Note from Nick: this is a guest post from my friend Rebecca Tracey, of The Uncaged Life. Her blog is unmitigated genius – great holiday reading, if ever there was any. I asked Rebecca to share with you something straight from the heart. Told her she could even swear if she wanted. And this is what she came up with – enjoy!
When Nick asked me to write a guest post, I sorta freaked out. My business is new, I’m still establishing my own website, and I don’t have nearly as much ‘expertise’ as he does.
Yet not once did he ask for my resume, my credentials, or check up on me to make sure I really know what I’m talking about. Why would he want me to write for him?
I mean, I know I’m a great coach. I have fantastic insight, amazing life experience, and a finely tuned bullshit meter. Of COURSE I’m valuable to Nick’s readers.
Thing is, on paper… I’m not so hot. My resume – it sucks. Sure, I have an undergrad degree (in a totally unrelated field), I did post-grad training as a nutritionist (so what, right?), and I’ve gone through a few intensive coach trainings (Finally! But – I don’t even list those on my website/resume).
I don’t have 10 years of coaching under my belt. I don’t have an MBA or any particular entrepreneurial skills training. I’m not an expert on blogging, or internet marketing, or technology. I have more than one series of year-long gaps on my resume where I chose to drop out of life as I knew it and focus solely on travel, play, and neglecting all my responsibilities. Not exactly a marketable skill, right?
In the traditional sense, on paper, I’m crap.
But in life, where it really counts – I’m more than “qualified” to be doing what I’m doing.
And, true story – many great innovators are in the same boat. Mark Zuckerberg. Bill Gates. Einstein. Disney. Oprah. Dropped out of school, fired from jobs, kicked out of college and told their ideas were shit.
We seem to have this insane want for more education, more degrees, more time spent in the classroom, more training, more courses, more hours and dollars spent to prove to the world that we are worthy.
We use the excuse that we just need to learn a little bit more before we can be great.
And it’s a fucking cop out.
What if you chose (yes, voluntarily) to leave your education out of the equation. What if you focused on what you have to offer, in real life skills rather than obscure letters after your name? What if everything you’ve ever done and everything you know NOW is all you need to create the dream job you crave?
Stop putting it off because you’re not perfect on paper yet. Start believing in more than what’s on your resume and what letters fall after your name.
Save your money, save your time, and have the balls to just GO FOR IT, regardless of how qualified you are on paper. Because if you really wanna go places in this world, your resume means jack shit.
xx becca
Rebecca Tracey | The Uncaged Life
As a Life-switch + Career-shift Coach, Rebecca Tracey helps cubicle-phobic crusaders bust out of their self-imposed cages, by taking big risks + bold swings—the kind that pay off, in more than just cash.
Explore Rebecca’s rule-bending riffing on radical life design, road-tripping + rock climbing at TheUncagedLife.com… and schedule your no-cost Uncaged Chat, to see if 1-on-1 coaching is the awesome-sauce you need to activate your dreams.
(Header Photo: This is happening without your permission)
