How to Dream Big and Take the Plunge

 

Hanging on for dear life at the edge of an air-filled, plastic blow-up raft against monstrous rapids - just before you attempt a Khyber Pass drop of five metres into the waterfall below - might seem like a strange comparison to first-timer job-hunting. But the submersion is exactly how it feels. 

 

If you have been in my position before (no, literally, I am there Front Right next to the brave man beside me), then you will understand that the heart-pounding, nerve-wracking, extremely daunting experience is just like being unemployed - although less exciting and virtually no brag-rights. 

 

It is frustrating that many I know have found their Biggest, Brightest Dreams aren't able to be realised in the current workforce  won't be recognised by employers, because of their lack of work experience.

 

It is a sorrowful, excruciating disappointment and leads to high depression rates among NEETS (unemployed youth). I know this for a fact. Recently my exceptionally bright and closest friend whom I have known for 16 of my 21 years, studied Media and Film from an industry-leader, hoping to become a famous Director one day. But everyone knows that Arts is one of the most fickle and lowest-demand industries present.

 

This is one reason why the term NEETS is important to me.

 

This is the reason why I took the plunge in applying for Adecco Group's #CEO1Month challenge through their Way to Work programme.

 

Never should companies large and small underestimate the impact their Corporate Social Responsibility has. Adecco are exemplary in this regard and I can only hope to create some small impact through their support. I can't say that being a CEO ever was adream of mine, but reducing suffering and helping others realise their potential, certainly has been.

 

Most importantly then, the thing I want to emphasise is this:

 

There is nothing wrong with having a dream and pursuing it. Most successful companies went through tackling side-line criticism to "get real". But in world where innovation is key to our survival, not just as nations but as humanity, those constraints are precisely what we need to avoid imposing on the bright-eyed. 

 

Not to say that there isn't such a thing as common sense and practicality, but Alain Dehaze's advice rings truer than ever before:

 

'Always be yourself and to continue to dream big, because you can do it.' 

 

- Anna Zam, CEO 1 Month Adecco New Zealand