Career Mistakes: Are They Really Mistakes?
Career Mistakes: Are They Really Mistakes?
When considering a career move, people often find themselves paralyzed, worrying about making a mistake, causing career-suicide. Most of us have probably made some choices that may not have worked out the way we intended. However, looking back, much of what we learn through our mistakes actually may be excellent learning experiences that help us with our next job.
In Ross Hamilton’s 1951 book For Humans Only, he wrote the following line: We extract from life just what we give it . . . so with each mistake replace the divot. You don’t have to be a golfer to grasp his point. If we make mistakes in our life, we need to make amends and move forward. In case you hadn’t guessed, this line came from my father. He felt that we shouldn’t dwell too much on past mistakes.
You can’t change decisions you’ve made previously but you can do your best to take what you have learned and grow from those experiences. Even if you have a job that doesn’t last very long, you might make some excellent contacts that could help you with the next position. Those contacts may open doors that you may not have even considered.
If you over-analyze every decision you’ve ever made, you’ll drive yourself crazy. It may be best to look at disappointing career choices as learning experiences and realize that they may very well lead to something better down the road. Lamenting over the past or over things which you have no control, is a time waster.
Instead, look forward to the choices you have now. It can be helpful to write down the foreseeable pros and cons of any choice. This will help you visualize opportunities and threats associated with each alternative.
If you feel trapped in a career that you chose when you were young, it may be time to change. Perhaps the degree you were interested in when you were in your 20s no longer fits with your passion. You may need to consider going back to school to update your skills. It’s OK to admit that your interests have changed.
With the new year around the corner, many people are thinking about making a fresh start with their careers and their lives. What can you do differently to make this year better than last year? To truly be successful, having goals is important. I often recommend that people do a personal SWOT analysis to help them realize what they have to offer and what they need to work on. If you have never look at your own strengths, weaknesses, opportunities and threats, I suggest doing so as part of your plan to improve your new year. To find out more about a personal SWOT, click here.
Additional Resources:
- Gaining the Competitive Edge in this Economy May be Based on How Well You Know Your Personality (drdianehamilton.wordpress.com
- Marketing Yourself To Get The Job – Career Workshop (drdianehamilton.wordpress.com)
- Living Fully After 40 Radio Host Anna Banks Interviews Dr. Diane Hamilton (drdianehamilton.wordpress.com)
- Face Your Career Fears and Reinvent Your Job Search by Focusing on Personal Strengths, Weakness, Opportunities & Threats (swot) (drdianehamilton.wordpress.com)
- Leverage Personal Qualities that Reinvent Your Career and Job Search with a Guide Book to Making More Money Doing What You Love (drdianehamilton.wordpress.com)
KIVA and IVA Talk Radio Interviews Dr. Diane Hamilton
Upcoming EpisodesÂ
KIVA Talk Radio’s Women in Business Interviews Dr. Diane Hamilton
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She’s an accomplished businessperson with real-life experience working in real estate, finance, technology and pharmaceutical industries. Her experience also includes working as an organizational development consultant helping companies with training, time management, emotional intelligence and facilitating the Myers-Briggs Type Indicator® Instrument.She’s going to help get your career in focus!
Upcoming Episodes
10/20/2010 5:00 PM – I V A Radio Presents…the return of business specialist Dr. Diane Hamilton
Living Fully After 40 Radio Host Anna Banks Interviews Dr. Diane Hamilton
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For those of you that are either in golden handcuffs, got laid off, are in an industry you don’t like, or are just ready for a change. “How to Reinvent Your Career: Make Money Doing What You Love” by Dr. Diane Hamilton, helps you deal with the stresses, find the job best suited to your personality and interests, explains the education requirements and how to pay for them, teaches you how to network, gives you tips on how to face your fears, learn life balance, and improve your health to allow you to reinvent your career and your life.
To hear the interview click here.
To download the interview from Itunes click here.
Living Full after 40 Host Anna Banks Interviews Dr. Diane Hamilton
Living Fully After 40Â
Living Fully after 40 is a talk show created to build a community of women to address the spiritual, emotional and psychological dimensions of midlife transition for women. Living Fully after 40 provides an opportunity for women in midlife to embrace challenge and examine their lives, careers and relationships in a supportive community. Living Fully after 40 features conversations with experts who empower women in crafting a future overflowing with tremendous possibilities – and making midlife the richest, most insightful and rewarding years of all.
Upcoming Episodes
For those of you that are either in golden handcuffs, got laid off, are in an industry you don’t like, or are just ready for a change. “How to Reinvent Your Career: Make Money Doing What You Love” by Dr. Diane Hamilton, helps you deal with the stresses, find the job best suited to your personality and interests, explains the education requirements and how to pay for them, teaches you how to network, gives you tips on how to face your fears, learn life balance, and improve your health to allow you to reinvent your career and your life. To contact Dr. Diane visit her website: www.drdianehamilton.com and blog at www.drdianehamilton.wordpress.com
Think of Technology When Managing Class Assignments | CollegeSurfing Insider
was with a group of college students this week recently who brought their planners with them to schedule events throughout the semester. I was surprised at how most of the dozen students brought paper calendars and planners, instead of plugging the dates into calendars on their phones or computers.
I understand the reluctance to put all assignments in a calendar or file on the computer or to use the calendar and to-do apps on an iPhone or Blackberry. There’s always the concern, especially with students who aren’t that tech-savvy, that something could happen with the phone or computer and all of that crucial information for a college student seeking to ace a class would be lost. Talk about a stressful situation.
Maybe it’s easier to contemplate going virtual with assignments and calendars when you’re taking an online class. All the class information is online, so why shouldn’t your planning and time management for assignments be on the computer, too?
Diane Hamilton, author of “The Online Student’s User Manual,” says she’s a fan of the free iGoogle service because it allows students to keep track of and access their calendars and course information from anywhere. That’s helpful, even in the worst-case scenario.
Hamilton, who teaches for six online universities, says that even if your computer crashes, your schedules and assignments will be accessible through any computer.
Have you tried using iGoogle or other sites to manage your college coursework and other activities, and what have you found are the pros? Or what should students know if they’re trying to use more web tools to manage their assignments?
-Lori Johnston