Finding job and career of your dreams and overcome the 'no experience' obstacle and many of us face How many times have you hears a recruiter telling you or someone that you know that you were not selected for a job or that your resume did not meet minimum job requirements, in other words that you did not have necessary experience that potential employer was seeking? I know I have heard that statement or something very similar a few times myself. However, the question that I kept on asking was – “How do I obtain required experience for a career in question if all I keep on hearing is “you do not have necessary experience in this line of work?” And, nobody was willing to help me by pointing me in the right direction and help me to understand what I can do in order to gain such experience and where.
So, the only way I know to start in something new, something I’ve never done before is to start somewhere, position myself somewhere where I can begin learning and in-turn building the experience that was so necessary before I could be considered as a strong candidate for the job and line of work I was seeking. That start was far away from where I ultimately wanted to be professionally, however, that’s what I saw as a solution to the “no experience” roadblock I continued to face for some time. Therefore, starting my journey towards the career I wished for was at the very beginning – getting an entry level job in a filed that I felt was the closest to where I wanted to ultimately get to. I was never afraid of doing a lot of work and putting in 100% of effort I everything that I was assigned or asked to do, on top of my standard job requirements. Any projects? Sign me up. Have I done the things that I had to do in each project I volunteered myself for? Absolutely not, but what I knew was that I can begin to work on a project and learn about specifics and things that I didn’t know in the process from books, online materials and, of course, from people around me – my peers and leadership team. What happened was that I’ve learned a lot in the process, I’ve learned to do things that I’ve never done before, all by starting somewhere and doing my 100% in everything I was doing, while volunteering for any available opportunity where I could, learn a new skill or enhance an existing one. With time I began moving along the experience acquisition journey, getting closer to where I wanted to end up as for my career goals, while learning a log in the process. During my professional journey, I’ve worked in many different lines of work, in many different industries, learning a new skill or skills from each experience, and adding more and more experience checkmarks to my professional resume. After few years, yes, years, I could say with strong degree of confidence and with my professional experience backing up me up, that I not only had received necessary job experience for the job(s) and career I was seeking, I had also acquired few additional professional skills that did and will continue to help me to stand out among tough competition. So, the moral of this story is – it’s possible to reach your career goal in the industry that you wish to work in by starting somewhere, starting at the very beginning in the entry level role/position within the industry you hope to work in one day, and begin investing into your personal and professional growth and development, working hard in everything you do, asking for extra projects to work on and learning new skills in the process. Help is there, all you need to do is ask. Ask your peers, ask your boss, or member of the training and leadership groups. Be hungry for knowledge and information, and don’t hesitate to ask questions when you find yourself stuck. Problem-solving often can be the best teacher when learning something new. Most importantly, do not get discouraged if it takes you a long time or longer than you had expected to find and receive your dream job. It may take few days, few months, or even few years before you get there. Keep working hard, keep seeking opportunities to learn new skills and strengthen your existing set of skills that you may already have. You may not see a clear and obvious path to your goal(s), that’s ok, keep going and have unwavering confidence that you can and will get there by believing in yourself and what you can do, and eventually that path towards your dream job and career will begin to align to your expectations with clear path visible in front of you.
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Why we do what we do when it comes to decision making and choice Most if not all people strive for a choice, more specifically, creating and having access to more options in everything. When we go to a grocery store, we want a wide variety of groceries to choose from. For example, if we want to purchase ketchup and go the isle in the grocery store where ketchup is sold, we see a significant selection of ketchup bottles to choose from. Examining several shelves filled with different ketchup containers, all of the sudden we don’t know which one to choose, because, we only need one, not fifteen or more. And what happens most of the time? We choose the same kind of ketchup, same brand, every time, because, we’ve purchased it before and enjoyed it. So, why do we need other ten or more kinds of ketchup to choose rom if we only need and will choose one, typically the same one each time? Because, we demand more choice to satisfy our inner desire to feel empowered to choose and satisfy our own egos. We don’t want to be limited to just one option or one product, and for someone else dictate the way we live our life. We want to make our own decisions and choices even if we already know what we will choose before even being presented with other alternatives. Often, we get so frustrated with multitude of different options that’s in front of us, that we abandon the selection process without making a selection, because, we don’t know which option the best for us is, which option we would like more. So, often we walk away from making a decision because it’s just easier that way – keeping the status quo. At least we do not have to blame ourselves for potentially making a bad or wrong decision or choice. This same feeling of safety and avoidance of a decision-making translates into how we live our life. If we are uncomfortable with a choice, we would avoid the process of making one whenever we can. Therefore, whenever we are faced with a need to make a decision to act and try something new, explore the unknown – something that’s never been done before, or has a certain level of risk associated with us making a choice to act or remain where we are in the safety zone, where we feel a sense of comfort, then more often than not we choose to stand still and avoid making a decision that has a potential of to change our present for better or for worse. Why not choose what we love and stop wasting time navigating ourselves through a sea of other options and alternatives? Why not act today and pursue our passion or our hobby vs. being afraid to make a decision in fear of potential of failure? If we simplify our choice by focusing on what we actually need to reach our goal, and not on different options that sound or appear good in theory but do not get us closer to what we hope to achieve or accomplish, then there would be less frustration, stress, and worry in our lives. Not to mention the among of time we could potentially save by simplifying our decision-making process every day, because, we would not waste time on options or choices that introduce distractions on our path in pursuit of success. So, next time ask yourself a question – Do I really need fifteen different types or brands of ketchup or do I just need one to accomplish a goal? I hope that you asking yourself this question when faced with the need to make a choice or a decision regardless of a setting that you may be in, it will remind you about the importance and value of focus on the one thing – that what’s truly important to you and why, creating progress vs. stagnation. What are your thoughts?
