Success is right around the corner. The most critical success factor for your job search and for life in general is to believe in yourself and be proud of you. If you don't believe in yourself, who will? Don't take a job loss personally. In this world it happens to the best of us. Don't pay attention to the negative media. The bottom line is while unemployment may be as high as 12% in some regions by definition that still means 88% of all people in these regions are employed. That is a B+ in most classes. So, keep your head up. Be proud of who you are. Determine your destiny and go get it.
When faced with adversity, leverage the most powerful emotion
In life there are few emotions more powerful than the emotion of love. Love elicits feelings of excitement as well as feelings of comfort and joy. Love somehow makes everything better.
Now, for some of you what we are about to discuss may seem too sappy. You may even think that this topic is off the deep end. But, hang in there. When you experience true love, nothing feels better. Nothing is more soothing or more comforting than feeling someone’s true love. Why talk about love in a job-hunting course? Love is an essential component to your success. Love is essential not only in job hunting, but also, in life. If you don’t love yourself, who will?
It is difficult to over emphasize the importance of loving yourself. When you say to yourself “I love you” an instant feeling of warmth and comfort flows through your body and your being. When you truly love you, nothing life throws your way can stop you. As the saying goes, “Love conquers all.”
Stop for a moment and show yourself some love
Before moving on with this course module, stop everything, close your eyes and in a loving internal voice tell yourself, “I love you.”
Insert your name. If your name is Susan, say in a loving voice to yourself, “Susan, I love you.” If your name is Scott, say to yourself, “Scott, I love you.” Get the picture. Easy right? Well, probably not.
Sure, this may sound foolish or hokey. You don’t have to admit you are doing this exercise, but try it at least once. The bottom line is that the universe provides instant feedback. If you hate yourself and feel lousy, the universe will give you more things to hate about yourself and provide you with more reasons to feel awful. Conversely, if you love yourself, the universe will reward you with love back, and wonderful opportunities will enrich your life.
For many, there is nothing more soothing than hearing a loved one's voice saying, "I love you." No matter what is going on in the world or in your life, when someone tells you they love you, it is like a blanket of wonderful feelings that can instantly make you feel better. Try to mentally replicate that voice and tell yourself, “I love you.” You will get an instantaneous feeling that everything is going to be okay.
Loving yourself will give you the confidence and stamina to succeed. Loving yourself will allow negativity and rejection to bounce right off of you like a rubber ball. An event may sting you for a short period of time, but when you love yourself, that love will repel the negativity and shine a wonderful bright light into your being.
Be proud of you and position yourself to succeed in the job search
The power of love can hardly be overestimated. However, another powerful tool in building your confidence and well-being is pride. It is so important to be proud of yourself and what you have achieved. A great way to feel pride in yourself is to take time to list some of the many personal accomplishments that you have achieved. Throughout your life, you have achieved many great things in your personal life, your academic life and in your career. Sometimes, in the heat of the moment, it is hard to remember all the truly great things you have done. Take some time to write down some of your accomplishments.
Don't be shy. The more accomplishments you can come up with, the better you will feel, and the stronger your pride in yourself will become.
Take pride in yourself and start thinking about all those things that make you a great person. Many of these things will help as you begin to sell yourself to potential employers. You are a great person and you should be very proud of your accomplishments. Don't let the temporary setback of a job loss minimize all the good you have achieved. Try listing some of your accomplishments and key selling points. You will probably need reams of paper to do it.
Exercise #2:
Writing down your accomplishments is one of the most therapeutic exercises you can do. Take some time to write down some of your accomplishments. Don't be shy. The more you come up with the better you will feel and the stronger your pride in yourself will become.