Everyone has to perform under pressure at some time in their lives. Athletes competing, scientists giving a presentation, job seekers interviewing are just a few examples.
First, take solace in the fact that you aren’t alone. According to the AAMC, there were over 48,000 medical school applicants in 2013. From that pool of applicants, less than half of them (20,055) matriculated into their first year of medical school.
Secondly, be heartened by recent reports like the one just released in March 2015, “The Complexities of Physician Supply and Demand: Projections from 2013 to 2025.”
In 2013, international fellows came to the NIH from 93 countries; if you just relocated to the NIH from abroad, it can be a challenge to adjust to a new culture, new city, and a new lab.
Everybody has an inner voice and it can help you think and guide your decision making. But what happens when that voice turns critical? In moderation, this can be helpful and even motivating. We can turn towards these critical voices, give them space, and find out what they are worried about so that we can release and relax.
For many, the holiday season is joy-filled and terrific. Some of us however, experience the holiday blues as we feel loneliness, reflect on the past year, and possibly dread an upcoming and uncertain new year. Rates of depression and anxiety tend to spike during the holiday season. If you are already experiencing stress in other areas of your life, then you may be especially vulnerable to holiday stress this season.
The holiday season often brings twinkling lights, and at the same time long to-do lists and a variety of different stressors:
Everybody seems busy today. In fact, according to an op-ed in the New York Times, many Americans are addicted to this ‘busy trap.’ Guilt and anxiety seem to arise if you aren’t managing multiple projects at once. Because of this daily grind – self-imposed or not – many aren’t able to find time to plan and strategize their career development. Most job seekers lament that there just aren’t enough hours in the day.
As we’ve discussed in previous blog posts, it can be really difficult to stay positive during a job search. However, positivity is often a key characteristic of the most productive job searchers and luckily, there are things you can do to help enhance your own optimism.