For many, a personal injury is an obstacle that slows down your performance at many levels; professional, at home, social, and even mental. Sustaining an injury as a result of an accident that wasn’t your fault can dramatically affect both your self-confidence and your abilities to keep track of the latest trends in your field. After an accident, you might experience fear, loneliness, frustration and low self-esteem. The mind can’t cope when the body doesn’t function, and consequently, most people who are incapacitated permanently or temporarily following an accident struggle with depression feelings.
While you can rationalize the feeling and tell yourself that the crutches don’t make you less desirable as an employee, it’s not easy to stop the dark thoughts from taking over your life. However, an injury isn’t a step down from your career. You can make your recovery time the “step up” your professional career needs.
Here are a few ideas to embrace the time off and shine.
It gives you time to ask yourself the right questions
First of all, occupational accidents happen. They may not be the most frequent occurrence, but every year, almost 3 million individuals sustained a nonfatal injury in the workplace. In addition, nearly 5,000 workers are killed on the job every year. Consequently, being in a position where you need to rest to recover gives you the opportunity to think about your career. If you were to be killed on the job, is this the job you’d be happy to die for? While it’s a dramatic way of thinking – as most fatal accidents occur in the construction and the transportation sectors – it also helps you to gain clarity; namely, figure out if you’re in the right career path. With the help of a professional lawyer from Sibley Dolman or another company dedicated to personal injury, you can claim for compensation. This will let you recover at your pace without worrying about income. And when you’re not worried about money, you can plan for your future more easily.
You can develop the platform you need to go independent
It’s not uncommon for people who are recovering at home to develop a side hustle. Indeed, you can use your healing time to create an independent platform where you can offer your services and attract new clients. If you’re new to freelancing and entrepreneurship programs, this might be the first time you have to set your fees for the market. Use this period as a learning process to define the right charge for your services and to explore ways of approaching the market with your skills.
You can improve your positive shark mindset through the process
It takes a lot of determination, a clear vision, and strong passion to become a successful entrepreneur. But recovering from an accident lets you improve your skills too. You need to be strong-willed to recover and get better. Your lawsuit has trained you to know your numbers and figure out what is sustainable, so that you’re better equipped to defend your business idea to investors – a.k.a. The Shark Tank.
Does a personal injury make you stronger? In a way, it’s the opportunity for you to improve your mindset, your business acumen and grow a side-hustle that can become the next big company.