(Old version) Career Paralysis: 5 Reasons Why Our Brains Struggle With Career Decisions (And How Psychology Can Help)

Career Paralysis: 5 Reasons Why Our Brains Struggle With Career Decisions ...and how psychology can help you make better career choices

Is this you?

You want a job

But not just any job...

You want a job that actually fulfils you . You want meaning .

A job you can look back on with pride

(Big but) BUT

The job ads don’t inspire you

You don’t want to lose your lifestyle

And you’re worried about stepping into the unknown.

Should you be taking more risks? You think to yourself...

And how big a risk ? If so, which risk ?

And isn’t it too late to change?

You feel like you’re going round in circles...

Some days you struggle to remember who you are...

...and even the simplest decisions are starting to seem difficult.

If so, you are not alone ...

If so, you are not alone ... In fact, it’s not even your fault...

...it’s our brains that are to blame. (They can’t cope).

Let us explain... This presentation explains why so many of us struggle with career decision making, and why psychology is key to understanding what you can do about it . We work with many different people who feel dissatisfied with what they do, but don’t know how to change their lives for the better. This is Rob This is Amelia We are two London-based occupational psychologists who specialise in using psychology to help people find their best career direction .

Our brains evolved to keep us alive . They are phenomenally good at anticipating trouble and fixing real-world problems. But they are not so good at dealing with different types of problems ...

“ Our brains evolved for a very different world in which we are now living. They evolved for a world in which people lived in very small groups, where they rarely met anybody who was very different from themselves, had rather short lives in which there were few choices and where the highest priority was to eat and mate today” Professor Dan Gilbert, TED Conference, December 2008

In terms of career choice , this has never really been a problem before .

In the agricultural age you did whatever your parents did. Baker, Taylor, Butcher, Smith. There was no such thing as ‘career choice’

In the industrial age social mobility increased. But social mobility still depended on social class and education. So career choice was only really an issue for nice chaps like William and Rupert here.

In the information age our choices expanded rapidly .

You’d be tested and then scientifically ‘ matched ’ by computer to your ideal career . Thankfully, computers came along to help.

(Mind you, what would I know? The computer told me I should have been a dental hygienist ). This approach had two assumptions: a static work environment and a static self .

But nothing is static any more.

The job market is volatile

the job for life almost dead

and the portfolio career inexorably on the rise .

People want meaning at work, not ‘living for the weekend’ .

Jobs are being created in areas not even heard of 2 years ago.

Anyone can network, market and build a brand for free .

...and the recession is accentuating all of these trends.
Anyone can network, market and build a brand for free .

So the good news is … career opportunities have never been greater. Most of us can be whoever we want to be .

Bad news Our brains are not set up to deal with this new type of career decision.

We’re good at survival thinking

But less good when we need to deal with lots of ambiguous information...

... choose between lots of different options...

... or when we need to think anew about our lives and our careers.

By understanding this, we can begin to make progress.

Me = square peg Dental Hygienist = round hole

The 5 Reasons Why Your Brain Struggles With Career Decisions

We’re bad at choice 1

We usually think of choice as a good thing .

We usually think of choice as a good thing . But Barry Schwartz showed that too much choice actually stresses us out.

It’s the ‘ Paradox of Choice ’.

The paradox of choice not only means decision making is more difficult , but we’re less happy with our decisions when we do make them.

Result: we feel overwhelmed by the options open to us and find it hard to make a career decision. And when we finally do make a decision, we always wonder what might have been...

We’re negatively biased 2

We evolved to think negatively .

Imagine 1000s of years ago one of your ancestors on the savannah plains sees something in the distance. Is it a bear or a blueberry bush? We evolved to think negatively .

Imagine 1000s of years ago one of your ancestors on the savannah plains sees something in the distance. Is it a bear or a blueberry bush? An optimist might have seen a blueberry bush. Let’s imagine they were right: they’d eat far more blueberries than their pessimist friends. But let’s imagine they were wrong..they’d miss the chance to pass on their genes . Our ancestors were the ones who anticipated the worst. Our minds evolved with one main rule : safety first. We evolved to think negatively .

