Dear Eric:

“I applied at every place in town.. I started working at McDonalds for 4 months.. I then started working at my dads work… I returned to McDonalds.. My most recent job was at an RV factory where i was making very good money and genuinely enjoying my job“- you are a motivated young man, willing to work hard, seems to me!

“My friend ended up kicking me out and stealing almost all of my valuable possessions.. My mother and her parents all suffer from bipolar and were very physically and mentally abusive people“- a motivated, hard working young man challenged by the effects of being betrayed by (1) a family you trusted to love you, and (2)  a friend you trusted to .. not steal from you.

“I started working..  before quitting because of increasing conflict with one of the managers…  and quickly left again due to the general manager being extremely degrading“- it is possible that the manager was as extremely degrading as you believe he was, but it is also possible that you perceived him to be degrading when he was not, or anything in the middle.

“My most recent job was at an RV factory where I was making very good money and genuinely enjoying my job, I was starting to come out of my depressive state and was even getting ready to move into my own place, then my boss pulls me aside to tell me I wasn’t up to par with their expectations and that they are letting me go“-

-It is possible that you worked hard and that you were up to par with expectations but the boss decided to let you go for other reasons, and it is possible that you really did not match expectations, maybe.. you weren’t on time to work, maybe you took too many breaks.. (?)

It is a shame that the job didn’t last because you enjoyed it, it paid well,  and you were close to moving to your own place!

“There aren’t anymore jobs in my area that I can get to by walking and I don’t know if it would even matter, I feel like I’m destined to fail at every job in my area“- it will not be a destiny if you learn all you can learn from your experiences so far, and in so doing, increasing your chances for better results next time you apply for and get a job!

anita

Hi Eric

I am new to this forum and I was looking at some of the topics. I found yours from a while back and I am wondering how you are doing.

Hopefully things have worked out on your end. If not, and if you still want to chat about your experience we can do it here.

I saw some similarities between you and me in the sense that some of the jobs that I had in the past did not last long and I feel like I am such a disappointment.

However over time I have realized that people who share similar experiences are the ones that are often sensible (as opposed to “sensitive” to criticisms) and perhaps level headed, so we often find ourselves in situations where we have conflicts with the ones higher up. Also we are the ones that hold the truths and will stand our grounds, as it gives us inner peace.

But things don’t always work out and we find ourselves in unfortunate circumstances such as yours (e.g. even being “blacklisted”) and despite our best intentions we might be labelled as “antisocial”, “problematic” or “non-team players” trying to be the “backseat driver”.

Or “failing the job miserably” even though we see the values of our contributions.

For me I have found myself in a rut and I wasn’t making any progress despite my best efforts. That brought me back to a really dark place where I felt really depressed.

With the encouragement from my partner I knew that I had to break this cycle of shame and self-pity. I had to do better than that.

The first step I took was to recognize the fact that I didn’t fit into the organisations where I (or my parents or society) thought I would belong. I don’t need to be “higher up” to have self worth. I have learned the fact that the most outspoken ones on social media, and the ones with the most “successful” stories are not representative of all of our experiences.

The ones that don’t “fit in” would naturally “fit into” their own groups where they belong. This doesn’t normally happen on social media, for example, so if this is where you’re looking for support then you probably won’t meet the people of your kind. At least that is what I have learned.

You have to know where to find your people that will see your worth. Even if you don’t know where they are, by being yourself and trusting your gut, you are making huge steps that will lead you to the right direction.

It could be something as small as, for example, me walking around the neighbourhood to look for signs that someone is hiring, when everyone else is either on LinkedIn or sending their applications through the main recruitment sites which have failed me many times.

There are expectations for me to be there on par with the higher ups due to my academic background. However I choose to be simple and I want to work at a local store where I can make friends and be happy with my life. So I need to change my attitude, not only through the words that I use verbally and in writing, but through my mind.

By changing my mind I see where the opportunities are in places that I wasn’t even looking when I had too much going on in my mind. It turns out that the shop manager has been looking for someone for a long time but could not find anyone, probably because they do not have good marketing skills.

However I was the person that they’re looking for. It was a dream job for me, and I really wanted that. No one ever noticed that there was a small piece of paper on the shop window saying they’re hiring someone and the advert looked like scam.

Despite their horrible writing skills I thought there might be a chance so I tried and I got the job, something that I really liked. I am still not sure if I am going to quit.. hopefully not.

I guess you just need to focus on the good, and be honest with yourself about your situation. Look at the bigger picture – why is there a mismatch between what you see and what you think others would think of you?

What went wrong?

Have honest conversations with yourself and explain to yourself why that should or shouldn’t be the case. Don’t lie to yourself. Because if you cover it up with lies it will come back to you. You won’t like the job and that is one of the main consequences.

What is holding you back? What are the insecurities that you must face if you want to find something that you like and stay in the job?

I think you might have some answers for yourself. Sometimes it takes time to grow and learn about yourself as well.

I do not personally think that it has anything to do with ADHD as I do not agree that anyone should be defined, or limited, by any diagnosis that they have received at any point in their life which could well just be an opinion of an expert that is not approved by other experts that have other opinions.