From Robert Ringer’s unfortunately-titled book Winning Through Intimidation:

No one has an obligation – moral, legal or otherwise – to “work his way up through the ranks”. 

Every human possesses an inalienable right to make a unilateral decision to redirect his career and begin operating on a higher level at any time that he, and he alone, believes he is ready.

Putting this in my own words:

You’re allowed to choose when you’re ready.  You don’t have to wait for someone else to say it.

And you know what?

That seems fair to me.

To be honest, I find the whole concept of “paying your dues” absurd.  Especially when it comes to people’s careers.

Not in the sense that you might need to work hard, gain experience and get to a certain point before you’re ready for the next level.  I get all that.

But in the sense that even when you’re ready – even when you know you’re ready – the office politics or red tape say you’re not.

Wait your turn!

That’s not how it works!

You’ve only been in the role 9 months!

It’s one aspect of corporate life which struck me as totally bizarre.

Why should your job or role in a company be a function of how much time you’ve spent in a previous role?  And why should an anonymous company policy stating what is and isn’t “expected” or “allowed” dictate your position, your salary, and, by consequence, your ability to provide for you and your family? 

I don’t think it should.  If you’re ready for a role, you’re ready.

But it’s often how it goes.

Anyway…

We choose our game and we play by the rules of the game we've chosen.

This is why I’m choosing different games nowadays.

A game I’m choosing more and more?

The Personal Growth Game.  I call it the PGG.

See, when it comes to your own personal growth, you don’t need to “pay your dues”.

And the reason is very simple:

There aren’t any dues to pay.

Playing the PGG isn’t about putting in the hours, sacrificing parts of your life or building up experience.

You don’t need to do any of that.

Instead, when you play the PGG, things can change in an instant.

At any moment, you can discover a new way of thinking.  You can see something you’ll never unsee. 

Something which could even change the course of your life.

Here’s what my client Ayokunmi had to say about a recent coaching session we had:

When I had a conversation with Tom, it became one of the most profound 40 minutes of my life.

From that moment onward, I underwent a significant transformation, becoming a completely different person compared to who I was before the call.

Now I find myself liberated from my overthinking. 

The session with Ayokunmi was something special.  And I’m not saying that everyone will have such a profound transformation on one call.

But am I saying you could?  Am I saying it’s possible?

Absolutely.

And this is one of the reasons I love all this stuff.  And yes, why I harp on about it.

There’s no boss telling you you’re not ready…

There’s no company policy standing in your way…

And there really is no-one obstructing your path.

Doesn’t matter if you’re the CEO of a FTSE 100 or fresh out of uni.  It’s the same for everyone.

No dues to pay with the PGG.  Just endless possibilities. 

That’s all for today.

 - Tom

p.s.  I’m not taking on new coaching clients at the moment. 

But if you’re interested in coaching and you’d like to be notified when some slots open up, you can join my waiting list here:

https://waitinglist.followingfulfilment.com

This link has a few more details about the sort of coaching I offer.

And once you’re on the waiting list, you’ll be the first to know when new slots become available.