Advice

“Commit to your first position for at least a year.” Our professor was sharing with us the EATM (Exotic Animal Training and Management) curse. It’s not truly a curse however, it’s a more of an unfortunate side effect of education. Entitlement. I guess EATM Entitlement didn’t have the same deadly ring to it. What she was trying to say is, “Grow Where you are planted.”

We were reminded on a regular basis, that it made the entire school look bad and all the other students searching for jobs with EATM on their resume when we constantly assumed the grass was greener on the other side and hopped from job to job. 

Completely ignoring that advice

So after interviewing for a few positions after graduation, I took the first one I could find and quit after six months. 

Apparently that whole EATM curse message really didn’t sink in. 

For the next 5 years I stayed at one position, but I promise I was still cruising the job boards any time I had a bad day. I even went back to school at night to be a teacher. I had a plan B. During this time, I used to say to myself: 

“I deserve better than this.” 

“I am treated so unfairly.” 

“My manager is a micromanager.”

“I barely make enough to survive.” 

I probably said a lot of other things that shouldn’t be repeated. Some days were great. I met some amazing people and worked with some awesome animals, but I probably spent more days being resentful and bitter than truly soaking up what I was learning and experiencing. 

My EATM professors tried to get the message to me and I’m sure they are still talking about this to others, maybe some people take the message to heart and live by it and maybe others are like me and have to learn it on their own. 

When it clicked

It wasn’t until my third “career” job that I realized the grass wasn’t any greener on the other side. The grass was a different variety with different challenges and different strengths, but it was still grass. It was in that position that I learned to grow where I was planted. 

So 13 years later here I am trying to coach others who find themselves ready to quit, go back to school, throw in the towel, and just give up. I want to help you “Grow Where You Are Planted.” 

But how? 

With the P’s of course! 

Patience- “Good things come to those who wait.” It’s true. There’s no magic pill, things don’t change overnight. You have to be patient. 

Persistence- When you’re working for change, you can’t just give up when the going gets tough. You have to keep trying. 

Perspective- Empathy is a powerful tool and when you learn to see things from other points of view and recognize nothing is as simple as it seems, you have a real opportunity for growth. 

Positivity- Look for the good and soak in the positives. Learn to find the silver lining and assume best intent. 

If you can learn how to apply the four P’s, you’ll be well on your way to learning how to Grow Where You Are Planted. Once you’ve learned how to grow where you’re planted then it makes for a much smoother transplant. 😉 

P.S. Do the P’s really get you excited? Check out our online course Beyond Animal Training for more on this topic.