Positivity – Grace Appleby

Honest 2021 Resolution

I don’t tend to set New Year’s resolutions. I’m not sure if I’m put off by the likelihood that I’ll forget them in 2 weeks and give up, or if I dislike the idea of waiting for a calendar flip to make life changes.

Anyway, this year I’ve set a few small (and hopefully achievable) goals based on areas of weakness that I’ve identified in myself – you could call it self-improvement, I guess.

I write the way I talk, so today, I want to ramble (in typical ‘me’ style) about one of them.

Goal: Push Yourself To Learn

Some may call it lazy, when I’m being kind to myself, I call it efficient… but I tend to take the easy route in life.

“Work smarter, not harder” – am I right?!

However, I’ve noticed that this approach is starting to be a detriment to my progression, both personal and professional.

If I don’t know how to do something, no matter how small, and someone in the room does – I will always ask them for help before working it out myself.

Now, I don’t know if that is sensible or not (afterall, Google can’t solve all life’s problems), but I’ve noticed that I’m not pushing myself to learn anymore.

I had a job last year, where I was the only person with any real marketing/digital knowledge. Consequently, when faced with any obstacle, I had to work it out myself.

After the initial despair of feeling like “I can’t do this”, I’d resolve that I, in fact, had no choice, because if I couldn’t do it, no-one else could do it for me.

Although tiring, I found this experience to be exhilarating. I taught myself so much in such a short period of time – yes, I didn’t always get it right on the first try, but I progressed extremely quickly.

Now, I have the privilege of working a job that I absolutely love, with a colleague who is dedicated to helping me grow as a Digital Marketeer. But, I must admit, I’ve become far too comfortable in the presence of his expertise and am becoming lazy in my own learning.

I ask questions that I already know the answer to, and seek approval for work that I should be confident in alone.

Recently, I’ve started some voluntary passion projects outside of work and I’m starting to explore these unknown territories again. I’m working things out on my own, and it’s frustrating… but kind of great.

So, that’s one of my honest goals for 2021 – to stop being lazy and to start pushing myself to learn more, because it’s important but also because I love it.

I’d genuinely love to hear what other people have set as their self-improvement resolutions/goals for 2021, so please reach out if you fancy a chat about them.

New Beginnings

Most of us are experiencing some kind of ‘new’ at the moment, be that a new working environment, a new way of living, or a new job entirely.

‘New’ is somewhat synonymous with ‘change’. In order for something to be new, it must be an addition or an alteration of what we currently know.

A lot of us fear change, or more-so the unknown.

How do you view change?

I try to view change as new opportunity, although it’s easier said than done, especially if said change was not something that you chose for yourself.

Change can be scary, but that’s not a bad thing. It is when we feel most uncomfortable that we are growing. If you never did anything that scared you, you’d never achieve much. We need to push ourselves in order to thrive.

My current job was technically my first ‘proper’ job (full-time) and I really settled down there. I learnt more about myself and what I’m capable of than I could have ever imagined. I made friends and developed a routine. Although the position was an internship, I had been offered a permanent role upon completion, which I was thrilled with. However, this job was never meant to be a long-term role for me. I applied intending to work throughout my last semester of university and bridge the gap between graduating and finding my next role. That’s what internships are for: learning and gaining experience that can launch you further into your career goals.

But, I got comfortable.

Comfortable isn’t a bad thing at all. In fact, I felt very lucky to have had something to settle into. However, I didn’t want to be in that state in my first job. I wanted to be constantly pushing myself and making the most of this time to learn and grow.

It took some dramatic events for me to realise that I had settled and that I was letting myself down by doing so. That sounds like I’m being a bit hard on myself, but I don’t have any regrets. You learn from everything in life. Nonetheless, I’m glad that I had the courage to push myself again after a period of coasting.

I start a new job on Monday and, whilst I’m incredibly excited, I’m nervous too. Hopefully, this job is going to push me a lot and teach me a great deal. It’s probably going to be difficult, hence the nerves, but that’s also exactly what I’ve been searching for. Something to get my teeth stuck in to.

What kind of change are you experiencing at the moment? In spite of fear or nerves, are you looking at the opportunity that it’s presenting you?

Pinning In A Pandemic: A Shift In Perspective

I love Pinterest.

Okay, I’m not an avid, public user with a large following and a carefully curated collection of boards, but I love it!

I use Pinterest for home decor research, motivational quotes, fashion inspiration, everything (All private mood-boards).

Consequently, I was especially interested to read about the Pinterest Insights report that was released on Tuesday (21st July). The report shows a real shift in searches and keyword use.

