"Losing a job can be a prime opportunity," says Tina Seelig, executive director of the Stanford Technology Ventures Program. "Most people's paths are riddled with disappointments, both large and small. The key is being able to recover from them." In her new book What I Wish I Knew When I Was Twenty (HarperOne; April 2009; $22.99), Seelig maintains that there are boundless possibilities around us--to find them, we simply need to break free from many of our assumptions and to throw out the old rules so that we might finally recognize the opportunities in our midst.
A major setback such as a job loss can be taken as a time to reevaluate one's goals and priorities, figuring out a way to propel forward toward even greater success. This has proven true for many successful entrepreneurs, including David Neeleman (founder of JetBlue) and Steve Jobs (co-founder of Apple), both of whom conceived their most successful ventures only after being fired from prior jobs.
As corporations implement layoffs and unemployment numbers rise, Tina Seelig offers fresh advice on finding a satisfying, successful career no matter what the job market:
- Adjust your attitude - Your state of mind is the biggest determinant of what you can accomplish. Think as big as possible, aim for positions that seem beyond your reach or outside of your field. It is much more effective to have big goals than to have small goals.
- Bounce back from disappointment - For most successful people, the bottom is lined with rubber as opposed to concrete. When they hit bottom, they sink in for a bit and then bounce back, tapping into the energy of the impact to drive them into another opportunity.
- Change your career goals - People expect you to make decisions about your career and then stick with them. But most successful people change course many times before finding the best match for their skills and interests. A successful career is not a straight line but a wave with ups and downs, with the biggest gains often following the biggest dips.
For years Seelig has taught her students to turn their creativity into credibility and their ideas into business realities. And now that her lessons are available in the form of WHAT I WISH I KNEW WHEN I WAS TWENTY, readers of any age, and at any point in their career, can do the same.
Source: HarperOne
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