Martin Seligman calls this a negative bias . He showed that negative events play a far more powerful role in our memories than positive events .

Negative memories are 3 to 5 times more powerful than positive .

We’re 10,000 times more sensitive to bitter tastes than we are to sweet. Evidence : We need 5 positive comments to every negative for a happy marriage (Gottman, 2008) . We hate losing twice as much as we love winning (Kahneman & Tversky 1990 ) . We are psychologically inflexible . If we try not to think about something unpleasant – we think about i t even more. (Hayes, 1990) .

This is good for survival (Because we learn to avoid dangerous situations). Less good for building something constructive (Because good stuff needs to outweigh bad stuff by roughly 5 to 1).

Result: we tend to think of lots of reasons why we can’t do something, rather than reasons why we can . We’re very aware of our weaknesses, but have no real idea about our strengths .

We make decisions based on the past, not on our possibilities. 3

Dan Gilbert showed this in his book Stumbling on Happiness

Question : Which are more common, pigs or dogs on leashes ?

We scan our memories and quickly conclude that dogs on leashes are much more common. Question : Which are more common, pigs or dogs on leashes ?

But what about words that begin with ‘R’ or words with ‘R’ as the 3 rd letter ? _ _ R _ R _ _ _ Which are more common?

_ _ R _ R _ _ _ Most people think that words starting with ‘R’ are more common . But what about words that begin with ‘R’ or words with ‘R’ as the 3 rd letter ? Which are more common?

_ _ R _ R _ _ _ Most people think that words starting with ‘R’ are more common . But the mind recalls words which start with ‘R’ much more rapidly , so it concludes that they are more common . In fact words with ‘R’ in third place are more common . But what about words that begin with ‘R’ or words with ‘R’ as the 3 rd letter ? Which are more common?

Given that we remember negative events much more easily than positive, our brains erroneously conclude that negative events are more common , and therefore...... more likely.

So caution creeps in Given that we remember negative events much more easily than positive, our brains erroneously conclude that negative events are more common , and therefore...... more likely.

Result: we tend to discount the very career options that might leave us fulfilled .

Our brains tend to think in set patterns. 4

We like linear . For example, here we see a triangle where none exists .

In 1945 Duncker gave participants a candle , a box of nails , and several other objects. He asked them to attach the candle to the wall so that it did not drip onto the table below .

Ducker found that participants tried to nail the candle directly to the wall or to glue it to the wall by melting it.

Very few of them thought of using the inside of the nail box as a candle-holder and nailing this to the wall. Ducker found that participants tried to nail the candle directly to the wall or to glue it to the wall by melting it. The participants were “fixated” on the box’s normal function of holding nails and could not re-conceptualise it in a way that allowed a novel solution.

In decision making, this is called ‘ functional fixedness ’. Our brains often fail to solve problems because they assume from past experience that any given object only has a limited number of uses.

Result: When applied to career decision making, functional fixedness leads to a sense that we can only do what we’ve always done.

We fuse our thoughts with reality. 5

For example, you come home knackered from work and you think... “ I’m too tired to go for a run”

Outcome : Don’t go for a run . “ I’m too tired to go for a run”

Although tiredness does not physically prevent us from going for a run, we tend to fuse our thoughts with reality . Outcome : Don’t go for a run . “ I’m too tired to go for a run”

Although tiredness does not physically prevent us from going for a run, we tend to fuse our thoughts with reality . This is known as cognitive fusion and it affects all areas of our live s. Outcome : Don’t go for a run . “ I’m too tired to go for a run”

This is known as cognitive fusion and it affects all areas of our live s. “ I’m too old to change career”

This is known as cognitive fusion and it affects all areas of our live s. “ I’m fooling myself that I could change”

Result: When our mind tells us that: it’s too late to change, that no one is happy at work, that we could never succeed doing something new (etc etc etc) ... We tend to believe it.