Stop judging others, their thoughts and opinions, focus on yourself instead We all have our own and unique perspectives on virtually everything in life – how we must eat, what is considered happiness, what defines success, health, entertainment, etc. Pick a topic and I am sure everyone would have their own perspective on topic in question. Having an individual perspective is not a bad thing at all, it’s expected, because, we all are different and unique. However, we often forget that people around us do not have to view a specific situation or concept as we view them and display our disagreements or frustrations when perspectives of those around us differ from our own. We must learn to be respectful of others, their values, perspectives, thoughts, and priorities. For example, one may take his or her family on a vacation to go skiing at an economy ski resort. Perhaps, this is family’s first vacation to a ski resort, vacation that family has been saving up for many months or even years. Some, once they learn about the location and type of ski resort would immediately share their perspective – highlighting all reasons why this specific resort is not a good, as some much more luxurious resorts in other parts off the state or country, making it clear to the individual they are speaking with that resort the they’ve chosen for their family vacation is way below their acceptable standards. But, do we ever stop and ask ourselves – how us sharing our perspective on vacation location chosen by an individual we are interacting with or sharing an opinion on another topic or decision may impact this individual emotionally? Do we ever ask ourselves if opinions and perspectives that we are sharing are appropriate to be vocalized and shared? Some of us do, but many of us do not. Just like in the ski resort selection example, we do not know all possible reasons why family might have decided to choose the resort that they did. Perhaps, their decision was largely influenced by their inability to afford a more expensive and more luxurious option, or perhaps there were other unique and important reasons specific to the family in question that dictated family’s decision? We don’t know that and, therefore, sharing our own perspective or opinion can be extremely inappropriate, and be found as offensive to others. It’s very important to be respectful of other people’s individual and often private perspectives, and do not share our own perspectives and opinions unless we know and fully understand another individual’s situation and how they may react to us sharing our point of view. We want to make sure that we do not offend individual(s) with who we are speaking. We must be respectful of other people’s situations and values and keep our comments to ourselves when we know that sharing them could be inappropriate and out of place. Speaking out of place could also have a negative impact on personal and professional relationships with another individual without us realizing it. Therefore, to remain professional and to maintain a professional and respectful image of ourselves in the eyes of others always be mindful of what is being said and how perspective shared may impact those around us. Remember that words have a tremendous power, so be sure to choose what you share and when very carefully. Once something is said, it can no longer be taken back, no matter how hard we try. I hope you enjoyed reading this module as much as I enjoyed writing it, and hope that you found it to be very useful for you or someone else that you may know. Please feel free to share this post if you know someone who may benefit from reading it same way you did
When life throws you a curve ball, swing the bat, don't just stand there expecting for things to change Life is a very unpredictable, but I am sure that’s something you already know and had experienced. One day everything is going great – you have a good high paying job, abundance of food on your table, roof over your head, and next day things change unexpectedly, without any warnings, and things get tougher, much tougher. Perhaps there are layoffs and once “secure” job is no longer so secure, or unexpected expenses are encountered along life’s journey, which naturally impact an existing lifestyle and financial situation of everyone involved. So, what do you do? Do you choose to pretend that nothing is happening and that everything is great, even though you know it’s not the case, or do you make necessary adjustments in your personal and often professional lives and compromise? Well, if you choose to maintain the status quo and make no adjustments to improve your situation and compromise, expecting for things to someone change for a better on their own, you will quickly realize that status quo route was not the right choice. Something must change – your habits, your lifestyle must change when life gets more difficult in order to keep moving forward navigating your way through life’s temporary challenges. And yes, change may be difficult, especially if you must temporarily change your lifestyle and likely downgrade your expectations. However, such actions are necessary. For example, you may be required to sell your family home, because, you are unable to make mortgage payments, or to take one of your vehicles back to the bank, because, you are unable to make car loan payments. Are any of these examples mentioned say “End of the world?” No, of course not. All they are saying that you must be flexible and learn to compromise when situation calls for it. So, yes, you may have to move in with your parent or lease a less expensive house or apartment, but so what? You still have a place to live and roof over your head. Having less space or less square footage while you are figuring things out in