How The Pandemic Sent Me Into a Tail Spin of Self-Doubt and Procrastination (and How I Overcame Them Before It Was Too Late)
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You ever find yourself tossing and turning in bed in the middle of the night completely overwhelmed by where your life has brought you and clueless as to how you’re going to get out of this mess?
To be so full of panic, fear and anxiety that you’re actually sick to your stomach?
Well, I was there just less than a year ago now, and it’s a place I never want to be again.
When I was on the verge of giving up, I found effective help when I needed it most, and I’m writing this in the hope that you can pull yourself out of your situation before it gets to that point.
I’m Taylor, and two years ago at this time, I was number one. Well, number one according to my manager and what my customers had to say in a 5-star restaurant. I loved serving peoples’ needs and making their night, and management loved how much money I brought them night in, night out. There’s nothing like that symmetry where you’re happy and they’re happy. I thought I’d be doing this for years to come.
Well, what happens when a global pandemic hits and suddenly, all your skills are useless?
That’s what my life became as the lockdown went on and on, and what I had always thought would be a solid job disintegrated before my eyes. I was a people person, and thanks to COVID, my skills became worthless literally overnight.
Luckily, I could fall back on unemployment, but that’s not how I wanted to live my life.
Finding a Way Forward
One of the reasons I was a waitress was that I got the screaming horrors at putting myself into the whole 9-5 rigamarole. I was dead set against the whole cubicle thing, which is why I was much more fulfilled as a 5-star server rather than some sort of corporate climber.
I loved the whole sales thing; getting to know your prospect and figuring out how to make them happy and make myself money at the same time. For a while there, that was the high-end service industry, but I had no inkling as to what to do when face-to-face service was suddenly removed from the board as an option.
This sent me into a tailspin of self-doubt as I sat there collecting unemployment. I had no idea if or when my restaurant would be back to normal, and I wasn’t willing to wait and hope that things would magically come back to what they had been.
That’s when my friends started telling me how I would make such a great realtor. I was intrigued, but I also knew that included lots of book learning. I had always looked at realtors as stuffy and predatory at the same time, willing to undercut and backstab their way to success. That was not me. Yet here I was, three months out from my job with no inkling as to when it might resume, and disenchanted by the fact that what I had thought was a sure thing could dissolve overnight. So, I decided it couldn’t hurt to take the plunge.
Turning Over a New Leaf
There was a reason I hadn’t gone straight to college after high school. I was not a paper person. The idea of sitting in a classroom for four or more years had sent me screaming into the service industry five years prior, and nothing had changed in the meantime. In high school, I was a master procrastinator. I had squeaked through by getting stuff done at the last minute, and it was stressful and miserable. I had no desire to do that all again, yet that’s exactly where my life was leading me. Meanwhile, unemployment was ending, and my restaurant had folded. So, I was faced with a choice: Go back to the restaurant industry and hope we didn’t get shut down again, or find another way to use my people skills that was pandemic proof but would require me to face up to my long-simmering habit of procrastination when it came to paperwork. So, I felt I had no choice but to give real estate a go.
Learning a New Trade
So, here I was, dealing with the deluge of material you’re required to study to become a licensed realtor. While I was convinced that the skills that made me an excellent waitress could also translate to the real estate field, the sheer amount of material I would need to master to get there was mindboggling. The worst part? To unleash my skills with the full backing of my friends and Re/Max, I would need to pass a grueling exam. I knew it was coming, and it was causing me headaches even though it was six months away. At the same time, my savings and unemployment were dwindling before my eyes, so if I didn’t find a way to make this work, I would be out on my ass desperately searching for yet another restaurant job.
Misery
There’s a big difference between going through the motions in high school and facing down a test that will determine whether you’re able to make a living.
I was a complete basket case as six months counted down to four, and I had no idea how I was going to conquer what I saw as an enormous obstacle to my success. As my study sessions turned into all-nighters, my friends were worried about me. My routine consisted of cramming until my next class, then doing it all over again. None of the books I could find on the subject were helpful because I had no time for them, either.
One night, I was desperately searching the web for a study aid, when I found a site called Virtue Map. The only thing that gave me pause was the fact that their questions seemed like they were designed for someone like me. After I answered the survey, I was presented with a three-month plan that they claimed would allow me to overcome my procrastination and create a new routine that would be much more conducive to success.
So, again, I took the plunge. If you’re thinking that I magically sailed through my qualifications, you’d be wrong. But what it did do was cause me to finally figure out why I was the way I was regarding bookwork.
Fortunately for me, after a month of self-discovery, it then set about working to rewire my routine so that all-nighters were a thing of the past. I had much more control over my approach to my work, and I was able to break things down into smaller chunks that wouldn’t send me screaming for the exit.
Getting It Done
Over the next month and a half, that’s exactly what I did. I created a new routine that allowed me to do what I needed to do without my stress meter flying off the scale.
The result? By test day, I was in command and supremely confident that I could succeed without putting myself through the ringer. And, that’s exactly what happened.
A year later, I’m rising from a newbie back to a five-star professional able to use my people skills to their best advantage, whether it’s on a Zoom call or over a conference table.
The pandemic has been a wake-up call for so many people. If you’ve been terrified of pursuing your next step, Virtue Map could be just what you need to set you back on an even keel and allow you to make the most out of what life has brought you.
Click to take the survey, and thrive!
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