THE RISK OF DOING NOTHING AS A FRESH GRADUATE
Nowadays it appears a lot of fresh graduates do not really understand the dynamics of the job market and the risks of doing nothing while in search of a job. Now that you’re a fresh graduate, there are so many things you should be doing to build your profile and develop your skills while you continue to apply for a full time employment. I mean I get that now you’re beginning to adjust to this new lifestyle where you don’t need to get up early anymore, no more school lectures, no assignments, no endless tests, and no more EXAMS! However living like this could have adverse effects on your personal and professional life
THE RISK OF DOING NOTHING AS A FRESH GRADUATE
1. Death of profession. There are so many things that can kill the professional careers of fresh graduates in Nigeria, and idleness tops the list of them all. How long has it been since you proactively learned a new skill? Reached out to your network contacts? Or even polished up your resume? If you can’t remember, then it’s a sign that you’re becoming complacent and complacency is a perfect career killer. It’s what happens when you’re idle or doing nothing, but simply waiting for the next invite to a job interview. Things are changing too fast these days in Nigeria, to hang on too tightly to the status quo, as the costs of doing nothing can be huge. Change is a constant part of our lives both personally and professionally. It doesn’t matter whether you think things should change or whether you prefer the same old way of lifestyle or doing things. You don’t have to learn to love it, you need to learn to stop resisting it and to start adapting to it. Because of the negative energy that comes with idleness, it is advised to get yourself actively involved in activities that can build you up. Idleness tends to make people feel negative and down, your mood automatically drops and will inevitably impact your personal and professional productivity and development. Staying idle will make you disorganized and unreliable, because you’re not spending the necessary amount of time planning, organizing, coordinating and communicating with others. You begin to procrastinate and miss important targets and deadlines, idleness will keep you stuck in the past, and of course this kind of attitude has obvious negative effects on your profession as a fresh graduate.
2. Stagnancy. Getting complacent, and keeping a lifestyle that makes you ‘feel comfortable’ can happen quite unconsciously.suddenly there are no more endless lectures to attend, no assignments, no tests, and no exams, you don’t need to wake early in the morning to prepare for daily lectures anymore, all of a sudden you’re free to come and go as you will, plus this time around its even better, because you’re a new graduate with the world at your feet. I mean what more could you possibly ask for? Yeah yeah, you get the picture. Right. Now sorry to spoil all the fun, but the fact is this: for there to be any kind of progress at all in your personal and professional life,you will need to keep learning constantly and also implement new skills. If you really want to move higher and grow, you will need to get your act together, otherwise it will shock you that the years will creep up on you, while you’re at the same spot you’ve been at ‘as a fresh graduate’. These days employers in Nigeria are actively seeking for highly driven employees who can learn and grow with the organization. The demand is so great that skilled professionals who can validate their resourcefulness through constant self- learning and by getting certified with professional courses and bodies can have their scales high up in their careers. Stagnancy has the potential of causing a degeneration of one’s skills, it reduces your drive and ultimately results in frustration. Looking at the current economic situation of Nigeria and the larger society, you might want to have a rethink about staying idle as a freshie in Nigeria. Set for yourself, self- improvement goals and take active steps to achieve them. The cost of doing nothing as a fresh graduate in Nigeria is far higher than you may ever know.
3. Health risks. One of the worst things you can do to your body is doing nothing at all. According to a Research conducted by Australian researchers, it was found that men who sat for more than six hours a day at work where 90 percent more likely to feel moderate psychological distress. Your sedentary lifestyle as a fresh Nigerian graduate can leave you feeling nervous, tired, restless and even hopeless. Even worse, other types of sedentary behaviour such as watching TV or playing electronic games can increase your risk for anxiety.
THE RISK OF DOING NOTHING AS A FRESH GRADUATE
• Cancer. Spending most of your time idle can predispose you to cancer. People who spend most of their time in front of the TV or incessantly handling their mobile phones have increased risk of developing cancers, which is largely due to the fact that they tend to pass most of their time consuming sweetened beverages and junk foods while glued to the TV or mobile screens, which will pave the way for obesity. Large studies have consistently shown that higher levels of body fat can spike your cancer risk. And this is because chronic local inflammation can attack your body cells leading to cancer – causing DNA damage over time, according to a cancer institute. Plus, a surplus of fat cells produces hormones that causes your cells to grow and divide rapidly.
• Brain health. When you lounge too long, your brain cells also begin to suffer. In a study of more than 1800 adults 65 and older, the researchers found that people with a gene strongly associated with dementia were nearly twice as likely to develop it as people without the gene. But when they looked at the people who didn’t exercise regularly, they found that their odds of developing dementia were similar.
• Blood sugar. Even if you’re still very young and healthy, your blood sugar levels can rise if you’re parked in a chair for too long, according to a recent university of Florida study.
• Sex life. Your inactive behavior can set you up for sexual problems also. Men who spend most of the time doing nothing have a 29 percent lower sperm count. After surveying 300 men, researchers from the Cedars – Sinai Medical Center in Los Angeles found that highly active men or men that completed 3.5 hours of moderate exercise or more a week, had higher sexual function scores than men who reported lower levels of physical activity.
• Sleeplessness. When people are actively engaged in various things, both mentally and physically, they tend to experience a good night’s sleep. According to study published in Mental Health and Physical Activity, exercising at least 150 minutes a week can improve the quality of your sleep. When people meet these physical activity guidelines, their risk of day time sleeplessness dropped compared to people who didn’t hit the guidelines, the researchers found.
THE RISK OF DOING NOTHING AS A FRESH GRADUATE
4. Kills dreams. Fear of change is complacency’s evil twin. It actively works to keep things the same as always. When you begin to adjust to your present lifestyle of mental inactivity and doing nothing, it begins to feel really, really good, especially if you’re the financially buoyant type, you start thinking that your present state of bliss is going to last forever and that you’re entitled to it. This kind of mindset will kill your dreams faster than you can say ‘ Jack Robinson’. Never ever be content with resting on your laurels. If don’t start thinking of working out a plan on how to achieve your goals and lose sight of your goals and visions and start settling down for mediocrity, you’ll miss out on a lot of opportunities to develop and grow. And like I already mentioned, the price of doing nothing is higher than you’ll ever know. Trust me.
” the richest and greatest place on earth is the graveyard. It’s full of people who never acted on their dreams, because they are too shy and too comfortable, their dreams are buried with them. It contains projects that have never been done, books that have never been written, ideas that have never been shared and songs that haven’t been heard”_ Les Brown
When you choose inactivity over actively pursuing your dreams, you keep your dreams on hold, you become your own enemy and the murderer of your dreams. Only just believing in yourself is not enough, you’ve got to get off your butt and make things happen.
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