What Shia LaBeouf can Teach You About Your Dream Job

shiadreamjob

If you haven’t seen the absolutely insane viral video of Shia LaBeouf standing in front of a green screen shouting at you to “Just do it!” like some coked-out Nike spokesperson, this article isn’t going to make a lot of sense, so I recommend you go watch it now.

Click here to see the video…DO IT!

Okay, now that we’re on the same page, let’s begin…

In my first “real” job, as a financial analyst, I had the privilege to see first-hand what it takes to succeed, experience some of that success myself, and help some very successful people be even more successful.

Now I get to do the same for you…and you don’t even need to be an accredited investor.

This week we’re looking through the lens of Shia LaBeouf to understand the psychology, motivation, and truth of finding a Dream Job.

Shia’s, now-infamous, video are actually a great metaphor for finding a Dream Job, because:

  • Most people think that the video is just a series of random actions, when in reality it was carefully scripted as part of a larger film project – that Shia didn’t even have any say in. Just like how most people imagine that taking random actions will lead them to a Dream Job… and they don’t understand that there is a hidden, systematic process behind it all.
  • Interestingly, many of us claim to hate this video: Grr! Why is he so crazy? Why won’t he just shut up and go away? But those are the same people that will seek out 18 different remixes of Shia’s video. What we SAY vs. what we actually DO is very different.
  • The video is technically something you could have done yourself.  Anyone could have stood up and yelled into a camera for a minute or two, but it took Shia LaBeouf doing it for it to go viral.  That’s because imitation doesn’t lead to success, but by studying people who have succeeded, you can find the deeper reasons WHY they succeeded.

And that’s before touching on the most obvious lesson Shia can teach us about: “Yesterday you said tomorrow.”

It’s the easiest thing in the world to tell yourself you’ll do something “tomorrow.”  And you keep telling yourself “tomorrow” over and over again.  You might even tell yourself that you have good excuses for why it’s not the right time to chase your Dream Job.  We all do this.  We might say we’re, “waiting for the right time,” or, “looking to get established first,” or – my favorite – “Just not sure what we want to do.”

But that’s all those are: excuses.

Look around you, we all know people who told themselves “tomorrow” for YEARS until they’re stuck in a job they hate and feel hopeless.  In order to truly succeed in finding a Dream Job, we all have to stop saying “tomorrow” or “someday” or telling ourselves that Dream Jobs are only for “other people.”  Even little excuses like thinking you need an Ivy League degree or to be born into money to find – and land – a Dream Job, are all ways we put off our own success.

Don’t be that person who says “tomorrow” for years or for the rest of your life when it comes to your Dream Job.  Finding your Dream Job takes one thing: decisive action.

So in the words of Shia LaBeouf: JUST DO IT!

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