I’m sure every field has it’s own life lessons. For example, medical residents tell me the popular phrase “See One, Do One, Teach One” is ubiquitous in programs across the country. With that in mind, here are five practical life lessons I have learned (or seen in action) during my career in marketing.

1. Quality & Integrity Matter. I am a firm believer that the only thing you take with you throughout life is your integrity. If you set a deadline, stick to it. This doesn’t mean you’re off the hook as long as you deliver the product or service on time, it should also be completed to the agreed upon specifications. Things do come up and adjustments have to be made, but communicate clearly if you need additional time to complete a project and don’t sacrifice the quality of your work.
2. Organization is a Key to Success. This may not be the case for everyone, but I find it impossible to thrive amid chaos. With multiple clients and numerous deadlines finding Insightly, an affordable customer relationship management (CRM) system that keeps track of tasks and deadlines, was life changing for me.
3. You Cannot Proofread Enough. I used to believe that reading everything over once or twice was good enough. Not anymore. There is nothing more embarrassing than a typo in a press release, be it misspelling someone’s name or giving the wrong event details. When I am the final proof on a document I almost always print it out, grab a colored pen, and read the copy out loud so I can hear mistakes. I also try to have at least one other person, be it a client or a professional copyeditor, read every piece of my own content prior to publishing.
4. Know When To Say ‘No’. I’m still working on this perfecting this life lesson, and knowing how and when to say ‘no’ is a skill many people work on their whole lives. The gist is that each of us only has so much bandwidth and at some point we have to prioritize the things with the greatest benefits. I’m realizing that instead of working on proposals for potential clients that aren’t a great fit for my skillset, I should be spending my time on projects for current clients and targeting my ideal new customer.
5. Read More. This is always on my list of New Year’s Resolutions. So often I learn new words and expand my vocabulary while I’m reading, and these words come in handy during written and verbal communication. Fiction in particular helps develop my imagination and stretches the creative writing muscles in my brain, which are constantly working on behalf of clients.

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