Breakthrough for the Business Person: 
How to Overcome Career Disappointment 

By Paul Davis

Have you ever heard the following disappointing statements?

• “I’m sorry. You just aren’t a good fit for us.”

• “You are over qualified.”

• “We are currently downsizing and sadly are going to have to let you go.”

• “We wanted to invite you to the team party but we didn’t think you’d be interested.”

Disappointment is something we all deal with at different times in our lives. When your vision for the future is nowhere to be seen, it is easy to be disillusioned. Nevertheless there is a way to create your world and to get your internal reality to manifest outwardly. Be encouraged!  Your present reality is not your destiny!  Here are 7 Secrets to Overcome Career Disappointment:

1. See the big picture: Hold to your inward vision despite that which you see going on around about you. If you can see it, you can conceive it. Your vision is your ultimate mission. Though your current job may not be your ultimate goal, your vision should expand beyond where you are now and aim for where you want to be. Remember that others may not share your visions, but don’t let that deter you from realizing them.

2. Don’t sweat the small stuff: It is almost always easier to dodge a rock than if someone were to come up and throw sand in your eyes. Don’t let trivial irritants obscure your vision and thwart your progression toward your future. While these small things can often be the most aggravating, they are also the easiest to overcome. Focus on the future and stay on track in your journey to get there. Tune out to the small stuff that comes to distract you from your dream and detour you en route to your future.

3. See problems as opportunities: Consider problems as opportunities for you to arise and shine. Rise above the mediocrity and manifest your creativity. Doctors get paid for solving medical problems, lawyers get paid to solve legal problems and mechanics get paid to solve car problems.

Problems therefore are a pathway to your next promotion. While others meander in the mud of mediocrity and allow problems to bury them, let them carry you to your future as you show yourself a problem-solver and someone who can be counted on to provide visionary leadership.

4. Be a peacemaker and an encourager: Workplace strife fills and floods the lives of many. Try to avoid such negative counterproductive energy. Be a peacemaker and bridge builder. By doing so you will make friends, feel better and find new ways to overcome organizational obstacles.

There are far too many tearing each other down and far too few building one another up. Avoid the trap of discouragement by being a continual source of encouragement to yourself and those around about you. Infuse people with energy through encouragement and make yourself an indispensable source of motivation.

In a world filled with negativity and fiery feedback, some positive encouragement can sustain someone during their darkest hour. Encouragement gives us the much-needed lift in our self-esteem and personal image we often need during desperate times.

5. Replace anxiety with creativity: Don’t be overly anxious. Anxiety drains you of your energy and immobilizes your resourcefulness. Attempt to see things from a different perspective. Get various viewpoints from others outside of your scope of employment. Evaluate all the alternatives available until you determine the most appropriate course of action.

Excessive emotional drama and trauma can cause one to be less than productive and greatly hinder personal resourcefulness. Agonizing perpetually over something beyond your control depletes your energy and stifles creativity. Turn problems into opportunities by counting disappointments as reappointments as you position yourself to be a problem solver.

6. Be a lifelong learner: There are two types of growth: inward and outward. Most look for outward growth, profitability and expansion. Yet inward growth is equally if not more important. For without inner growth, outward growth never occurs, neither can it be sustained.

Commit to be a lifelong learner. Continually listen, learn and explore new bodies of knowledge. The greatest minds and highest achievers are committed to continual personal growth and inward expansion. They challenge themselves intellectually and endeavor to have new experiences personally that will build them inwardly.

Sustaining personal growth and self-mastery will build inner momentum, which ultimately will overflow into every area of your life. Being a lifelong learner allows for growth in every arena of life, which sets countless miracles in motion as you see success all around you.

7. Set your intent and follow your instincts: Planning everything to the nth degree is not always the answer. Sometimes excessive planning thwarts your creativity and spontaneity. You don’t always have to know how it is going to happen. Just set your intent as to that which you want to happen. Then, follow by your gut and instincts.

Intuitively you will know what to do. Stop questioning yourself. Trust your internal knowings and move on them!  Trusting and yielding to your instincts breeds inward confidence and causes you to be increasingly resourceful.

Don’t let disappointment get you down. Your perception is your reality. Therefore see disappointment differently. See disappointment as a reappointment routing you to your destiny. Transition though temporary pain can be both beneficial and beautiful.

Don’t give away your power. Remember you are in the driver’s seat. Create your world by manifesting your internal reality outwardly. Be encouraged!  Your present reality is not your destiny!  You have the power to live your dreams and achieve authenticity.

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