How my professional experiences helped me improve as a person
By: Angélica Oliveira
Tags: Self Help, Emotional Intelligence, Professional Development, Awareness, Law Of Attraction

In 2017 I experienced a situation that sparkled the beginning of a great change in my life.

I was working as a manager in a travel agency and I absolutely loved my job (and was very good at it). Besides managing all aspects of the agency, I was also responsible for the strategies of online marketing. I grew the online presence, I organized trips that were very successful, and I was on my prime.

Suddenly my boss started dating one of the receptionists and she became the boss of everybody. She was very jealous of me and of the relation I had with my ex-boss and things became very hard. I decided to quit that job that I loved and was very good at it. It was a hard decision, I worked 10 minutes from home, my best-friend worked in the company alongside and as I’ve mentioned before I was very good at my job.

I left the agency feeling defeated, sad, victimized. I found a job in the finances department of a multinational company from around here, one of the most successful and it was a small victory to achieve this job having no background in that position whatsoever.

After a few months working there, I “fed” myself with fears from another co-worker — if you ever worked for a big company you know that there is lots of egos, fears and limitations around and you must be very strong and perceptive of who you are and what you want to not let yourself be dragged into all of this.

Of course, I was lost, and I started taking things personally. I let other’s bad experiences dictate my fate and became angry, frustrated and unsatisfied. I won’t lie, the job was not very stimulating, I had to do almost the same thing day after day, I asked my boss to give me more to do because I was very capable, but she would always tell me to be patient.

After a year and a half, I got tired of being patient and decided to find another job. It was hard at the beginning because since I was working for one of the most powerful companies in this town, and this is a small town, the other companies around here have a compromise not to hire anybody working for this big company.

I have set my timer to get off of this company before January 2019, and it was December 2018 and finally I found a company willing to hire me. The pay was inferior, and it was just a temp job, a maternity leave. I accepted because at least I would fulfill my timer and before January I would be out of that big company.

My experience in this small company was very different: lots of things to do and learn. The environment was also different, people seemed closer and friendly. Everything I complained about in the other company, I was rewarded in this one. Months passed by and the problems, of course, started to emerge: the salary was not enough for the amount of work I was doing. It is a small company, ergo it’s very limited in professional growth.

Although at first, I entered as a temp, they hired me as permanent because I am very good at my job, but I wanted a raise, I wanted more organisation from the company, I wanted more commitment from my coworkers. And I once again set my timer to be out of this company in 2020. This is the ego writing. He is never satisfied and is never wrong.

In February 2020 I started sending resumes, but things were very slow because of COVID: It was destroying Italy and since I live in Spain, it was just a matter of time that the virus would arrive here. It arrived in March, and everything locked down. I started working from home (luckily the company I work for is related with the food industry, considered essential in the pandemic).

The fear was in the air we breathed, the economy took a hit because so many people lost their jobs, so many small businesses had to close…The travel agency I worked for, had to shut down because tourism is a cherished memory nowadays. People don’t travel.

I am still working in that small company, although the salary is less from what I desire to earn in a future, this paycheck helps me have security on these fearful times. This is the gratitude writing.

All of these working experiences made me realize that I am the one creating my own reality and sometimes a thing that seems bad actually turns out to be good:

The travel agency job — yes, I was very good at it, yes, I was happy and worked with my friends, but I have had hit the ceiling there, there was nowhere to go and no expectations of growth — both professional and personal. To be honest with in the end I was not very inspired and happy at that job. Looking back, I see now that was one of the best things that happened to me, my boss dating the receptionist because that made me move out from my comfort zone. And I would be out of work now with this whole COVID situation.

- The big corporation job — yes, the job was limited, but I recognize now that I was not humble enough to learn and to grow. My boss was right I needed more experience before she could give me more responsibilities. I also fed from the bowl of fear of my co-workers and I didn’t allowed myself to have my own experiences. The good thing is that I left that company because I believed in myself, I knew I could do and learn more and although I didn’t had patience, I stood for myself. I learned to never let other’s people point of view affect my decisions.

- My actual job — So many daily lessons…I grew so much here, both professionally and personally. I’ve met people that challenged me on a personal level, I discovered so much about me and my work ethics. I am learning to be humble, to allow myself (and others) to make mistakes, and to not let small things get into my skin. I am fighting for me, realizing that I deserve more but this time not in a entitled way, but in a more humble and honest manner. I will earn that raise not only because I know I deserve it, but because now I am working towards it.

All of these experiences taught me that I am the one in control of my life and my feelings. I can be the victim or the hero of my story and I have the power to choose which one.

I didn’t had anything clear in the beginning of my professional journey and I am so grateful for all the lessons, all the obstacles that I found alongside my way, because I grew, and I am becoming a more efficient person thanks to all of this.

My advice? Believe in yourself. Don’t let other people’s limitations dictate the outcome of your situation. Never feed yourself fears — yours or another person’s, allow yourself to make mistakes. Understand that there are no wrong choices, just choices that takes you to another path and everything that happens is what should be happening for you to improve as a being.

Be responsible of your actions and decisions. This is the only way you have to be in charge of your life.

You decide!