Summary so far: We compare only against the past, not the possible. We have a negative bias. We’re hopeless when faced with too much choice. We think we can only do what we’ve always done We confuse our thoughts with reality. 1 2 3 4 5

So we’re back where we started...

5 things you can do tomorrow to make a better career decision

We’re hopeless when faced with too much choice 1

Identify clear and objective criteria to make decisions against. To prevent all options looking the same...

This means OBJECTIVELY identifying your skills, interests, personality preferences, strengths ....and values . Then use these criteria to evaluate your job options.

Here’s how... Try this list of free or cheap online personality test. Take Martin Seligman’s free signature strengths test . Download our e-booklet on identifying your personal values (it’s free).

We have a negative bias 2

It’s natural to think negatively BUT

You should simultaneously gain clarity about your achievements and visualise them in detail .

What are your strengths ? What skills do you possess that perhaps you don’t even notice? Becoming fluent in your strengths will reduce your negative bias.

Get our free peak achievements worksheet . Here’s how...

We compare only against the past, not the possible. 3

Usually we make decisions looking backwards

It’s too easy to think only in terms of what you’ve done in the past. The first thing people ask about is your experience . The first thing you do is write up a CV. So it’s tempting to think in a linear way about the things you could do in future . But that’s a trap .

After all, if you think the way you always think, you’ll get what you always get. I could never do that – I mean, I’ve never done it before!

Don’t just think about goals

Think about your vision for the future

We’re not here for long... So what’s your purpose?

What do you want to spend your time on earth doing?

Download our timeline exercise . Download our free creative problem solving worksheet . Download our obituary exercise . Here’s how...

We think we can only do what we’ve always done. 4

Examine each aspect of your life in isolation.

By looking closely at something closely you will usually see it in a different light.

Why do you work? ( motivations ) What type of work appeals? ( sectors and fields ) Who do you wish to be at work? ( roles ) Where do you want to work? ( geographies ) How do you wish to work? ( working conditions ) Which types of organisations appeal? ( organisations ) Looking at your career in detail:

Enter your preferences into the O*Net website – it will suggest some careers for you to consider Ask us for our free top 10 questions about your career preferences Here’s how...

We confuse thoughts with reality. 5

Understand that our thoughts are just that - thoughts. They are not reality.

Most of the time we treat our thoughts as though they are literally true:- ‘ you really screwed up there!’ You’re going to fail again!’ But buying these thoughts – behaving as though they are true – only make our lives smaller . Thinking these thoughts is natural.

Many career experts argue that you should try to think positively to control these negative thoughts.

Have you ever been able to control your thoughts in this way?

You’re in charge , not your thoughts. Keep them in their place. A better strategy is to change your relationship with your thoughts . Thoughts are not reality . You do not need to control your thoughts to pursue your most valued goals. You have a choice about what you actually do in life. You do not need to be free of anxiety or be confident to succeed.

Download our workbook in Cognitive Defusion and Willingness . Ask us for our Mindfulness exercises . Read about the science of ACT . Here’s how...

Your choice is to live a life in which you do the things that are really important to you. Or, you can drift aimlessly, letting your demons run the ship...

By focusing on your strengths and using them for a clear purpose , you can find meaning in your career. That’s not a luxury. It’s the clearest reality there is.

We offer:
A clear 3-step decision process
Proven psychometric assessments
Creative problem solving techniques
Skills to tackle anxiety
Project management tools
Empathy (we’ve been through this ourselves)
www.bloompsychology.com www.linkedin.com/robarcher Bloom uses psychology to help people find their niche [email_address] www.bloompsychology.com/career.html

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(Old version) Career Paralysis: 5 Reasons Why Our Brains Struggle With Career Decisions (And How Psychology Can Help)

by Rob Archer on Dec 08, 2009

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(Old version) Career Paralysis: 5 Reasons Why Our Brains Struggle With Career Decisions (And How Psychology Can Help) — Presentation Transcript