Your first job probably won’t be your calling. It will teach you how to show up, which every calling needs.

LEADERSHIP

WHAT THIS MEANS

Early jobs are not auditions for a life, they are where the basic machinery gets installed: being on time, being told what to do, finishing a shift when you would rather not, handling somebody unreasonable. That machinery is required by every interesting thing you might do later. The work itself may be forgettable and the habits are not.

Treat whatever job you have as practice in reliability rather than a statement about your future. Learn one thing well, even a dull one. And notice what you cannot stand about it, since that is useful information about where to point yourself next.

A QUESTION TO SIT WITH

What did an unglamorous job teach you about showing up reliably?

MORE IN AMBITION, SUCCESS & LEGACY

Free, with nothing to buy inside it.