How I overcame my 3 biggest career challenges

Have you ever found yourself thinking: “When will my career be smooth sailing? I’m sick of all these challenges and obstacles!”

I’ve certainly been there.? But here’s the truth:?

Careers (like life) are full of challenges! No matter what stage you’re at, there will always be another mountain to climb.?

If that feels daunting, reframe it in a way that’s energizing for you. For me, I love to share my hard-won lessons to help people like you succeed faster and more easily.

So, today I want to share with you 3 struggles I've faced at different stages in my career, and how I overcame them.?

As an individual contributor, my greatest challenge was speaking up in meetings.

I held back, sat quietly and stayed small because I was worried I might sound stupid or say the wrong thing.

I might have gotten promoted much sooner if I had known then what I know now: sitting silently is equally as damaging as the worst thing that can happen if you stand up and speak out.

The key to getting over my fear was changing my mindset and taking action. I recognized the patterns that were holding me back and made a plan for how to break free.

Instead of listening to my doubts, I told myself:

• When your instinct is to hesitate, take bold action.?
• When you feel like you’re not ready for an audience, do it in front of one anyway.?
• When you’re afraid you’ll sound like a fool, speak up.

When I became a manager, my greatest challenge was my perfectionism.

Up until that point, perfectionism had only helped me. As a team member, I was praised for my attention to detail, diligence, and work ethic.?

But as a manager, I was overworking my team and burning through resources by overpreparing. No one wanted to work for me. And it took me four years to change my negative reputation.?

To make a change, I had to first acknowledge that it was hurting me, not helping me. And I had to challenge my fears, insecurities, and negative self-talk. So what if it wasn’t perfect? No one would die, and I more than likely would not be fired.

The best strategy I used to tame my perfectionism was accepting what was “good enough” in each situation. For internal meetings, the hand-drawn diagrams were good enough. But for client meetings, I could spend more time on a branded PowerPoint.?

Now, as the founder & CEO of Career Mastery?, my greatest challenge became decision-making.?

I would review and revisit decisions I had already made, instead of just taking action and moving forward. The mental and emotional churn was exhausting.?

So I decided to take action to be more decisive and live a happier, easier life. First, I noticed when I was revisiting a decision and took action instead. Then I started to practice being decisive in lower-stakes situations, like ordering food at a restaurant.?

And finally, I celebrated myself when I made decisions without review, literally high-fiving myself and saying “Good job, May!”?

Now that I've shared some of my struggles, I want to hear from you.?

I always want to provide you with actionable advice that addresses your biggest career challenges. So to make sure I'm hitting the mark…

Please take a minute to answer these 3 quick questions to help me better understand what's holding you back in your current role.

The more you share, the better I’ll be able to help you overcome obstacles and achieve success.?

Thank you in advance and I look forward to hearing from you!