The Three Biggest Career Mistakes — And How to Avoid Them In a tense and uncertain job market, the advice on how to succeed doesnt change. Wise heads speak about hard work, seizing opportunities, taking calculated risks, following your passion, and so on. Lets set this advice aside for a moment. More attention needs to be paid to what not to do, especially now, when opportunities for many appear to be shrinking. There are three common mistakes that people make in their careers, not just at the entry level or when changing jobs, but endemically. In other words, their careers are blocked by their beliefs and the point of view they take. In my experience, the worst things you can do in the course of your career are the following: 1. Setting your expectations too low. 2. Feeling that you have to be certain. 3. Not seeing how much you will grow. Let me explain each one, although in the end they are intimately connected. Mistake #1: Low expectations There are a few people gifted with roaring self-confidence who expect to conquer the world. But most people are insecure and uncertain. They want to feel safe, and they think that by lowering their expectations, a sense of security will come to them. It isnt true. Setting your expectations too low traps you into jobs that have a low possibility of expanding into anything worthwhile. For every copy boy who becomes editor of the newspaper, every tour guide in Hollywood who sells a blockbuster script, there are hundreds more who remain stuck in those jobs. Its not really the job that keeps anyone stuck; its the psychological limitation of setting your expectations too low. Mistake #2: The Trap of Certainty Life is uncertain, and the vast majority of people feel so uneasy about this that they seize on certainty when they shouldnt. They follow the opinions of the people around them, go to work where they are expected to, and only feel secure when they fit in. Yet real success is built upon making peace with uncertainty, turning the unknown into a field of creative possibilities. Personal uncertainty is hard, undoubtedly. It takes a conscious effort to place yourself in a position where things are open-ended. But if you dont, the other alternative is being in a position thats closed off. Mistake #3: Neglecting Growth Most job interviews follow the same pattern, where the applicant tries to prove, even before setting foot in the door, that he knows how to handle the job. This ritual is empty, a piece of drama thats supposed to show confidence. In reality, great careers are built on growth. Seeing your own potential to grow isnt easy, especially when you are young. But its a mistake not to see that you will grow, meaning that your future self, although out of reach, has an enormous amount to offer. What you can do today, what you know and how far you can see--this is all provisional, awaiting the mysterious process of growth. What ties these three mistakes together is everyones inability to predict who they will be in the future. Insecurity, anxiety, and the pressure to hold a job are powerful forces. They tempt us into believing that we will always feel what we feel now, always think the way we do now, always see the world through the lens of the present. The need to feel secure is what gets most people into trouble, which is why the three big career mistakes are so prevalent. The way to avoid these pitfalls is by working on your core beliefs, exchanging the ones that hold you back for ones that meet the future without anxiety. To raise your expectations means approaching your life, not just your job, with open-ended goals that can bear fruit over the long haul. Heres a set of mental guidelines that link many of the worlds most successful people: I need to find out who I really am. I want to expand and grow. I must have a vision that I can follow for years, an aspiration that fits my highest self. I will keep evolving without limit. I listen to my surroundings and act on the signals being sent to me. I keep an open mind. I have learned to live with uncertainty, turning fear into a belief in the wisdom of uncertainty. I listen inside to make sure Im being true to myself. I admit when Im wrong and turn this into a way forward. This may seem like a long list, but if you want a single productive change that grows out of it, heres what works: Associate with people who hold these ideas and follow them. You dont have to enter a formal mentoring relationship; in fact, it would be better if the people you bond with are your own age. As a group you can form an echelon of shared beliefs to support and encourage one another. Then the job you are holding, good or bad, is secondary. Primary is your sense of promise, which grows and expands naturally. Thats an ideal you can begin to attain today. https://youtube/watch?v=Cux_qEacpts
Posted on: Tue, 30 Sep 2014 23:00:12 +0000
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