The Habit That Will Define Your Career
The worst highway construction zone I’ve ever encountered, how I almost broke the steering wheel off my car, and why watching “How the Grinch Stole Christmas” can change your life.
I publish to Designed Academy specifically for graphic designers who are transitioning from another career into the design world or who are seeking their first full-time jobs. If that’s not you, this is my one article that will make an impact in your life, no matter where you are.
What follows is an entirely true story.
A couple of days ago, my fiancé and I decided to go out and see the new “Grinch” movie. If you spend any time reading the reviews, you’ll see that this film is polarizing. Personally, I loved it. I won’t give any spoilers away, but if you’re a fan of Keenan Thompson’s bits in SNL, you’re in for a treat.
So the movie was great and the evening date was a success. Until we left.
We currently live near Dallas, Texas, and as anyone who lives in a metroplex (or drives a car anywhere) knows, construction is NEVER ENDING. In DFW, the roads, exits, and express lanes all change so quickly that Apple maps can’t keep up with the changes. As such, Siri has some trouble giving useful directions in construction-heavy areas.
If you’re gearing up to head down to the comments to tell me that Google Maps and Waze are better, please do so. The interaction with the post will get me more traffic!
I like apple maps because it shows the map on my lock screen and integrates with Siri. I’m also typing on a MacBook, and I desperately want a new iPad Pro, so yeah. Call me basic as well. I’m hooked, and it hurts so good.
I started out heading in the direction that I knew I needed to go, but almost immediately got confused by Siri and made a mistake that sent me traveling in the wrong direction. Next, I got on the express lane, which is a lane between the main highways which allows you to go 75mph and pass all the losers in the proletariat lanes. That was all fine and good until Siri told me to take an exit that I couldn’t take because I was stuck on the express lane.
Rerouting…
My mistake added a few miles to what should have been a fifteen-minute trip. Once Siri realized that I wasn’t going to heed her initial wisdom, she told me to stick with my current route until I reached the next major highway.
At that point, the signs very clearly marked which was was south and which was north, and to which locations those went. I knew I needed to go south, but I had heard Siri say something about north earlier, so I just went north.
Why would I intentionally go the wrong direction just because some techno voice had said something about North ten minutes ago?
So what happened? I’ll tell ya. We saw a sign that said “35 north closed. Take detour. Expect 15-minute delays.”
Siri said to stay the course, but I knew better. “I can get on the access road, do a U-Turn, and get out of this mess.” I flew off the highway and turned around to find the access road closed as well. My only option? Turn back around, sit on the highway, and get even further behind in traffic.
At this point, I was so upset that I SLAMMED my head against my steering wheel. I can only thank genuine Volvo engineering for the fact that it didn’t just snap off in my hands. I usually keep my calm pretty well, but I was furious. I ended up misreading construction signs two more times after that and turning our fifteen-minute drive into close to an hour to get home.
So here’s the point:
With every wrong turn I took, I felt increasingly trapped. It was like I was doing everything I could to make the right decision, but it ended up being exactly the wrong decision, and it screwed me over yet again.
Ever felt that way in life? Feeling it now? Yeah, it SUCKS.
At that point, I had two choices. And they’re the same choices you have.
- I could choose to make myself the victim, say that Siri and construction screwed me over, vent my anger by blaming them, then resign myself to my fate of forever being late, lost, and angry.
- I could accept responsibility for every wrong turn I took, admit my failures, and commit to making myself better in the future.
Accept responsibility for every choice you make, and you will always be in control of yourself.
Bold. Highlight. Underline. If you never read anything else I write, save that.
The truth is Apple maps kind of sucks bananas in big cities. Also, a couple of the construction signs genuinely gave me misleading directions. Yeah, those factors contributed to a totally sucky drive home that would have been costly if I had banged my head any harder against the wheel (who does that? Really? Don’t do that; it’s stupid).
BUT, no one was holding a gun against my head telling me to thoughtlessly follow some signs half propped up by construction workers at 10pm, and no one forced me to furiously drive on, disregarding instructions from my GPS without stopping to figure out where the heck I was going.
Every single mile I added to that trip was my own decision.
Now, there are certainly times in life where you are the victim of a terrible crime, of abuse, or of some other privation made directly and maliciously against you. If that is you, I am so sorry, and I encourage you to find the resources, people, and time necessary to recover and heal your wounds. But that is not the scope of this article.
In the context of Designed Academy, this principle applies to your search for a Graphic Design Job. The Job Research module of our course, Design Your Career,has a lesson that deals with having your job applications rejected. In the context of your career and your life in general, this principle continues to ring true.
As you go through life, you will continuously work to make yourself better, to achieve more, to enjoy more free time, and to love those around you. And at almost every step along the way, some frustrating, idiotic, seemingly unfair obstacle will hinder your progress. It happens to ALL of us.
When you are rejected for a promotion or a new job, left out by a group of friends, represented by a political party that you loathe, or otherwise dealt a crap hand, you are 100 percent responsible for what happens next.
The one simple habit that will define your career? Here it is:
The choice that you make after failure is the single most important choice you will ever make in your life.
Choice 1: “I am the victim in this situation. Someone or something did this to me, and I have no control to make a change.”
Choice 2: “I know something about myself or my ambitions that I did not know before. I will take this knowledge, apply it to make myself better, and succeed in the future.”
By making choice number two, every failure, sucky event, and rude person in your life becomes a helpful lesson for you. Hiring manager rejects your application and is kind enough to note that your portfolio doesn’t demonstrate your project management abilities satisfactorily? That’s AMAZING NEWS! You now know from an industry professional EXACTLY what changes you can make to yourself to demonstrate the skills you need to land a fantastic job. Update your project summaries to shed some light on your project management skills and keep marching forward.
You can apply this to ANY area of your career. Failure is worth its weight in Gold, perhaps even Vibranium, if you view your failures as an opportunity to succeed in the future.
By making this one simple choice, and making it a habit, you will revolutionize your career, your personal life, and all that goes with it.
Oh, and how might watching the “Grinch” change your life, as I promised I would tell? It’s simple.
At the end of the story, we learn that the Grinch has viewed himself as the victim of neglect during the holiday season and, for that reason, is forever constrained to HATING Christmas. While it’s true that he was treated like dirt when he was young, The Grinch found the power within himself to overcome that and build a life that he wanted.
The problem? That life ended up being lonely because he interpreted his failures and past experiences as a sign that the world was out to get him, and him specifically. Once he learned about the warmth of friendship and the value of choosing to grow from lame experiences, his heart tripled in size.
The Grinch recognized that he had chosen to harbor grief and anger and that his choices alone made more of an impact on his life than anything else.
So take a solid look at your goals and your progress toward them so far. Have you experienced failure? What can you learn? Make a habit of learning from your negative experiences and making positive changes in your life as a result of your new knowledge.
Have you had a painful experience that gave you the knowledge necessary to succeed? I’d love to hear about it below, and I’m sure the readers who are hurting now would be encouraged by your story.
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