This post originally appeared as an 8-27 weekend issue of the Daily Job Hunt email. Sign up for kick-butt career hype in your inbox each morning.
Mindsets for Success
Do Less
Stop trying to do everything. Just focus on a few small tasks/projects. Then do those each morning and make progress. 1% information, 99% execution.
Create a Short Google Doc
For a customer success role, you can stand out by sending a Mock Script of what you might say to a customer. Just whip up a little Google Doc and write a short script, then send it in an email!
Doesn’t need to be perfect. You just need to do it. The bar is low to stand out.
Links worth checking out
Quote of the Week
“The capacity to surmount failure without being discouraged is the chief asset of every person who attains outstanding success in any calling.”
― Napoleon Hill
Everything You’ve Learned Is Wrong
Everything you’ve learned about careers is wrong.
Wait, what do I mean?
I mean everything you learned going through the K-college conveyor belt system of school, which ostensibly prepares you for the “real world.”
They taught you incorrect things like:
– network with people only your same age
– a college degree is necessary
– learn by preparing (not doing)
– you need a resume resume resume resume resume resume [ think I just threw up a bit]
– sales and money are about greed rather than value creation
– being professional is more important than being yourself
– write in scholarly, formal language
– working for free means you’ll be exploited
Some of these things are explicit, some are subtle.
The point is, if you spent 15+ years (like many of us did) in these systems, then you probably absorbed a lot of this stuff.
I’ll say now that my message is not to point fingers of shame/blame at teachers, guidance counselors, career services departments, or professors. They are responsible for their actions, yes, but not “evil.”
I was a teacher once, and I know many of these adults are trying and working hard.
Most of them have simply unwittingly, unconsciously absorbed the same information and never chose to question it, because they themselves went through years of schooling.
Anyway, what’s the takeaway for you, your life, and career?
It’s to give yourself permission to throw out all your assumptions.
It’s to give yourself permission to start with a clean, fresh slate of principles.
It’s to think critically and creatively about how you go about interacting with the marketplace.
It’s to flip your frame towards a mindset of value creation, authentic human connection, and following your curiosity over following the rules.
Take a deep breath.
Listen to your gut.
Go boldly in the direction of your dreams.
Joel
and the DJH team.
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