You ask. When I was growing up I did not want to ask any questions in fear that I would be discovered. People would find out that I was a fraud. Most of my life, I was the younger person. The hot shot who knew it all, or at least PRETENDED to know it all. As a consequence I spent an enormous amount of time trying to figure things out that others clearly knew, but I was too embarrassed or ashamed to ask about. What a colossal waste of time. I was not impressing anyone, and most of the older people (my age or older) probably did a giant eye roll behind my back.
Funny. I see younger people come at me know with that same spit and vinegar that had and yes, I will admit they are sharp, quick witted and full of energy. However, if I could give one piece of advice it would be. Drop the façade. You are not impressing anyone and you are wasting too much energy. Rather be curious, ask lots of questions, even the ones you think you already have an answer to. You will be suprised about what you do not know, because you have not asked.
Do you don’t know until you ask. You will remain ignorant until you ask. You have no idea what opportunities you have until you ask.
Here is a cold hard reality. Do you wonder why some people that seem not as good as you, not as smart as you, not as well dressed as you, not as cool as you get ahead and you do not? Because they ask. They check their ego at the door and ask, even if it is a stupid question, they ask. You do not because you are to busy trying to impress everyone. Unless of course, you are the person that is ahead already, who knows how to ask questions and not feel ashamed. If you are that person, then why are you reading my blog!? In fact, why don’t you call me up and lets chat about how you figured that out. I am humbled now, and ready to learn (finally).
The problem with the rise of the Internet and the all to convenient search engine is that young people can really hide away and keep up pretense. You can appear really brilliant, even know you are not. Generations of people born with a search engine have this ability to now to get questions asked and answered. The problem is that it is not really that great of an answer. Who knows what answer you get. Is the source credible?
Good ol’ fashioned asking someone who knows more than you, has more experience than you can go a long way to driving you to success.
Guy Reams
