We’ve all felt that feeling of being stuck. Whether in our jobs, waiting for that promotion, or while studying, idling by, waiting for that degree to reach our hands. Feeling stuck is an incredibly frustrating and claustrophobic feeling, and it’s one that’s difficult to resolve. So we look to what we can fix.
Self-development has been a trendy topic thanks to TikTok helping life and career coaching become more accessible. However, this space can be littered with misinformation or exaggeration, so much so that it’s become a topical meme within recent months. So how can we identify what are genuinely good self-development tips?
If you’ve been feeling antsy and want to get into self-development to improve your career and yourself, here are ways to help you check out your options and see if they’re for you.
Speak to professionals
Before embarking on a career venture, speaking with a professional can help you with your first steps.
Getting insight into potential career pathways and how the industry actually looks will be invaluable in shaping your expectations for the road ahead.
Monash is hosting a Mid-year Study Expo that’ll let you talk to course experts across all ten Monash faculties. At the expo, you’ll be able to attend breakout information sessions and discuss the course with expert staff and students.
Some great questions to ask would be about career culture, long-term industry growth, how difficult it can be to break into the industry, and what early steps should be taken to ensure you can avoid months of blind applying on Linkedin.
Consider if something speaks to your personal vision
We all have a personal vision of what we like and where we envision ourselves. Whether it’s being key decision makers in a business, creative passions or just living in comfort and focusing on family.
When considering whether certain career paths, hobbies or self-developments are for you, it’s important to consider if they benefit the vision you have for yourself.
Don’t be afraid to try new things
Every failure is a lesson and it’s true! Even Yoda once said that “The greatest teacher, failure is”.
However, the fear of failure is considered to be the most paralysing fear of all, leading us to procrastinate, stress and feel discontent.
Thankfully, there are types of therapy out there that can help treat our fear of failure. One of the best, in my humble opinion, is exposure therapy. Slowly introducing yourself to new ideas and experiences can help offer you new perspectives and resistance, helping to break you out of this fear.
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Understand your collaborative limits
Collaboration is more than just idea generation or someone to learn from. Ultimately, it’s about having someone keep you accountable.
Depending on how you work, this person can be great. Whether it’s a friend or colleague, a mentor or even a muse.
If you’re at the very start of your career, a mentor can be excellent in establishing a great relationship and a trusted ally in the industry that can vouch for you.
Uni’s like Monash will offer mentorship programs that can get you in touch with industry experts that are already open to mentoring. But if you find a professor or industry worker whose career advice might be invaluable to you, emailing them directly and asking over coffee if they’d be open to taking on a mentor role is also a great option.
If you’re at the start of your career or hit a wall and feeling stuck, be sure to hit up Monash’s Mid-year Study Expo so you can talk to pros in your industry and figure out what might be your next best steps.
