Hi, guys!
My last blog post was 4 months ago. I can’t believe it. I have a good excuse for the delay, though. I was knee-deep in final graduate coursework that has led me to complete my Master’s in Public Administration! For those who are unfamiliar with the MPA, it’s essentially the graduate degree to get when you’re interested in managing, directing, and/or leading in the nonprofit and public sector. Because of the breadth of the curriculum, however, many MPA degree holders also work in the private sector or strike out on their own in the consulting field. My concentration is in nonprofit and public performance management. AKA: I diagnose issues and provide solutions to fix them so teams, departments, and organizations can become lean, mean, high-performing machines. It’s all very exciting. But I am back to drop a quick word (as usual, right)?
In the age where listicles and think pieces (this one fitting in somewhere in betweeen), fill our news feeds and timelines, the topics center around twenty-somethings and what we “should know” “should be doing” “wish we were doing” or something in that vein. Now don’t get me wrong, many of the articles are insightful, funny, and downright entertaining. I just bristle at the notion that my age should dictate a set of behaviors just because someone wrote an article saying so. There are certain values that I think people should have because they’re just good values to have. If you are of sound mind and have a modicum of independence, then there are certain things you should probably be doing. Not because you’re 27, or 23, or a recent college grad, or newly single, or newly married. You should do them just because you can.
Be honest Self explanatory. Don’t be a liar. Liars are blockheads and they always get caught. This includes lying to yourself.
Learn This world is vast and full of information-most of which aren’t in books. These lessons are in the experiences you create, the trips you take, the relationships you’ve had or lost, etc. Getting caught in the routine of day to day life makes for a consistent life but one without any color. At the risk of sounding trite, go out and live a little.
Be passionate Even if it’s about paper or water bottles, find your passion. Why? Because your passion comes to the rescue when other things chip at your day to day. Your job may be something you like but your passion will be there to put fire in your chest. And if you don’t have a passion, it’s probably because you haven’t learned enough.
Love It’s the single most important thing you can do and absolutely should do. Love yourself first so much then you can’t help but to spread it to others. This includes health, making good choices in relationships, giving back, respecting others, etc.
That’s it. Of course, there is a lot more I can and will write about but your girl has to work and do a bunch of other things. I happen to be passionate about helping and advising people. I live for it in ways that don’t even make sense. My outlet is through writing and speaking but if I couldn’t do that, I’d find a way to do it through interpretive dance and painting. 🙂
I probably won’t have another post up before the new year so I want to thank every reader and supporter. It means a lot that you would take even a few minutes out of your day to read this.
Much love,
Adri
adrispeaks.com 