it pays to take that first small step
24 Sep
I have a friend, we’ll call him Jimmy.
I got to know Jimmy through my former business partner, with whom I had started NVGOR8, a multimedia and design firm. NVGOR8 didn’t work out as we expected, another post, another day.
Jimmy was a very sleek man, always looking sharp and crisp, with nice custom made suits. He’d make random visits to our very humble 3rd floor office at the Post Office every once in a while.
The first time I saw Jimmy, I thought he was a powerful business executive, his talk, demeanour and attitude were that good.
Imagine my shock when I was told Jimmy was actually job-hunting, and he wore the suits to impress pretty much anyone, but more or less, to impress potential employers. I was impressed.
Jimmy was a graduate, fresh out of campus, marketing or some other business related field. We offered him a free lance position to help us market our stuff while he was job-hunting, we needed all the help we could get, and besides, dude looked sharp.
He turned down our offer, telling us very nicely that we were too small for his dreams. He wanted bigger things, and so he was holding out for them.
I learned later that he had actually turned down several fairly decent job offers because they were not his standards.
Fast forward 5 years, my former business partner is getting married, and I’m the best-man. During one of the many rounds running around town, I turned to him and asked how Jimmy was faring.
Turns out Jimmy’s still jobless, and severely depressed. The suits have lost their shine, and his eyes have lost their dreamy spark.
I’m still a fan of jeans, sneakers and the occasional tie. Nothing fancy. And yeah, I still use public transport.
Where am I going with this?
Most of us have dreams of the perfect job, or the perfect house, or that perfect car. Some dream of owning a business, be it a small corner bookstore, coffee shop, or a huge conglomerate that will give the billionaire next door a run for his money.
But somehow, we never seem to take that first step in that direction. Some fear the risk involved, some, are simply too arrogant, others are just lazy.
Dream, yes, but remember the one simple thing that really counts at the beginning is the willingness to take that first step, however low or small you think it is. The pride I felt when I registered the NVGOR8 name at the company registrar was incalculable. It wasn’t anything much, not even yet a legal entity, but the confidence boost it gave me was unbelievable.
In between then and now, I have made thousands of mistakes, closed down two companies, I’ve gone days without food, I’ve done enough mileage on foot in this small town to last a few generations, and I’ve done odd jobs like clearing sewers and some manual labour.
But every night I go to sleep, however tough a day has been, there is still the pride in knowing that I may not be where I ultimately want to be… heck, I’m nowhere near where I want to be… but I know eventually, I will get there. One normal day at a time.
I think of where Jimmy could be now if he’d just taken up a small job offer at any of the firms that needed him; he’d definitely have five years experience, he’d probably have higher qualifications, he could even have moved on to a higher position in another firm. Plus, he’d have made a little money. That ain’t too shabby in anyone’s books.
Seriously, what do you have to lose?
—
Offtopic:
“Whatever you can do, or dream you can, begin it. Boldness has genius, power and magic in it.”
– Johann Wolfgang von Goethe
“And the day came when the risk to remain tight in a bud was more painful than the risk it took to blossom.”
– Anais Nin
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FIRSTIES!!!!!
Wow, u were too small for his dreams? Too bold. Way to go.
Good story, this. Jimmy is too pompous, and to think that 5 years on, he hasn’t learnt his lesson. Yet…
sometimes when people dream, they think it will all just happen without any input from them
cheri do u actually do any work banange
This is a nice piece. I read somewhere that ” If you dont pursue your dreams, you will never achieve them.’
@Cheri: Yeah, too small for his dreams… I do hope he’s learnt something from all this. It would be a pity if he hasn’t.
@Emrys: Isn’t that the truth
@Igis: Thank you.
Hey SoloKing
You know i am with you!
i am picturing the days of no food, and it makes me shudder, but the goal of being free with time on your hands is what is pushing me…
Kudos for the perseverance
i wonder how many peeps know this..
man, there are like less than five people who know the full story… experiences like that put you on the fringes of insanity.
I’m also starting small. So anyone hiring me for a salary of 1,000 pounds (yes, pounds sterling) a month? No one? Is it too small for y’all?
Lol, Carlo, that’s starting small?? 1,000/= a month seems more like it.
Interesting irony of fate, don’t you think?
i believe this: a bad job is one that doesnt pay.
and i believe payment can be a salary in cash money terms. ka-chiiiing! or any other kind of satisfaction you may get from doign said job: gaining experience, usefull contacts and exposure,pure satisfaction from doing something you trully love, etc. There is no bad job!
@mamazumzum, I agree with you on the payment issue. There are bad jobs I believe, but it all depends on the attitude of the person.
Love your blog by the way.
Greetings,
for those who don’t know, i’m the mysterious business partner of Solo’s thru whom we met this young man. I’d like to just clarify a few things about this tradegy.
Firstly, Jimmy didn’t graduate. He was caught cheating in an exam and was discontinued. The suits are mostly a wierd image of a fashionister he sees himself as. He loved the attention and perception it would give him.
And more than other reasons, his stubborn pride couldn’t let him take those small steps and the longer he didn’t the more difficult it became as he saw all of us progressing.
One thing i did learn from his story is that God wasn’t kidding when He said those who humble themselves will be exalted. Solo and I started a company with nothing more than youthful naivete and 2 CD-RW’s. It was the most amazing adventure of my life to see us go from there to country renown radicals and industry changers.
The moral of the story is I guess,if your gonna be a billionaire in ten years and it requires that you start at the bottom as a toilet cleaner, wouldn’t you do it? Pride, fear and a skewed sense of keeping up appearances make a terrible mix that keeps 99% of us down in life.
Great blog bro. As always, you amaze and inspire me.
Forth Eorlingas
Dude, nice speech!
Just kidding. Awesome recap (and thanks for the corrections).
Good to have you here, we could use your wisdom
solomon, great words of wisdom…
apprentive, thanks for the clarifications, it shed new light on the whole saga. so how is married life going? congs by the way… assuming the wedding happened successfully…. you men and clod feet and these days we have run away brides… you can never be too sure..