5 Significant Mistakes I Made Early In My Career

Written by: Mona AlHebsi, Senior Level Executive Contributor

Executive Contributors at Brainz Magazine are handpicked and invited to contribute because of their knowledge and valuable insight within their area of expertise.

As young professionals just entering the job market, we usually start filled with energy and enthusiasm for this new phase of life, however, very soon we realise that there is still much more to learn and experience in the real world of work than just what we have been taught in college or university.

There are definitely unavoidable series of trial and error that everyone of us need to go through no matter how much we learn, know or try because making mistakes is a natural byproduct when we do things for the first time and can turn into a powerful learning tool with time if we choose to have the right approach towards it.

Recalling the first few years of my professional life makes me smile as well as fills me with pride seeing how far I’ve come from there. My early career mistakes proved to be the vehicles through which I’ve been able to gather the necessary knowledge and experience to thrive and build credibility over the years.

I thought to dedicate this article to contemplate on what I consider the 5 main misconceptions that I had early in my career and how I made couple of mistakes as a result initially. However, these mistakes have given me new perspectives and then redirected my career path in incredible ways. Here we go:

1. I Just Wanted A Job!

In the olden days, you were good enough if you secured a decent job in a good company. Most colleges and universities didn’t teach graduates the difference between acquiring mere a job and building a career. I figured the difference between both myself at a later stage of my working life and that was a turning point for me.

There is nothing as having a secure job for life anymore. You can be the top performer in your company but still, people despise or envy you for the very same reason! Having a career means that you have meaningful goals to pursue every day that are part of a bigger vision of your life and that your work is an integral medium that assist you to steer your life towards your preferred destination; not as you made to believe for so long that work and life are two different components!

If are still struggling with separating your work from your other life activities then know that you are in the wrong job/career. The new normal entails even having more than one career for some people or considering engaging in activities and initiatives that will provide them multiple streams of income and better quality of life by employing their gifts and unique talents and collaborating with other like-minded people. This taught me that no matter whether I work for a big organisation or for myself, it all starts and ends with me, my belief in my capabilities, my efforts and my contributions.

2. I Had Too Many Expectations!

For many of us who come from over-protective family backgrounds, we were mostly given a strict set of expectations (do’s and don'ts) which in turn wired us to have more expectations from others. Being an eldest daughter of my parents and a sister of seven younger siblings, built in me many good virtues like being responsible, having patience and being strong-willed, at the same time, this made me raise the bar of my expectations from myself, others I deal with and life in general.

What I mean, since I’ve always been delivering high-quality outcomes in my work or anything that I usually do, I expected in my early career years that it’s but fair to get back what I deserve in terms of encouragement & recognition for my high quality work. After going through a series of disappointments and frustrations, I’ve learnt my valuable lesson! My learning was to lower my expectations, and to raise the likelihood of getting what I want by creating those opportunities myself rather than expecting them from others.

I also realised with time that it’s not always that people around us are neglecting our achievements or don’t want to celebrate us, a lot of time they are themselves very self-absorbed with their own circumstances, or perhaps they are not used to celebration as much as they are used to failure. My learning was to succeed then organise the party to celebrate this success and invite others as well to join in to spread the positive vibes! This approach by the way works amazingly for any scenario in life and I’ve tried it many times with great results!

3. I Worked Way Too Hard!

It may make perfect sense to many of us to work hard at certain stages during our working life, like when we start a new job, kick-off an important project or begin a new assignment. What I really couldn’t get till date is when people work hard their entire life! Of course, I’ve also developed a habit of working in this same manner during the early years of my working life not realising there is a better and smarter way to get work done! Certainly working hard is required at times but working smart should be the norm how we work to achieve personal & professional effectiveness. Effectiveness here means to apply the 50/50 rule like I mentioned in my book “Beat The Odds”. You spend 50% of your time on completing your work assignments, planning, interacting with co-workers, and driving initiatives that will help you achieve the desired results for the organisation you are working for. However, you must dedicate the remaining 50% of your time working on your own future aspirations, furthering your personal & professional plans and learning new skills and knowledge to remain the expert in your field and this realisation blew me away when I learnt about it. My takeaway from this particular trap that many people continue falling in even later in their careers is that working smart is by far a better option but only if you are ready to take advantage of it!

4. I Was Not Well-Versed In “Office Politics”!

In the first few years of my working life, I didn’t understand initially why haters & jealous people existed in workplaces and why such behaviour was allowed in the first instance! I then realised that the quality of my work and my strong personality were what really matters and that it’s not my job to be everything to everyone.

Accepting that we don’t live in an ideal world, and that not everyone would like to see us do well and succeed is like taking a big impending rock and putting it out of our way already. This then will enable us to focus on what matters most to us and on our goals to shine brighter and leave all those negative people behind.

This is exactly what I’ve done once I’ve learned this lesson, because I’ve not only regained my focus and stopped the pity party; but also I’ve started playing along with those who don’t like me and have fun myself!

5. I Wanted To Do Everything Myself!

I was not aware of the power of delegation in the first few years of my career life, and that got me into many unpleasant situations and got me to learn how to prioritise and delegate to achieve bigger and more impactful wins with my team. As I started letting go of my tendency to have things done in a certain way and delegate, my team members kept on surprising me of what they were capable to accomplish with their creativity! They told me through their amazing work how much they valued my trust in them and that they will never let me down, on the contrary, they were more comfortable being innovative to wow me of what they can do.

My lesson here was having the courage to let go of controlling everything then having faith in others will almost certainly take you to a better place in life and get you even better results than what you have initially planned for.

To sum up, It usually takes us some time to be able to view things “as is” and put them in perspective, then keep on improvising as we go through our career journey. You can get a feel from the 5 mistakes that I’ve tackled in this article that they are not unique to me because many working professionals make these mistakes and more when they are less experienced.

The concern is to continue doing the wrong things and not willing to adopt better solutions when you have been an experienced professional just because of your fears or wanting to remain in your comfort zone. Ask yourself if what you are doing today is getting you closer to where you want to be tomorrow and you will get your answers.

If you find yourself struggling to overcome toxic work patterns and feel stuck in a mediocre job, know that you are not alone. Career & Success Coaches like myself can help you be aware of your blind spots while guiding you towards career options that will make you achieve personal effectiveness and fulfillment. You can email me at info@monaalhebsi.com

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Mona AlHebsi, Senior Level Executive Contributor Brainz Magazine

Mona AlHebsi, is an Award-Winning Hotelier, HR Practitioner, Success Coach, Renowned Author, and Speaker. She has recently been named “M “st Influential Woman in Hospitality Human Capital”” nd “I “spirational Female Leader”” ue to her eminent contributions to the hospitality industry and Human Resources profession. Through her book “Beat The Odds,” Mona aims to provide a roadmap to all hoteliers and working professionals on how to make their work a vehicle to delivering excellence and achieving astounding success. She instinctively knows how to ignite the courage in others to stay true to their values and capitalize on their strengths, which will ultimately steer them towards success and fulfillment. Mona’s life mantra is “The more odds you beat, the greater will be your feat”!