I was listening to a podcast recently and had a couple takeaways that will lead to your job search success.  His message was one that didn’t resonate with me at first, but as I kept listening it began growing on me.  The message was about how 2020 has felt, and what 2021 will look like.  I think most of us would agree, it has been a tough year.  But the argument that the podcaster was making was that we can decide how we feel about 2020 as a whole.  We could say that it sucked, it was the worst year ever.  Or we could think about it in a different light.  What if 2020 becomes the year that you look back on where it all changed?  Where you found that new job, or that great relationship, or got out of the crappy job, or crappy relationship?  Maybe it was all a blessing in disguise.

Beyond positive thinking

Now I’ve never been one to believe much in the psychology of positive thinking – if you are a positive thinker, why do you need to remind yourself to think positively?  But I do believe we can simply choose to think how we want to about circumstances.  That job loss or lay-off was pretty bad at the time, but it led to something greater.  Sure, being cooped up in my condo in 2020 working from home wasn’t great, but it did allow me to save a lot of money on eating out!  Almost like going through a break up is never fun, but it led to something so much better and healthier!  You get to decide how you think about circumstances.  You can decide how you think about 2020, and how are you going to think about 2021.

Get out of the result and into the process

Another thing the podcast brought up that resonated with me was goal setting.  I think it’s so easy to set outcome goals like “I will find a new job in 2021,” or “I will lose 10 lbs. in 2021.”  These are outcome goals.  And while these goals are specific and measurable (which is good), simply getting a new job or losing 10 lbs. in 2021 isn’t really what you want.  You want to have fun losing the 10 lbs. and find a workout that you enjoy doing which provides results!  If you don’t want to slave away at the gym at 5 am because you hate getting up early, don’t do it.  Find the process that excites you and that can be easy for you.  So the process goal may look something like “find the exercise that I can’t wait to go do!”

Tip: when you work on the process goal for job search success, the outcome goal seems to come naturally.  Can you imagine finding the exercise that you are excited to go do?!  I bet that 10 lbs. would come off quicker than you would ever imagine. Likewise, if you complete the job search process goal, it should automatically bring you closer to you job search outcome goal.

Homework: set a process goal for your job search

1. Identify what process will align with your job search goal. An example might be, “find someone in marketing I can have a virtual coffee with.”
2. Set a timeframe to complete your process goal (i.e. 1 week)
3. Make sure the process itself isn’t painful – if you hate talking to people, text them!

Here’s a handy dandy worksheet just for you. You got this!