Tip of the Week
Time to Reflect
We are in that time of year where everyone stops to reflect on what happened last year and what may still come this year. A dear friend of mine came up with a very good process that I would like to share with each of you.
TODAY – Think way way way way back into your childhood. Remember what it was like to be a child with big impossible dreams. Feel the thrill that each of those dreams brought you. Did you want to be a ballerina? Did you want to be a fireman? Did you want to be a teacher? Did you want to be a doctor? Think back to that time where no one told you that you couldn’t be exactly what you wanted to be when you grew up.
TODAY – Dream Big! If you can’t remember how that felt for you, spend time around a child. Children between the ages of 2 and 4 find every single moment of their day as a new exciting discovery. Children between the ages of 4 and 7 create the most beautiful fantasy worlds of battle heroes and princesses. Children between the ages of 8 and 12 know EXACTLY what they want to be when they grow up and they aren’t afraid to tell anyone. I encourage you to spend time with your children. Or go to a friends house who has children. Or pick a children’s movie that is out right now and go to a 1 PM movie. Watch them and remember what it was like before the world was a cynical place.
TOMORROW (Wed) – Look at exactly where you are in this very moment. Spend the day reflecting on the decisions you made that lead you to where you are right now. How many of those decisions can you feel confident about. Even if the truth is painful, I want you to look at it. Look how much you have grown over the past year. Look at the decisions that you make that hold you back. Look at the decisions that you make that propel you forward. Contimplate how a different decision could have led you down a different path. Think of the thoughts that you have that keep you restrained and the thoughts that help to let you soar. Understand why you are where you are at this moment.
THURSDAY (New Year’s Eve) – This is the day to start to look towards the future. Any thought that has been holding you back – release it. Everything is possible in 2010. If you are thinking “I can’t find a job because the economy is so bad” – let it go. If you are thinking “I’ve tried everything and nothing works” – let it go. If you are thinking “I need to dumb down my resume to get a job” – let it go.
On Thursday, practice all day long. Anytime a thought comes into your head that is negative or causes you fear – think “Wow, that’s an ugly thought. I’m not going to think that way anymore”.
Then as you start to release the old bad thoughts, I want you to start to embrace the good thoughts that come up. Every time you have a good thought – RELISH IT.
FRIDAY (on New Year’s Day) – we will be in a whole new year. You get a “do-over”. Start on Friday and continue it the whole year through. Remember what it was like to be a child and all dreams were possible. Analyze your thoughts and keep only the ones that help and propel you. Set goals that will help you acheive all of your dreams. We’re in a whole new year – all of the rules have changed. Everything will be different.
If you follow these steps, I guarantee that your new year will start with a glorious new start AND you will start to see results you had never dreamed of in the New Year.
Find Time to Celebrate
My Tip of the Week is to find time to celebrate! Many of you may find that it’s difficult to feel good about anything this time of year. You are looking back on the year past with a bit of hardship. You are looking forward towards a period of uncertainty. Things are really uncomfortable this year. The heat is being turned up. And yet, I tell you, FIND TIME TO CELEBRATE!
My parents tell the story of their first year of marriage in 1972. They were married at the end of April. They were freshly out of college and my father was trying to start a career. There wasn’t much money to go around. They bought a few small things for each other to exchange. My mom had come from an affluent family. She looked at their poor little tree their first year out of school. She wanted more presents! So, my parents took all the canned goods that they had in their pantry and wrapped them up and put them under the tree. Can you imagine opening creamed corn on Christmas Day? 
But it worked! And it is now a cherished family story.
This year, I think we should all embrace the Grinch’s moment of discovery.. “Maybe Christmas doesn’t come from a store. Maybe Christmas… perhaps… means a little bit more”. When I went to look up the EXACT phrase from the Grinch on Google, I stumbled across a very interesting site put together by the “Michigan Catholic – Archdiocese of Detroit”. Please don’t read this as anything religious (I am not Catholic). It has some great ideas for ways to do things on a budget this Christmas. If any place across the nation knows what financial hardship feels like it’s Michigan and specifically Detroit.
This week I encourage you to love all the time you spend with your family (even your uncle who drinks too many egg nogs). Drive around and look at Christmas Lights. Embellish in TNTs endless reruns of “It’s a Wonderful Life” and “A Christmas Story”. Continue with old traditions and start some new ones. But most of all, find moments every day for the next week (and until the end of the year) to celebrate!
