There is a difference between choosing to change jobs and being let go from a job. When it is a personal choice to look for a job, you feel better about yourself than you do if you are fired. You walk tall, you are confident; you have a good idea of what you want to do and tend to be focused on getting what you want.
When it isn’t your choice, when you lose your job, you tend to get depressed, you slouch, you no longer walk tall, you say things that are negative, you aren’t confident in yourself. You may even withdraw from your family and friends. You tend to be in a bad mood all of the time and when someone asks, “What’s wrong with you?” they say, “Nothing. You don’t understand.”
When you are fired, you may feel lost and without direction. You may not know what to do or what steps to take.
Here is what I suggest you do when you start your job search. It’s a short exercise to get your juices flowing, and it applies to anyone who is looking for a job.
Take out a pen and paper, and allow plenty of time to think about your responses.
1. Write down all of the positive things that you like about yourself: your hair, your handwriting, your voice, your laughter, etc.
2. Write down what is it that other people like about you. Think of times in your life when people said you have a great voice or nice hair, etc.
3. Write down the following: If you can have any job, what would it be? Write down all of the different job opportunities that you would like to have open to you. Keep writing until you run out of ideas. Even include what you think is impossible.
The point of this exercise is to get you to start to feel good about yourself and to think outside of the box. You will find that when you feel good about yourself, you tend to feel that you can do anything that you want to do in life. You become more creative and more positive.
When you are finished with the exercise, you will see the possibilities for your next career. Some of the ideas may be way out there and impossible to do. That’s OK. Figure out what you can do with your ideas that you have. This exercise will help you think of ways to use your creativity; it will give you a different way of looking at life.
Now walk away for a couple of days, then come back and do the exercise again. You will find that you have different ideas than the first time. Keep doing the exercise until you come up with what you really want to do. When you get your final answer, you will know what direction to take and what to do. One step at a time. That is all it takes...one step at a time.
2012- Cindy Cannon – All rights reserved. ©
Reprint Permission Granted* - See details below
*Permission is granted to reprint this article provided that the bio on the side and contact information are included in the publication and a copy of the reprinted article or a link to it is emailed to [email protected]
RSS Feed
