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If this is your first time taking up an internship, it can be emotionally challenging. You're entering a foreign territory, you don't know what to expect, and odds are that you're probably going to feel emotionally taxed from dealing with all these changes.
So how can we emotionally manage the uncertainties of an internship experience? In this article, we introduce the concept of the antifragile mindset developed by Nassim Taleb.
What is the Antifragile Mindset?
According to Taleb, being antifragile means that that not only does something resist breaking, but comes out even stronger from the pressure. Therefore, having an antifragile mindset means that when you are put under stressors, not only can you bounce back from adversity, you can also thrive and grow from it.
In other words, what doesn't kill you should make you stronger. It's not just about being able to take the heat, it's about being able to flourish and grow from unanticipated changes.
So how do we practice it in our internship experience? In the next part of this article, we look at a couple of scenarios where you can practice being antifragile.
Rejections from Internship Search
It is quite common to face a number of rejections before you receive an internship offer. Having an antifragile mindset means that you can use these rejections to better yourself. For example, you can look back at your previous applications and note where you have been rejected, as well as reflecting upon what you can do better. And the most important step is putting yourself back out there and applying for the next role.
Doing Something New In Your Internship and Failed
Internships is an experiential learning experience, so you are bound to learn and do new things in the internship. If you did something new and it went smoothly, that's great! If you tried to pioneer an initiative but it did not go as planned however, kick in your antifragile mindset. Many companies will do an After Action Review (AAR) to debrief after a project, so you can use this opportunity to reflect on the areas of improvement to do better in the future.
You Don't Have to Dismiss Your Emotions
Building an antifragile mindset does not mean you won’t feel dejected when you receive rejection emails, or when something does not go as you planned. It is totally fine (and even healthy!) to acknowledge the emotions you feel at that point of time. So what’s next? Bounce back and learn from these setbacks so that you can better respond to them if you meet similar challenges in the future.
The Easiest Day Was Yesterday
At CareerSocius, we provide services and resources for you to practice how to be antifragile. Our services will provide you with the feedback to learn and improve from your personal branding, and our resources can be your AAR to benchmark yourself against these tools.
No one is able to predict what is going to happen in your internship journey, but we can learn to anticipate possible setbacks and also be able to bounce back from them.
The easiest day was yesterday. All the best future interns!