2-3-4 Friday

‘Seeking to spark the most potential within you per word of any online newsletter’

1 thought

Between February 2021 and March 2024, I was frantically finding a job. I applied for about 304 job applications, went for 41 interviews, and got 0 job offers.

Some of you may have heard that story before.

But when I walked into those interviews, my first thought was,

Why do I need your job?

Sometimes I would think,

Stupid organisation, stupid work.

I know, you don’t have to say it to me. I was rash and impulsive. Though 

outwardly I said ‘I want a job’, inwardly I didn’t really care about it.

I was guilty of self-sabotage.

This is a concept I don’t see talked about very often, but I see it pervading the lives of many people I speak to and meet.

Self-sabotage looks like:

1. Saying you want something, but not going all out to do it.
   1. For example, in my case, it was applying for jobs, but when I got to the interview stage, I wasn’t preparing in a wholehearted way.
2. Doing something in a half-assed manner
   1. You’re delivering the work, but you know that it’s not your best effort.
3. Doing many things, but not the thing that is what you truly care about.

Self sabotage is sinister because of how hard it is to catch.

You might even have come to the point where you’re blaming others or the environment. You’re saying things like:

1. No one wants to give me a chance.
2. They just don’t know how to appreciate my talents.

But you’re never asking yourself ,

What’s my role in this?

1 talk

No one owes us a living.

We will avoid creating the dependency syndrome a welfare state generates.

> People’s Action Party of Singapore, ‘Our Core Values’

1 tip

For me, the key thing that changed in helping to break out of the vicious cycle of self-sabotage was realising that I needed to take ownership and extreme responsibility for what I wanted with my life.

There was no one else to blame except for myself.

That’s why part of me respects Singapore’s consistent messaging around how no one owes us a living. You depend on yourself. This also means that whatever outcomes you get are a result of your own efforts (or lack of).

Some argue that this negates the environment’s effect on someone’s achievement in life. For example, the less advantaged may have grown us in a poor environment that did not give them the resources to eventually succeed in life.

True.

But if you’re reading this newsletter, I suspect that’s not your background.

Part of what keeps us on this negative cycle of self-sabotage is not committing fully to what we want. If you want something, own what you want, and go all out for it in your efforts.

Don’t self-sabotage yourself.

John

Live Young, Live Well - Work Your Love

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