April 7, 2014

Rookies

Experience is not always a good thing.

Sometimes experience can be a curse. Such as when your experience causes you to focus on the good ole days; and long for the ways things were; and complain about the way things are; and become unwilling to change. The good news is that there is a simple antidote to the curse of experience and it is to think and act like a rookie. Rookies don’t have experience. They don’t know about the way things were. They have no knowledge of the good ole days. Instead rookies create their good ole days right now. Rookies put their head down, work hard, stay positive, live fearlessly and are naïve enough to be successful. Rookies aren’t tainted by rejection, negative assumptions or past experiences. Rookies don’t focus on what everyone says is impossible. Instead, with wide eyes they believe anything is possible. They bring an idealism, optimism and passion to their work and because they believe in the future they take the necessary actions to create it. So, regardless of how much experience you have in your industry and profession I want to encourage you to let your experience be a blessing not a curse. Let your experience provide you with expertise and let your rookie mindset fuel you with optimism and passion. Mentor the rookies because, for all their effort and energy they do make mistakes. And yet, let them teach you how to see the world through their eyes. So think and act like a rookie, forget the past, and create your good ole days right now. Are you acting like a rookie today?