The Biggest Mistakes In Your Career And How To Fix Them
Three biggest career mistakes and how to fix them
You will never have successful career until you make these three mistakes. It is often much more useful to learn what you should not do than to find out dozens of ways to succeed. Sometimes even one mistake can ruin everything.
In the harsh and unpredictable labor market the tips on how to achieve success do not change. Wise managers say: “work hard, use opportunities, weigh the risks, follow your passions” and so on. Although, much more attention should be paid to what you do not need to do.
There three typical mistakes in career, which people make all the time, and not only in the beginning or changing their job, because they think incorrectly about career. This is what Deepak Chopra believes. He is an American doctor of Indian origin, the spiritual mentor of Hollywood celebrities and author of best-sellers on self-development and health. Our service that provides help in making a resume publishes his mind on what prevents people from being successful in work and life. Experience shows that the worst thing that people do in their career is expressed in the following misconceptions presented in this post on the biggest career mistakes. The main career delusions are lowered expectations, the feeling that you need stability, the lack of vision of your further growth.
Let’s consider these misconceptions each separately, although they are interrelated of course.
Mistake 1. Lowered expectations
Not so many people are gifted with unwavering commitment to conquer the world. Most people are delicate and hesitant. They want to feel safe and think that they will gain peace of mind if they do not claim more. This is not true. Limiting their expectations they push themselves into a trap and get a job with limited opportunities for development into something more or less valuable. Some people become great, meanwhile others stuck at the elementary level. This is not a job that does not allow them to move forward, this is a psychological limitation, the bar that is set too low.
Mistake 2. Predictability trap
Life is unpredictable, and most people just can not accept this fast, so they start looking for certainty where it can not be. They follow the mind of people around them and start working where others advise them to work with one purpose only: they want to feel safe when they manage to adapt to other people's expectations. Meanwhile real success is built on the win over uncertainty, on the skill to turn something unknown into a field for creative possibilities. There is no doubt that personal uncertainty is hard to fight. It requires conscious effort to put yourself in a position when everything looks movable and changeable. However if you do not do this, there is only one alternative: all possibilities are closed.
Mistake 3. Neglect of growth
Most interviews are conducted in the same way, when a job seeker tries to prove, having not crossed the threshold yet, that he knows how to cope with the work. This is an empty ritual, a part of a play that is required just to demonstrate the certainty. In reality great careers are built on growth. It is difficult to see your own potential for growth, especially when you are young. However, it is wrong to think that you will not develop. It means that future (even if it seems unattainable now) will offer you many opportunities. The things that you can do today, what you know and how much far you are able to see – this all is a changeable and full of mysteries process of growth.
What unites these three mistakes? An inability to predict what you will become in future. There are such powerful forces as anxiety, uncertainty, and the need to keep a job. They tempt us all to believe that we will always feel in the same way, we will always think the same what we think now, and look at the world through the prism of the present. The necessity to feel safe creates a problem, that is why these three career mistakes are so widespread.
It is possible to avoid these traps if you work on your beliefs, change the ones that drag you into the past, turning them into beliefs that open the future without anxiety. When you develop your expectations it means that you bring into your life, not only in your work, the open goals that will “bear fruit” for a long time. Here are some mental attitudes, by which the most successful people in the world are guided:
1) I need to find out who I really am.
2) I want to grow and develop.
3) I need such a vision that will guide and inspire me for many years, so that I could reach the highest point in self-development.
4) My development has no limits.
5) I listen to the environment and act according to the signals I get.
6) My mind is open.
7) I learnt to live with uncertainty, replacing the fear with the faith in the wisdom of uncertainty.
8) I listen to the intuition to make sure that I am honest with myself.
9) I admit my mistakes and know that it gives me opportunity to move forward.
This list may seem long, but if you want to get one effective change, which follows from the list, here it is: find people who share these ideas and follow them. It is not necessarily to make them your mentors. It would be even better if you are of the same age. Talk to them. Together you will manage to create a set of common beliefs that will support and inspire you. Then the work you have, whether it is good or bad, will become something secondary. Paramount will be a sense of perspective, which will develop itself. This is an ideal, which you can start reaching today and right now.
7 myths that hinder career
We all are dreaming about a good work and successful career. Sometimes stereotypes interfere with our wishes and do not let us make a step in the right direction. There are myths that hinder us in achieving professional goals. We fully trust these statements and seldom act differently. Specialists of our resume service have gathered 7 myths about professional activity to debunk them.
No career without education
Of course, without necessary education you will never become surgeon or lawyer, however to achieve success in many fields a good diploma and degree is not a prerequisite. You can become a good designer, advertiser, PR expert, programmer, journalist relying on your skills and experience only. It will be enough to have good persistence, desire and read proper literature.
You can always begin with the “lower stages” and without work experience, there is nothing horrible. If you dream to become a TV presenter, then you can start with the position of a secretary. You will study the company activity from inside, you will be aware of where and how you can prove yourself. The way is not easy but possible enough. Besides, in most companies it is accepted to promote the workers, who are already acquainted with the inner structure of organization, instead of attracting people “from the street”.
Long resume is prestigious
For most employers a competently composed, brief and clear resume that can answer all their questions is enough. You may use executive resume services to order such resume for you. There is no need to enumerate in detail each workplace, courses and hobbies. Tell about the last and the most important workplaces, and additional education and hobbies should match your specialization. Ability to emphasize important points and express your thoughts correctly is what employers appreciate.
By the age of 30 you need to clarify yourself
There is no need to give up your dream if you are 40 years old. Many people radically changed their professional activity when they were older and it did not prevent them from reaching success. So do not regret the lost opportunities beforehand.
Work at an unusual time helps career
It is so sometimes, but your employer may think that you are too slow and incompetent, to keep up with all things in time. Also you can face fatigue and stress that will influence negatively your productivity. There are different work situations, but work at unusual time should not become your habit. Also read our post on highly productive work tips to increase your work efficiency.
Busyness means zeal
Of course, you should not sit back at work, but also it is not recommended to be too much busy. Do not tell everyone that you are too busy and can not help. It can be dangerous for your career if you are busy all the time. You need to try to be always ready to listen to your colleagues and be able to add some extra tasks to your tight schedule.
Criticism is career threat
Absence of critical comments about your work does not mean that your employer is absolutely satisfied with you. As well as criticism does not necessarily mean that you are not appreciated. So you should not give up, lose concentration and motivation in such cases.
Keep your ambitions in secret
Do you want to become a head of a department and later of a branch office? Do not keep it in the strictest confidence, and do not start denying it if someone asks. Almost always companies are interested in ambitious employees, because they will try to implement their duties as well as possible and strive for result that will benefit both, employees and the company. And if there is an open position, employer will know who is interested in new duties and who will fulfill them effectively.