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We've all had crap jobs.  And why that job was crap could stem from a million reasons.  Maybe your boss was a moron.  Maybe your coworkers were backstabbers and haters.  Maybe the environment was toxic.  Maybe you weren't paid enough.  Or maybe it was just thankless.  Whatever the reason, it could have caused what is known as career trauma.  Career trauma is a real thing and many people suffer from it.  It's happened to me, but I didn't even have a name for it until recently.

Now I can go into a lot of entertaining stories about how my last job sucked, my coworkers were ridiculous and why I deserved better.  But what would be the point?  My Real today is more about how I was able to use those experiences as learning, which transitioned into growth and ultimately me overcoming my way right into the career situation I had always dreamed about. 

It took me getting away from The Man, to realize how traumatic the experience had been.  In the beginning my professional self worth was low and I saw it creeping up into everything thing I pursued after that job.  Which was getting me nowhere, fast.  It took one failed business for me to realize how much time I was wasting by not addressing my trauma issues.

Now I'm no therapist so I can't tell you what you need to do to get over your career trauma.  Maybe just realizing such a thing exists can help you to overcome it.  Maybe it's worth talking with someone about in order to heal.  But what I can tell you is... nothing happens without reason.  Don't let this thing affect your future career in the wrong way.  Learn from it.  Grow from it.  And use whatever happened as the fuel you need to get you where you want to go.  Your future career depends on it.