It’s been a hard fought year. You have accomplished a lot. You are weary. Take moments to relax and enjoy the people around you.
Merry Christmas and Happy Holidays!
Tips of the Week are published in our weekly job seeker newsletter – sign up today at www.bridgeatx.com/newsletter.html
Friends and Family – Your Best Job Search Tool
We will talk more in detail about this in tomorrow’s Connection Conversation. However, I wanted to take a moment to remind you how powerful your friends and family are in your job search. Besides yourself, they have the most interest in seeing you get your next job.
The holidays bring a lot of friends and family into the picture. Take advantage of this time to get help in your search.
1) Don’t be afraid to tell people you are “in transition” – How is anyone going to be able to help you if you don’t let them know that you need the help.
2) Be specific in your request – Friends and Family want to help you – but if you are very vague in your request they will get frustrated because they don’t know how to help. Rather than saying “I want a Sales Position”, say “I am looking to work for BazaarVoice in the role of Account Manager”.
3) Don’t Hide – There is a certain mode that job seekers sometimes get into where they are embarrased because they don’t currently have a job (or they have one they hate). This may make people want to hole up in their homes and not venture out to see friends and family. This is the worst thing you can do. You never know if your Uncle Jack may have your next big opportunity.
4) Establish Contact - If you aren’t already sending out a monthly update list to your friends and family. Talk to your friends and family over the holidays and see if it’s okay for you to add them to a monthly newsletter that will keep people posted on your job search.
That’s all the tips that I’m going to share for the moment… If you’d like more – come tomorrow! Still want more, set up a one-on-one discussion with me.
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Getting Creative
Desperate times call for creative measures. If you’ve been looking for a position for longer than 2 months it’s time to start to get creative. Think outside the box. It’s time to take your talents and hobbies and start to put them to your own use.
Barter – Where do you need help and what can you do to help? For example, if you need career coaching – talk to a career coach about bartering for their services. Many career coaches need help getting their books in order before the end of the year. If you’re an excellent bookkeeper – contact them all and trade for services. If you’re good at cleaning, many individuals are throwing holiday parties or are having company come in from out of town. Contact individuals who can assist you in your search and see if you can trade cleaning their house in exchange for their help. Can you build websites? Can you take pictures for websites? Can you organize an office? Think about your talents and interests and negotiate a deal on your behalf!
Odd Jobs – If you need a little extra money this month, think about little odd jobs that you can do. Talk to your friends about babysitting their children while they go to a company holiday party. Offer to gift wrap presents for a dollar a package.
Here’s an idea that came to me that you might use – offer to help people find bargains on their Christmas Gifts. For example, if someone is planning to puchase a Wii for Christmas. Wii’s retail at $199 a piece. However, with a little extra time you may be able to help them find the same Wii on Craigslist for $100. Have them pay you 50% of whatever you save them with bargain shopping. Everyone is looking to save money right now.
Each of you has your own set of skills. Keep sharp on your skills by being willing to get creative in how you demonstrate those skills. Think about the things you would normally pay for and barter for them. If you can figure out how to barter for phone service, internet service or mortgage payments – let me know!
Tips of the Week are published in our weekly Job Seeker newsletter. To sign up go to – www.bridgeatx.com/newsletter.html
I know that when you have so much fear and uncertainty it’s very often difficult to find time to be thankful for anything. This week I want to encourage you to start a “VICTORY DIARY”. Find a small notepad, journal, notebook, something… (You can find really cool ones at Half Price Books for about $5).
Each Day (either during the day or each evening before you go to bed) sit and reflect on at least 10 victories each day. It doesn’t matter if they are big victories or small victories. Just pick something that makes you feel good. If you have more than 10 list them all, but choose at least 10.
These victories can be something like “Met with a Friend over Lunch Today”, “Got Called Back for an Interview”, “Learned about how to get past fear”, “Applied for 10 Jobs Today”, “Discovered a New Company for my Target List”.
It doesn’t matter if you put a lengthy conversation or if you just put a quick list of items. Choose your own style.
The key to this is to be able to feel good about what you accomplish every single day. Take time to go back and reflect on recent past victories. Tell the Universe that you want more of these items to come your way by feeling really good about them.
