Stop Whining and JUST. KEEP. GOING.

I have a wonderful young man on staff, Mr. Seth Plattner who is an all-star writer and a recent graduate from New York University. He’s been doing some other work for me, but I wanted to post this first ever GUEST blog from Seth.

It’s a great article… This guy is gonna end up in the magazine world, I just know it. (If the magazine world can recognize a good thing, they’ll snatch them up.) Here is his post unedited:

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My mother has always said the best way to learn is to fail. Although I tend to agree with her, I still don’t necessarily enjoy the process because, let’s face it, rejection sucks. Nevertheless I would be amiss if I didn’t take my own recent experience with failure and rejection and take something worthwhile from it. Here’s my deal: I’m 23, recently graduated and doing my best to infiltrate the professional world. How’s that gone you ask? Not so well. And seems like I’m not alone…

Having attended a top tier university that boasted high numbers of post-graduation employment I never really worried about life after college. I assumed my degree and college experience would be enough to get me into a decent paying job that put me on the path to career success. As it turns out, graduation rolled around and I–along with most of my friends–were freaking out. Where were the job offers? The security? The reassurance that the transition from college to professional life would be seamless? We had the great degrees and tons of experience, but none of us had actual jobs to speak of, and to say we were unsettled is an understatement.

What followed were some difficult months of applications, interviews, schmoozing and, ultimately, nothing. If I even got called back for an interview, my tracks generally ended there; why I don’t know. There were a few jobs I figured I’d be a shoe in for, which quickly shattered my ego and taught me to be prepared for the worst when applying for jobs. I had friends that took positions only because they needed something, anything, that would get them money and experience. They were miserable and, at time, trapped in jobs they hated. Trying to move on was proving futile. The class of 2006 had unfortunately landed in one of the toughest job markets in years and we were feeling it. We all of a sudden had to question, what exactly was going on here?

It took some time, but I finally realized this: It’s just the way it is. We can blame it on the job market, we can blame it on the employers for not recognizing our talents, we can even blame ourselves if it comes down to it. But I had to come to terms with the fact that this was real life and you don’t always get the job. Everyone stumbles, everyone falls, everyone takes a few blows here and there. I just had to accept that and use it as motivation to move on. OK, so it wasn’t going to be as easy as I, as we, thought. I could do one of two things: a) shut down, whine about it and get no where or b) shut up and do it.

The best thing I learned, and what I say to everyone out there who has gone through similar experience is JUST. KEEP. GOING. There will be days when you could care less and all you want to do it eat cookie dough and watch Family Feud. Fine. Take a day off and recharge. But make sure you get back out there asap and keep the ball rolling. Keeping that momentum is critical in ensuring your success on the job hunt. When you stop and sink into that depression that can get us all you’re just making it that much harder to pick up where you left off. And hey! Laugh about it! So you went in for that copy writer job, the one you thought you were perfect for–the one they SAID you were perfect for–and you didn’t get it. Laugh it off. Their loss, right? The world is a crazy place and if you can’t take the bad and make it humorous then you’re just going store up all that negative energy and it will devour you.

The next step? JUST. KEEP. GOING. It’s not always easy, but, as my mother always says, it will all be alright. Trust me. It may not seem like it for a while, but there’s nothing better than getting to that point when it is alright and realizing you almost worried yourself to death for nothing! Perseverance is the key here, and if I can do it so can you. Rejection is just part of life; so deal with it, learn from it, laugh at it and, finally, leave it.

-Seth Plattner, Guest Writer
Check out Brad’s keynotes about how to JUST. Keep. Going. here.

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