You know those times when you hear that a friend of yours landed a job interview and you obviously respond with a “good for you” or “OMG that’s so awesome” but in reality you couldn’t be more spiteful that your peers are more successful than you? And every time they keep talking about their awesomeness you cringe and start stalking internship websites and LinkedIn profiles and just make yourself feel even more dejected…? Well, here are a few reminders to help keep your spirits up in times of job disgrace and help you cope with your bitterness.
1. Realize that you have different priorities than your peers. You are not wired the same way and therefore, you are not expected to have the same level of productivity.
2. When your so-called competitors are involved in things that you very well know you should be involved in too, don’t fret! Send an email to someone in charge of said extracurricular and start small. Say it’s a volunteering opportunity, for example. Find one day that week to start and try to stick with that one day for the next few weeks or every other week. Any less than that and you know it won’t stick so do it at least twice a month! Then build up from there. You can always squeeze in and hour and a half here and there.
3. If your friends and peers are successful and you are nice to them, they will want to help you when they have the power to do so and those connections will go a long way later on. As hard as it is to realize now, we go to school not just to be discouraged by our professors and break out our wild sides on Thursdays, Fridays, and Saturdays. A big reason for going to school and making the friends that we have is to build our connections. So don’t be too spiteful…these people will probably come in handy one day.
4. Find an original extra curricular to get involved with that applies to what you want to pursue. This way, there is a direct purpose for it and you’ll have incentive to continue working on it. Also, it helps to feel that you have your own thing to mentally brag about so if you find something a little off the beaten path, the better off you’ll be! You’ll finally have a leg up because you aren’t simply trying to beat your frenemy, but rather joining them at a competitive level.
5. Remind yourself that you probably didn’t actually try as hard as they did for the job or work nearly as much to get involved with that specific extracurricular. Therefore, you should be proud of your peers/competitors/frenemies/friends because that was a priority of theirs and they nailed it. Remember tip number 1? Everyone is different. Don’t get caught up in being overwhelmed by someone else’s absurd success; instead, find your own activity and work hard at it to find your own success.
So remember, you don’t need to knock down everyone that is doing well or secretly wait for his or her failure. Instead, put on a smile because you know you are killin’ it, too!