Trailblazing

Put yourself out there

I just applied for an internship with Maren Kate from the blog Escaping the 9 to 5. I came across Maren’s blog a little less than a month ago when I searched Google for top Gen Y blogs. It took me a couple of weeks to even have a look at the blog but once I did, I was hooked. Content is top notch. Her writing is silently funny and to the point. And she’s cute as hell. Plus she’s a fighter. Well, a freedom fighter: “someone who pursues a life worth living and refuses to settle for anything else.”

Maren Kate

She recently overhauled her website and as I was perusing all the new features, I came across a page titled “Intern”. Curiously, I clicked on it and was met with an online form to apply to work with and learn from MK herself. I kind of chuckled to myself thinking about how cool it would be to do this. But I felt like I wouldn’t get it. I felt like it would be a waste of time. I felt like I didn’t deserve it. “Don’t deserve it?” I thought. “Fuck it, I’m applying.”

Do I have a lot of specific skills to offer? Not really. I’m curious, a hard worker, and I can create fitness programs to make her workers healthier which will make them more productive. But I’m no programmer, designer, or serial entrepreneur with tons of business experience. But why should I judge whether I’m of value to her? Might as well apply and let her decide that.

This isn’t the only time I’ve jumped on opportunities like this. I did this earlier this summer and am now working on a collaborative project with a fellow from Ottawa to write a book about Career Chaos. Four months ago I did the same thing and applied for a position with One Week Jobs. I ended up as one of 7 finalists across North America. I didn’t land one of the three top positions but I learned a helluva lot during the process. But if I tried to play it safe or actually believed that I didn’t deserve these opportunities, than I would be destined to a life of being miserable.

What opportunities are out there that you think you’re not good enough for? Are you playing life safely or are you taking risks in order to continue your Trailblazing journey?