Are your shoes too big?

Working with many young professionals, I sometimes have to wonder what shoes GenY and millennial’s wear, because they do not seem to have any fear picking up the big shoes and walking a mile. The unfortunate thing is that for every young professional prodigy, there are a number that trip over in their borrowed big shoes, unable to maintain a steady walk.

Sometimes, experience does count and whilst you can fake it, only time and lessons can ultimately provide experience that is essential in a career. You can watch many Donald Trump Apprentice shows and any variety of boardroom television dramas, but until you have regular personal experience, you cannot totally fake it.

That said, you could gain some experience… quickly. Like learning to drive, you can do 30min each day for 2 weeks, or 5 hours in a day. Just make sure you get the rain, bad drivers and difficult situations – because if you learned in fair whether with no traffic – you do not have real experience. Same goes for workplace situations.

How do you get the experience? If your job isn’t giving you those opportunities, then source out other avenues, such as volunteer work, charity events or different networking activities.

Changing your shoes to fit the occasion

Flexibility in approach to your professional life is essential to capitalise on opportunities and avoid the pitfalls that are career limiting.

Sometimes you need sneakers, because it is a fast paced environment. But like any other shoes, if you are constantly running, changing direction and going fast, your shoes will get worn out, dirty and reduced performance.

Be prepared to be flexible. It can’t always be fast with promotions regularly and new roles around every corner. As frustrating as it may seem, experience does grow, even in the steady, regularly and entirely predictable roles. Those are the roles that help to shape you, because even the most ambitious young professionals, still have some desires for their personal life. It may be that you dedicate time to the comfortable work loafers, rather than sporting new shoes everyday.

Unrealistic expectations

If you dream of manolo blahniksor jimmy choos and yet a graduate, you are going to set yourself up for disappointment. Whilst I wish we could all aspire to the greatness of Richard Branson or equivalent, the reality is that this is not the norm for even the most with-it young professional. Learning to be happy with smaller and more realistic outcomes is key. Ever heard of mindfulness? Its appreciating where you are currently, without focusing on the end goal or past problems.

So if you still have the heart burning for jimmy choos, then set yourself realistic goals in the short term and be prepared to change your shoes to fit the occasion. Be the person that walks into the BMW shop dressed in BigW specials and buy your first professional car. I did… and then three years later bought an xtrail. Success isn’t always measured in brands.

Understand others

Finally, the most important element of flexibility and expectations is understanding others. I am a great believer in compassion. Before you criticise someone else (yes, even the Prime Minister or your boss), consider walking 500 miles in their shoes. Trust me, their shoes are probably tougher, walking on terrain unsuitable for jimmy choos.