Word To Ponder: Nascent

Something that is nascent is coming to existence; emerging.

What has emerged from you lately? What are you most proud of that has come from your hands, your mind? Do you focus on what you haven’t done well or begun to attempt? How often do you ask yourself these questions?

What do you aspire to do and how will you get there?

Reflection is healthy but must be done two-fold, the good and bad. Be the boss to yourself you've always needed, be the employee to yourself you'd never hesitate to depend on. Too many of us are caught up in our parental subconscious trappings, so a business approach can give us a fresher and more focused lens. Putting yourself in these roles removes the ability to blame others for when you don't live up to your aspirations.

Though it is difficult not to overthink and dramatize in this process, allowing emotions to interfere will throw off ones' system to develop their goals. Again, a business approach can be a great pathway for achieving this.

A grocery store I worked at had cashiers maintain a high standard of items scanned per minute. A couple middle-aged colleagues of mine would have liked to become cashiers. The job carried a four dollar an hour raise, something they surely could have used. As I got to know them, they told me they thought they were too old for the scans per minute and the other responsibilities cashiering entailed.

The items per minute was a challenge to achieve and maintain for everyone, but it was not impossible. The store displayed each cashiers' rate every week and we were to take notice of how they were able to achieve the threshold and maintain it.

Those two let their perceptions of being too old scare them away from at least trying. The sad part is they were two of the quickest baggers and best multi-taskers I worked with in my decade-plus at that store. Their age never slowed them down within the ten years I worked with them; it's a shame they limited themselves based on that factor.

There are authors who don't become published or successful until close to so-called retirement age. These people didn't all of a sudden become great writers, they just kept improving their craft and never gave up.

Whether it's age or experience, don't buy in to any limiting criteria from yourself or anyone. You are never too old for a nascent idea to realize a life once imagined.