d
Girl Gone International resident Clinical Psychologist Birgit tells us how
to shake off the ‘I should haves’ and guilt.
Birgit
CASE STUDY
Iris from Germany was travelling
in Australia for 6 months, working
in a bar as a waitress to make ends
meet.
With a Master’s degree in Commerce
and Finance she often found herself
wondering: “Jeez, why do I work in a
bar? I should have stayed at home
and worked on my career in finance
instead. All my friends back home
will be more successful than me.”
Buying into these thoughts made
her feel very unaccomplished, her
mood was low, she felt dissatisfied
and sometimes even guilty.
STEP 1 | I asked her “What does
working in a bar mean to you?” Her
answer was, “It doesn’t mean anything to me. But, I need money to
travel.”
STEP 2 | “So what does it mean to
you that you need money to travel?”
She replied, “Well, I love travelling. I
want to see as much of Australia as I
can. So I need money.”
STEP 3 | “So what does travelling
mean to you?”, I asked.
Iris replied, “I like learning new
things and challenging myself.”
So Iris’ inner values were learning
new things and challenging herself.
Iris realised that working in the bar
didn’t mean that she was lazy or
neglecting her career, she was trying to live her value of exploring and
travelling this year. Working in a bar
was making it possible.
STEP 4 | She thought she could
enhance her value of learning new
things also in her current role in
the bar.
For instance, by asking more questions about how a bar is successfully
run, investigate what the market
looks like for investments in a bar,
what marketing strategies are being
used, how to get investors on-board
for a bar.Try applying these 4 steps
to your own life if you ever feel guilt
or anxiety about the choices you
have made to become a Girl Gone
International.
www.facebook.com/wavesoflifepsychology