I graduated almost 5 years ago from university. I have a Bachelor’s and Master’s from a well renowned business school, but ever since I left uni, I have been having a hard time making the right career choices. I feel like my choices until now have been a bit random. The whole applying for jobs thing is and has always been DAUNTING to me and gave me a lot of anxiety. I don’t necessarily like to use the word ‘anxiety’ as I think it is overused, but I do think that in this case it expresses how I felt and still feel about it. 

So applying for jobs was so scary to me, but on top of that I just also could not at all figure out what direction to go into, what jobs to apply for and to be honest, I also did not dare to apply for jobs at companies I really wanted to go for. And all of this has lead to a quite random career path that I do not have a good explanation for and that I am not proud of or excited about. It even keeps me awake at night, because I am so worries I have made all the wrong choices and I am doomed for the rest of my life when it comes to my career.

In this post I like to share some of the beliefs that I have around my career, jobs, money etc. that I’d like to turn around in order to make better career choices.

I don’t have enough skills and until now I have proven to not be that great at work

This is a tough one and one that actually makes me quite emotional. I have very little confidence in my skills and I have little faith in how well I am currently performing at my job and have performed in any job until now.  I am constantly focusing on all the things I am not doing, all the times I am not doing things ‘right’ and all the actions I do not take and it is very frustrating and it is weighing heavily on my confidence. But the way I would actually like to feel about it is as follows:

Even though I am very hard on myself, I choose to focus on the things I am doing well and the things I like about myself when it comes to work. Whether that is in my performance or the just fact that I get up for work every single day, that I carry responsibility or the fact that I care about work a lot. I also choose to trust that performance is a small part of what makes a good professional and I might not see myself as an exceptional performer, I choose to see myself as a decent one. I choose to also focus on the fact that I bring a lot more to an organisation than just my performance: I bring enthusiasm, I bring light and ease and I bring the intention to be honest and straightforward and I choose to trust that that is extremely valuable to an organisation. I choose to trust that I can be extremely valuable to an organisation.

Ok, that feels way beter! Another one:

My education is a facade and it does not say anything about how smart or skilled I am and it will not help me become successful in life

On paper I am “highly” educated. Great. But I do not feel like I am. Perhaps you can relate? Sometimes I think that the only reason I made it through school and university is because I learned early on in life how to do well at tests and because some things just happened to come naturally to me (maths, reading etc.). But in my head it does not say anything about how smart I really am and how successful I can be. And it was hell sometimes, late nights, meeting deadlines at the last minute, etc… And in my opinion, I lack SO many important things that actually makes people successful in life. I lack assertiveness, time management skills, boundary setting skills and a ballsy attitude that successful people in my opinion have. But obviously I don’t want to feel this way and I rather feel like this:

Regardless of what my education says me, I choose to see my education as something that was meant to be a part of my journey. I choose to hold it dear, to focus on the benefits of it and to view it as something I am grateful for and something I am proud of. In addition to that, I choose to see my worth beyond my education and I choose to trust that I can bring a lot to any job and any project whether that is for an employer or for myself. And not because I am educated, but because of who I am as a person.

Much better again! Next:

There is no office job that I will actually enjoy

When I graduated (and actually already before that) I decided that an office job was not for me. I absolutely hated the idea. During my years of studying I had done two internships. And in both of them I couldn’t focus, I didn’t really like the content of the work and I had a hard time understanding how anyone could enjoy a job like that. The two full time jobs I have had since graduating, have proved the same. I have not been great at them and have not enjoyed them much. But, I want to believe that it DOES exist, that there are office jobs that I can absolutely love. And I also want to get into my head that I don’t have to be here all my life. So, I will now believe the following:

I might not find an “office job” that I want to do for the rest of my life, but I do trust there are jobs out there that I can enjoy for a short while. I choose to let go of the pressure to find that “one job” that I can settle in forever. I choose to trust that there are jobs that I might not even know of right now that appeal to what I am looking for at the moment and will satisfy me until my bigger dreams come true. Because I know my dreams are bigger than a ‘standard’ office job as I know it, but I choose to see that it is ok to do an office job for now. I choose to see that an office job, including my current one, have and will continue to provide me with personal growth, a high level of security (I can pay for my rent and holidays and I can save a bit of money) and perhaps temporary, but very real, friendships for as long as I might be there. And of course, I will have contributed SO much in return the organisation I work for and the people I work with. I choose to trust that it will be a perfect exchange for however long it may be.

So much better again! Ok, next one:

There is no job on my level of education and for my study background that is both challenging and fun

I graduated on a Master’s level, which means I am academically schooled and I studied business. Academic research or academic work was not at all my field of interest and I have had a hard time thinking about what job I could enjoy on an academic level, because I also feel like I want to work on a level I actually am studied for. But I also would enjoy my work. But I don’t at all see how those two can go together. Because I enjoy the challenge that comes with academic thinking and I enjoy the growth, but in my head it means it can not also be fun. But, I would really like it to be, so I choose to believe the following from now on:

Even though the jobs on my level of education that I know of are way too serious and not fun, I choose to believe that they do exist. I choose to believe that there are jobs on an academic level that are challenging AND fun. Even though it feels very far away, I choose to believe that the two actually go together very well. I choose to believe that being academically schooled is something I can be proud of and that will lead me to a very satisfying job that allows me to contribute substantially while I absolutely love my daily work and the organisation that I work for.

That feels way better and I can not wait to find a job like that! Ok, next one:

Jobs at my level of education are very demanding and don’t pay well

Even though a lot of what I see around me is that jobs at my level of education are very highly demanding in time and energy and pay either what I am earning now or just a little bit more, I choose to trust that there are multiple opportunities at my level of education in any part of the world that are half as demanding, pay more and offer personal growth and learnings at 10x the speed. And I choose to trust that it won’t be a challenge at all for me to be hired for such a job.

Way better!! I am so excited for this! Ok, next one:

There is no employer that will pay me €95.000 

Ok, this one feels almost arrogant and selfish. But I would not provide a full picture of the situation if I did not include salary in this post. This one is huge for me. I mentioned before that I don’t feel like I am a really good performer at work and it makes me feel like I don’t deserve to be paid well. Sometimes I feel like I don’t deserve any money… Crazy right? I try to ignore that thought, but it is really there sometimes. But obviously, I don’t want to feel that way and I would like to feel like I do deserve money and a lot of it too. So I would rather feel like this:

Even though €95.000 sounds like a lot, I choose to trust that to a lot of employers it is completely in line with the value I bring. I also choose to trust that there are countless organisations that have adopted the idea that output is more important than input and they will appreciate the fact that I think the same way. Even though there is no need to put a number on it, I choose to trust that there are multiple organisations in my city that I would love to work at and that I am worth €95.000 a year to at this very moment. And regardless of how I feel in my current work and my performance in my current job, I choose to believe that I am worth €95.000 organisations that demand less and offer more in all aspects. And I choose to trust that to all those organisations I am worth to be hired and I choose to believe that I will very soon get multiple offers like that. And I choose to trust that my next job will be better than what I can imagine.

Omg, if only I will make this money one day, but I choose to believe I will. So exciting! Ok, last one:

I can not find a new job within just a couple of weeks

Ok that feels so good!! I am going to read these new beliefs every day and I will let you know how I feel and how the job search is going very very soon!

Love,

Marie