We all should be Newbies!
Like many others I am constantly searching for new projects and seeking what are the new technologies that appeal to me. In the last few years I have always searched and found new avenues and new things to learn. I will give you a quick recap on all the jobs I have held since I was a teenager. I started my first business when I was 14 years old grooming dogs but previous to that I use to sell sports cards to friends and classmates and even before that I sold pens and pencils to kids in elementary school. Creating these small sources of income I learned to pay for my own luxuries and sometimes needs.
8 years old – I asked my parents to buy me a few packs of erasable pens so I could sell at less of what the school store sold them and I still made a profit. I kept my inventory in a fanny packet which in 1988 seemed to be cool.
12 years old – I would sell my dad’s Flan (dessert) throughout the neighborhood so I could go to my Boy Scout Outings. At first I use to bike around the neighborhood making my sales pitch in a boy scout uniform. My dad made such a delicious flan they would later on sale themselves and I would spare myself the ride on my bike going door to door.
13 years old – I started collecting baseballs cards at age 10 but decided I could make profit of the ones I did not want to keep. Later on I started selling a good amount of cards to contacts which needed to them to finish off certain collections in various sports or where just fans of certain players. I use to go to the Winter baseball games in Ponce where many Major League Baseball Players where playing. I got their cards autographed usually kept one or two and sold the rest at a premium.
14 -17 years old – I started working at a pet grooming shop in which they later left to the states and I took the opportunity to set up RJ’s Pet Service. With the help of my dad I was able to drive and get dogs and later bathe and groom them. During the time my customers went on vacation I would also charge them to check up on their pets. For those summer months I would make more money in a month than what I made when I left college with a Bachelors degree. I use to work 7 days a week without an issue since I enjoyed what I was doing. Now days the only dog I groom is my Juanga.
At 17 years old I enlisted in the military finished my high school and I can say I forgot my entrepreneur spirit and for 11 years I worked for someone else. After that I worked as a waiter, bartender. Sam’s club associate (Various tasks), AOL Service representative, Accountant, Tax Accountant, Auditor, IT Auditor, IT Consultant, and IT Security Consultant. It was not until I was age 28 where I decided I had enough of working for large corporations and not for myself.
Working for a corporation or organization i felt many times that my efforts where not appreciated or valued so I decided to set up CIMA IT Solutions Corp. Being a Newbie at taking care of a different type of client after 11 years of working and representing other companies was an experience in which I had many failures. From each failed opportunity I was able to identify a lesson a usually one ore more opportunities.
I have to say that what I find unique is that now I can be a newbie at anything I want to learn without restrictions. When you work for an organization you might not be able to jump into new things with approval from your superiors. After coming back from #SXSW I realized how new I am to many of the things I am trying to get off the floor. I look at things very differently than others which brings me the great opportunity of finding the opportunities where other might not.
By always being curious about my surroundings I end up being a newbie at many things constantly. What I really enjoy about being a newbie all the time is that learning new things aligned with my personal and business interest spark passion and new ideas. When I sold baseball cards many of you would have a laugh at the spreadsheets I created out of old notebooks to keep track of the value of cards and my inventory. Many probably thought it was a waste of time little by little I was learning how to organize myself with simple tools such as a notebook and a pencil.
Being a dog groomer I would get up on Saturday’s at 5 am to head out to a pet shop to serve clients that where at a city about an hour away (keep in mind i was just 16 other kids where playing sports or at the beach). I have always seen work as a challenge and extension of who I am. That is why I Feel In love with Monday’s when many of you detest them.
I have been and will continue to be a newbie in many things I do but something that I can assure you that I am never missing is the energy and passion I have for everything I set myself to do or get myself into.
What are you going to become a newbie at today, this week, this month, or this year?
Photo credit by phocks
The goal of always learning and seeing the world through the eyes of a learner. That is something that helps a person succeed. I remember a professor that gave me the most important advice after I took the last class on his room. He told the group, “Never stop being learners. The day you do you will become dull and will stop being creative.”
The Bible has an interesting advice on this matter:
Do nothing out of selfish ambition or vain conceit. Rather, in humility value others above yourselves, Philipians 2:3
When one sees others as teachers the willingness to learn kicks in and with that the creativity flows.
I think we need to keep refreshing our mind with new and different ideas one of the reasons I visit your blog. We have many things in common but think differently. I can relate to what you share and it also sparks motivation and good ideas for my efforts.