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Find out what you have to do and work hard until you get it.
The next time you see a bucket of chicken, I hope you reminds you my absolute favorite pneumonic device and how you can begin to work toward any goal you set out to achieve. Fortunately, this acronym is easy to remember and seen all over the world with signs of a global food franchise: Kentucky Fried Chicken, otherwise known as KFC.
Globally, KFC is one of the most recognizable consumer brands. But KFC stands for more than Kentucky Fried Chicken. The KFC Principal is as follows:
Know what you want.
Find out what you have to do to get it.
Change what you’re doing until you get it.
In this second of a special 3-part series, I will go into detail with the "F" in KFC. This is preceded by the "K" in KFC, about knowing what you want and will be then followed by the final article in this series, exploring the "C" of this important acronym. Committing yourself to each and following these guidelines will help prompt you to whatever it is that you call success.
Find out what you have to do to get it.
In this age of being able to instantly find out any bit of information we are curious about, with the internet so easily and readily accessible, there is hardly no excuse to not be able to at least attempt to find something out. In fact, to look up a statistic on the use of Google, I used Google and found out that Google processes more than "40,000 search queries every second.”
For example, let’s say that the goal you discovered while in the K portion of the KFC triad was to become an IT pharmacist because of a self-realized love and talent for technology. The easiest and probably best first step should be to go online search for ways to do just that. Perhaps additional schooling is involved (and to see if it's really worth it)? A certificate? You may also need to find out what the career path, demand, and/or salary is of an IT Pharmacist.
The next easiest and accessible way to find out information often lies within your network. Perhaps someone at work may know whether your job offer scholarships? If there is on-the-job training available at your current job so that you don’t have to pay for tuition?
An invaluable asset to your professional growth is having a great mentor. They may be a plethora of wisdom, knowledge, and connections. I have been fortunate enough to have had several throughout my career. Finding someone you can trust and who has your best interests at heart is golden, and special. It’s an added bonus if your mentor happens to be particularly knowledgable about your field/goal. In the IT pharmacist example, having a mentor that also went that route would be a tremendous help in figuring our the steps and approaches you need to succeed.
Finally, the key to find out what you have to do to get what you want is asking the right questions. If Google is your starting point, try different derivations of what you’re trying to find out if the search results are not what you are looking for. If/when you are lucky enough to find a mentor, be sure to always come prepared to your meetings with them because they would most likely have busy schedules themselves. Once you know what you want and figured out what you have to do to get it, the really hard parts begins.