Pivoting With Purpose: Turn Career Hardships To New Horizons

At some point or another, we will all face career hardships. Career hardships could mean getting laid off, or it could mean tolerating a toxic work environment. It could mean being underpaid and even unappreciated for the work you do. No matter which type of challenge you are faced with, adversity is never an easy thing to navigate. Despite your innate desire to use defense mechanisms to avoid adversity in your career, facing these challenges head-on can help your career.

If you are wondering how to accomplish this, you are not alone. When faced with career hardships, people typically focus on the challenge or setback so much that they fail to see what they are gaining from them. This is why mindfulness of your perspective could be exactly what you need to stay out of a rut. One of the most famous quotes from Albert Einstein is, ‘The measure of intelligence is the ability to change.’ In this rapidly changing world, change is inevitable, and we need to be able to navigate through it successfully.

Mindfulness is a way to focus on being intensely aware of what you’re sensing and feeling in the moment without interpretation or judgment. Some use it as a form of meditation, but others use it as a practice of intentionality. For the sake of this article, let’s focus on being intentional in what we do and in what we experience. When practicing mindfulness, instead of having a mindset of “Why is this happening to me?” we can adopt a mindset of “What is this experience teaching me?” or “What lesson can be learned from this?”. This may be the opposite of your current way of thinking, which is fine. With a small effort, you can train yourself to think in this fashion, which will reduce pressure and stress when dealing with challenges in your career and life. This can lead to an openness to try and experience new things. Often, the outcome of the change is a far better place for us than where we first faced the challenge.

Using mindfulness and intentionality to change your negative thinking to positive thinking will help you gain the ability to embrace resilience. Resilience will give you strength and help you endure adversity by allowing you to recover quickly and bounce back. Even though you may be faced with life-throwing curveballs, your ability to bounce back is what defines you. When you harness your inner strength and keep moving forward, you begin to see and appreciate what you are learning from the changes around you. To learn from mistakes, instead of dwelling on obstacles in front of you, focus on the lessons those obstacles bring you. When we reframe challenges from career hardships, we can see how they carry hidden opportunities for growth.

Elizabeth was laid off from work. At first, she could only think about “why me.” Her mind was flooded with thoughts like, “I have all these bills to pay,” “The kids need new shoes,” and “What about our roof?”, or “What did I do wrong to deserve this?” Of course, all of these thoughts were important, but when she took some time to sort through her thoughts and process what happened, she remembered details that helped her move from fear to forward. For one thing, her boss told her the layoff was due to financial reasons for the business and was not performance-driven. Her boss even highlighted some of the valuable work Elizabeth did for the company and said she has the potential to do many exciting things in her career. She decided to intentionally focus on what she could learn in this challenge and began looking for a mentor to talk to about where she could go in her career outside of the company she currently worked for.

Instead of being focused on the self-defeating thoughts she had in her mind, Elizabeth quickly came up with a plan to own her career development, began updating her resume, and networking. Soon, she had a network of people around her who had been through tough times and could provide the support and guidance she was looking for. Learning and evolving are essential in the face of adversity because continuous learning keeps your skills sharp and your mind agile. Elizabeth invested in self-improvement instead of getting stuck in a rut. In doing this, she was able to pivot with purpose, be open to new avenues, and embrace change. She received invaluable guidance from her network and was excited about the possibility of new opportunities she could have in her future.

The next time you are faced with a challenge from career hardships, practice mindfulness to help you navigate your thoughts of self-defeat. Don’t forget to reframe the challenge you have by asking yourself what you could learn from the experience. It is never easy to do this, and sometimes we need to seek help to see through negative thoughts and ideas. Regardless, always use self-compassion and treat yourself kindly during tough times. Remember that you are doing your best each day, and setbacks never define your worth. Seek help from those you trust because their guidance will prove invaluable over time. Continue growing and learning during the challenge to nurture your mind. Above all, remember that success isn’t always a linear path. Success is the sum of all your experiences together, both good and bad. More importantly, it is your dedication, and your ability to rise above challenges that make you who you are. All tough phases will pass, and with a bit of mindfulness, and intention, when you emerge, you’ll be stronger, wiser, and ready to conquer the world.