How to handle constant growth pressure in Career ?

by IM Team | May 23, 2021 | Blog, Miscellaneous, Uncategorized

I’ve been working so hard for years to get into this company, I’ve spent sleepless nights to get this job, I’ve lost everything else for getting this work, I’ve been trying my best since long, but I feel disappointed, broken and brutally hurt that after being all of this hard work and constant attempts why I still don’t see the results.

These are some of the questions which keep on revolving in our minds in this career driven age. Is that only You? No, we’re all together in this. All struggling and working hard to make the best of our skills and being disappointed when we couldn’t. 

We’re in the 21st century, living in the era of technology and advancement, everything so perfect, well organised, and humans are being extremely growth driven. Once Steve Jobs, co-founder of Apple said, “I want to put a ding in the universe” and it looks like all of us took it really seriously. Some individuals are really doing well in their work, while some are struggling, and some if not struggling but they still feel dissatisfied with their work, job title or company. Let’s try to understand what psychology goes behind all of this.

Let me tell you Lily’s story. Lily is a 24 years old woman, working in one of the good companies in her city, getting fairly paid, able to pay all her expenses and satisfied with her work and life. She likes her work, does it with honesty and when she comes back home, she spends her rest of good time with friends and family. She seems to have a simple and happy life. One day, one of her colleague James tells her that he got an amazing offer from this company called Capsun, well known in industry and offering him double of what their current salary is, also he’s getting promotion in his job level too. Furthermore, he tells her that he’ll be getting so many employee benefits as part of this new company. Lily feels amazed, she congratulates him and wishes him best of luck for the new position and company. One month later, James joins the new company, and Lily continues in her work as usual.

After some days she starts thinking if James can get such a better offer, why not me. She then starts to explore the various career options and companies available, searching for better pay and position. She starts spending her evenings in search of a new job and on the skillset which can help her in getting this. She applies to many companies and waits for the response.

She waits for months but still didn’t get positive response from them. This lowers her confidence. Slowly she starts losing interest in her current job, and starts feeling more tired, stressed, and hopeless with time. 

We all have that one James in our lives, who we look upto and like whom we want our career to go like. But isn’t it unfair to burden ourselves with those feelings which might not have come if we hadn’t met our James like someone. I want all of you to take a pause here and just question yourself, do you think Lily really wanted this new job or she just wants it because James did. 

We are all in Lily’s position today, having so many James around. This is how the pressure in career arrives. So, is James a bad person, or am I saying it is wrong to look up to someone and follow their paths so that we can also have good jobs and lives like them? The answer is No. Let’s ask a better question, what drives James to this work, is your life and James’ similar, do you both hold the same skill set, or if your skill sets are the same, do you really want a life similar to James , or do you both have the same goals in life? 

The answer can be yes or no, however, the solution remains the same that you’re Lily, not James. There is nothing wrong in being passionate and career driven in whatever you do, but to compare your lives with others is where you go wrong. It is when instead of enjoying the process of learning and unlearning, you start stressing out. You start feeling low, jealous and weak. 

We all learn at our own pace. Let’s enjoy the process, help others too rather than stressing out.

We are what our experiences make us. We are all different. Let’s not compare our experiences with someone else’s. Let’s not compare and make our lives even harder, let’s have some mercy on our mind, heart and body, and make it feel it is okay. I’m good wherever I’m and I’m happy that I’m trying to make things better. I trust in the process. I’m not burdened, I’m learning every single day.

I wish someone would’ve told me this earlier, but as we say it’s never too late, to handle this mind of ours, the best way is to make it understand what questions to ask, because when you ask a better question, you get a better answer. 

Author

–Ritu Soni ( B.Tech (CS) , Analyst at Apple )

https://theoptimisticwritings.blogspot.com