’t being valued adequately, and you are not getting as much in return from them, you may need to cut them off or just take a break from being with them or working for them. I encourage proactivity, being extroverted, sociable, and wanting to take on new goals, but if it is draining you and the results professionally or the relations personally you get as a result are not satisfying from that 60-40 or 70-30 set up, it may be best to move on to another person or opportunity.

To cite some examples, if you are good at reaching out to friends or acquaintances and just checking in to see how they are doing or even making the effort to see them and spend time together, that’s a positive initiative to take and shows you care about keeping that relationship going even if it had fizzled out a bit. However, if you feel like you are constantly the one making the calls, setting up the plans, or checking in on them, and they are not doing the same to you on that 30-70 or 40-60 balance that I mentioned, then it may be best to cut back on making the initiative there. If they truly cared about you, they would seek to make plans to see you by their own initiative or they would call to check in every now and then to see how you have been doing. Again, you should not be doing that all the time and if you find that it is becoming a pattern with that person, it may be best to stop seeing them so much since it looks like more of a one-sided friendship or relationship rather than a balanced one.

Another example professionally would be if you’re looking to boost your career and would like to learn new skills, then you should take that initiative with a training or a workshop or a conference that can make you more valuable to your employer. Similarly, if you take it upon yourself at work to learn a new skill by taking courses or attending seminars or providing trainings to others, it should be recognized not only to develop your career but to also further yourself in your role with better compensation or to be promoted to a new role because of the skills / abilities you acquired. If you take the time to volunteer, to be trained, to train, and to become a better worker, your employer or company should realize that it is also not a one-way street so there should be a proper recognition of your having taken the initiative to be more valuable to the firm in question.

However, if you find that after multiple trainings, skills developed, or competencies improved upon, that you are not getting the desired career promotion or compensatory boost, it may be that your initiative, while recognized, is not being formally appreciated. You made the most of the opportunities given but the other party involved doesn’t seem to recognize the new value or abilities you can provide. In this kind of situation, it may be best to start looking elsewhere professionally with those new proficiencies in your work to find a firm, company, or organization who will do their best to meet you halfway or maybe 40-60 so that you know that they care about you staying with them into the future and that your presence is both valued and appreciated, which is actually shown in different ways, a promotion, a raise, or otherwise.

Personally or professionally, you should consistently be looking to take action or initiative to improve your life in either way. However, it should not give the other party free reign to not give anything back in return or to provide their own initiatives or actions for you to take part in after they start it up. If you invite your friend to a barbecue, hopefully they’ll reciprocate in the future by having you over for a birthday party. If you do a skills workshop for a week to improve your competency at work, maybe your company or firm can reward you with a promotion to apply those new skills you picked up. It’s not always 50-50 in life and you may have to do most of the work, especially at the beginning of a new job or friendship. However, if it is you who is giving 100% and them putting in 0% in return on a consistent basis without the other party realizing it, it’s a toxic kind of relationship and you should be cutting ties with that person or entity as soon as possible.