The Art of Career Resilience

When was the last time you didn't get what you wanted in your career? 

Take a moment and reflect. Perhaps a recent time when a door was closed on an opportunity you wanted? Or a time when you experienced a failure?

Consider this: What if career opportunities not working out were just course corrections?  

Look back on the winding road of your career and life. Look back to those moments when you didn't get what you thought you wanted. 

Looking back on my career, I can see a specific moment when I didn't get what I wanted. A door slammed shut on an opportunity in a new role. I'll spare you the details but suffice to say that it was a monumental moment of career failure —a significant personal and professional wipeout! I was devastated! I'm pretty sure that my friends back then were describing me as a "hot mess". Ha!

However, as I watch the video feed replay in my head, I see myself eventually finding another opportunity, another door. The door I should have gone through in the first place.

Honestly, if I hadn't had that first door shut on my career path, I wouldn't be here today doing what I love and having the success I'm having. I'd most likely be struggling to achieve the goal I had initially set, working in that soul-sucking job that I struggled to enjoy—continuing not to have the success I wanted. Oh, wait a minute, that's what actually happened for another year. I was a burned-out, frustrated, train wreck. Damn!

All I could see in that moment of career failure was the closed door. Yes, I tried to break in the side window or crawl in through the cellar. I even attempted to negotiate with the keeper of the door (as much as all of that pains me to admit). I wasted a lot of energy and resources, struggling to get what I thought I wanted. But of course, I eventually ( after a year!) came to terms with the situation not working out and started looking around for the next thing.

Reflect on that moment when you experienced your career setback. Did you want the reality of the situation to be different than it was? Who doesn't? Right? 

Remember this, wanting a situation in your career to be different than it is, is the number one cause of suffering and stress. Ultimately doing so will keep you stuck in that experience longer than you need to be. 

In our exponentially changing world, you never know when the door of your current job or career will close. Companies downsize, merge, restructure, hire bad bosses/leaders; you name it! If you can't bounce with these disruptions, you'll break and end up on a suffer-fest like the one I was on. 

Career and personal resilience are critical for success. Resilience is the art of bouncing and not breaking when things don't go your way—being able to pivot confidently and find the next thing. 

Honestly, how resilient are you? 

Do you bounce like Tigger from Winnie The Poo when you get dropped? Or do you shatter like a delicate Waterford crystal glass?

Can you bounce back and pivot when those doors shut on you while knowing that something better is waiting to be discovered? This is resilience!

Look back. Can you see how that energy spent struggling to get what you thought you wanted was wasteful? What if, instead, you'd spent that energy looking for a better career opportunity waiting to be discovered? Imagine if only you had known what you know now. You could have avoided all of that stress and ensuing chaos! But of course, that's the 20/20 hindsight thing again, not possible to know in the moment and all. 

Here's the point. Avoid repeating what I did. Let go. Trust. Trust that something better is waiting to be discovered on your career path. 

Spend your valuable time and energy opening up your awareness to the environment around you. Spend time being curious and wondering what other doors exist now that the old one is shut. What if you're standing right in front of an amazing career opportunity but cannot see it because you're so focused on the closed door? 

Our careers are an endless game. Doors will be shut, and others will be opened. It's a choice in the moment of how you experience the closings. By choosing not to struggle to get back in and instead accepting the closed door, you can begin to see the opportunities right in front of you. You will be more resilient. You'll experience more career success and fulfillment. 

Begin practicing the art and skill of bouncing today. Let go of the old door. Become curious about what might be waiting to be discovered on your winding career path. And trust. Trust that maybe you weren't on the best path the first time. Trust that it was just a course correction to help you get to where you'll thrive. 

It can be scary to let go. It can be hard. The more you practice this, the easier it will get. You'll build confidence in your ability to bounce with tough times and come out better. Ultimately, you'll be more resilient for these exponentially changing, and yes, crazy times we find ourselves in. 

Cheers to bouncing! It's the faster path to career success and fulfillment!

To your success!

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