By Douglas Clark
About a year ago I applied for a job and had an interview
that went great. I related very well to my potential new boss and his team, the
work seemed interesting and the prospects of advancing appeared good.
Everything looked like a good fit. After leaving the interview, I not only
expected a job offer, I knew they would extend one.
What I didn’t anticipate
was the lackluster benefits package they would ultimately offer. Now don’t get
me wrong, I didn’t expect a silver platter full of gold. What I got, however,
amounted to only about one thousand dollars more than I made at the time, only
at the new position I would be doing twice the work. Also, the healthcare and
retirement package was almost nonexistent.
Needless to say, I felt a bit
perplexed. It’s a major thing to uproot yourself from a long standing position.
One needs at least a bit of enticement to make such a switch. Obviously, I
didn’t take the job. It led me to realize though, there’s nothing more
deflating and de-motivational than getting socked with the knowledge that all
your efforts resulted in something less than favorable or desired.
So how do you handle disappointment? It doesn’t have to be a
job offer. It can be a sporting event, a diet goal, a physical challenge,
pretty much anything. If you put effort, time, money, and devotion into
something and the result falls woefully short of your expectations, what do you
do? For me, I just kept trying to find a new position that fit my expectations,
skill set, and professional needs. I just kept trying.
Now it’s kind of hard to just keep at something if you
continually fail. So in that regard it’s necessary to reexamine your goals,
your approach and your reasoning for pursuing that dream in the first place.
This is where it gets unpleasant. You see, you might find that the dream and
goal you work so hard for will never come to fruition. Certain obstacles might
just be too big. That’s a hard pill to swallow. And believe me, I’ve given up
on a few things in my life, like being six foot tall, running a mile in less
than eight minutes, playing basketball, for example. Now everyone has
limitation and difficulties, but the hard part is realizing they might be
getting in the way of you achieving that goal you set out for yourself. That
hurts.
However, we all have skills and abilities that set us apart
from others. Many of these skills and abilities may lay dormant simply because
you don’t explore them. Clearing away old and tired, unsuccessful habits can
open up possibilities never imagined beforehand. If you reexamine your goals and approach you
might realize something else can take your old pursuit’s place and still
provide a meaningful return.
There will always be sorrow and lingering doubt
when/if you stop pursuing a dream. Thoughts like, “If I just gave it a bit more
time, I might have made it”, or some such. If you turn that around and say
something more positive like, “I’m free to pursue something new and exciting
with a real possibility of success now”, you might just find new motivation and
energy that you thought you lost, or didn’t know you possessed in the first
place.
Remember, every end can be a new beginning.
Thanks for reading.
Questions and comments are welcome.
DouglasHClark.com
