Have you ever noticed how enthusiasm is so utterly contagious? Of all the things we might catch just now, it is perhaps also the most positive!
That’s certainly how I have been feeling since we started to plan for the first issue of ‘Make The Future Yours’, our exciting new careers magazine. Editing this magazine has become another ‘string to my bow’ and will sit alongside my existing marketing consultancy and Apprenticeship training commitments.
As a project, it’s allowed my ‘creative juices’ and imagination to run free around a topic that I really enjoy thinking about – and which is vitally important. It’s been an excuse to catch up with people in my network who I think I might be able contribute articles or ideas; some of those contacts go back a very long way, so it’s been a wonderful excuse to reconnect during a spring that was otherwise really rather odd. I’m also grateful to so many of my network who have connected me with people they know too, helping to make the scope of our content even better.
I’ve also had the opportunity to talk to some really interesting people whilst putting our articles together. I think it’s fair to say that I have learnt a lot from them. What have urban gulls got to do with careers fairs? How do you put on an environmentally sustainable theatre production? Can camping help you teach maths? I have discovered the answer to all of these questions and more – and you will, too, in future issues.
What has been really inspiring is just how excited everyone I have spoken to seems to have been about the magazine. Not only has my enthusiasm clearly infected others but their enthusiasm has served to drive me on. This idea seems to have become a ‘virtuous circle’ of link and inspiration sharing, which I feel confident will stay with us in future.
As it was recently Roald Dahl Story Day, it seems an appropriate excuse to drop in a quote from his always entertaining pen. Writing in ‘My Uncle Oswald’, Dahl says: “He taught me that if you are interested in something, no matter what it is, go at it at full speed ahead. Embrace it with both arms, hug it, love it and above all become passionate about it. Lukewarm is no good. Hot is no good either. White hot and passionate is the only thing to be.”
This strikes me as good advice for life and certainly when thinking about your future. If you can’t do something enthusiastically, well, perhaps you’ve picked the wrong ‘something’ to be doing!
I certainly hope that the enthusiasm of all our contributors will be contagious to our readers. You can read our first ‘promo’ issue here; please let me know what you think and any suggestions for future articles!