TheMadGrad

A quote on Alexandra Levit’s blog really caught my attention: ” If you don’t get something you want, it simply means you didn’t want it badly enough.” I’ve actually been thinking about this a lot lately, as I’ve witnessed this in my own life. When I look back at the apartments, awards or jobs I didn’t get, as disappointed as I was at the time, there was a part of me that didn’t completely want it.

I had an interview awhile back with a company that I thought was pretty great- they paid for grad school, had lots of young employees, and offered great benefits. Needless to say I was pretty disappointed when they told me they went with someone else. But in reality, while the company was great, the position really wasn’t- I would be doing work that I wasn’t that interested in, and offered little room for growth. I’m sure they could tell in the interview, that while I was enthusiastic about their company, I wasn’t about the position. Just as we can sense if employers are interested in us, they can sense when we are interested in them. They know when we genuinely want the job, and when we are nodding and saying we want it, but really don’t.

I had a similar situation yesterday, looking for apartments with my roommates. After several months of searching, we finally found our dream home. Everything from the price, the freshly painted walls, to the dishwasher and disposal ( a treat in san francisco), was absolutely perfect. In the competitive housing market in San Francisco, we were surprised to find out that we got the apartment right away! After doing some thinking though, one of the main reasons we got it was because the landlord could tell how much we wanted it. It was hard not to see in our eyes, expressions and actions how much we wanted the house. This is the same for the other apartments I have looked at as well- when we really wanted the house, we usually got it, and when we didn’t- our hearts weren’t fully in it in the first place.

Next time you apply for an internship, full-time job, apartment, or scholarship,  make sure you really want it. If you do, pour heart and energy into getting it and chances are they will realize your passion and it will work out. If not, at least you know your time wasn’t wasted and it was worth the effort. (Or maybe you didn’t want it as bad as you originally thought)