Career lessons from Taylor Swift

You don't have to do it with a broken heart... and you have a range of career-eras

She’s landed in Europe for the latest leg of the Eras tour, and my social feeds are full of videos of sequin-clad Taylor Swift. She’s unavoidable, and happily so. I am a fan, and love her new songs.

Even if you’re not familiar with them, you’ll have heard snippets on social media - her songs are always trending audio on Instagram.

One of the latest is about ‘doing it with a broken heart’. Carrying on with work even when you want to curl up on the floor and just cry. Keeping going because people might expect or want you to.

The more Taylor fills my feed and ears the more I feel a link between her world and the world of work. There is a lot to learn from her - and some things we can choose to replicate too. I’d love to hear yours - share them in the comments!

You can do it with a broken heart (but you don’t have to)…

Carrying on at work with a broken heart is hard - but it can, like Taylor says, be productive even if you’re crying a lot. The hyper-focus that comes with heartbreak, not just from a relationship but from things like grief, can actually be a place where you produce new, deeper work that you weren’t expecting.

I posted on Instagram recently asking whether it was ever ok to cry at work - with Taylor’s trending audio, of course.

However, be mindful that carrying on when you want to lie on the floor even when the crowd is chanting ‘MORE!’ is not always the answer. Taking breaks, having time off, resting and self care are all very very important. Carrying on with a broken heart is no true badge of honour and that leads me to the next Taylor work/career comparison…

Asking for help is a good idea - and there’s no shame in having support

Have you seen Taylor’s entourage? Her dancers, who are there for her, her team? Her family? Work is about collaboration, too. From Florence Welch to Post Malone, Taylor is not alone on the new album. She’s got friends involved in her project, and it’s all the better for it.

Haters gonna hate.

This also takes us into ignoring the haters. Taylor Swift doesn’t just rise above, she writes above, turning moments of negativity into songs, into her work. Sometimes the best thing we can do when something makes us mad or upset at work is, well, to Shake it Off (yes, I went there, sorry not sorry).

High achievement is about focus - but you don’t have to do it all. And comparing ourselves to others is futile

There are a lot of posts on social media saying things like: “Taylor Swift wrote a new album while on a world tour and I can’t put the washing away”. While they’re lols, there is a real worry here for me that we might even begin to compare ourselves with a megastar who has a huge support team. Over comparison is the thief of work joy, and it steals time we could be spending working on ourselves. I’ve compared myself to celebs in the past - and now. It’s easy to see what they do as a benchmark. Remember, high achieving celebrities have an entourage - they also, though, prove what’s possible when we do focus on US and not what’s going on around us.

I’ve read about Taylor working on her fitness for the tour - running and walking on a treadmill while singing her set. There’s something to be learned from that dedication and commitment to performing and being her best. Even if that’s just taking a lunchtime walk for your mental health and getting those steps up.

We have career-eras…

A shout out to my sister for this one! I LOVE the idea of having career eras. Career-eras if you will. That we don’t have to be in one job, on one path for all of our careers and working lives. That we can go through eras in our work, and leave them behind when we’re done, learning as we go.

I’ve had my real-life journalist era, my dating columnist era, my career break ski seasonnaire waitress era, and now, of course, my coach era. I like the one I’m in right now. It’s actually blended with being a writer, and so perhaps it’s my coach-writer era.

What’s your current era? And what eras have you been through?

Thanks for reading and as always, click below to come say hi on Instagram.

jennyhollidaycoach

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