The Job Search Olympics: Going for Gold on Your Career Path
Some of the most phenomenal young people were in London recently. They are superior athletes who have been laser focused on their sport, some since they were barely old enough to walk. While they have all truly earned a gold medal for the discipline necessary to take this world stage, there is one group of young ladies in particular that seemed center stage. They are the women's gymnastics teams, with a "soul-on-fire" attitude that is something to behold. Consider these three tips of how their path in athletics can relate to your career path:
1. Draw on courage to regain your footing. Several of these girls made horrible mistakes during their Olympic routines, and the anguish in their eyes was all too apparent. They each had worked so hard to be where they were, and it was gut-wrenching to watch these near-perfect human specimens, with such finely honed skills, make missteps that would have ended the performance for anyone who did not possess their particular brand of courage.
While the flawless routines were certainly impressive, it was the girls who fell off the balance beam, or landed too hard after a flip, or took one step too many after a particular move that impressed even more. Not that their mistakes were impressive. No, they were painful to watch. Rather, it was the grace and composure with which these athletes quickly regained their footing.
2. Resist crumbling from your mistakes. Anyone watching the routine quickly forgot any mistake, since it was so obvious that the athlete herself had forgotten it. These young ladies are great reminders of how important it is to brush one's self off and get back on track in the face of adversity. They could have just as easily crumbled into tears and tantrums. Instead, they chose to be defined by their focused determination and skill, not their mistakes.
3. Muster your focus to push back disruption. As a job seeker, you are bound to make mistakes: A less-than-perfect interview, a missed phone call, tardiness for a meeting, and any number of other "misses" can throw you for a loop and disrupt your "routine." However, if you can muster even one-tenth of the focus and courage shown by this remarkable group of gymnasts, you'll regain your composure and race hard to the finish line. Perhaps, not to the cheers of thousands of adoring fans, but certainly to that little voice inside of you that says, "Well done."
Jacqui Barrett-Poindexter is a Glassdoor career and workplace expert, chief career writer and partner with CareerTrend, and is one of only 28 Master Resume Writers (MRW) globally. Jacqui and her husband, "Sailor Rob," host a lively careers-focused blog at http://careertrend.net/blog. Jacqui is a power Twitter user (@ValueIntoWords), listed on several "Best People to Follow" lists for job seekers.
