Be open.

I grew up an actor and filmmaker. Then, I fell in love with writing. Creativity, and the need for outward expression through some sort of art, is in my bones. When I feel the most fulfilled, I am doing something that feeds by creative desire.

As one who is continually checking myself as it relates to career growth and fulfillment, I am discovering – and having an even deeper appreciation for – a key principle that has been instrumental for me: being open.

Open to opportunity. Open to doing what needs to be done and immersing myself in it. Open to learning. Open to stretching in ways that might be uncomfortable.

This very principle is at the core of my growth over the past two years, and if I were to look back and analyze my ‘path’ before then, I would most likely come to the same conclusion.

Most acutely, over the past two years, I have been focused on the business and operations side of my industry, an industry that is very dynamic and exciting, one where ‘blueprints’ haven’t been widely created. It has definitely required me to use, flex and embrace the science side of my brain.

While I certainly couldn’t have verbalized this specific growth – in the past, projecting ahead – it has been a substantial rounding out of my different dimensions. And, at the end of the day, isn’t that what true growth is? Uncovering and rounding out dimensions that need it and making stronger those that are already there.

In today’s instant-gratification and sometimes, somehow entitled world we operate in, it’s easy to get distracted by lack of clarity related to career growth. My advice based on personal experience and ultimately, gratification: just be open.