During lockdown, I have also noticed a change in my personal search history on the platform. In the place of ‘Office outfit inspo’, I’ve been searching for recipes, home workouts, positive quotes, etc.

I’m sure we’ve all been looking for entertainment in new ways since the craziness descended in March. So, I was not surprised (but relieved!) to discover that I haven’t been the only person to be using online platforms differently.

Some of the results that made me happiest were the increase in self-care related searches over the past four months, such as ‘exercise routine at home’, ‘meditation‘, ‘gratitude’, and ‘positivity’.

A lot of awful things have happened since March, but one silver lining is that people appear to be becoming more aware of the need to look after themselves, both physically and mentally. I think this is a shift in perspective that has been greatly needed for a long time.

I’m intrigued. Have you been taking to search engines and social media platforms for bursts of positivity and WFH inspiration?

Source: https://newsroom.pinterest.com/en/post/new-priorities-pinterest-insights

Decision Time

When presented with a new opportunity, do you step back and think about it or do you dive straight in?

Had you asked me this question a week or two ago, I would have definitely said that I was the former. I’ve always been a planner. I like to think through important decisions – which is the ‘sensible’ thing to do.

However, until you’re met with the type of opportunity that makes you want to go all in without careful consideration, you never know how you’re going to react.

I have recently been faced with such a situation. On paper, I thought I could work out which of two options would be best for me. On paper, I had planned and considered – I thought I was certain. On paper, I couldn’t anticipate my gut reaction.

It wasn’t until I had this new, shining opportunity in front of me that I realised planning is not always the best approach.

I was excited, happy, lost for words. All of a sudden, the carefully thought-out plan that I had settled on was irrelevant. My gut feeling had shown me which path to choose.

Although I’m still an advocate for careful decision-making, sometimes all you can do is trust your gut feeling.

The one thing that helps me through any decision-making process is:

Nothing lasts forever.

A bit pessimistic? Yes, I suppose. However, knowing that you are never stuck in one place permanently is very liberating to me. If I am unhappy, I can choose a new path, or I can work with what I have to improve my situation.

Are you an impulse risk-taker, or are you a careful planner?

There is no right or wrong answer, in fact, in an ideal world, it’s best to be both. I love this quote by Heller:

“Never ignore a gut feeling, but never believe that it’s enough.“
Robert Heller

My main piece of advice for this week: Listen to your instincts, then step back. Let the adrenaline fade away and think through your choices with a clear head.

But remember, don’t be intimidated by change – nothing lasts forever.

Strengths and Weaknesses

Okay, let’s be honest. If you’ve ever been asked the following question, be it by an interviewer, teacher, or friend, have you answered genuinely?

“What do you consider to be your strengths and weaknesses?”

I think it’s quite normal to lie when faced with this question. Why would you want anyone to know your weaknesses? Surely that just damages your image or your chances of getting the job? Right?

I have always had a set answer prepared for whenever I would be asked this question. Of course, the strength was genuine, but the weakness was a merely a strength that I had twisted to sound like a challenge.

Essentially a dishonest answer, yet I understand why I used to twist the truth. It takes vulnerability to be honest, you have to be prepared to be rejected based on the answer that you give.

In my last semester of university, I had to do a group project with 3 girls from my class. We would be marked as a group for the final task, therefore, it was in everyone’s best interest to work to the unique strengths of each person.

The project highlighted some aspects of my personality that I was already very aware of, such as my sense of organisation. For this reason, I took on a role that involved planning and structuring our workload.

However, I similarly discovered elements of my character that I had never really paid attention to. Probably because I did not want to, as these were the characteristics and skills that I would class as my ‘weaknesses’.

More recently, I’ve had some very interesting conversations with influential people in the marketing industry. I have tried a different approach and been honest when faced with this question, exposing the skills that I wish I could be better at.

Doing so has taught me a great deal. Vocalising your insecurities can be a very empowering experience and can often help you to identify the reasons why you are ‘weaker’ in said areas.

I am now more aware than ever of the skills that I would like to improve on, but I am equally now clearer on exactly how to better myself in these areas.

If I could give any advice this week, it would be to reflect on yourself.

Be honest with yourself – What am I good at? What do I feel insecure about? You need to identify your genuine strengths and weaknesses and try to understand why they fall into each category before you can vocalise these to others.

Most importantly, be kind to yourself in the process – we’re all still learning all of the time!

Comfort Zones

“A comfort zone is a beautiful place, but nothing ever grows there.”
– Unknown

I’ve never really thought much about comfort zones because I’ve never really felt like I’ve stopped myself from doing something because it was ‘scary’. Recently, it’s become more evident to me that these things develop as we do; what is considered to be your comfort zone at one point in your life will not be the same in a few year’s (or even week’s) time.

