Back a couple years ago I used to think that I could almost perfectly plan my life out. I had set up a 12-year plan of how I would graduate high school with straight A’s, go to Harvard, become a doctor and then specialize and become a neurosurgeon. After having spent years in high school preparing for medical studies, I realized that I hated needles, couldn’t deal with blood, and was too empathetic to ever cut into another person. That’s when my first big wake-up call to reality struck me square in the face. I again thought I could plan my future out while studying business, going to one university for undergraduate school and then to Stanford for my MBA. Again, I learned I was wrong to think that I could perfectly plan out every aspect of my future.
Don’t get me wrong, I’m not saying that planning your future is bad - it can be very beneficial.. However, there are some things (such as your overall life direction) that you truly cannot plan for, but you must be open to new opportunities when they present themselves. Change can be scary, but if there is anything in this life that is constant it is change. We can either fight it or adapt to it, and I think that the ability to adapt to change is one of the single most important non-routine skills a person can develop over their lifetime. It is not easy by any means and some changes may leave you wondering how you will ever adapt to them. However, if you put in some time and effort and allow yourself to be vulnerable as well as acknowledging the fact that these hard times don’t last forever, you can feel a lot more confident in your ability to overcome and even benefit from change in your life.
I am no expert by any means, but I do know that the universe does have principles that are constant throughout, and I believe that change is one of its most basic and important principles. The industrial market is always changing and here at IPG our brokers have an amazing ability to adapt to change. From their desire to utilize recycling and renewable energy initiatives, to understanding how new societal factors affect industrial real estate, to even understanding the needs of their team, Jeremy Jensen and Michael Jeppesen truly understand what it takes to run an amazing business with an infrastructure strong enough to allow everyone the opportunity to succeed.
One of my favorite authors has persisted through some very challenging life changes. She is an inspiring woman for anyone who looks into what she had to endure in her past. She went from being in an abusive relationship to a divorced, single mother who was living in poverty. BUT she adapted to these life changes, taking all of her energy and emotion, and transformed it into the book series we know today as Harry Potter. I will leave you with a quote by Miss J.K. Rowling that I truly love and hope that you can use it to inspire you to meet changes you face in your life with more a positive perspective and new optimism.
“Imagination is not only the uniquely human capacity to envision that which is not, and therefore the fount of all invention and innovation. In its arguably most transformative and revelatory capacity, it is the power that enables us to empathize with humans whose experiences we have never shared. Unlike any other creature on this planet, humans can learn and understand, without having experienced. They can think themselves into other people’s places. We do not need magic to change the world, we carry all the power we need inside ourselves already: we have the power to imagine better.”