Connecting The Doors
“ALL THESE CONNECTIONS AND NO OPEN DOORS”
The frustration comes from what I see in the industry, and I don’t want to speak for anyone but myself. I just hope that through this message I could represent the people who feel the same way about this topic. So what does this really mean? “All these connections and no open doors?”
Let’s think of it like this - You have so many connections in the industry; if it is entertainment, tech, fashion, business.. etc but none of your connections are able to open the door for you or give you a seat at their table. So its kind of like, what is the point of knowing all these people in these big companies or industries you want to be in, when they can’t even get you in? While I was at Viacom, I learned the importance of “its all about who you know & not so much of your degree”. Nobody really cares about what degree you have. You can study planet earth and then switch to be a social media manager, you can have a degree as a scientist but then work at a movie company. I met so many people who didn’t have a degree but got their seat at the table through a connection/friend. So the big question is.. are we not meeting the right people? are we not asking the right questions? are we not being assertive enough? or is it that we just don’t have enough experience?
EXTRAORDINARY
Someone today told me to “be the magnet for an extraordinary talent”. For some reason, it resonated with me in 4 different ways. I’m going to leave that quote here and allow it to resonate with you in your own way.
Let’s get back to it
“MAKE YOUR OWN SEAT AT THE TABLE”….”BREAK DOWN YOUR OWN DOOR”
Now the real fight, is how to open our door! Now this is a conversation my media friends and I go back and forth with all the time. You see those cliche quotes that say “if no one can open the door for you, then open it yourself” in about 50 different ways which all have the same context? When you see those quotes, do you ever ask yourself “how do I do that?”.
Well thats what I think in my head all the time. I am constantly asking myself what is the blueprint to opening my door, (figuratively speaking, the door is what we would call “The Dream”) how do I even start?. I think thats where most people are stuck at. They have so many big goals and dreams in life but don’t know where to start from. And I myself i’m in the position of not wanting to feel like I am bothering people, desperate or even begging.
Imagine this
THE BLUEPRINT
After pondering and literally talking to myself I figured some different ways I can open my own door. My hope is that this will help ignite the fire in you to keep going because remember, nothing happens over night, some doors take months, and even years to break down. So this is my plan.. my own blueprint.
(Read this book for more help)
Connections are great but building solid relationships are even better.
Start small. Map out your dream and door like an architect. Then each week/month do some math and decipher how you can start building that foundation. For example; think of a house. what do you need to build the foundation of the house to then grow into what you want it to look like? You need cement, bricks, wood, tools and everything else. Think of each particle as a starting point of your dream.
Cement - could be the motto or vision for your brand
Bricks - Your talent, gift, or business (so think about perfecting that gift that you have and how you want to get it ready to fit the motto/vision.. aka the cement)
… lol I hope you are following
tools - Something you will do to market, promote and strengthen the source of this overall dream. It could be as small as writing things down, or telling people about it.
3. Remember the purpose but don’t beat yourself up about it. & I know its easier said and done! Trust me, I am a work in progress.
THE INTENTION
My intention is to make a connection between the doors we want to open in every field of work. This blueprint might work for some and might not even work for many, but I just want to remind everyone that your work is extremely worth it, and soon before you know it, you will make a connection between your work and the doors you want to be in.