Dealing with Frustration

From: Ann

Sent: Monday, November 05, 2007 11:50 AM

Hi, Win:

Thank you for asking about me. It's very thoughtful of you.

Here goes, if you really want to know. :)

To tell you the truth, I am mentally exhausted from trying so hard to figure out what to do. I mistakenly latched on to Marketing Research and enrolled in a certificate course because I wanted so much to have a direction. I think I took off running in the wrong direction (which is what I often do), and I am tired and confused from that sprint.

I believe I would be happy in magazine editorial (but as an editor, not a copy editor). It will never give me decent money, but I would like to do it. My challenge is that I can not see another way of getting in beyond starting at the bottom as an assistant. I don't know if I could afford to live on that salary. Maybe I am caught in a web of negative thinking?

I sent an e-mail to my old boss who is now the deputy editor at PublA, and I have not heard back from her yet. I was her assistant when she was the Lifestyle Director at PublB ten years ago. I am a little embarrassed to talk to her because I feel like I am coming back to her ten years later and I have not moved ahead in my career since I worked as her assistant. I think I am ashamed in a lot of ways.

Some of my skills are: copyediting, organizational skills, able to teach one-on-one

Win, I think I don't know what to do still. So I am resting and hoping something will happen, and I will have an epiphany.

Many thanks for checking in on me.

:)

Ann

Thanks Ann. You are thinking clearly about all this. It is frustrating to think you require a miracle. A couple of suggestions: On the skills that you have, try going down to the next level of detail, e.g., what exactly are organizational skills. Go back to your accomplishments stories. What have you organized in the past? The other thing that comes to mind is people skills. These could fall under "organizational skills", but in any case, specific examples of accomplishments will clarify for people (and for yourself) what you can do.

Win

Win Sheffield

www.WinSheffield.com