3 Reasons You Should Be An Influencer In Your Career

Close to the top of Abraham Maslow’s hierarchy of needs is the self-esteem needs. This is usually the fulfilment needs we have as a result of our career or many achievements. Few people are able to meet this need and it seems those are the lucky ones who happen to stumble upon worthwhile achievements. But are they just lucky?

What if their actions made meeting these needs inevitable? In life, some people wait for things to happen to them. They hope and pray for good things. Some of them even know what to do to make extraordinary achievements. But they always fail at the action. Because some of these things are difficult to do and guarantee nothing.

These people are pushed around by the wind of life to wherever the wind blows. To these people, things are always too difficult. They even point at several people around them who had failed, and some of them woefully. They use this as evidence that things are generally hard and the world is unfair.

In the last regard, they are correct because the world is unfair. At different stages of life, we all had things that worked against us. Some had too little money, some had too much money. Some were too short or their race put them in a place of disadvantage.

The surprising thing, or maybe not unsurprising to some, is that some people amidst these challenges have surged on with their lives. They have managed to make things happen. They are the people who never wait for perfect conditions before taking actions.

What if they fail woefully? They stand up, brush off the dirt of failure and move on. They are people who make things happen. They don’t complain about how unfair the world is or how hard things are or how the cards are stacked against them. They simply get on with it.

These are the people called influencers in their various fields. American actor Jimmy Dean said ‘I can’t change the direction of the wind, but I can adjust my sails to always reach my destination.’ The influencers always reach their destination. Then, they share their stories of their difficult paths to achievement and influence while some others share similar stories as their excuses for failure.

Why should you be an influencer? Why should you always strive to make things happen in your career? Below are three reasons you should be an influencer in your field.

1.      You are able to make mistakes

Yes, you read that right. You may ask ‘why should I aim to make mistakes when others are trying to be perfect?’ The bad news is that people who are trying to be perfect always face the reality of mistakes. Nobody in this world is perfect in any of their endeavours but people who are closest to perfection are people who have made many mistakes along their journey.

The legendary physicist Albert Einstein said ‘a person who never made a mistake never tried anything new.’ Those who make things happen are those who usually make many mistakes and get better as they move forward. This gives them even more opportunities to have a desirable impact.

One of the reasons you should always make things happen is because it will leave you in a risky position. A position to make many mistakes. Why should you aim to make mistakes? You can only have a lasting impact after making mistakes along your journey.

Someone who has done nothing would make no mistake. Such a person would never make anything happen too.

2.      It is rewarding

When you make things happen in your industry, you have the opportunity to have positive effects. You have the opportunity to make important changes that can affect many people’s careers and lives.

When Sir Alexander Fleming discovered penicillin, it was a discovery that would affect the medical field and many people’s lives.

Dr. Fleming wrote about the day he discovered penicillin: ‘When I woke up just after dawn on September 28, 1928, I certainly didn’t plan to revolutionize all medicine by discovering the world’s first antibiotic, or bacteria killer. But I guess that was exactly what I did.’

Many may ascribe the term ‘lucky’ and ‘accidental’ to his discovery, but he didn’t become lucky by sleeping on his couch and twiddling his fingers. He got lucky at work. What can be more rewarding than knowing that the result of your work would save many lives and potentially create employment for many others?

One of the reasons you should make things happen in your work is the rewards that come from it. Many people derive many types of rewards from what they do. It may be in form of job satisfaction, financial rewards, happiness or many other forms.

You can only get these big rewards if you become an influencer.

3.      You are able to help more people

Human beings are basically selfish so someone might ask ‘why should I become an influencer to help people?’ Well, when you help people, you indirectly help yourself.

No man is an island and being an influencer can give you a better opportunity to help people, including the people closest to you. Being a mover in your field allows you to help others up the ladder.

You can also help many by being their source of motivation. When people see you or read about you, they want to put in more work so that they can be like you. So that they can be a positive influence.

In this regard, the potential number of people you can help is endless. But even if you are able to help twenty people through the actions you have taken or through the achievements you have made in your field, don’t you think it is worth considering?

I’ll leave you with this quote from Ken Blanchard: ‘The key to leadership today is influence, not authority.’

What other reasons do you think people should become influencers in their careers?

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