'I'm Dead-On for 35'

John Mayer has been a bit off-the-radar for the past two years, first going underground after shooting his mouth off a bit too much in interviews and then going into seclusion as he recovered from two vocal cord procedures. His voice is nearly healed now so he's begun making public appearances, including doing an interview for this past weekend's "CBS Sunday Morning."

In the interview, John Mayer (who I only refer to by full name, FYI) was asked about the infamous interviews, the tabloids, his relationships, his health and his music (which, sadly, gets overshadowed too often by the other things on this list). He talked about the lessons he's learned over the past few years and said, "I wish that I grew up a year for every year of my life, but I didn't, I stopped for a certain period of time and I was 24 for six years, or whatever, and then the log jam cleared. I'm dead-on for 35."

I wish I could be that sure of myself at this age. Whatever the physical, emotional, spiritual, intellectual and material markers a person's supposed have at 35, today, watching that interview, hearing John Mayer say that, I don't feel I can say that for myself.

I've never lied about my age because I never saw the need to. Now when I tell someone how old I am, I'll admit that I feel a bit embarrassed because I don't think I've lived up to it. I want to be able to declare myself, my age, my accomplishments, my situation without apology. Hopefully I won't have to go to the lengths or through the trials that John Mayer to get there.

You can watch the complete "CBS Sunday Morning" interview here.

'But Enough About Me …'

I wouldn't be a good salesperson. I don't have the confidence to make cold calls or to approach strangers and convince them to spend money on something I'd be representing. Armed with this self-knowledge, I've stayed on the editorial side of publishing and avoided the advertising side as much as possible.

Being in the job market, though, requires that I become my own sales representative. I believe in myself and have confidence in my abilities, but putting that across in a cover letter or during an interview isn't easy for me because I'd much rather show that I know how to do something than talk about my skills.

I joke around about how awesome I am and what a total rock star I can be. I sometimes even believe those things a little but I could never sit across from a hiring manager and say those things with a straight face. I know that finding a new kick-ass job requires a bit of that posturing and I'm afraid of falling short, of becoming flustered or shy or anxious and not being able to convince the person, or people, interviewing me that I can do the job done better than they thought it could be done, even when I know it's true.

My challenge is to figure out a way to confidently and graciously talk myself up without sounding like a total blowhard. Once I master that, I think I'll end up in the best job for me.