You Think You Messed Up? Don’t Catastrophise | by Jordon Ricketts

It’s normal to be overly ecstatic and enthusiastic when you are granted your first corporate job. You think that eventually things will be smooth sailing and you will excel within your company. However, you may have encountered a few bumps along the road, and you think this is it. You might be deeping life right now thinking ‘I’ll never make it.’ and that you’ve already ‘written yourself off’ by ‘ruining’ your personal brand amongst colleagues. 

It’s great that we recognise what areas as apprentices we need to work on but let's not panic. It does demonstrate that you withhold a sense of self-awareness and responsibility, but it becomes an issue when you’re overthinking too much. This is when catastrophising starts to occur. 

If you are an individual who suffers from a fear of failure, it’s imperative to know when to put a halt to your negative thinking. You’re going to make mistakes as an apprentice and that is the reality. 

An apprentice manager during a Multiverse event said, "If you're the smartest one in the room, find a new room". That statement is entirely accurate! What is the point of being an apprentice if you know everything already? Why do you not expect to slip up? If that’s the case, you may as well find somewhere else, where you can acquire new skills. As an apprentice, failing is inevitable. It doesn’t mean you will never attain success. Failing is a good thing! Use that to showcase your growth as you learn from it. You won’t be the best or the smartest professional immediately, but you will eventually get there.

In order to stop catastrophising, what can we do? Well, we can kick off by changing our thinking process. Think slow and not fast. Instead of being quick to jump to your typical response of unhelpful thoughts and behaviours, switch it around. Take a few steps back, chill, and start thinking about what can be learnt from this mistake. Now, this is when strategic thinking and development come into play.

Instead of catastrophising and ruminating over mistakes that you can’t change, start developing strategies to bounce back! You know you’re repeating the same mistake over again, discover the primary reason for that.

Let's say you struggle with organisational skills. Maybe devise a schedule or a to-do list of pending tasks. Or maybe you struggle with forming interpersonal relationships. Be innovative and develop conversation prompts or push yourself to attend a work social event. Multiverse has an array of resources, and the internet is free! Utilise them, watch videos, complete courses, or access additional content that helps you to enhance both your personal and professional development.

Do not be disheartened and become demotivated, as that will send you down a spiral of negative thoughts that will burden you. As I mentioned previously, think slow and not fast. Maximise your potential by increasing your resilience and breaking that pessimistic thought pattern. The best way to tackle any mishaps is to discover a solution. You can’t change anything in the past; so do not catastrophise. Remember to learn from your errors and start developing your strategy. 

Find some useful resources below:

• Higher Energy and Better Performance
• https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=HOulII0w7ek
• Stop Overthinking and Manage Your Inner Critic

Jordon Ricketts is in the Digital Business Accelerator programme at Multiverse.