The power of embracing bold action
When I first created a LinkedIn account in around 2016, I remember feeling so much anxiety because it felt like I wasn’t doing anything in my life.
I was lost on what to add to my profile, I was comparing myself constantly to other people, and I didn't get a lot of responses when sending out connection requests.
Studying Economics and Accounting, I felt a pressure to find a summer internship or anything that I could do that would help me to land a secure role by the time I graduated.
At the time, I was only applying for a few roles, I let rejection get the best of me, and I felt completely helpless.
The reality was that I forgot who I was.
I was the person that when rejected initially from the university, decided to call back and happened to speak to someone else who ended up granting me the place. I was the person who decided to take the whole of the Economics A Level in 1 year to bring my grade up from a D to a B.
From traveling, meeting new people, and connecting with myself again, it took a while to slip out of the mindset that kept me being a victim.
I’m all about building an opportunity mindset, which is essentially all about being proactive and using creative strategies to create or land opportunities.
When it came to applying for roles in tough economic times a.k.a. when I was switching careers over the pandemic, I knew I had to do something different compared to other people.
Whether that was creating a CV that stood out, applying for mentorship schemes, reaching out and building a network of people in tech online (seeing as IRL events were no longer a thing), teaching women how to code through Code First Girls, and sharing about my journey on LinkedIn.
I loved seeing people take creative ways to stand out, like the college student Emily Vu, who created a CV that looked like Spotify then landed the role.
Am I saying to do the same thing to land your dream role? Not necessarily, but think about the opportunities that you want and how you can stand out, or someone you can reach out to.
I’m all about creating your own opportunities - when I figured I didn’t have many speaking gigs in February, I decided I’d just run my own virtually. When I applied for roles, I reached out directly to the recruiters to maximise my chances to progress to the next stage.
I don’t want to be a hustle culture advocate, I’m definitely not that. I can’t say I show up at every moment and in every element of my life with this mindset - that simply is not true. That being said, I give myself the grace to develop and grow in whatever stage I’m at.
However, I don’t do it all alone. I’m very thankful to have people around me that support me - most notably friends, family, mentors, colleagues, and communities.
There was a lot of work surrounding how to initially tackle my fear of failure, rejection, and feeling inadequate.
If you want a deep dive into this, come to my FREE online event happening on Tuesday 27th February at 6:30pm!
It's all about building an opportunity mindset, and creating doors inside of walls - sign up here: https://lu.ma/m95mfskp
