Chip shops, law firms and passionate ambition

I’ve previously written about what I feel it will take for me to succeed, but it wasn’t until recently, when some said something to me that made me consider the even bigger picture. I’ve chosen to go down the avenue of internships and work experience to enhance my career prospects, though this isn’t to say someone who chooses who improve their credentials through further education or post graduate study won’t succeed too. It was during this conversation that I had the realisation that it was very naive of me to not be thinking about the even bigger picture.

Gaining experience or furthering credentials is the part that will help you achieve your dreams on paper. Although more than willing, I’ve never considered what it takes beyond that. If I didn’t consider the even bigger picture, it would be pretty shallow of me to assume experience is the only way to success. Reflecting on people I consider successful, there are definitely attributes they have in common beyond the paper credentials.  It’s the drive and ambition. I don’t think you can be truely successful unless you’ve got the passion.

The people I refer to are guaranteed to be up every morning when the hour hand is in the lower right quartile of the clock and not going to bed until its back in the upper right quartile.  They all found themselves doing mundane, ‘working in a chip shop’ jobs to support themselves, while going through unpaid internships or Masters/PhD studies. But all the while, it is the passion that keeps them going, the reward of the success. Although the success never happens all at once, the drip feed of passing an exam or receiving a glowing reference gives the little boosts of encouragement to keep going, to maintain the passion.

As recent graduates, we sometimes loose sight of the bigger picture.  Whether you are 23 and finding yourself hiding from freshers during fresher’s week as you begin your Masters, or fed up of making coffee and photocopying case notes in a law firm – think beyond the next 6 weeks, or even the next 6 months. Look at the bigger picture, and consider what you are doing now as a small part of achieving the dream. As long you've got a goal, you can't go wrong.