Stuck in Your Job Search? Learn How to FLOW
Over half of my coaching practice is working with professionals and executives that are in career transition and interested in creating their next role. It doesn’t matter if someone was laid off, took time off to be deliberate in creating their next role, or is interested in finding more fulfilling work, they all have something in common: how not to get stuck in the mire of negativity about a job search.
Certainly there are key criteria when it comes to the tactical steps and strategy for an effective job search. How are you managing your energy, thoughts and your internal strategy during this time?
Clients inevitably have down days and up days, and the one thing I notice the most is how many do not live in the vision of what they are creating next. In other words, actually visualizing and feeling what it will be like when they land the position they desire. Most of my clients focus on what is not working and what the other party is not doing (i.e. recruiter, hiring manager, etc.) Few of them put attention on their own actions, and where they are not being accountable in the process.
I had a client, Pam, that left one job and decided to take time off before looking for her next role. During the time off, she participated in my virtual class, The Art of Being in Flow. We met for 6 learning modules, which were one hour each and included homework for each module. We focused on observing where we put our attention and ask ourselves questions such as:
Are we only noticing the negative?
Are we fully receiving acknowledgments when people say thank you?
Are we acknowledging others as well as ourselves?
We worked in this class to put attention on embracing our negative mind and making a conscious choice to become aware of it, acknowledge it and take action to change the negative thoughts into a more positive perspective.
Through the duration of this class, Pam focused on getting rid of things in her house she no longer needed, she made a choice to start a daily practice of acknowledgement and gratitude (what she was grateful for everyday), she took up knitting, caught up on her reading, and essentially doing the things that gave her joy. The class ended in December, and Pam decided January 4th to start looking for a job. She had two offers competing for her acceptance by February 4th. This is great leveraging ability when it comes to negotiating a compensation package. She created two opportunities easy and effortlessly because she decided to put attention on where she was placing her energy and focusing on what she was creating next. (Pam is a woman in her late 50’s. I mention this only because there is so much talk about ageism being the reason some people cannot find a job).
Pam decided to rewire her internal systems; she chose to believe that where she put her attention would lead to impactful results, which created two opportunities within a month of looking for them.
Options are about making conscious choices to stay in a state of flow. This involves flow with what we think, flow with doing the things that bring us joy, and flow with being willing to learn new options that keep us in this pure state.
How are you holding your job search internally? What strategies have you put into place that support you in rewiring your internal operating system into a state of ease and flow?
If you would like more support around this, I am giving a live workshop on April 13th from 1:00-3:30 in Littleton, CO. Come join us!
May the Flow be with you!
Katie