This is going to apply to you a lot more if you're just starting off in a new career. I wish someone had given me this advice, listen up it's going to save you from unnecessary
stress and frustration.
When you are starting off in your career, you have to be aware that it's going to be a new environment. It's going to take you sometime to get used to how things work.
Now of course, this may seem obvious to you but stay with me here.
Let me explain this with an example..
Let's say you like to play video games, humor me and let's say it's Mario.. (Side bar if you're not familiar with Mario then just Google it was a famous 1990's game)..
The point of the game is that Mario the main character goes through each level to rescue a princess but up until the last level he always ends up rescuing the wrong/ unwanted princess.
Similarly, in your new career there are going to be several levels. Currently you may be at level 1. You have to go through several levels before you rescue the princess which
in this case is Yourself.
Everything you do at work is going to move you forward in the corporate game.
At every level of your job, you'll be tested, you'll grow both in technical skills as well as your mindset. My suggestion would be always remember the rules of the
game you're playing.
Example: It helps to know early on how your office set up works, hierarchy etc.. As annoying, upsetting or even frustrating as it may be, it'll help you to learn the rules and then play according to them..
I've learned that a lot of unnecessary frustration and stress at work happens from being unwilling to play the workplace game.
If you're playing cricket, you won't employ the rules of tennis, correct? Similarly, when you're at a workplace whose policies you don't like and you get frustrated you're wishing
for things to be different i.e. you're not accepting the rules of the game.
Just like in any other sport, you either play by the rules, the earlier cricket example, or you don't play the game..Same way, if you've decided to be in a job who's
rules you may not agree with, it'll help you to accept those rules early on in the beginning.
All this to say, you wrap your head around the way things are from the very beginning. This way there's no room for hoping and wishing things to be different.
When you accept the environment you've chosen to work in you can then concentrate on doing the technical work.
Now, it's about putting this insight into practice.
Learn the rules of your workplace.Read the manual, or the company policies & learn them.
If there's something you don't agree with, write it down on paper.. Write
every resistant idea you may have.
Write an acceptance of the resistance points you've written.. Write something neutral.
Keep doing this exercise with helpful phrases such as "I know the rules and I'm choosing to play according to them" / "I accept the situation as is and I'm willing to grow in this environment by choosing to
focus on the work" or create a helpful phrase of your own.
Do this exercise where you find positive or neutral aspects of the rules of your current workplace
(Remember you don’t have to like the rules but it’ll help if you make peace with them)