The struggle is real but hang in there

In March this year I asked myself those two very famous questions: Is the work I am doing fulfilling me? And – do I want to do this until I die? After answering with a clear “NO!” it was time to step out of my cozy comfort zone, step away from this decent salary and step into the unknown. I don’t want to sugarcoat this. It was definitely one of the most difficult decisions I have ever made so far. By June 27, 2019 I left my cozy, comfortable job and jumped into a new adventure. My plan was to take care of my health at first and then take on my life. With this in mind I flew to Sri Lanka for an Ayurvedic retreat and stayed for four weeks. There was plenty of time for reading, practicing Yoga and deal with myself. I came back with new impressions and many ideas of what I want for myself and my life. Simply said, I returned as a new Sabrina.

Before Sri Lanka I knew I was working in the right area. I am a very creative person therefore “creativity” is already a good indicator to use for my job search journey. I still want to continue working in a creative environment. What has changed significantly though was my desire. I realized I want to do something meaningful and generate added value to the people. Indicator number 2 was born. Having these two key factors in mind I went back a few steps and started to work some more on my foundation. In school they help you to get you degree but what they don’t tell you is how to figure out what it is you are supposed to be doing in your life. This is something you have to find out by yourself. I strongly believe such a time out is the right moment to sit back and reflect. There is not one day going by where I am not analyzing myself. Almost daily I ask myself at least one of the following questions:

• What is it exactly that makes me happy?
• What did I enjoy doing when I was 6 years old?
• What do I enjoy doing today?
• What are my strengths?
• What are the things which boost my energy?
• What are the things that drain my energy?
• What are my weaknesses?

With each finding I get closer to answer the question of who I am and what I’m supposed to be doing. Additionally, I started making a checklist stating my goals, thoughts and ideas. Regardless of how crazy they are - I wrote everything down. When I used to work for these big companies, I sat together with my manager to review and define my targets for the upcoming year. And guess what?! We wrote these down, too. With this I had something to go back to every now and then to check if I was on track. It‘s my true belief that if this works for a huge and successful company and its employees to become and do better, it will work for me as an individual, too. Since then I look at my checklist almost every day and it helps me to stay focused.

However, I must warn you. Sometimes it can be hard to stay focused and trust that everything will work out. Especially when you have reworked your existing application document to stand out from the crowd, but again you receive the same answer as before - „We’re sorry but the other candidate fits the position profile better than you do“. If it helps, we all have those days or situations where we think we would have been better off to stay in bed. Let me give you an example which happened to me recently: I am applying for jobs since August and so far nothing came for me. All of a sudden, I found this job ad where I thought: This is it!!! They are so talking about me. Before I knew it, I got all excited. The day came and the HR lady called me for a pre-interview. When we hung up the phone I was left with the task to prepare a B2B newsletter so the team could get an impression of what skills they are dealing with. Keep in mind I was m.o.t.i.v.a.t.e.d. so I did two versions. Finally, I made it to the interview and met with the Head of Marketing. Everything was great. I got along with the lady very well, we had a great conversation, I identified myself with the job, the company and in writing I proved that I was worthy. I was beyond motivated and really excited. At the end -guess what?!- I didn’t get the job. Reason why: „The other candidate fits the position profile better than you do“. I was crushed. I did everything I could. I thought: WHY? In my mind I was the perfect person. What went wrong? Sometimes the simple answer is “Nothing.” or “It has nothing to do with you”. At that moment in time it was just not meant to be.

At the end what I want to say is this: if you find yourself in a similar situation let me tell you: You are not alone. Don’t give up and definitely don‘t cut down on your requirements towards your dream job. Yes, the struggle is real. No doubt about that but it‘s worth it at last. Some things don’t come easy but that’s a good thing. You’ll appreciate the good way more once you have been through the battle. Keep your head up something great will come down your way for sure. Continue to use this time to work on yourself and find out what you’re gift and purpose is for your life. Go out and meet new people. Talk to people about your situation, maybe even strangers. This gives you the opportunity to get an insight from a different angle. Good things will happen to you just as they will for me.

Feel free to share how you overcame difficult times during your job application phase. How did you get back on track? We can either learn from one another and/or get inspired to keep going and make it through.

#motivationalfriday