Keep on moving

Yesterday I went to the ESSEC Career Fair, to talk to different companies, get to know the recruiters and see what the process is like here in France.
I am very glad that I have played handball and experienced different uphill battles prior to this. Because it is easy to get discouraged when you talk to companies, and all of them say: You have to learn French! Luckily some of the people I talked to have been in the same situation and got the same answers when they were abroad, so they knew my situation. But then again, they went back to France instead of staying in that country.
It’s hard to sell to someone you’ve talked to for 5 min that in 6 months you will be speaking French. But then I remember what Eric Thomas said in his YouTube videos, that no one have to believe in your dreams, they don’t owe you anything. I am lucky enough to have a girlfriend, family and friends that believe in me and my dreams, and this makes it easier for me to believe in my dreams and avoid getting discouraged. I kept hearing Eric say: “You owe you!” in my head during the train ride home yesterday. Because these people I were talking to don’t owe it to me to take a chance on me at this point in time. It’s not up to them to take the risk on my ability to learn French in 6 months. That’s on me, it’s a chance I’m taking, and a bet I am willing to take. That is why I am here in Paris, because I owe myself to do it.  

Simay is there with a helping hand when the road gets tough


I remember NY Jets special teams coach, Mike Westhoff, telling a story to his players on the HBO TV-show Hard Knocks. The devil was having a going out of business sale, as he was moving his office from one location to another, and a guy comes in and asks:
“What are you selling?”
“I sell everything, all my tools, everything I have,” the devil answers
The man then asks:
“What is your best seller?”
“Discouragement. Because as soon as people get discouraged, all my weapons work.”


In my opinion it is a great example of how important it is to keep believing in your own capabilities, because when you stop believing, you don’t give as much effort as you would otherwise. And then you end up with a self-fulfilling prophecy. You stop working, thus you don’t reach your goal, and you can sit and look back at it and say: I told you it wouldn’t work.
As Confucius once said: “He who says he can and he who says he can’t are both usually right.”



Comments

  1. This reminds me of one of my former French teachers, who actually encouraged people to apply for jobs in the francophone part of my country, supposing that they would learn the extra bits of French pretty quickly and that their native tongue (German) would be a bonus in comparison with the local applicants in that region. Sounds really promising at first, but actually it is a tough gig, going to a place where everyone else just speaks a language you hardly know and hardly any of the language you know. Ce qu'on attend avec impatience maintenant, c'est ton premier texte en français! ;)

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  2. Får gi beskjed om du vil ha middag der det bare er lov til å snakke fransk ;) Kjæresten min har nemlig en regel om at når en er i Frankrike... da er det BARE lov til å snakke fransk med nordmenn som er interessert i å lære :-)

    Stå på Emil! Fransken kommer :)

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    Replies
    1. Yes, da sier vi det! Finner en kveld som passer :)
      Takk!

      Delete
  3. Det er umulig å lære fransk på 2 måneder. Dette klarer du rett og slett ikke, Emil. Neida, stå på Emil, kult å lese innleggene dine (leser alle)! Jeg har jo alltid kjørt fakeit-'til-you-makeit stilen, selv. Har klokkertro på at du lærer hva enn du vil på rekordtid, rett under min egen rekord selvfølgelig :)

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    Replies
    1. haha, derfor jeg sier 6 måneder til bedriftene.
      Elsker at du leser innleggene! Ja, du har jo klart deg et halvt år uten at de har funnet ut at du ikke kan noe enda :P
      Takk!

      Delete

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