Series 3: Mindset Reset: Thinking Differently About Work & Success

The alarm would go off, but I would just lie there, staring at the ceiling. Another day, another reminder that I had nowhere to be. I would check my phone, hoping for an interview invite, but instead, my inbox was filled with rejection emails, or worse, silence. The world seemed to be moving forward, but I was stuck in place. The longer I stayed unemployed, the harder it was to believe I would ever catch up.

For a long time, I operated from a mindset of scarcity. There were only so many opportunities, only so much success to go around, and I was convinced I had missed my share. I would scroll through LinkedIn, watching people announce new roles, promotions, and business wins, and all I could think was, "Why not me?" That question turned into self-doubt, then resentment, then complete paralysis.

Then something shifted. It was not a grand epiphany or some motivational speech that changed my perspective, but a slow realization that I had more control over my situation than I thought. It was exhaustion. I was tired of feeling stuck, tired of waiting for permission to move forward, tired of defining myself by what I lacked. If no one was going to hand me an opportunity, I had to create one for myself.

Instead of seeing unemployment as a dead end, I started looking at it as a reset button. I had time, something people with demanding jobs often wished they had more of. So, I asked myself, "What can I build with this time?" Instead of applying for jobs I did not even want just to escape the discomfort, I focused on developing skills that actually interested me. I started writing every day, not because I had a clear plan but because I enjoyed it. That small decision led to opportunities I never saw coming.

One day, someone reached out after reading something I had posted online. "Your writing really spoke to me," they said. That one message sparked a realization that I had spent so much time chasing job applications, but here was a door opening in a completely different way. I started paying attention to those moments. Slowly, I built something of my own.

Reframing Success: Defining It on Your Own Terms

I also started shifting how I viewed success. I used to think it was a job title, a steady paycheck, or external validation, but when those things were stripped away, I had to redefine it for myself. Success became progress, writing something better than I did yesterday, learning something new, and making connections with people who valued my work. Once I let go of the rigid idea of what my career should look like, I started seeing possibilities I had never considered.

Looking back, I realize the biggest change was in my thinking. Scarcity says, "There is not enough to go around." Opportunity says, "What can I create with what I have?" Unemployment felt like a loss, but it turned out to be the space I needed to build something that actually aligned with me. I used to be afraid of not having a traditional career path, now I am more afraid of spending years chasing something that does not even make me happy.

The world did not change, the economy did not suddenly shift in my favor, the only thing that changed was my perspective, and that made all the difference.

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