Fashion has always been a huge part of my life. It influences my every day thought and way of life. It’s like what Buddhism is to me, a life philosophy. In fact, one of my best career philosophy or “motto” is from one of my favorite fashion film (the ultimate combination of my two greatest passions) The Devil Wears Prada.
Since reading the summary (very seldom I complete books due to my short attention span and impatience which leads me to flip to the last pages to read just the ending) of the book when it first hit shelves, I was enthralled by the goddess Queen that was/is Anna Wintour and what it would be like to be in near proximity of her highness. So when they finally made the book into a film with no less the goddess of screen Meryl Streep playing Wintour, I wasted no time and bought my ticket to the experience. Sure it wasn’t the real thing, but it was close enough (sad huh?).
The film came out right about the time when I was just beginning my professional career. Being a young, budding and ambitious person, I could definitely relate to Andy, played by the gorgeous Anne Hathaway. Sure, Andy’s work place was a dramatize work-place-from-hell but as we all know it, it wasn’t far from the truth. The challenges that she faced and the feeling of hopelessness were definitely something that many young professionals face everyday at work. But Andy marched through with the masochistic help of her associate Emily, played by the oh-so-talented Emily Blunt, and succeeded in rising above at the end of it all.
This really struck a chord in me and I still remember the THREE magic words that were uttered in the film: DEAL WITH IT.
We all know (yes, you’ve seen the film too and there’s nothing to be shy about) that Andy was constantly confronted with seemingly impossible tasks but she somehow always makes it through. Because Emily told her to DEAL WITH IT.
This has been the best advice that I have received so far in my professional career. Many times especially when we just start a new job, there are many things that we need to learn and discover. It is tough but that is how we learn and improve. Instead of sitting in my chair and feeling sorry for my predicaments, I told myself: if Andy can DEAL WITH IT in style, I can too. So I started pushing all my limits, using all my resources and whatever that I could find to get things done – and done with style.
And perhaps it’s not just our career that could use this philosophy but also in our lives. Living in an advanced and civilized world today (some may argue otherwise but hey, all things are relative), people are face with new hardship and problems of the mind. We get depressed from being under-stimulated (despite all the opportunities there is out there), we complain about how things don’t go our way, we give up almost too easily as soon as we feel (not necessarily even seeing it) a wall is ahead of us. Life is too good that we forget to strive a little harder.
So I say, it’s tough at work, life isn’t fair and fashion is always going to change. DEAL WITH IT. Do your best and push yourself further.
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