When Are You No Longer A Rookie?

Using sports as an analogy, your first year or season you are considered a "rookie". Once you complete that first season of competition you are no longer considered a "rookie".

Its a long way to becoming a seasoned veteran but you can no longer use being a "rookie" as an excuse for mistakes or bad performance. Some "rookies" go on to lead their respective teams to championships and become hall of fame performers. Others have a workman like career and play a role on many different teams, while others don't make the cut and fade off into the sunset.

The learning never stops whether you're a "rookie", seasoned veteran or a never was. Much the same as life in general.

So I say once that first year is completed, peel off the "rookie" stripe and get after a championship

All great answers. I'm glad I saw this!

Using sports as an analogy, your first year or season you are considered a "rookie". Once you complete that first season of competition you are no longer considered a "rookie".

Its a long way to becoming a seasoned veteran but you can no longer use being a "rookie" as an excuse for mistakes or bad performance. Some "rookies" go on to lead their respective teams to championships and become hall of fame performers. Others have a workman like career and play a role on many different teams, while others don't make the cut and fade off into the sunset.

The learning never stops whether you're a "rookie", seasoned veteran or a never was. Much the same as life in general.

So I say once that first year is completed, peel off the "rookie" stripe and get after a championship

I am a BIG sports fan so I love the analogy!!!

A driver will learn extremely fast right from the start and that first 6 months out there is one hard lesson after another. It's exciting, but it will test you to the core!

-Brett

Ugh. Yep.

Then after that 1st year, I'll just settle into permanent rookie, always learning.

-mountain girl

Well, I was debating with myself about this, because the more I learn the more I learn there is more to learn!

But, thanks Brett, you helped me out. Somewhere between years 3 and 5 I will change my status!

Well, I was debating with myself about this, because the more I learn the more I learn there is more to learn!

That's exactly right. When you're new to something the learning curve is very steep in the beginning. I mean, remember back to what you thought trucking would be like. Everyone thinks the same thing in the beginning - any idiot can drive a truck, right? You take stuff from point A to point B and collect your paycheck. Not exactly rocket science.

But once you start getting into it you learn there's actually quite a bit to know. Then you get into it further and realize there's a lot to know. It seems to get more and more complex instead of getting easier for a while.

But after you've been out there a few years the learning curve levels out quite a bit. What happens is you sort through all of the complexities and you find ways of doing the job that work well for you. There are always a million ways to do anything - shifting, backing up, trip planning, and everything else. But after a while you find what works for you, discard the rest, and the job seems much easier.

When you realize you've developed your own style - your own way of doing things - that's when you've really made some serious progress in learning whatever it is you're doing. In the beginning it's always best to listen to the veterans and mimic what they're doing. After a while you'll find what methods work best for you.