Photo by Jeff Sanders
Hey Rachael! Long time no see. First of all I want to say thank you for your comment on the post Knowing When to Say When . . . to Your Career. Here’s the comment so everyone knows where I’m coming from.
Hey Jeff- Its funny that you wrote this just a few days ago, because I had a conversation about this with my friend the other day. She has recently taken a job she thought would be wonderful with great pay and benefits, only to discover she is basically doing door to door sales/marketing in small town Iowa and getting yelled at by funeral home directors (true story). Its really hard to be in a position where you are literally so miserable at work that all you want to do is have an emotional breakdown (which is where she is right now) especially when she’s only been working for two months. She has tried to talk to her boss about it, but he only offers her words of encouragement instead of constructive advice about how to make herself more successful. She doesn’t want to quit, thats not really her nature, but I can tell from talking to her she’s pretty overwhelmed and frustrated. Other than choosing your battles, what advice do you have for my friend? Anyways, I am definitely going to send this post to her! I look forward to hearing more about careers/jobs from your perspective. Thanks!
Your friend’s situation is extremely common. I actually worked a door-to-door sales job when I first moved to Boston right after college and I only lasted 9 weeks. The environment is tough and the expectations are brutal. Like your friend, my boss was very encouraging, but his talks with me never actually made me any better at my job, just more frustrated.
Establish Goals, Passions, & Expectations
In situations like these there are hundreds of possible reasons why she’s emotionally exhausted at work. To be as succinct as possible, it comes down to goals, passions, and expectations. If you’re given realistic expectations up front AND you’re passionate about what you’re doing at the job AND you have a very clear goal for your future that can become a reality because of this job, then you have a perfect match. However, if just one of those isn’t in place, you’ll end up in a tough position. Now, it is possible that your friend loves what she’s selling and the job could help her become wildly successful; but it sounds like she was given unrealistic expectations about the actual day-to-day environment. Had she been told or shown exactly how things really were, she may have opted-out in the beginning. But, she’s in a difficult place now and needs to make a choice.
Write It All Down
This is meant for everyone facing a situation similar to Rachael’s friend. Take out a piece of paper and pencil or utilize some technology and create a document on your laptop. Either way, write down your goals, passions, and career expectations. Be as specific as possible, stating exactly what you love and why. Don’t forget to set goals as far in the future as you can see. Write down what you expect from an employer and how you envision your ideal career. Taking the time to write these things down will help you to know more about yourself and exactly where you draw the line when it comes to expectations. Lastly, compare what you’ve written to your current situation. How does it look? Are you where you want to be or is there something you need to change? Is your job liberating you or limiting your potential? Let’s assume that it’s time for a change. Rachael’s friend doesn’t want to quit, but if things don’t improve quickly that will be the only alternative.
Consider Alternatives
Though it’s common to blame your career difficulties on the economy, your boss, your parents, or someone else, when it comes to changing your life for the better, placing blame doesn’t really solve the problem. You’ll need to simply stay as focused as possible on what you CAN change now. You CAN change jobs. You CAN start your own business. You CAN make a decision to start life over, beginning today. Consider every alternative to what you’re doing now. Seriously. Get out that paper again and make another list of alternative careers, jobs, income sources, etc. Make sure that your alternatives align directly with your previously stated goals, passions, and expectations. Now comes the fun part, taking action.
Make Bold Decisions
Once you’ve established realistic alternatives that allow you to explore your passions and reach your future goals, it’s time to stop theorizing and start doing! Life is not a roll of the dice. Get out there and make things happen! Apply to every job on the planet. Research every way you can start a business or work for yourself. Whatever you do, make bold decisions, take risks, and allow yourself to fail. It’s okay if you lose a job here and there. Interviews are not always pretty. Businesses fail. Bosses can be mean. Life can suck. BUT IT DOESN’T HAVE TO! You can decide right here today to change your life forever! Be willing to utilize at little trial and error and you will find yourself on your own road to success. There are a number of books I want to recommend to everyone reading this post and that finds this information relevant. I’ve listed ones below that I’ve read and that I’ve found to be extremely helpful in creating the right perspective. Even if you decide that your current situation can be resolved with a little tweaking here and there, and that bold action isn’t necessary right now, you can still find a little time to read a book that might open your eyes.
I hope this information has been helpful and once again I encourage you to tell your own story or one of a close friend that others may be able to relate to. Thanks again to Rachael for sharing her friend’s story and I hope that something I wrote here made sense and could be useful very soon.
Recommended Reading
“No More Mondays” by Dan Miller
“Your Road Map for Success” by John Maxwell
“Before You Quit Your Job” by Robert T. Kiyosaki
Don’t forget to check out my new revolutionary eBook for conquering life after college!
The Clueless Graduate,
Jeff Sanders
Follow @cluelessgrad
Loading ...