Career-wise, I’ve found that it’s quite easy to fit yourself in a box of what you know you can do and what you know you can do well. You may feel comfortable working for one company because your colleagues know you and they understand your skill level. Meanwhile, the idea of changing jobs to work with new people who have new expectations for you may be rather scary.

Being comfortable is not a bad thing. You can be perfectly content where you are and I’d say that you’re doing pretty well if you’re happy with your work situation.

But that’s the thing – are you happy? or are you merely content?

I’ve been stepping out of my comfort zone a lot since starting my position at my current company. I thought I would explore some ways that I have done so, which are ways that you may also have challenged yourself without realising:

1. New People, New Expectations

My current position is working for the first company that I have done Digital Marketing for professionally (besides my university and some small-business owners). I was hired to do something that I did not have extensive experience in, for people who did not yet know me and who had therefore established their own expectations of what I would be like. It is easy to obsess over the way other people see you, the things they expect from you, and their opinion of you and your actions. At the end of the day, what other people think of you is none of your business. Focus on the task at hand and doing the best that you can – if people don’t appreciate your efforts, they’re not your people.

2. Belittling Your Own Skills

I’ve always described myself as “not being a tech-wizard”. Whenever someone asks me about technology, that’s what I automatically say:

“Oh, I don’t know – I’m not a tech-wizard, sorry!”

Recently, I’ve realised that I’ve been saying this because technology is definitely NOT my comfort zone. I can’t code and please don’t ask me how to fix your computer because I have absolutely ZERO clue! However, I actually know a lot about technology, mainly because I have to use it a lot in my daily life. I’m trying to train myself to stop belittling my skills just because I’m worried I’ll get something wrong and be embarrassed. Everyone makes mistakes and, whether I say it or not, although I’m not an expert when it comes to technology, I definitely know my way around.

3. Doing New [Scary] Things

I do new things everyday at work: I try new software, explore new methods of doing things, take on new tasks. But not all new things are scary. It’s the scary, new things that push you out of your comfort zone.

For example: (referring back to point 2) I didn’t know the first thing about websites when I started my current job.

Apart from writing a few of my own blogs on WordPress, I had never really delved into the way that websites work. One thing I can tell you is: websites can be really confusing! There are a lot of elements that can go wrong when you edit a website, especially if you try to dabble in coding when you REALLY shouldn’t (I learnt my lesson with that one pretty quickly!). Websites are also a fundamental part of many businesses, so when you mess something up, you need to fix it equally as fast.

This is why I was a bit apprehensive to do anything with my company’s website. But, 4 months on, websites aren’t out of my comfort zone anymore … but coding still is! (*someone please teach me how to apply basic code*).

Overall, my current challenge for myself is to continually identify my comfort zone and make efforts to go beyond it. That isn’t to say that I do that everyday because, some days, being content is all that I aspire to be. But, each time I do something that stretches my comfort zone, it becomes less scary, less intimidating, and more doable.

Main takeaway: when you do something that challenges your comfort zone, regardless of how small it is – celebrate it!

Starting Conversations

Today is my 22nd birthday and it’s safe to say that 21 was my best year yet.

I started a lot of things when I was 21, a big one being my career in Digital Marketing.

Since lockdown started, I’ve made some small (but significant) steps towards developing my career – the most important of these being networking. As I am currently the only person in my company who handles digital marketing, I haven’t had many (*any) contacts in the industry. Although this hasn’t necessarily hindered me thus far, I have often found myself having questions that I cannot find the answers to. Therefore, I’m making a conscious effort to try to make some new contacts – not just random connections on Linkedin, but genuine people who I feel like I could talk with openly.

I think that a lot of people find the idea of networking to be rather intimidating (myself included); Is there an expectation that I have to live up to? What if I don’t know what anyone is talking about? What if no-one wants to speak to me at all? When I have doubts like these, I like to remind myself of this quote:

If you’re the smartest person in the room, you’re in the wrong room
Marissa Meyer

One positive change that the pandemic has influenced is an increase in people looking to communicate properly online. I’ve noticed that people are generally more open to starting conversations and building genuine connections.

As I’m still a student (for one more week), I’m taking advantage of all of the fabulous resources that UEA Career Central offers, and decided to sign up to their mentoring scheme. It was initially advertised as a good pathway for anyone who doesn’t necessarily know what they want to do or how to get there. Consequently, I wasn’t quite sure how it would help me since I already have a very clear picture of what I want to achieve and have started taking the necessary steps, but I thought a chat with an expert couldn’t hurt.

I was matched with the founder of a Digital Marketing Agency who had attended UEA prior to starting his own business. We scheduled a call for us to get to know eachother, discuss my plans, and for me to ask any questions that I might have about starting out in the industry.

