Stop following your old rules

 At the time of this post, I work in IT. I've earned two IT-related associates degrees, a bachelors of information systems with an emphasis in business intelligence, and a masters in cybersecurity. But I don't work in a high-paying position. I could easily find a job that earns at least $20-30, 000 more than I do in my public education position. Besides loving to learn, the intent was to find a better paying job, but I love the low stress environment I'm in. I love the autonomy I'm given. I love the freedom and flexibility of my job. I love helping people personally and not talking on the phone all the time or remoting into machines.

But I digress.

Technology is constantly changing. Anyone who hangs on to old ways of doing things is quickly outdated. What I learned for server administration in my first few years was outdated by the time I graduated.

Here's what I've learned as being most important to working in a changing environment.

You need to take advantage of learning opportunities. Don't wait. Get ahead of the curve.

You may have a great way to do things, and it may be highly effective and efficient, but, if you're not open to new possibilities and have a willingness to try something different, you may find yourself at a disadvantage in the future.

Getting degrees are important for two reasons. First, it shows that you will stick to something to completion. Second, it shows a willingness to learn. 

Regarding learning, becoming educated is not as valuable as learning how to learn. You need to know how to take the knowledge you have and leverage it to gain new knowledge, experience, and wisdom.

Certifications are also important in that they demonstrate a minimum proficiency and ability to meet set requirements.

Experience is valuable. This can be from actual jobs, volunteer opportunities, and personal interest or hobby activities. Experience teaches us. Experience includes failures and more learning opportunities.

While education, certification, and experience are valuable for getting employment, each has hazards we need to be aware of.

The constant pursuit of academic honors and recognitions can easily distract us from taking our lives to the next level, or to skip levels. Sometimes we use the excuse that we need to learn more, take another class, etc. to stop us from taking the next step. Looking at my wall, I have two certificates, three associate-level degrees, two bachelor degrees, and a masters degree. I also have three industry certifications, and a renewal for my helicopter CFI.

Over the years I've taken lots of classes through traditional college/university classes, to seminars, and spent thousands on online courses. I love learning. But I have discovered over the past couple years that it has also been an excuse I have used to not take action towards my dreams.

Certifications are similar. One was required for my job. I got a second because it was helpful to my job. The third was achieved to renew my first. I started studying for higher certificates, so I could apply for better jobs, but a few years ago I realized that I didn't really want those jobs and getting more certifications was just distracting me and taking my time.

As I mentioned, my job required a minimum certification. But unless my dream is in a position requiring a different certification (which it is not) then getting new certifications--as fun as new paper on the wall might be--is not a good use of my time or money.

So what is the hazard of experience?

Well, while experience is highly valuable, there are three hazards it can create in our lives if we're not wary of them.

First, our experience teaches us what works well. We do something that enables us to perform better, to succeed, and we keep doing it. And that's not a bad thing. We keep doing what works well and we become better and better at it. Except, we can become very hesitant to relinquish a habitual pattern if there might be a better way to perform. We will resist something new because of its unfamiliarity and we feel clumsy and inefficient in doing it. 

That leads right into the second hazard: Fear of change. We're comfortable in doing the same thing. Our results are fairly predictable. But there's the next hazards.

Our present level of performance, which is based on what we are presently doing, doesn't help us move up to a higher level. In some fields continuing to do what you are presently doing will eventually cripple your ability to perform in the future. You need to be agile in change. You need to be flexible in your approach.

The other hazard is the belief that our past experience dictates our future. From our past failures we believe that a future endeavor is likely to fail as well.

The investment market has a saying, which has been stated in various ways, which goes something like this: Past performance is no indicator/guarantee of future results.

Learn from the past. Just because you failed at something doesn't mean you can't succeed at it in the future. First, you're different now. Second, have you looked at all the different aspects of the past failure and identified where/what went wrong and can that change?

And if you're doing something different, how is it even logical to assume just because you failed in project A that project B will fail as well?

Our old belief systems, perspectives, and paradigms keep us attached to what we're comfortable with. They don't have the power to propel us to far greater results, or to enable us to skip levels to explosive growth.

We need the willingness to break out of our old routines, to look for and employ new attitudes and behaviors. And we cannot just half-heartedly "try out" something new and different. The energy of our being, our heart, must be in it. We must believe in, have faith in, and feel the success as if it is now.