Advice

“How” is the only sure path to “can’t”

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I talk to a lot of people who are very, very sure of what they can't do in their careers.

They can't be writers.  They can't be artists.  They can't be travel agents.  They have a giant list of can'ts.  It's often larger than their cans.

When I talk to such people, I also learned very quickly that the majority of them really have little or no awareness of the career they've given up on.  They hear something, read something, or make an assumption, and then kill off their career plans right there.

The only way for you to decide you can't do something is to know how it's actually done.

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Stereotype-Fu: A sense of humor

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Continuing my series on Stereotype-fu, let's take a look at another way to deal with stereotypes in the job and career.

I should note that I'm talking about the more innocent (or stupid) ones – not the nasty, negative stereotypes that we all know a bit to well – those that judge people by ethnicity, or gender, region of borth etc.  Those are areas outside the scope of what I'm discussing.

So when you're afraid you're being affected by stereotypes in your workplace, on an interview, etc. another tool is a sense of humor.

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Cynicism Is Not a Strategy

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It's easy to be cynical – as I'm quite aware.  The economy is tough.  Industries are changing.  Society is altering.  There will probably be another "Transformers" movie.

It's easy to be cynical all the time.  It's fashionable, cool, and makes you look all deep and mature.

Cynicism also doesn't solve a damn thing.  You can be as worried as you want about the career economy, you can be fashionably cynical or really cynical, but here's the basic painful truth:

Cynicism is NOT a strategy.

Being cynical won't solve a problem.  It doesn't make things work better. It doesn't do anything.  At best it can be a shield or an indicator of problems – and that's it.  An alarm doesn't put out the fire, a shield doesn't defeat an enemy.

So ask yourself this – is cynicism something you treat as a strategy?  Is it so core to your identity, actions (or just sheer posing) that it's something you treat as vital, as part of your identity as something that is somehow going to yield results?

It's not.

Strategy is about planning, organizing, measuring, and achieving.  Being cynical doesn't do any of these things.

In fact the longer you remain cynical, the less you get done, and the more cynical you become.  Not a recipe for success.

– Steven Savage