{"id":14498,"date":"2019-04-30T15:54:50","date_gmt":"2019-04-30T20:54:50","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/a60047bb09.nxcli.io\/?p=14498"},"modified":"2019-04-30T15:54:50","modified_gmt":"2019-04-30T20:54:50","slug":"why-we-dont-take-our-own-career-advice","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/inestemple.com\/es\/2019\/04\/why-we-dont-take-our-own-career-advice\/","title":{"rendered":"Why we don\u2019t take our own career advice"},"content":{"rendered":"
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Originally published fa<\/a>stcompany.com<\/a><\/em> on March 2, 2019<\/strong><\/p>\n

\"\"Whether it\u2019s the value of a good mentor, the benefits of self-employment, or guarding against career disruption, a majority of American workers know what\u2019s best for their careers, yet they rarely take their own advice.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n

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A recent survey<\/a> of 3,000 American workers by Olivet University and Digital Third Coast found that 76% of respondents believe mentors are important for their professional development, yet only 37% have one.<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n
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A 2018 study<\/a> by FreshBooks also found that 27 million Americans aspired to work for themselves by 2020, but a year later, the 2019 edition found that only 2 million had made the leap. Furthermore, multiple studies by Gallup<\/a>, Quartz<\/a>, and the Pew Research Center<\/a> have shown that a majority of Americans believe automation and AI will displace a significant number of jobs, but not their own.<\/p>\n

These studies and others demonstrate how we often know what\u2019s best for ourselves and for our careers. So why don\u2019t we take our own advice?<\/p>\n

\u201cWe don\u2019t do it because it requires changing our habits and routines, and creating uncertainty and disturbance in our lives, and we don\u2019t want that,\u201d suggests Ines Temple, a career transition coach and the best-selling author of You, Incorporated<\/a><\/em>. \u201cIt\u2019s like going to the gym; you know it\u2019s good for you, but unless you\u2019re in a habit, it\u2019s hard to keep making the decision to go.\u201d<\/p>\n

THE BIGGEST THREAT TO A SUCCESSFUL CAREER IS COMFORT<\/h2>\n

According to Temple, comfort with the status quo might be the biggest threat to our career trajectory. She explains that the security of a monthly or biweekly paycheck is often enough to make us take our employment for granted.<\/p>\n

\u201cPeople don\u2019t like to think much about disruption or the new skills they need to be developing themselves, because that forces them to confront a reality they don\u2019t want to face, which is that \u2018I may find myself out of a job,\u2019 or \u2018I may find myself irrelevant,\u2019 or \u2018I may find myself unemployable,’\u201d she says.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n

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Instead, Temple says many only consider these possibilities after they become reality. \u201cWe can be reactive and try and do things when we have to, or we can make big shifts in the way we understand our work situation and really become the owner of our own careers,\u201d she says.<\/p>\n

WHY WE\u2019RE TERRIBLE AT PLANNING FOR THE FUTURE<\/strong><\/h2>\n

The only problem with planning ahead is that humans are naturally really bad at it. In fact, Harvard psychologist Daniel Gilbert published an op-ed in the Los Angeles Times<\/em> in 2006 titled, \u201cIf Only Gay Sex Caused Global Warming<\/a>,\u201d to demonstrate how we are wired to effectively respond to short-term problems but remain remarkably poor at planning for the future.<\/p>\n

\u201cWe have learned to react to things that are urgent, but unless there is something pushing us, we don\u2019t move,\u201d says Temple. \u201cWe don\u2019t want to look ahead in time, and that\u2019s why people don\u2019t take mentors.\u201d<\/p>\n

Temple explains that finding a mentor can dramatically improve our career resiliency, but it requires an acceptance that there is room for improvement and a willingness to ask for help; two things humans are particularly bad at.<\/p>\n

\u201cIf you don\u2019t feel a glaring need\u2013like, \u2018I really need some advice or some guidance in my career right now<\/em>\u2018\u2013but just vaguely know it\u2019s important in general, that might not be enough to compel people to go and pursue it, because it\u2019s harder than the status quo,\u201d explains Andy Kerns, the creative director of Digital Third Coast<\/a>.<\/p>\n

FEAR, UNCERTAINTY, AND DOUBT<\/strong><\/h2>\n

In their study, Digital Third Coast also discovered that only 14% of mentees directly asked their mentor for assistance, while 25% of mentors offered up their services, and the remaining 61% say that the relationship developed naturally.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n

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\u201cClearly, the working public is timid about asking someone to be their mentor,\u201d says Kerns. \u201cIt\u2019s clearly a rarity for someone to take the initiative and ask for that relationship.\u201d<\/p>\n

It\u2019s that same fear, uncertainty, and doubt that prevents many from pursuing self-employment, even when they feel it could improve their income and level of career satisfaction. According to the FreshBooks study, only 1 in 5 employees is standing by their current employer out of loyalty. The remainder of those who want to pursue self-employment but haven\u2019t cite fear of income inconsistency and fear of losing benefits as the top reasons why.<\/p>\n

\u201cBecause of imposter syndrome<\/a>, we often don\u2019t think we\u2019re as qualified as we might be,\u201d says Mike McDerment, the CEO and cofounder of FreshBooks<\/a>. The study also found that women tend to be even less confident in their qualifications and expertise.<\/p>\n

\u201cNewly self-employed people\u2013and women in particular\u2013have trouble charging what they\u2019re worth, which makes it difficult to be successful,\u201d adds Dave Cosgrave, the director of industry insights and analytics for FreshBooks. \u201cThat\u2019s an important manifestation of the psychology of imposter syndrome; you\u2019ve got to get over the fact that you are good enough and you need to charge what you\u2019re worth.\u201d<\/p>\n

START SMALL, BUT START SOMEWHERE<\/strong><\/h2>\n

Whether you\u2019re looking to find a mentor, take the leap into freelancing, or pursue additional training that might improve your job security, the hardest step is often the first one.<\/p>\n

Kerns suggests searching LinkedIn and other industry-specific sources to help identify and start reaching out to those in your field that are in a position you aspire to. \u201cI don\u2019t think there\u2019s much to lose in seeking a mentor, or at least opening up the conversation,\u201d he says.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n

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McDerment, meanwhile, recommends seeking out those first few freelance gigs and trying it out part-time to help determine whether it\u2019s a viable career option.<\/p>\n

\u201cIt\u2019s not a zero to one kind of thing,\u201d he says. \u201cYou can take a little step and build up to it, which can help with the fear, uncertainty, and doubt.\u201d<\/p>\n

View article<\/a><\/p>\n<\/div>","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

We often know what\u2019s best for ourselves but don\u2019t do it: 76% of people believe mentors are important for their professional development, yet only 37% of people actually have a mentor.<\/p>","protected":false},"author":10,"featured_media":14500,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_acf_changed":false,"footnotes":""},"categories":[196,204],"tags":[15],"media":[],"class_list":["post-14498","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-mentions","category-press-in-english-en","tag-employability"],"acf":[],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/inestemple.com\/es\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/14498","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/inestemple.com\/es\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/inestemple.com\/es\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/inestemple.com\/es\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/10"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/inestemple.com\/es\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=14498"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/inestemple.com\/es\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/14498\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/inestemple.com\/es\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/14500"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/inestemple.com\/es\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=14498"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/inestemple.com\/es\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=14498"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/inestemple.com\/es\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=14498"},{"taxonomy":"media","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/inestemple.com\/es\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?post=14498"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}