Beware of the not good enough mindset and take steps to change it

Do you struggle with feeling like you are not good enough? In years of working with job seekers, I find a percentage of people are unable to recognize their success stories even when their accomplishments are stellar.

Even among high achievers who can speak to amazing things in their career, I frequently hear people say, “I’m not good enough,” they won’t pick me, no one will hire me.

The destructive impact of the not good enough mindset

Job seekers who have been never unemployed before or lost a job that they worked hard to get can be very disillusioned. If they worked at the same company for years, the not good enough feelings can take over early in a job search.

Why is it so hard to see successes in hindsight or even recognize them when they happen?

Many people were told early on not to brag about their accomplishments and they start thinking they should never talk about success.

Unfortunately, while bragging is not a good strategy, the inability to cite your successes or achievements makes convincing a hiring manager that you are the one for the job very difficult. This is one of the reasons that there are so many poor resumes that fail to illustrate the job seeker’s value. The fear of being not good enough combines with the desire to stay humble and the resume reads like a job description.

Why you should never write a job description resume

The job description resume lists duties but fails to illustrate the value that an individual provided to the company. Capitalizing on the value is less about bragging than it is providing proof that you will contribute value to the next employer. When you explain your value to the company by crafting robust stories of how you helped your earlier company, you let the hiring managers better understand why they should hire you.

Stop thinking you are not good enough and focus on the good you provided in your previous roles. Dig deep. If you struggle with coming up with content, my clients work with me to capture their value. You can too. Learn more here.