The conversation was incredibly insightful. I learnt more about the importance of building a personal brand in 40 minutes than I had in the 2 years of work experience leading up to it. Now I have a contact that I would feel confident calling if I needed some advice; I was lucky that he was a lovely person and very easy to talk to.

The whole experience proved to me that I shouldn’t ever be nervous about talking to people because, at the end of the day, people are just people.

I think I speak for a lot of recent graduates when I say that successful people can sometimes appear to be unapproachable. It’s easy to fall into a hole of thinking that they would judge or laugh if you were to send them a message, but 9 times out of 10 that isn’t the case at all. Decent people (who have the time and resources) will be open to chatting to you if you are willing to put the effort into listening and learning. After all, what good is knowledge if you can’t use and share it.

Overall, I’m going into my 22nd year feeling empowered and confident that, although I will never stop learning, I’m thoroughly enjoying the journey. So, a bit of a ramble today, but I think you can let me off considering it’s my birthday. I’m not going to sit here and carefully edit my thoughts when there’s cake to be eaten!

Consider starting a conversation with someone new this week (and stay safe!).

Is Job Insecurity the ‘New Normal’?

We’ve all heard the phrase ‘New Normal’ being bandied around over the past weeks and rightly so. At the moment, I can think of very few things in my life that feel the same ‘normal’ as they did before all of this happened. But that’s okay, because things are changing and we can’t always help that.

One thing that has eerily crept its way into my ‘New Normal’ is a very unwelcome guest – Job Insecurity.

I graduate at the end of this month and, like the majority of other students being launched into the real world this summer, I’m finding it daunting. I don’t know how I feel. Some days I’m confident that everything will be alright because I’ve put the effort in and that’s how it works … doesn’t it? Other days it sinks in that noone can possibly be sure of anything right now because nothing quite like this has ever happened before. ‘Unprecendented’ if you will!

I can’t name a single person that I know who is 100% certain that their job is safe. With one in four employers expected to make redundancies as a result of COVID-19*, it’s not really a surprise.

BUT this post isn’t intended to be all doom and gloom. We need to come to terms with the fact that, for the time being at least, Job Uncertainty is part of the ‘New Normal’.

So, what can you do about it?

The simple answer is: do whatever makes you feel calmer mentally. Whether that be relaxing and taking your mind off of it, or digging in to a job hunt – do what feels right to you.

My coping mechanism changes on a daily basis, but I thought I’d share a few of my tactics for battling the unwanted worry that’s weighing on my shoulders.

Upskill

As a (soon to be) graduate, I can’t bare to sit still and do nothing. I’ve gotten so accustomed to writing a constant stream of essays that it doesn’t feel right to not have a little study project on the go; so I’m trying to upskill myself in a way that can help me in my current internship. However, some days this feels like a chore and the idea of yet another online course makes me want to curl up in a ball and hide.

Admin

On the days when studying feels too much like hard work, I sometimes like to be productive in other ways. Since the lockdown started I’ve: redone my CV, updated my LinkedIn profile, taken a new headshot (for use on LinkedIn, my website, etc.), and made efforts to virtually network where possible. These things may not directly result in securing my job prospects, but they help me to feel like I am in control of my own situation.

Read

Reading is my alternative to watcing Netflix. Trust me, I watch a lot of Netflix, but it makes me feel sluggish if I lounge around during the day, so I keep it for a treat in the evenings. Depending on my mood, I read a number of different books. If I’m trying to relax I read a self-improvement book – currently reading: What A Time To Be Alone by Chidera Eggerue. If I’m looking for entertainment, I read a romance novel (I only read French novels because I’m a languages nerd) – currently reading: En Un Monde Parfait by Laura Kasischke. Lastly, if I feel like I want to learn but not enough to study properly, I read a marketing book – currently reading: The End Of Marketing by Carlos Gil.

Although some of these genres don’t directly help me battle my Job Inscurity, reading is a way that I can develop my mind and invest in myself. One of my new favourite quotes from a current read is:

“No matter how much time I choose to invest in myself, none of it is ever wasted. I am a lifetime investment.”
Chidera Eggerue

At the end of the day, noone knows what lies ahead or how our careers will be affected by the current events. But, we are all in this together (*High School Musical plays in the background*), and we cannot control things that are beyond us. So, my only advice to you (which is the advice that I’m trying to live by) is: focus on what you can control, and try not to stress about the things that you can’t.

I hope you’re all keeping well and being kind to yourselves.

Source: https://www.peoplemanagement.co.uk/news/articles/one-in-four-expect-to-make-redundancies-coronavirus