Everyone must start somewhere. And that somewhere tends to be at the beginning…unless you somehow was born and magically knew how to walk sort of thing. You always need to start at point A.

In the cooperate world this means: internship, junior position, regular position, senior position, assistant managers, managers, and every position in between. But how do you get to one point to the next all while every friend, relative, and possibly coworker telling you to aim higher?

Initiative. Confidence. Work habit. Commitment. Dedication. Grit.

Ok, you can even boil it down to grit, confidence, and initiative since work habit, commitment and dedication is what grit is all about.

Now you don’t have to be super human to get all of this done our possess these traits by birth. Nope! You simply need to be dedicated (it’s that word again) to the growth, obsessed over the process and determined to get to your goals. See a pattern?

No one is born loving homework. Heck no! But studying material makes you smarter in the long run. I bet running miles rain or shine wasn’t very fun day in, day out for hours at a time but I’m sure that’s what it took to become a world champion. What you must do to get to where you want to be, whether it be that manager job or that a transfer to the next department, won’t always be easy not fun. But it will be worth it in the end.

Great things come to those who will put in the hours. Good things will come to those who only try their best.

And at the end of the day, you know what you’ve done to get to where you are. You know what hardships you’ve been through. You know your story; tell it, because someone will relate. But most importantly, remember because you have to remember what you bring to the table.

You’ve learned countless of skills along the way from communication skills, time management skills, technical skills, and more depending on your specialties. Showcase your work and be proud of your uphill battles as well as where you crashed and fell hard because you standing here today simply proved you’re willing to grow and learn from your failures. And that’s the most anyone can ever ask of you. Be proud of you. Set an example. Be the example. Be proud.