Solve A Problem

Before you take another step in your job hunt, answer this question: "What problem are you trying to solve?"

If there’s not something lacking that you are going to provide, why should an employer want to hire you?

People need to see a problem to be moved.There must be an inciting moment. For me, I saw a need to serve those around me. It was the "why" not the "what."

Seth Godin once described the difference between marketing Aspirin and vitamins. Aspirin, he said, is much easier to sell because it solves a problem - your headache. Vitamins, on the other hand, don’t resolve an immediate, blaring problem. They’re a harder sell.

How can you reframe your application for a specific position as the solution to a problem? When you offer the solution to a problem, employers awaken to your potential.

Your skills, experience and expertise must address a problem. Every employer looking to hire has a problem. Understanding that problem and providing the solution to that problem qualifies you as the best candidate for the employer to hire.

How Badly Do You Want Success?

Those who are hungry, driven and committed will create opportunites to improve themeselves. Success requires drive, determination, and persistance. Understanding that defeat comes far in advance of success is neccessary.

Understanding that failure isn't final is critical. Success will come when you least expect it and only after a firm commitment to doing the work.

Gone Is The Map

If you're waiting for a college, employer or boss to validate that you do good work, you're handing over too much power to someone who doesn't care nearly as much as you do.

Your passion is unmatched.

We spend a lot of time organizing, applying and hoping only to wait and wait and wait for the system to select us, approve of us and grant us permission to realize the practical application of our passion.

Now is the time to take action. Success comes to those who are knowledgeable, motivated and do well to communicate and share their passion with the world. Gone are the days where we could follow the map down the well worn path to success. Students today require a compass that must point true north.

Enormous and exciting changes will continue to redefine the entirety of industries as new industries take center stage. It's time to navigate into the future given the multitude of available resources.

If you want to record an album, record it. If you have a book to write, write it. No need to wait for someone in a cubicle halfway across the country to decide if you're worthy.

The truth of the matter is that you are worthy. You have the potential to achieve your innermost desires and there has never been a time where there has been less of a barrier to entry than now.

What will you share with the world?

Start Where You Are

Last week I met one-on-one with three students to discuss where they are in life and where they are headed. The discussions were loaded and full of unpacking and processing the details that have constituted their life up until this point.

In my last post, “What’s Keeping You From Being Great?” I suggested working through a few personal details that will ultimately position you towards success. In this post I’ll walk you through the pinnacle of these details.

Knowing your purpose.

According to Napoleon Hill, there are three clear ingredients necessary for success:

1. A defined purpose.
2. A burning desire.
3. A definite plan.

Most of us can define our passions- what we love doing, what inspires us and what excites us -and most of us can make plans, but we get hung up at step one. Defining our purpose.

What do you want to do? How do you want to contribute? What story do you want to tell? What legacy do you want to leave?

Defining your purpose is nowhere near as easy as it sounds. Answering these questions requires that we really know ourselves. It takes guts and unwavering courage demanding deliberate decision making. It’s risky.

But it’s worth the risk. If you move through life not knowing what you want and why you want it, you’ll never arrive at the destination you desire. Once you’re confident in what you will accomplish, nothing, absolutely nothing will stand your way.

When I chat with others about how I arrived where I am today as a student, young professional and freelance photographer I share with them how I defined my purpose.

In the winter and spring of 2009 I experienced a season of focus and self examination. This preparation, this bare bone honestly led to taking drastic steps in health, education, and personal development.

My purpose isn’t to make photographs, launch websites, design publications, send invoices or answer emails.

My purpose is to develop. My purpose is to inspire and motivate anyone and everyone who will listen to achieve their purpose. I believe I can make a difference. I believe that the only way to be truly fulfilled is to help others along the way. Once I established my purpose, I worked backwards to turn that purpose into reality.

So today, if you’re unsure of your purpose, take a step back and think about the big picture. Don’t hold back. Think big and dream even bigger.

You have the three keys to success: a defined purpose, a burning desire and a definite plan. Start with step one. The only thing holding you back is yourself. And there’s no better time than now.

What’s your purpose?

What's keeping you from being great?

You've suffered through the process of deciding what field of study to pursue in college. Now you're facing the challenge of finding a company culture where you enjoy practicing your passion.

It's tough work. It requirers your best.

Given this, what's holding you back? What's keeping you from being great?

This week how about identifying your strengths? How about examining where and when you do your best work? Taking time to discern these seemingly simple details will help set yourself apart when it comes time to start talking with potential employers.

When you know who you are, the value you add to society and why you'd thrive in a certain company culture it allows employers to draw their own conclusion that you are the best candidate for the position.

Secure Your Success (In Any Field)

Success is measured by the beholder, but there are common threads that are undeniable to becoming successful. Here’s a list of ten things that you should be doing right now.

1. Do the work.
Bite your bottom lip and make stuff happen. Professionals develop, ship, send, publish, post and deliver. Amateurs sit around and wonder.

2. Educate yourself.
Education lives long past your earned degree. From experience, my greatest educational moments have been active and self directed. Don't just seek information, knock down walls to get it.

3. Make your own rules.
If you set out to do something worthwhile there will be resistance. Don't be afraid to forge your own path. As you do, be respectful. There will be many well intended souls who will fight for your attention and direction. Politely fend off the naysayers.

4. Iterate.
Try, try and try again. Nothing will spring from you fully formed. You must continually try and fail. Spurts of momentum often come in fragments at inopportune moments over days, weeks, months, years. Be ready at all times to "Hit Publish."

5. Look inside.
Understand that the best way to make forward motion is to look inside yourself. The answers are within, not out there.

6. Know your craft.
Never risk vision and big-picture-thinking at the expense of understanding the fundamentals. You’ve got to know the nuts and bolts of what your doing.

7. Take a deep breath.
Life, work, job hunting and every other responsibility you have can easily lead to anxiety. We all know anxiety is counter productive. So when life is getting hairy, take a breath. Everything is going to be okay.

8. Take delight.
Everyday is a day worth living. Yes, some days are draining but your life should be fun. Strive to add elements to your life that are stimulating, positive and energizing. This season of life can be rough. Take delight in what you do, and for that matter, what others do as well. Celebrate successes- pop champagne or Diet Coke when you break through tough challenges. Stay up all night when the ideas are flowing. Enjoy the process. If you don’t take delight, your career will be short, either by choice or by fate.

9. Seek out good people.
No one is on a solo journey. Developing your work, your career, your life, will involve others. Make effort to know, connect, collaborate with, mentor under, the best people you can find.Good people tend to attract other good people. Food for thought: It's been said that you are the average of the 5 people you spend the most time with. Choose your friends wisely.

10. Help others.
When chasing success it's often too easy to focus on yourself. Most people who achieve success are concerned with helping others. Helping others cultivates understanding, humility and compassion. Don’t just reach and pull yourself up. Reach to the sides and below and do so often.

Now, put it to practice. Value elements of success that will launch you into a remarkable life.