This post is prompted by an e-mail I received from someone who said he’s running out of perseverance and belief in himself. He writes, “That feeling when you get rejected by a cute girl is the same feeling I’ve got over and over the past four or five years when I miss out on job opportunities.”
As the message continued, it included such phrases as, “Gut wrenching pain. Starting to fatigue. I feel it in the pit of my stomach. Running out of perseverance and belief in myself. I just feel lost.”
He finished by saying, “I’m sorry to sound so defeated, I’ve just been at this for a long time now and I can see no end in sight.”
I share the message because such thoughts are not unusual. I felt similarly in my own sports broadcasting career.
When I was at ESPN Radio Network, I tried to get a second show in local radio. I was unsuccessful, even though I was a national host.
I understand the feelings of despair and fatigue and running out of perseverance.
If what you’re doing in your career is not working, change it. Here are four practical suggestions:
1. Leave your station
2. Move to a different market
3. Attend the annual National Sports Media Association conference
You will meet people that can help you for the rest of your career, but you’ll also gain inspiration, motivation and new ideas.
4. Attend other radio conferences
Meet people who can help you and find new inspiration.
With that being said, the biggest take away I want you to get from this post is this:
More important than working on your career is working on yourself.
You will increase your income proportionate to how you improve your attitude.
Seek inspiration daily. Find blogs, podcasts and books that connect with you. I am a long-time mentee of Jim Rohn, Zig Ziglar, Oprah Winfrey, W. Clement Stone and Napoleon Hill. These people are my virtual mentors. I’ve never met a single one of them.
John Wooden tops my list of virtual mentors.
Each of these mentors helps me improve my mindset, my motivations and the way I go about doing things.
My career took off once I started improving myself.