Today’s Three Gifts are from a 7×7 Mentoring Salon with a diverse group of career leaders and founders.
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Form your own money mafia. We never ask friends about money. Or at least we didn’t used to. One day I decided, I’m going to ask for what I want and empower my friends to do it too. You need to know what is possible.
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Think of your career like a Girl Scout sash. I was a Girl Scout very proudly. I always think about getting badges as fulfilling needs. What do I need or want to know about? Now I apply that to my business life.Maybe I need to understand more about the business development side of raising money. So then I would identify someone who knows about that and ask her for a mentor meeting. If she or he says no, I will ask another. Or maybe it’s a class or workshop somewhere. Don’t let that thing you feel like you don’t know enough about become a source of insecurity. Conquor it.
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Keep exploring. I remember as a teenager I read a German writer who said something along the lines of, “You can’t know the future because you don’t have the answers yet. You have to keep living the questions.”
When you are in the “question” phase. Just go with it. Just keep asking the questions. One time when I was in exploring mode. I had a bunch of different ideas for businesses. I had a book idea. I didn’t know which direction to go other than I wanted to stop doing what I was doing. I called all of my girlfriends and said, “Introduce me to the smartest woman you know.” I don’t care what industry they’re in. I don’t care what they’re doing. If they’re smart women, I want to talk to them.” Within 3 phone calls, I met my business partner. By the end of a 1 hour conversation, she said, “I have this idea.” Five months later, I finally quit my job to start a business.
A few good books:
Books mentioned during the salon as helpful for career transition and taking control of your money.
Herminia Ibarra, author Working Identity: Unconventional Strategies for Reinventing Your Career
Alexa Von Tobel, author, Financially Fearless
About Three Gifts (and tell us yours!):
Three Gifts for a 20-Something: What three “gifts” would you give a 20-something if you were a “Forty-Godmother”? Here 40-somethings share three wishes to help a 20-something get a head start on the confidence to make decisions that are right for them (not their parents, friends, teachers or society). No more woulda, coulda, shoulda.
You can submit your three gifts here (no matter what your age).