Water and Growth
All living things need water to grow. One way or another, in all endeavors, water is a required input for growth. And water can take lots of different forms. Every day, we use a product of water to learn and grow. Can you guess what that might be?
A Creative Career Guide
Months ago, we wrote a newsletter about taking the lessons of the pandemic and teaching those to others: See One, Do One, Teach One. Recall one of the insights I saw for myself was that I had neglected the creative aspects of my life. Too focused on building the business and producing results, I had lost sight of exploring creative outlets that make life worth living. So, I took piano lessons and wrote a book about internships. The piano lessons have been a delightful adventure where I have surprised myself with my progress. Meanwhile, the internship book has been an uplifting and eye-opening, fulfilling project as I came to it from the perspective of loving kindness and a commitment to make a difference for our youth.
Since then, I changed the name of the book from The Authentic Intern to How to Intern Successfully because I viewed the book as a career guide to assist college students in their path to an internship and beyond. The idea was to first give them the opportunity to let go of any self-imposed limitations on their own views of what they can and can’t do in life. Many students have experienced mini-PTSDs and traumas over the past year and a half. Expectations of creating relationships with classmates, getting to know professors really well, networking with industry professionals, or being employed in certain sectors were dashed away within weeks last year. These can easily send a college student, as well as any one of us, down the river without a life preserver. So, the first part of the book is intended to give students a chance to identify and let go of these barriers. They self-reflect and move forward powerfully in their job search. The rest of the book is about how to conduct their search and how to be as they are interning. In short, this is a creative career guide on how to enter the professional work environment.
Just as trees need water for nourishment to grow, college students need books to grow in their careers. Uncommon insights and actions provide an empowering perspective in this book. Importantly, the book has exercises that work on the reader in such a way that even if - dare I say it - an internship doesn’t materialize, the student is far better off for having read the book. The book ends any drought of internship guidance and carefully avoids flooding the reader with too much information.
The Intern Writer
In writing the book I humbly elicited the support of ghostwriter extraordinaire John Selby. John has written over thirty books and has sold over 600,000 copies. In a way you could say I interned with John as I wrote the book. To do that I had to let go of my past limitations and fears. I had to look at who I am and what I am creating, and I had to be a certain way to ensure success. That way of being was open, deliberate, and non-judgmental. As a result, I have gained a friend and a mentor in John. An intern - me - wrote a wonderful book about being an intern using the principles outlined in the book itself. How about that?
Agile Rainmakers is about freedom and abundance, with the occasional gratuitous water analogy. It is also about authenticity, clarity, and empowerment. The knowledge and experience gained in hiring and working with a dozen interns in the last two years has been distilled in this book by John and me, and it is for the taking.
An Unabashed Gift Promotion
With this newsletter, I have generally shied away from promoting my business or a product. Here though, I think there is a great opportunity in sharing what I consider to be a gift. Each of us knows a college student, whether they be a child of ours, a grandchild, a niece, a nephew, a friend or neighbor’s son or daughter, or a young adult we happened to get to know while they were in high school. My invitation is for you to consider purchasing this book and making it a gift for that returning or new college student in your life. They will be elated to receive such a useful gift. In fact, I will mail a copy of this book to the first five readers who reply with the name and address of a college student you think would benefit from reading it. I will then send them a copy gratis.
We all need water as nourishment. And sometimes nourishment comes in the shape of a book, a loving droplet for that special college student in your life that can make all the difference. Here is the link.
If you want growth, you need water. If you want to support the growth of the next generation of college students, purchase How to Intern Successfully so students in your life can read this useful product water makes possible.
Here's to you and your awesome future.
Until then, keep your feet on the board and keep riding your wave!
Robert J. Khoury
CEO Agile Rainmakers