There is a saying which I came across that goes like this ... "Don't compare your Chapter One to someone else's Chapter Twenty". I don't believe that there is any one person attributed with the quote, but I like it!
I like it for a number of reasons:
- It is good advice for people looking for a mentor. It best to find someone who can relate to your current situation.
- If we envy someone's accomplishments, we should also understand their journey.
- It is a reminder that there are a lot of steps between Chapter One and Chapter Twenty.
- It reminds us that we should understand exactly where you are in our book (or journey).
- It reminds me that my book has been a long, winding one ... and I have paid my dues along the way.
- Over the years I have been asked for advice by young entrepreneurs and I have always tried my best to help. Like most people, they don't know what they don't know, and as someone in the later chapters of my book, I don't always remember the pain of Chapter One.
- I have been in the workforce since I was sixteen years old and my career has seen several Chapter Ones, the latest as a business owner. There has been a lot written in those intervening chapters!
- Sometime people just starting out think that they should be me. When I started out I did not have the resources, money, knowledge or contacts that I do today. I operate today with the credibility and experience that I earned during those intervening chapters. If you are just starting out, on a career or a "new book" you need to EARN some credibility!
- There can be many Chapter Ones during a career! When you first enter the work force, when you change roles, when you get promoted or maybe when you start a business. Yes, those books that came before will help, but if you can treat each of those new situations like a fresh start ... perhaps a short story in a book of short stories ... then your head will be in the right place!
- There are many different kinds of books, and lessons can be learned from all of them but the best lessons will come from those that are most similar to your book. Likewise, your career trajectory will get its best advice from people that have been there done that, and recently enough that their experience is credible.
