9 Biggest Excuses Holding You Back From Your Dream Job - Work It Daily

9 Biggest Excuses Holding You Back From Your Dream Job - Work It Daily Everybody wants the dream job, but most people have nothing but excuses to validate why they’re still at a dead-end job. Related: 6 Ways 99% Of People Are Destroying Their Careers Here are the nine biggest excuses that prevent people from achieving the job of their dreams. 1. You’re too young. Success doesn’t have a minimum age requirement. Don’t believe me? Ask Bill Gates, Mark Zuckerberg, Richardson Branson, and Steve Jobs. If you’re looking for an example of someone who’s a mere mortal, I’ll throw my name in the ring. I was earning $48,000/year at the age of 21, which was eight years ago when $48,000 was worth considerably more than it is today. 2. You’re too old. Just as success doesn’t have a minimum age requirement, it also doesn’t have an age limitation. Everyday, Corporate America and the news media tell 55 year-olds that their time is up. This is nonsense. Veterans have something young bucks don’t have, which is experience. Where older people go wrong is they don’t market themselves and position their experience properly. They over-index on the importance of their shiny resume when a resume is no longer good enough. What about your website portfolio? What about your pile of reference letters? What about your blog or your book? I could go on and on. Veterans shouldn’t feel bad though because young people aren’t doing these things either. 3. You don’t have a college degree. Neither do I, but that didn’t stop me from landing a highly-coveted position in a Fortune 10 big business. Yes it’s true, a college degree is still important and it still helps you get your foot in the door, but it’s becoming less and less valuable to employers as there’s too high a supply of people with college degrees and not enough people with verifiable skills and experience. If you want to get the job of your dreams, stop dwelling on your lack of education and begin focusing on gaining experience. Be willing to start from the bottom, bust your hump, and work your way to the top. Don’t take this advice to heart too much though. While you may not need a college degree to get you the job of your dreams, that doesn’t mean you don’t need an education or skills. Consider sites like Lynda.com, Udemy, Skillshare, or a number of other online education options. 4. You’re not smart enough. What does ‘smart’ even mean? I know tons of ‘smart’ people who make really stupid choices, get into thousands of dollars of debt attending over-priced private colleges and amounting to nothing more than a notch above average. ‘Smart’ is meaningless, and the effort put behind the measurement of your self-worth based on being ‘smart’ is worthless. You are just as capable as anyone else. 5. You don’t have what it takes. Are you willing to work hard and do whatever it takes? If so, then you have what it takes. 6. You haven’t paid your dues. This might be true. However, more often than not it’s an excuse that’s often times planted into people’s minds by jealous and bitter co-workers who had to stab backs just to get a sit in middle-management. No two people’s experiences dictate the outcome of one another. Paying your dues also shouldn’t be indicative of taking part in a multi-year hazing experiment. Your only job as an employee is to do your work, provide value and achieve results. If this has been accomplished and you still haven’t found your dream job, continue searching; you will eventually find it. 7. You haven’t ‘gotten in good’ with the bosses. If you’ve accepted the ridiculous notion that you must kiss upper management’s rear-end to get ahead in the game, you’ve already lost, because behind closed doors somebody else is kissing the boss’s rear-end better than you, and when it comes time for a promotion, you’ll be sidelined. 8. You’re not qualified. This is a mind game used by managers who intend on de-valuing your self-esteem and self-worth so that they can obtain your employment for less than market value. Don’t fall into this trap. If you’ve read the job description and you meet the qualifications, then you’re qualified. Keep your head held high and go for what’s yours. 9. You’re unskilled. If you lack the skills necessary to provide you with better job opportunities then obtain more skills. Problem solved. Related Posts 8 Mistakes You're Making At Work That Will Hurt Your Career 10 Bad Habits That Can Harm Your Career 5 Effective Work Habits For Fresh Graduates About the author Michael Price is the author of What Next? The Millennial's Guide to Surviving and Thriving in the Real World, endorsed by Barbara Corcoran of ABC's Shark Tank. He is also the founder of Conquer Career Course, where he teaches students how to increase their salary, build a career with longevity and become unemployment-proof. 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