Be More Toddler! Career Lessons From A Two-Year-Old.

I learned what I feel is a valuable lesson from my two-year-old daughter yesterday.

We had spent time building a small wall with toy bricks. She’d taken care placing each one, carefully balancing them with a look of achievement after each and every brick which was then replaced with a look of determination as you could see the thought drop into her head

As we reached what she considered a suitable size for a wall, the biggest grin possible appeared ear to ear. I presumed it was for the achievement; for the admiration of the finished product – I think it was partly this, but it soon became clear it was at the thought of knocking it down! One excited push and all that hard work, focus, and time spent came crashing down.

It was then I realised it was the process she enjoyed so much, not the end goal. Where some people might stop and admire the end result and consider that the end of it all, to my daughter it was the process of laying each brick, learning the skill, exploring what was possible with these lumps of foam, it was this experience that she enjoyed so much that meant she couldn’t wait to start from scratch and do it all over again.

It made me think “what if we all approached our jobs in this way?” Maybe we should all aim for being in a job that gives us this satisfaction through the process, not just the end goal.

If you are in a sales role, for example, you might feel a sense of achievement at the end of the week or at the end of the month, when you’ve hit a sales target, but then it all resets to zero and you have to start all over again. Afterall, you’re only as good as your current results, right?

In a skilled labour role, it might be nice to stand back at the end of a job and admire your work but then the next morning you’re on a new site starting all over again.

If you have this feeling right now, then congratulations. In my mind, you are exactly where you need to be.

I think this has genuinely changed my mindset. I am happy at work and enjoy the process, but perhaps I do focus too much on the size of the invoices I’m sending out and I allow any no-shows to really wind me up. It’s important to be goal orientated, of course it is. However, we can only get there by first spending all our time in the process. For me, that is spending time getting to know my candidates, building relationships with my clients and helping them find each other for what will hopefully be a long-term and fulfilling placement.

What do you enjoy most about your process? Could you be more toddler?

If you’re looking for a new process, be sure to check out our latest job vacancies.

If you’re looking for your next employee, let me see if I can find you someone that will enjoy the process and deliver great results as a by-product of that. I promise you that these are the people that will stick around too.