I’ve been accompanying my son James around prospective universities recently. This weekend it was Royal Holloway in London, a campus university that you could easily mistake as Hogwarts from Harry Potter, with turreted towers and giant oil-paintings hanging in the stone halls.
James’ almost perfect predicted grades combined with an under-subscribed subject area (film studies and classics) means that he’ll likely get his pick of university places. Earlier in the year we toured James’ current first choice, King’s College, one of the most prestigious universities in London on the banks of the Thames, and I was left in humble wonderment that one of my children might end up studying at such a place.
But there’s also a less obvious choice being made here too. A lot of things come naturally to James. He never had to train but won every track and field competition he entered growing up. He has predicated ‘A-stars’ top marks for his college results whilst at the same time being on report for lateness and classroom attitude. Going to one of the best universities in the country means he may not naturally be the best in the room any more; whereas picking one further down the league table will allow him to comfortably coast, with his results making up for his maverick personality traits.
If you’re going to build a business or career, you will face the same choice as James is facing now. Do we grow by putting ourselves into environments where we’re going to be properly tested, where we’re not going to be the best in the room and our areas of weakness will be fully on show? Or do we continue to operate within our comfort zones, never growing but also never having our insecurities exposed?
David 💚🌱🐷
David’s thoughts from the week, published every weekend for members only.
As a member, you should receive David’s weekly blog in our Members Weekly email that also includes a full round up of all the conversations from our Community Hub and other updates.
Not receiving our Members Weekly email? Check your spam folders, add hello@veganbusinesstribe.com to your self senders list or get in contact.
