Newsletter Archive

AUGUST 2008

Perseverance and Job Success
  
There are countless examples of famous people who persevered after numerous set-backs and then found success: Abraham Lincoln failed to get into political office seven times before becoming President of the United States at age 51; Walt Disney went bankrupt 4 times before creating the empire that bears his name; J.K. Rowling's first Harry Potter manuscript was rejected by 12 publishers. 
 
Equally impressive examples of perseverance come from some of my coaching clients: the young man who went on 53 interviews before landing a job; an attorney who took the bar exam seven times before passing; a woman who pushed past her fear of rejection to submit a creative proposal (which received very positive feedback from industry professionals).
 
There is no question that people with Asperger's Syndrome and Nonverbal Learning Disorder (NLD) face significant challenges, particularly in the neuro-typical workplace. Many become depressed and defeated by repeated job losses, unproductive job interviews and anxiety about finding the right career.
 
While the feelings of failure are completely understandable, giving in to them only guarantees more of the same. Instead, try some of these ideas which have helped others find satisfying work: 
 
Do persevere toward your goals. If things don't work out, learn as much as you can about what happened. It is not always possible to find out why you didn't get a second interview or why you lost the job. You may be able to get clues, however, by role-playing interview scenarios with a coach, asking for feedback from a co-worker you trust, or reviewing patterns in your job history.
 
But don't perseverate. If you are consistently not getting the results you want, it's likely a sign that you need to adjust your strategy. Be willing to re-evaluate your goals, learn new skills or experiment with a new approach.
 
Work with your limitations. Everyone has areas of skill and areas where they don't do well. Take an honest look at your weaknesses, improve what you can (e.g. communication skills) and work around the things that you can't (don't take a job that requires quick decision-making, for example, if your processing speed is slow).
 
Take consistent action. Make action steps as small as you need to in order to keep moving toward your goal. Over and over again I have seen people accomplish the "impossible" by taking one step at a time.

© 2008 by Barbara Bissonnette, Forward Motion Coaching