The 5 Biggest Career Mistakes to Avoid

Would you like to look back on your career and be proud of what you made of it?

Whether you are just starting out your career or you have years of experience in your career, you must avoid these biggest career mistakes if you want a rewarding and successful career.

Here are Your 5 Biggest Career Mistakes:

1. Blindly chasing higher education

This is one of the biggest career mistakes most people fail to realize. Yes, more formal education is important but sometimes depending on your career path and workplace, more formal education is irrelevant. Instead of falling into more student loan debt you should consider other ways to acquire more training and education for your career. After all, what matters is continuously learning that sets you up for growth in your field. Nowadays, there are many affordable and free online resources for anyone in almost any field to gain more knowledge and skill. So break the notion that you need to get more degrees because everyone is doing it.

Here’s what Asim Qureshi, former Vice President at Morgan Stanley has to say about this:

“The most common career mistake is people thinking that higher education or beyond will materially help them in their jobs, and so they spend too much time in academia.

I get so many people asking me how I managed to get into investment banking with a degree in physics. Within a few months the finance or economics guys had no advantage over me – I knew what I needed to know as well as them – most of the stuff they had learned at university was useless on the actual job.

Humans adapt amazingly well, but that adaptation is incredibly specific.

Studying computer science isn’t programming. Doing an MBA isn’t running a business. And studying finance isn’t living investment banking.“

In essence, seek out ways to get more education and training you need to prosper in your career without wasting your precious time chasing unnecessary higher education. Especially one that puts you further in debt with no good return on your time, money and effort.

2. Staying too long in a job you hate

Unfortunately, studies have shown that millions of people in America are staying too long in a job they hate. Majority do nothing but complain bitterly about this.  Overstaying in a job that you hate is one of the biggest career mistakes you will ever make. Remember, time is one commodity that you can never be regained when lost. So if you hate your job, please do yourself a favor and quit. There’s something better awaiting you. For as much as you can, do not let the fear of the unknown stop you from the job you deserve. This fear of the unknown can cause you to be stuck in a miserable workplace and steal your dreams from you.

Here’s what Amy McDonnell has to say about staying too long in a job you hate:

“It’s bad for your mental health: Because we spend so much time at work, doing a job that makes you frustrated and unhappy inevitably does terrible things to your mental health. The 17 months I spent at my old office was accompanied by some of my lowest moments and darkest days. I became anxious and sad — a shell of my former self.“

Above all, do not compromise your personal and career growth by going to a job that sucks life out of you every morning.

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3. Having a rat race mindset

The rat race is a fools errand. By far, believing that the basis of your career is to outperform others is one of your biggest career mistakes. Without knowing it, this mindset will cause you so much pain and dissatisfaction.

More so, the rat race mindset happens when you’re stuck in the trap of competition. Certainly, the trap of competition can destroy you and your career. It’s solely based on climbing up the ladder by pulling someone down.

Here’s what this article from Inc has to say about the rat race mindset:

“The problem with the rat race is that there’s no finish line. There’s nobody waiting at the end to give you a medal and dump a cooler of Gatorade over your head. The wheel just keeps spinning. And the longer you’re caught in this cycle of consumption, the more natural it becomes. You forget that it wasn’t always like that.“

Remember, your only competition should be yourself. Rather than competing with everyone in your workplace, discover ways to collaborate. Your goal should be to outlast and outperform who you were yesterday. This is the only way you will have a rewarding and fulfilling career.

4. Disrespecting your coworker

Just because you’re better than your coworker at something doesn’t mean your coworker is not good at anything. Perhaps you’re two levels above your coworker so you feel the need to talk to him or her as you wish. It has been said that what goes around comes around.

Here’s one of my favorite quotes on disrespecting your colleagues:

” Be nice to people on your way up because you’ll meet them on your way down.” 

Life has a funny way of flipping on people. Therefore, you need to be very careful when dealing with your coworkers. Try treating your coworkers the way they would like to be treated. There has been numerous stories of bosses who became direct reports of an employee they hired at some point in their career. Henceforth, respect everyone.

Related: Discover the 3 Magic Tips to Make Your Coworkers Value You More

5. Saying ‘YES’ to every request

During your career, your bosses and coworkers will make so many request from you. And most times, you will be so tempted and pressured to say yes. Mainly, because you feel the need to please everyone or be liked by everyone. As a result, you sacrifice your health, your family and your values. In the end, you become frustrated with yourself without knowing why.

While being a good team player by helping out everyone is good, you must learn to say ‘No’ to avoid one of the biggest career mistakes you will ever make. Also, know that you don’t have to impress everyone. Rather than stress yourself out with demands from others, focus on the main things you need to get done. Then work towards delivering efficiently and if you have more time left you can take on more tasks. Most importantly, don’t be scared to say ‘NO’ to your boss even when he or she may feel disappointed. If your boss is a supportive boss, he or she will understand when you explain how much you already have going on. Only a control freak boss will give you a hard time for saying no. By all means, avoid working for a control freak boss.

Related: Control Freak Boss: 5 Signs You’re Working for One

Ultimately, a successful career is made up of so many great ingredients but it only takes one bad ingredient to spoil the successful career you desire. So pay attention to the 5 biggest career mistakes in this article and try to avoid them at all cost.

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Now go prosper in your career! Thank you for reading 🙂