JOINT BASE CHARLESTON, S.C. –
"I wish..."
My daughter says this a lot. She may wish for a toy or a big bowl of ice cream or to sprout wings and fly off to Neverland. These are all important and possible things in the mind of a seven year old.
Wishing can be a wonderful thing. One can wish for a better career, a promotion or a good assignment, but this is not the way for an adult to achieve their goals and dreams.
You can wish for a better career or you can make a better career. You can wish for that promotion or work to make it happen. You can wish for a better assignment or become involved in the process and make the assignment a reality. Life does not operate on wishes, neither does the Air Force. So be sure to take charge of your career and of your life. No one cares more about your career than you do. Get involved!
How can you make things happen?
Seek feedback: It's required annually, but that doesn't mean you can't get it more often. Whether formal or informal, feedback will help guide you in your career, course correcting when needed and ensuring you're heading in the right direction.
Find a mentor: Actually, find a few. Once again, this doesn't have to be something formal. It could just be you go to for advice or that you trust to run ideas about life, the universe and everything by.
Advise and mentor others: You're getting advice and help, it's just the right thing to pass it along.
Take care of the mission, yourself and your Airmen: That's the role of a wingman, of a leader, of an Airman. Mission first, people always.
Instead of I wish, make it "I will."
My daughter wishes for things ... a lot. That's ok, she knows she will figure out that she's not going to Neverland and that a unicorn is most likely not in not in her near future. We, as Airmen, need to have that same understanding and instead of wishing for things, make things happen.