Week 2 At My Apprenticeship

Here's my updates on everything I learned during my second week at my apprenticeship, what I'm working on, and what's going on in the Praxis world. It's been a good week. Let's get to it.

What I'm Learning.

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One cool thing I learned at work this past week.

This past week I got to understand a bit more about marketing, particularly, how commercial agents market specific properties. The most useful tool for doing this is by creating an offering memorandum which provides details of the property, information for investors, and legal information. There’s also a story behind this that I’ll be sharing in one of the questions below.

One cool thing I learned outside of work this past week.

I’ve been diving deep into photography and graphic design lately. I’ve dabbled with it in the past, but I’m making a huge effort to really enhance my skills. In my 30-day photography challenge, I’ve learned that it’s really important to give yourself boundaries in order for creativity to grow. Every night, I’m faced with the challenge to photograph something, no matter what. I usually only have my house to work with, but I’m learning how to make it happen anyway.

How I'm Creating Value.

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One example of how I created value.

I think people tend to overlook the details and we can underestimate how important it is to put effort even into the “little things”. Most people don’t double or triple check their work, but I’m making sure to do that with each task. I’m using my natural attention to detail, and I also went home and bought Adobe CC so I can work on designs for my marketing ideas.

What project I’m currently working on.

This month, I’m building a simple, effective, and brand new marketing plan. I’m currently reading “The 1-Page Marketing Plan” so that at the end of the month I’ll have created a 1-Page plan, online presence, OM’s, and mockup advertisements.

What I’m doing to become a better version of myself overall.

Before I began my apprenticeship, I mentioned my greatest fear is that I let others opinions of me affect the work I’m producing. My main focus for becoming better overall is to confront this right away and make sure this doesn’t happen.

Praxis Wednesday Re-cap.

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My favorite highlight.

“Polar thinking and the critical advisor.”

It’s very rare, especially in a professional or school setting, to confront these issues of polar thinking and being too critical with ourselves. I love the fact that this was a highlight in the call because whatever is on your mind has much more power in our lives than we’d like to admit.

My biggest takeaway.

The leverage of language. Similar to my favorite highlight, but it doesn’t stop at just thinking positively. It’s also important to speak positively. Rather than saying phrases that are exclusive, say phrases that are inclusive. For example, if someone asks how you're doing, the exclusive response would be “I can’t complain”, and the inclusive response would be, “I feel good.”

“Positive actions begin with positive words.”

“You’d be amazing at how often people speak of things that aren’t there.”

How I’m going to apply that takeaway to my life.

It’s simple, and I’m going to adjust my ways of communication in order to act, think, and feel more positive.

The exercise.

Being inclusive with the ways that we speak, and allowing that to rub off on others. I find that when I make a conscious effort to do this, it also has an effect on the work I produce. It’s all around a good habit to create.