Have you ever felt yourself stressing out about finances, your current career path or your professional value? Do those things make you instantly feel lost?
Perhaps you're shifting careers, trying to decide what industry to break into, or simply trying to get your foot in the door ANYWHERE you can.
Regardless of where you are, I've developed 5 rules for creating career peace of mind that will pull you out of a career crisis. As a professional who's worked in corporate, freelance and remote environments, and who's experienced almost every up and down possible in a short period of time, these 5 rules keep me moving forward, thinking positively and ultimately successful no matter what I do! They introduce the routines necessary to find ease in the trajectory of your career.
1. Keep planting seeds
OK - I'm not talking about a real garden here. What I mean is to continually plant seeds in your professional garden. This includes expanding your professional network, following industry trends and job postings, growing your "extra curricular" activities and perfecting your unpaid creative endeavors.
Most opportunities won't come from blind online applications, they'll come from the people you've met and talked to in person or the passions you've perfected. The more you create, the higher chances of success you'll have. Finally - always imply that you have time for new opportunities when talking to friends and family. Next time someone thinks of a recommendation, they might think of you!
2. Develop career grit
Be ruthless. I'm serious about this one. Whether you're in a full-time, part-time or freelance position, don't allow yourself to accept laziness in the workplace. Give your your projects and your team the energy, focus and attention they need. Trade in softness for authority, maintain your personal voice and hold your team accountable. It's vital to conquer your own limits and extend past what you believe you can accomplish, which sometimes relies upon others.
Either you'll be someone who complains at work and finds excuses to stay home or you'll be promoted based on your work ethic, leadership and unyielding enthusiasm. Be better than the complainers, stay committed and be the BEST at what you do. It's as simple as that.
3. Give yourself more time
Time is something difficult to accept when you're starting a new position or career. You think to yourself, "I can't afford to be paid this little. I need to be earning what that guy is earning and NOW." The truth is, if you're first starting your career or even beginning a new position, sometimes you're going to take home less cash than you want to.
To earn more money, you need to prove you have a backbone in business. Honestly acknowledge your work experience and remember that you'll have to prove to your future employers (and yourself) the value you provide. Give yourself more time. Don't rush, you'll end up doing something you hate. If you need money right away, start an investment fund and watch your dollar bills do the work for you.
4. Hold on to the triumphs
Sometimes we have brief moments of spectacular recognition and then before you know it you're back to the drawing board, looking for your next big gig. What your parents often forget to tell you, is that your career should be a marathon, not a sprint. Small and large victories will be followed by epic failures. This will go on and on until you retire and then it will become personal successes and failures. This is what life is. If you're expecting to get your dream job and then watch everything fall into place and see money fill your bank account forever, you've been fooled.
Jobs end, gig's end, people forget what you've done and your career "fame" can plummet to the ground. Even the most successful people in the world have "made it," and then they fall flat again...or the market crashes, or your company falls apart. So hold onto the small advances you make in your career, but put them down when it's time and find your next adventure with humility. Don't hold onto that one big job you had or that higher salary you acquired for a previous position. You'll have an epic journey regardless, just keep conquering your own expectations and find optimism for what awaits you!
5. Don't EVER compare
Comparison is the true thief of joy. In our Social Media worlds, we compare now more than ever before and therefore hold ourselves in contempt for not being as epic as someone else. But how will you ever understand your truth and your strengths if they can't even accurately challenge someone else's? What you see ISN'T what you get. There will always be someone better than you and there will always be someone worse off than you, no matter what. You'll never be able to see yourself in the honest glory that you are if you constantly repeat to yourself,
"I don't have that," "I don't look like that," "I can't travel like him," "They got promoted and I didn't," "They make way more money than I do," "How are they getting paid for drinking a smoothie?"
Your path is completely different from everyone else's. I know it's easier said than done, but if you expect your track to perfectly align with someone else's, you're not setting yourself up to win. Allow yourself a unique, healthy and abundant journey from start to finish. Forego badgering harmful thoughts into your head. Get off Social Media and read an inspirational book. Do more of what makes you truly happy and use it to find a work-life balance. Find gratitude no matter how difficult it may seem and remember that this chapter won't last forever. You're always on to bigger and better things.
If you want to read more about what you truly have to offer, read The Originals by Adam Grant.
This book will prove to you why the most successful people you've ever heard of. They weren't born with some magical gene that transcended them into fame and fortune. They were just like you and me.
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