Welcome to Edition #84 of Gorick's newsletter, where Harvard career adviser and Wall Street Journal bestselling author Gorick Ng shares what they don't teach you in school about how to succeed in your career.
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→ Read time: 10 min
STORY
How Orangetheory’s founder used a layoff to find her calling
The year is 1996. Ellen Latham, a 40-year-old single mom to a 9-year-old son, just lost her job as an exercise physiologist at a Miami spa.
Devastated, Latham “didn’t know what [she] was going to do.”
Then, she started reflecting.
Her work had always been related to her “lifelong passion for health and fitness.”
She was also already certified in Pilates, a kind of yoga-meets-ballet calisthenics workout.
Latham also knew deep inside that she was a “really good group fitness instructor.”
So, she brought it all together, “invited gym members to practice Pilates in a spare room in her Florida home,” and started running classes on her own.
Before long, her small group classes started becoming popular—so much so that Latham opened a small studio. With students constantly asking for even more from her Pilates program, Latham started developing an “ultimate” science-based workout program.
She spent the next 14 years perfecting her method.
Then, in 2010, Latham named her regimented group classes “Orangetheory”. The name combines the “orange heart rate zone” (or when the heart is beating at 84% to 91% of its max capacity) with the theory that this “zone” increases metabolism even after the workout is over.
Today, another 14 years later in 2024, Orangetheory now generates over $1 billion in revenue per year and boasts over a million members worldwide.
UNSPOKEN RULE
Double down on your assets, strengths, and interests
Trying to build a successful career but not going anywhere? Or, laid off and feeling lost? Take stock of 3 things.
1. Your assets: What you know, have, or have access to that other people do not.
2. Your strengths: What you’re better at or find easier than other people.
3. Your interests: What you find fun, exciting, and energy giving.
This is what Ellen Latham did. Her assets were her fitness knowledge, experience, and client lists. Her strength was in teaching. Her interest was in helping people live healthier and happier lives. She combined all three—and found massive success.
What’s an “unspoken rule”? They’re what separate those who get ahead in their careers from those who fall behind. Learn more in my Wall Street Journal bestselling book called—you guessed it—The Unspoken Rules.
STRATEGY
How to find your assets, strengths, and interests
Latham’s experience is far from unique. About 40% of Americans have been fired from a job at least once in their career.
Having seen my own single mom get laid off in her 50s, I know how devastating it can be—especially if you are well into your career. Getting fired can cause feelings of shame—and can seriously knock down your self confidence.
But, as Latham can teach us, you’re worth so much more than whatever job you used to hold.
You have something to offer! We all have assets, strengths, and interests.
How do you find yours?
Try filling in the following blanks:
To identify your assets…
- “Compared to others I know, I know a lot about _______.”
- “Compared to others I know, I have more experience in _______.”
- “Compared to others I know, I know more people who are _______.”
To identify your strengths…
- “Compared to others I know, I find it easier to (do) _______.”
- “Compared to others I know, I am faster at (doing) _______.”
- “Compared to others I know, I more often get praised for _______.”
To identify your interests…
- “Compared to others I know, I find _______ fun.”
- “Compared to others I know, I find _______ exciting ”
- “Compared to others I know, I get a lot of energy from (doing) _______.”
If you’re fresh out of school or were just laid off, it’s easy to feel worthless. Social media doesn’t help.
Yes: thanks to remote work, every career opportunity just became a global competition. But you don’t have to be the world’s foremost expert on something to get started. You simply need a little more than the person next to you.
This is why every sentence in the strategies above begins with “Compared to others I know.” It’s also why every sentence ends with something that sets you apart from others. Start reflecting—and start doing—and you’ll find your direction soon enough.
I wasn’t a good writer when I started writing The Unspoken Rules, but I was decent at asking questions, listening, and frameworking others’ ideas. That was enough to get me started!
ASK GORICK
What skills should a recent university graduate develop to succeed in the workplace?
Q:
What skills should a recent university graduate develop to succeed in the workplace? I refer to things you are not being taught at university.
—D
Gorick:
Hi there, D—thanks for your question and congratulations (if I’m interpreting correctly) on graduating!
I believe that there are 4 skills to help set you apart. Moreover, I believe these skills have the power to futureproof your career. I’m talking about the ability to…
- Stay on top of the latest trends
- Learn anything quickly
- Make educated bets
- Write clearly, convincingly, and concisely
Why is it important to (1) stay on top of the latest trends?
Because the world is simply moving too quickly for you to not keep up. ChatGPT and Perplexity came out 2 years ago. Students everywhere are using both AI tools to do their schoolwork these days. If you graduated before 2022, your school experience looked totally different from the experience of students today. And if you don’t stay on top of the latest trends, you risk making yourself an obsolete dinosaur.
Why is it important to (2) know how to learn anything quickly?
Because knowledge is being churned out at a faster—and ever increasing—pace. Consider this: In 2016, 1.9 million scholarly articles were indexed. In 2022, 2.8 million articles were indexed. Information is simply hitting us at an “exponential” pace, so if you can’t get fast at learning, you’ll get overwhelmed and fall behind.
Why is it important to (3) make educated bets?
Because not every wave is permanent—so being able to separate what’s fad from what’s here to stay can mean the difference between you picking the right industry or company and the wrong one. When I Google for the hottest trends from just two years ago, here are a few that pop up:
- Artificial Intelligence
- Metaverse
- Cloud computing
- Blockchain
If you had made the right bet, you’re probably getting tons of recruiter emails today. If you made the wrong bet, you may have even been laid off by now.
Why is it important to (4) write clearly, convincingly, and concisely?
Because everything requires writing well. Want to rise up the corporate ladder? Be prepared to get good at writing executive summaries, memos, emails, and instant messages. Heck, want to be a YouTuber or TikToker? Well, you’re in for a surprise because half your job is in scripting.
Today, everyone can—and many people do—sound like ChatGPT. That means it’s more valuable than ever to have your own voice. (Shameless plug: Want to communicate like a seasoned executive? Check out my “How to Say It” flashcards!)
Hope this helps! Thanks for your question—and see you next week!
—Gorick
Gorick Ng
Harvard career advisor | WSJ bestselling author | Fortune 500 keynote speaker | First-gen
4 things from me you might find useful:
1. HOW TO SAY IT: Flashcards that teach you to know what to say in every high-stakes professional setting.
2. The Early Career Success Masterclass: My online course that takes you from day 1 in a new role through to a promotion with 28 modules and 28 cheatsheets (3.5 hours of content). Want this course reimbursed by your company? Here’s an email template.
3. The Unspoken Rules: My Wall Street Journal Bestseller that Arianna Huffington calls “a blueprint for anyone starting their career, entering a new role, or wanting to get unstuck." Used by top companies and MBA programs.
4. Keynote speaking: Including workshops and fireside chats for schools, companies, and non-profit organizations. Let’s connect!
You may also like
> What Chicken Soup for the Soul can teach us about finding conviction
> What an introvert turned bestselling author can teach us about personal branding
> What Slack’s search for feedback can teach us about sharing our ideas with others
Sources
- just lost her job
- “didn’t know what [she] was going to do.”
- “lifelong passion for health and fitness.”
- yoga-meets-ballet calisthenics workout
- “really good group fitness instructor.”
- Ellen Latham teaching a fitness class (undated).
- “invited gym members to practice Pilates in a spare room in her Florida home”
- “orange heart rate zone”
- An Orangetheory gym in New York City, NY, USA.
- $1 billion in revenue
- 40% of Americans
- Getting fired can cause feelings of shame
- “exponential”
