How to stay elated while waiting for bad career news

It is common knowledge that an optimistic attitude helps you climb the career ladder, no matter how disappointing and disheartening the job can be. You are not getting the expected increase. Your boss constantly talks about you in meetings. A colleague steals your idea. Most of us went there and got the T-shirt. But even if bad news doesn’t actually happen, we’re inclined to expect the worst, especially when we’ve been hit with professional disappointments in the past. When we emphasize the negative aspects of our work, it can shatter hope and enthusiasm and cause us to lose the enthusiasm and motivation that keeps us engaged and productive.

Optimism vs. pessimism

Being able to see the positive side of a negative situation can give you hope to overcome work pressures, obstacles and disappointments. Scientists have shown that optimism literally widens your peripheral vision, allowing you to see the big picture more than you usually do. Studies show that optimists have lower stress levels and more stable cardiovascular systems, and live an average of seven and a half years longer than pessimists. While pessimists are more likely to succumb to work pressures, optimists view stress at work as temporary and external to them. If you seek the edge of a career hurdle and seek the opportunity in the hard, you are more likely to overcome hardships and rise through your career ladder faster and further than a negative attitude allows. . An optimistic state of mind doesn’t arm you with the juice of magical joy, and you don’t become a smiling romantic looking through rose-colored glasses. You are able to take realistic steps to deal with stress at work instead of succumbing to it. If you’re not a natural optimist, don’t worry. You can learn coping skills to deal with career challenges.

Preventive optimism

You may have heard the old adage, “Disappointments can be blessings in disguise. According to recent research, this saying has a lot of credibility. The study, reported in the Personality and Social Psychology Bulletin, found that when looking for the silver lining before bad news comes, it lessens your worry and disappointment. “How can people maximize their emotional well-being when things go wrong? ” the researchers asked. “One way may be to shift the focus from the dark cloud to the silver lining, even while waiting.” The study found that planning bad news before it happens – preemptive optimism – takes worry away and softens the blow if it does eventually happen.

What do these discoveries mean for your career? Preventive optimism is a great tool for maximizing emotional well-being when you wait (which can seem like forever) for career results that might not turn out the way you hope. Suppose you are on pins and needles, waiting to see if you got the job you applied for. You can list the preventative benefits if you don’t get the job to help you cope during and after the results. For example, you could say, “This is also good. The position pays more than my current job, but it is not as interesting or as well suited to my skills. Or suppose you are vying for a promotion that offers a higher salary, but you remember that if you don’t get the promotion you won’t be in a higher tax bracket which would take the major anyway. part of the salary increase. ”

So when you wait for the possibility of negative career news, don’t spend your workday in distress or walk on eggshells. Make a list of the positive outcomes that might accompany the bad news. The silver liners you offer can protect you from emotional suffering and help you stay calm and uplifted, even in better physical health, regardless of the consequences. And focusing on the possibility of a bad outcome doesn’t rob you of your joy if the news turns out to be what you hoped for. Either way, you are ready to move forward with an optimism that will contribute to your professional success and advancement.