So often, in a job search, we get so focused on the end goal of honing in on a particular job. We don’t spend enough time feeling good about all the little steps that it took to get there. We don’t appreciate our accomplishments for what they are. When something we set our sights on doesn’t work out we end up defeated and deflated. However, if you can hold onto all the great stuff it took to get there - you will end up miles ahead and your attitude will show it.
Tips of the Week are sent out via the Bridge ATX Job Seeker Newsletter – Sign Up Today at www.BridgeATX.com/newsletter.html.
BE THANKFUL
I encourage you to keep a list of all the gains that you accomplish each day. Did you make a new connection? Did someone promise you a connection? Did you get an interview? Did you learn something new? Did you find a position that looks perfect for you?
Take a moment to celebrate every single win – no matter how big or how small. They are all triumphs. Relishing that positive energy of the win will bring more wins to you.
Everyone focuses in on the end goal of obtaining that new job. However, if that is your soul focus you’re missing the journey along the way. Focusing on the goal itself may make you miss a shortcut that’s right in front of you.
Keep the goal in mind, but focus on all the baby steps it’s going to take to get you there. When you overcome a milestone – celebrate it!
It’s hard to maintain a positive attitude during the search. Lots of unmet expectations pile up along the way. However, if you take a moment to enjoy the good stuff.. All the bad stuff will easily melt away.
Don’t believe me? Try it for a week and see how it goes. Make a committment to find something to be thankful for every single day until Thanksgiving. If nothing else, you’ll have something to say at the Thanksgiving Dinner table that doesn’t bum everyone out.
Job Search Tips of the Week are Published Each Week via the Bridge ATX Job Seeker Newsletter. Sign Up Today at – www.BridgeATX.com/newsletter.html
Treat your job search as if it was your job. If you get out of the routine of getting up at 7 AM and working every day, it’s going to be really tough to adjust when it’s time for you to go back to work.
Spend 8 hours every day in some aspect of your job search. You can do this by – networking, volunteering, researching companies, learning new skills, fine tuning your resume, searching the jobboards or sending emails to connections that can help you.
Set yourself a goal that you need to meet each week. Then review that goal with yourself at the end of the week and give yourself a performance review as well as coaching for how you can do better the following week.
This will keep your mind on the ultimate goal which is achieving that new job!
Own Your Job Search by Following Up. No one else (with maybe the exception of your spouse) has a greater desire for you to get that job than you do. If you aren’t doing everything possible in your search, it’s not going to get done.
This means, if you ask someone for help – follow up. If someone offers you help – follow up. Don’t wait for people to get back to you – follow up.
You may be thinking about your job search every minute of every day, but I assure you that no one else is. Frequently, we’ll have coffee with someone or we’ll meet someone at a networking event and they promise to help us do things. Once they step away from the conversation, it’s quite likely that they will forget that they offered to help. Don’t get mad at them for this, instead, follow up. People aren’t breaking promises or flaking on purpose, life has just gotten in the way.
I get into conversations all the time. I take notes that I am supposed to take action on. If I go right home and get to work on those items, they will get done. If anything else delays me (a phone call, the supermarket, another event) then the chances of me taking action start to go down.
Think over any meeting or conversation that you’ve had in the past 2 weeks (anything older than 2 weeks is stale). Write down everything you’ve been waiting for someone to do. Send a reminder every 2 days until someone tells you that they have taken action on your behalf. Start keeping track of these promises going forward.
I wanted to share a Link that I found that goes over the 12 Stumbling Blocks for Job Seekers:
http://thedailyblahg.wordpress.com/2009/11/17/the-12-psychological-stumbling-blocks-of-looking-for-a-job/
In it the blogger covers:
Roadblock #1: Lack of a crisp, clear, realistic goal
Roadblock #2: No control over the timing of the job hunt
Roadblock #3: Nobody likes being a rookie
Roadblock #4: It’s all about rejection
Roadblock #5: It’s unpredictable
Roadblock #6: It lacks structure
Roadblock #7: It requires asking for help
Roadblock #8: It requires blowing one’s own horn
Roadblock #9: It’s lonely and isolating
Roadblock #10: Self-doubt, defensiveness, and the myth of the perfect job candidate
Roadblock #11: Your baggage
Roadblock #12: The psychology of entitlement
