Don’t Just Become Good, Become Great

The difference between having skill and vocation

Image licensed from Canva

“Great men are not born great, they grow great . . .” ― Mario Puzo

I’ve spent my past 18 years in advertising. Working my way from the very bottom, starting at the boring and tedious stuff — and I was good at it. I was given more and more responsibility throughout the years, I learnt quickly, and I was happy to teach others — and I was good at it. without bragging about it, whatever I did during my career, I was just really good at it. First I was a very good subordinate, I became an even better leader, I have always been the favourite go-to person of my clients, and my colleagues.

And there came a point when I realised it was enough.

And just like this, I left it all behind, the glamour and fame of advertising, the exciting projects, the brilliant colleagues, the promise of an international move, the whole world I have been carefully building for nearly two decades — a world where I was loved and appreciated. A world that paid quite well.

I left it, and I chose a different path: I jumped into freelancing. Jumped is the right word here because I had no safety net, I had no savings, I had nothing but my wish to be away from it all — even though it was a path…