your life is ok. Eventually, life will take an upward direction towards improvement once again, and your life will change as a result. But, because you were able to compromise and adjust when it was necessary, you did not create any unnecessary financial and emotional strain on yourself and those around you. Same goes for our wants, habits, and desires. When we used to go out to eat every day, spending a lot of money on thins that we don’t really need, like excessive amount of clothes, shoes, or other items, and then having to cut back when our financial situation changes, and not in a positive way, this can be difficult but certainly possible. You can transition from going out and eating out every day to preparing meals at home, it’s much cheaper and in many cases much healthier. Also, you can opt-into purchasing non-organic produce in grocery stores, or off-brand clothes and shoes, which should be much cheaper than those that carry a brand name label. Again, it’s all about compromise and the need to make necessary adjustments in our lifestyle and what we do every day if/when we experience turbulent times in our life. It important to always remember that just like in a case of a rollercoaster, after a downward descent there’s always an upward lift. Therefore, once life takes an upward direction again and again, you have a freedom and a choice to adjust your lifestyle in relation to your abilities at any give time. Compromise be flexible, positively-focused, and make necessary adjustments in your life when appropriate. You cannot expect for things to change or improve when you choose to stand still and take no actin to change your present. I hope you enjoyed reading this module as much as I enjoyed writing it, and hope that you found it to be very useful for you or someone else that you may know. Please feel free to share this post if you know someone who may benefit from reading it same way you did
Drafting a blueprint of your present and your future in our mind What you put in your mind, thoughts, opinions, beliefs, frustrations, disappointments, motivations, etc. is ultimately what you receive in return. What we feed our subconscious mind is used by our subconscious mind to create our reality. So, if we are constantly negative and pessimistic, well, guess what, we will receive more of? More negativity and more pessimism controlling what we see and what we think. If you convince your subconscious mind that getting up very early in the morning, leaving your warm and cozy bed is hard, then naturally your mind will create such reality for you, where instead of getting out of bed and going to the gym or going for a run, you will instead opt in to stay in bed. This works the say way in all facets of our lives, in everything that we do or don’t do every day. Achieving something great is not easy, it’s hard and it requires a very hard work, dedication, persistence, and perseverance, that’s why very few people achieve extraordinary results that they’ve committed to achieve. They are willing and ready to get up every day and work extremely hard towards achieving their goals and objectives that they’ve set for themselves, no matter which surprises the life may throw their way. Achieving amazing results and reaching the ‘finish line’ by achieving a big and important goal(s), creating the lifestyle of your dreams, becoming someone you’ve always wanted to and inspired to become, helping others to live the life they’ve always wished for, etc., requires the alignment between your subconscious mind and information you feed it with actions that you are taking and decision that you are making in the real life. You cannot trick your subconscious mind. So, you cannot put negative thoughts in your mind, taking no action to improve or change your present situation for a better – avoiding negative situations and people, and expecting for your subconscious mind to create a positive reality. To create positive changes in our life, we must deposit positive thoughts, ideas, and visualizations into our mind on the consistent basis. Then, with time, our mind will begin creating the reality that we see in our mind in the real life through our own actions and decisions that we would make. This includes taking calculated risks when appropriate, not being afraid of a change and trying something new that has a potential to bring positive changes into our life. One way to keep your mind focusing on what you expect to accomplish is by writing your short and long-term goals in a journal, review them every day, and update those goals at least once per year, checking off the goals you’ve completed. Not only does it feel good knowing that you’ve accomplished a goal you had set earlier, but it’s also a good way to keep feeding and reminding your subconscious mind how you envision your near future. Another way to keep adding images of things that you expect to accomplish in life is by creating a folder on your PC or phone with images of those soon to be accomplishments. So, if you want to visit Fiji and have a wonderful vacation there, then having an image of Fiji and its beautiful beaches would remind you of your goal every time you look at it. Remember, what you feed your subconscious mind ultimately creates your reality. So, ask yourself today, have I been thoughtful and aware of thoughts that enter my mind, and are those thoughts, ideas and opinions that would help me achieve what I expect to accomplish in life? I hope you enjoyed reading this module as much as I enjoyed writing it, and hope that you found it to be very useful for you or someone else that you may know. Please feel free to share this post if you know someone who may benefit from reading it same way you did
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