You Don't Know What You Don't Know

A simple point.

A few months ago I was feeling pretty lost in my job hunt. I’d scored a few good internships at great agencies, I’d learned a lot – but I didn’t have a job. I didn’t have any internship prospects in the offing.

In short, I didn’t know what to do or where I was going. And it was impacting on my job hunting and on my motivation. How do you keep hunting when you’re not even sure you’re on the right track?

But a couple of friends made a suggestion to me that changed everything. Why limit yourself to one country? There are other places to look after all. Even outside English-native countries, there are many where English is the language of business and of advertising. So why not look?

So I did. I contacted every agency I could find, in France and Belgium and Sweden and Germany and on and on and on. Most of them didn’t even reply. I didn’t care – I was sending 20+ emails every day so I was still getting something back all the time.

One of the best ways to get yourself motivated and start really moving things is to give yourself more challenges. I was running out of agencies to apply to in the UK – and just as important, I was feeling run down by all the rejections and missed chances. Giving myself new options was a breath of fresh air. It multiplied my opportunities and took the edge off the rejections.

It all comes down to changing the game, changing your horizons. Broaden your thinking and you’ll find yourself learning all the things you never knew that you didn’t know.

So if you’re ever feeling a bit stuck, whether in your work life, your personal life, or even just a single problem or issue you have to deal with, broaden the picture. Usually you’ll find that the solution was never that difficult to discover. It’s just that it wasn’t in your vision.

Broaden your thinking and suddenly there are solutions everywhere.