While men rest…

Somehow I always find myself in situations where I work while men rest.

The weekends are supposedly for Netflix and chill, but I always find myself working hard to do chores or working hard in meetings.

I don’t resent the meetings, though. Always a fun time. Time to learn and bicker with co-workers.

We started a new routine where one person shares something they learned in the past week.

This week, Hebron shared his lessons from the past week.

He shared about 4 of them, but one stood out for me. “Your best might not be enough if you don’t know how the system works”.

Two days ago my friend’s hot comb was delivered to her.

When she got it, she tried to test run the equipment to make sure it was working as it should.

She found the power button and tried clicking. It didn’t work.

She kept clicking. With the knowledge she had, all she was supposed to do was click. Why was it not working? It’s probably spoiled.

She decided to relax and watch some YouTube videos - to understand how the system works.

From one of the videos, she learned she was supposed to hold down the power button instead of just clicking.

She tried it and it worked.

Once again, I was reminded that “Your best might not be enough if you don’t know how the system works”.

You might be the best designer, but until you are able to blend into the work culture in your company, you’ll be feeling left out, underutilized and ignored.

You might be the best writer, but if you are unable to follow the guidelines for the writing prompt you are given, you’ll write what cannot be admitted.

Last Friday, the participants of the Triple C (Content Creation Challenge) were told to write an SEO optimized content on Voice Search Optimization.

A lot of people followed the prompt, but there were some good writers who decided to show their storytelling skills and ended up drifting from the point.

In the writing space, there are systems. These systems differ when you are writing content for social media, newsletters or blogs.

The storyline differs too. 

For blog posts, if you must include stories, it has to be mini analogies that are directly linked to your content.

There’s no space to tell your life story and then draw lessons from it in a technical blog and this is where the flop happened.

Most of these writers didn’t understand the system. They wrote the same kind of stories they would have shared with their WhatsApp audience or their newsletter subscribers.

Of course, they scored low. Their stories might be interesting, but it is not how things work in the SEO world.

Wherever you find yourself, be it a new niche, a new workplace, or a new location - take time to find out how things work there.

Do they have systems you can work with? Is it possible to change those systems? Do you have the capacity to change them now or do you stick to the status quo? 

How can you work within the system while making a difference? 

Always take time to study where you are and learn how things work. That way you can compliment it with your best and do exceptional work.

SHINE!

I’m Bridget