9 career mistakes I made (so you can avoid them)

Let me be real here - when I had the idea for this episode, I thought the title will be the 3 mistakes that I’ve made in my career … It was on my early morning walk that I started taking notes and then it just kept coming and I continued to write them all down …

That was the first time I realised how much time I’ve actually wasted doing the wrong things (which - spoiler alert - also includes lack of action).

Don’t worry- you’ll make enough of your own mistakes but if you can even save yourself one or two, you’re already ahead of the curve.

So are you ready? Then let’s dive in!

Mistake 1

I though that a degree and some experience is all I need to be successful in my career and my learning was done.

 Rookie error - this was only the beginning.

It wasn’t until I had my wake up call when I got disrupted and had to find another role quickly that I realised how much I slept through the trends and changes that happened in marketing with digital marketing and social media becoming integral part of pretty much all roles. And that was 6 years ago.

Lesson learnt - since then I’ve been heavily investing in my own development, personally and professionally and this is also the reason why I’m so passionate about learning. It nearly broke my back, so let’s not break yours.

Mistake 2

I didn’t network outside my industry.

I had a busy schedule and also worked as PT outside work hours. I had a social circle and also trained with a triathlon squad so I thought that’s enough for me to socialise … ehhh … wrong. I only realised that when I had to change industry and no one know me or I knew of anyone. 

Mistake 3

I valued status and title over happiness and enjoyment.

I progressed in my career and although I dreaded Sunday afternoons, just thinking of the week ahead I stayed for way too long in the career. To be honest- I probably would still be there if my bubble wouldn’t have been disrupted. Looking back now, it felt like I had the blinkers on and I simply couldn’t see what was going on.

During that time, I also put on 10kg in about 6 months, had sleepless nights, was constantly anxious and saw one doctor, nutritionist and homeopath after the next as I just couldn’t explain my body reactions.

Oh well … Hindsight …

Mistake 4

I didn’t build my Brand, neither internally nor externally.

I was always working for and the face behind big Brands. I never even thought of putting myself out there. 

And also that was a major disadvantage when I wanted to change industry and profession as I was put in a box, based on my background. 

No one knew me or could vouch for me, so the switch was hard and again, nearly didn’t happen because I got rejected by every recruitment agency in Brisbane despite the last one.

Mistake 5

I put my future and level of success in other people’s hands and waited to get recognised.

I was the first in, last out. Always took on more projects than my role entailed just to show my eagerness, commitment and capability. 

Oh well - also that fell on its nose because I didn’t realise that everyone just gave me more work because they thought I enjoyed it rather than seeing leadership material in me as I couldn’t delegate.

This also leads me into my next miatske:

Mistake 6:

I only invested in professional development; never in personal development.

The only development and training that I did (and that was mainly through the companies I worked for) was role or industry specific. Never focused on personal development.

I was so blind to my own detriment that I didn’t realise that I literally stood in my own way with behaviours like this. 

Having external perspectives and learning about yourself, having self-awareness on what you do, how you come across and how you’re perceived by others is the key if you want to progress in your career

And this leads me into

Mistake 7:

Not having a mentor or coach for the first decade of my career ….

I though that this was only for people who couldn’t figure it out on their own. When I made my first big investment on my own - it was $5,700AUD - I nearly chocked because I had never invested that much in my life before.

The next big investment was when I started my business and although I didn’t have the money, I still decided to enrol in the mastermind which costed $12kAUD … that literally took my breath away as I didn’t have any securities anymore, no more regular income but still a big mortgage.

Well - I made it back not even 14 weeks after and since then, I’ve invested well over 6-figures in my own development.

Here’s the thing- we can always make back money but we can never make back time. And most often when we are hesitant to invest the big bucks in ourselves, it’s more the lack of self-belief that we can make it work or are worth it. 

Speaking of self belief - let’s talk about another biggie here:

Mistake 8:

Not sharing my goals or aspirations;

In fact, not even talking about what I’m doing in the background. That is something I only learnt over the last few years.

Even my first online course that I developed - all secretive and behind closed doors was a mega flop because of this. 

I thought I just need to create something amazing and people would run my door in. 

Oh well - it was crickets when I put it out to the world as no one knew about it and I didn’t let people be part of the journey. I can also tell you why:

For one, I wasn’t confident in my abilities or that anyone would be interested in what I had to say as well as lack of learning from others first and setting myself up for success. 

Let me tell you- I’ve invested a lot of money and time in ‘nothing’ but I don’t regret a thing.

Why?

Because this is part of the learning curve and has given me the insights and knowledge that I have now and can build on. 

Nothing is wasted. Ever. 

Also when you don’t see immediate results from it. It’s the compound effect that make you the unique person you’re. Own it. Share it. Bring others with you on the ride.

And that leads me to my final mistake (for today anyway):

Mistake 9:

And that’s not exploring enough and testing things out with limited risk.

I’ve always gone all in (mainly because I didn’t have a choice and/or the knowledge about little pilot projects). As I mentioned, I learned a lot by simply making the mistakes.

Good thing- you don’t have to make them now :)

As we know:

Smart people learn from their mistakes

Wise people learn from other people’s mistakes 

Just to recap, the 9 mistakes to avoid if you want to progress in your career are: