Career FOMO will get the best of us… either when we’re 25 or 65, our interests and career aspiration will change. Unsure what to do next? Read these 4 tips to learn how to turn career FOMO into career opportunity.
1. Accept that you might be prone to career FOMO
Not everyone lands their dream job off the bat. Many of us go through different jobs, trying to find the right feel, creating trial and error for what we want for ourselves. We often look towards our peers for influence and guidance for what we should been doing; however, that influence may become a negative impact on our careers trying to follow someone else’s career path. Focusing too much externally career-wise, we may find ourselves going down a rabbit hole of planning what to go next based on other people’s journeys.
2. Get Introspective
Career development depends on you! Take a look at yourself internally. Determine what you know about yourself and what you want to do. Many people look at others and where they are to make their decisions for them because they think that the others have the answers for what’s right for them. You have to be honest with yourself and what your needs and wants are.
Ask yourself these questions: ‘Is this something that I feel would give me a sense of purpose?” “Is this an area I want to master?” “What am I curious about?” If your answers are different from others, following their path may not be right for your own journey.
3. If you’re going to look externally, be wary of their biases and assumptions
Looking towards loved ones for advice is usually not best for unbiased advice. They tend to encourage you to take a safe career path because they want to protect you, and often throws in their own experiences to lead you to that safe path. Friends and colleagues might give you a strange look, especially if they are in the same career position as you. They may be asking themselves why you would want a change while they are happy or satisfied with where they are. They may try to change your mind, or give advice that isn’t quite right; they may not understand where you are coming from.
It isn’t bad that you seek advice from others, however, you may want to question their experience. Are their choices the only ones to take? If you want advice from others, make it diverse! It’s good to take in different perspectives and determine which approach is best for you.
4. Learn to let go of the fear and your inner critic
Being unsure of the path you’ve chosen comes down to fear. Fear of rejection, fear of failure, fear of judgement. We have an inner critic that wants to protect us, so when we try something new and ambitious, we leave our comfort zones and our inner critic is screaming at us to go back. Don’t. It’s risky to leave the comfort zone because we are opening ourselves up to feedback that we may not fully prepared for. Your faith in your abilities and what you want to accomplish needs to be bigger than your fears, and screams louder than your inner critic!
There is no one way to get to your end goal. Know what you want, find the best path, and go for it! The only person stopping you from your career goals… is you!
Published by: fastcompany.com
Date: July 27, 2018
Author: Anisa Purbasari
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