Quietening your inner critic at the start of your career

When we leave university to enter the "real world", most of us leave with enthusiasm and an approximate vision of what we want to do in our future career.

Ambitions are a great thing – they motivate us and give us goals to strive towards. It gets tricky, however, when our expectations aren't met.

Today's graduate job market is highly competitive, and many young professionals find that getting onto their chosen career path takes longer than they expected. Others discover that their first role consumes all of their time and energy but isn't quite the career they imagined.

All too often, the initial enthusiasm of young professionals is challenged by a competitive job market or a first working environment that doesn't feel like the right fit.

The outcome can often be a wave of self-doubt or the unsettling feeling that you're not quite sure what you're doing with your life. It's a negative spiral that can easily lead to what is now commonly referred to as a quarter-life crisis.

Let's have a look at some of the most common negative voices that young professionals have to deal with in their early careers.

"You are not enough"

Rejection, or simply hearing nothing after submitting applications, isn't easy to cope with. It can reinforce what I call the "universal saboteur".

Almost all of us know this voice. It questions whether we are good enough, experienced enough, confident enough or capable enough.

Self-awareness is healthy, but constantly talking yourself down rarely helps. Instead, try to recognise this voice for what it is and remind yourself that one rejection doesn't define your ability or your potential.

"You are too... young"

Another powerful voice is one many of us have heard since childhood: "You're too loud", "You're too quiet", "You're too... (fill in the blank)."

When entering the workplace as a junior member of the team, it's natural to hesitate or worry about stepping on other people's toes.

Having an open mind and being willing to learn from those with more experience is a real strength. Just don't let that stop you from sharing your ideas or expressing your opinions because you believe you're "too young".

"What if... I don't succeed?"

Listening to the "what if" voice in your head is a sure-fire way to feel trapped. It encourages you to imagine every possible thing that could go wrong.

Try reframing the question instead.

What if you succeed?

That small shift in perspective can give you the confidence to take the next step, rather than standing still because of imagined outcomes.

"That's not what people like me do"

With this belief, we often find ourselves living according to what we think we should do, rather than what we genuinely want to do.

Perhaps you've grown up in a family of doctors or academics, and becoming an artist feels "wrong". Or perhaps everyone around you has always been self-employed while you're dreaming of a corporate career.

Remember that you're forging your own path.

What another person thinks about you or believes you should do is rarely as important as what you know to be true about yourself. Listen to advice, weigh up your options and be realistic where necessary, but don't let other people's expectations limit what you believe is possible.

"I just don't know"

"I don't know what I want."

"I don't know if this is right for me."

"When I look into the future, I just see uncertainty."

These thoughts are common, particularly at the beginning of your career.

Instead of focusing on what you don't know, start by identifying what you do know. You may already have a clear idea of what you don't enjoy or what doesn't fit your values. That alone is valuable information and can help you move closer to work that genuinely interests you.

Managing your inner critic

Searching for a job and building a career is challenging enough without becoming your own worst critic.

When you feel deflated, hopeless or overly negative, there's often a critical inner voice influencing the way you're interpreting events.

Rather than trying to silence it completely, become more familiar with it. Some people find it helpful to imagine what that inner critic looks like, give it a name and learn to recognise when it's taking over.

Once you notice it, you can acknowledge its concerns without allowing it to make your decisions.

Instead, choose to listen to the calmer, more balanced voice that's often there too, even if it's a little quieter.

Look for your allies. They may have been drowned out by your inner critic, but we all have strengths, supportive people and past successes we can draw upon.

Finally, remember that very few careers follow a perfectly straight path. Feeling uncertain at the beginning of your career doesn't mean you're on the wrong one. Sometimes it's simply part of discovering where your strengths, interests and ambitions truly lie.