Four Ways to Stay Motivated When You're in a PR Career Slump
/No matter how grounded you are, and no matter how fervently you believe that there is enough PR work out there for everybody, it’s difficult to keep your head up when your friends' careers seem to be accelerating faster than yours - especially if they too are solo PR pros, and if you work in the same city.
Your friends may be working with a client or brand you’ve been trying to land forever. Their social posts may be filled with humblebrags about work projects, or photos taken during business travel to destinations you’ve always wanted to see. And if you’re unemployed or underemployed, the fact that your friends are working at all may make you feel a little #jealpetitive (jealous + competitive).
We all know that envy isn't healthy, but it happens — even to the most emotionally evolved of us. So what do you do? How do you pull yourself out of the funk and stay motivated?
Here are a few ideas for how to work it out:
Tip #1 - Acknowledge your emotions
I'm no therapist (although my psychiatrist and psychologist friends seem to think I missed my calling), but I suggest that you first try to own up to the feelings you’re experiencing. Don't suppress them, and don't feel ashamed. Be honest with yourself and just acknowledge what you feel. Jealousy. Anger. Sadness. Confusion. Whatever emotions are bubbling up, just let them happen. Breathe. Own it all.
Tip #2 - Take your cues from the person in the mirror
Next, as you begin to process how you’re feeling, remember that you — and only you — get to decide how you feel. That may sound obvious, but people are pretty inconsistent about when they reject what others think about them versus when they take it to heart. The truth is that we can end up relinquishing too much power over our emotional well-being to others.
For instance, you feel pretty damned decent about yourself when someone says you're good-looking, or have on a nice outfit. (You do, admit it.) We're socialized from an early age to feel good about flattery, even if it is gratuitous. The flip side is also true; if someone makes fun of the way you look, your feelings are hurt. But why — in either case? You know not to think poorly of yourself when some jackass on the road rolls down their window to call you a loser, so why should your confidence get a boost if someone pays you a compliment?
I'm not saying you should ignore social cues or become aloof. There are times when external validation is necessary. I'm just suggesting that the way YOU feel about yourself should be the primary influence on, well, how you feel about yourself. You absolutely have to be your biggest fan and cheerleader. If you're out there grinding, making good career decisions and staying ready to create opportunities for yourself, then don't let other peoples’ career moves shake your confidence.
Tip #3 - Accept that there's enough success to go around
Banish the belief that there is a finite amount of success out there. It may feel that way — our society actually makes it very easy to believe that there’s only so much success to go around. Worse, for aspirants in the PR industry, it sometimes feels like the industry is an invite-only day party with surreptitiously shared directions, a strict occupancy limit and absolutely no plus-ones.
The thing is, while there may in fact be a finite number of brands or even clients out there — there is absolutely not a finite amount of success, especially for a solo PR practitioner on a mission.
Tip #4 - Success is like a fingerprint: your path is unique
Do success your way. Pay less attention to your friends’ 100% curated, moisture-inducing highlight reels; it's a trap. You will never know all the details of someone else’s story.
Success is like a fingerprint!!
("12508" - Filterforge)
I'm not at all suggesting that your peeps are lying about their lives, but outward appearances are sometimes a sanitized parade of gifts and blessings. No one is at happy hour bragging about not being put on retainer, the reporter who trolled them on Twitter for slinging a particularly shitty pitch, or that three-year stretch when they couldn't even afford a staycation.
We often build our vision of success on what we see others accomplish. That's fine up to a point, because learning about what has already been attempted or achieved can help us set goals. Still, you need to know what success means for you, personally. Success is like a fingerprint, not IKEA instructions.
Besides, do you really, in fact, want exactly what they have? (Boooooo if you said yes.) Could it be that you kind of just want to feel the way they look like they're feeling? Yayyy! Because that's totally achievable.
Get in touch with, cultivate, and activate your own gifts. Your time will come, and it will be the perfect moment to leverage your blueprint for a wildly successful journey.
Inspiration and Resources
In the mid-90s I worked for the brilliant, inspirational and driven PR strategist Terrie Williams. Her agency (The Terrie Williams Agency), originally launched as a solo shop, represented top names in music, sports, TV, movies as well as huge corporate brands.
Terrie began her career as a social worker (and really, she remains one at heart) and transitioned into a powerhouse entrepreneur, operating her agency with the highest integrity and her signature personal touch.
Her first book, The Personal Touch: What You Really Need to Succeed in Today's Fast Paced Business World, is a must-have manual for personal and career success.
