Choose Your Reaction

Changing Careers Means Changing Behaviors

Everyone has a point in time in which they change their beliefs because they think differently due to some event. One of those things may be changing careers. Either way, despite our newfound changes in thinking, we don’t always change out behaviors to match our beliefs. For example, maybe you read how successful managers master time management and it sounds great, but you don’t actively do anything to alter your disorganized behavior. There is a cognitive bias called the consistency principle: we like to behave consistently with our beliefs and opinions.

Choose Your Reaction

Most of the time, when a major or even minor event is thrown our way, we simply react to it. There’s not a lot of thought process behind it - it’s just something that we do naturally. However, by thinking about how you want to react rationally, you can better control your life. There are very few instances in which a kneejerk reaction is a good thing. When a difficult situation arises, stop and think about what the appropriate reaction is, and how you should react. When life gets hard, sometimes we do react. We lash out in anger, or wallow in sadness. We refuse to accept that the world is unfair, and instead make excuses. Why do things happen? How are you at handling them? The things that happen are the result of our previous actions. The losses, frustrations and indebtedness are the products of choices we have made in the past. You can control your response to anything if you just take some time to think it over.

Be Authentic Through Vulnerability

Some people optimize their lives and make a success out of failure. Others let life control them. If you want to be among the first, you must understand that it’s perfectly okay to be vulnerable. In fact, you need to embrace your vulnerability and protect yourself from people who are likely to take advantage of it. By closing off access to your friends and peers, you’ll cut off potential opportunities for networking and success. You simply can’t be successful or happy at the extreme ends of vulnerability.

Be Honest About Complacency

Sometimes, our satisfaction and progress towards our goals is impeded by our own complacency. Complacency is the feeling of being okay with whatever happens around you. Complacency is the feeling that everything is going to be okay, that nothing bad will ever happen to you. It is a natural human reaction to become complacent when you think everything is okay. However, when you are complacent, you are unconsciously hoping for the worst to happen to you. If you are complacent, it means that you have stopped thinking and doing.

The Best Version Of Yourself

We all have a few traits in our personalities that could be changed or improved to make us better people – and better in our careers. You have to recognize what traits you would like to work on before you can begin improving yourself, of course. Most of us know what we want to be or do—we just haven't been successful in realizing our goals. The problem is, we often don't recognize our own limits or weaknesses. The good news is that you can improve on your own by understanding your strengths and weaknesses