They say the greatest fear is the fear of the unknown. I’m guessing Stephen King knows that. We have a name for this fear: Xenophobia. An example: “I fear I don’t know when the Detroit Tigers will ever win another ball game.” Pardon the dark humor ~ my wife and I just moved to Michigan.
You recall from your childhood your mother quoting: “We often make mountains out of molehills.” Once we understand something, we begin to lose our fear of it. And part of understanding something is to identify "it" and look at "it" by the light of day. Suddenly the monster isn’t so big, does not have so many teeth, and looks less scary.
I’ve watched the whole job search game morph over time – from an era of recruiters and job boards and scanned resumes to today where everything has changed – and change creates a fear of the unknown for anyone entering a job search looking for familiar landmarks. So – in the interest of overcoming these fears, let’s identify Your 3 Job Search Monsters ~ and How to Slay Them.
Your Monsters – identified:
1.) Discouragement
2.) Distraction
3.) Stress
How our clients overcome discouragement: have measurable weekly goals. Hit those goals. Be patient: know you are planting seeds and the crop will not come up immediately. Get a mentor – a colleague – a friend – who has accomplished the goal you are striving for. Listen to them – ask them what your weekly measurables should be so you know you are making progress – based on latest best practices in the real world. Look at anyone highly successful today and chances are they have/had a mentor.
How our clients overcome distraction: Focus ONLY on what works. There are hundreds of job boards and job-search related services out there – some work, some do not work, most work but not very well. Ask your mentor above what works and what doesn’t work – there are no silly questions. Dedicate uninterrupted time each day to working on your job search – we are not talking hours – we’re talking about working smart, not hard. Focused uninterrupted work is working smart. Let your family know you need this “me” time – I find children can be bribed with candy to leave you alone for a short period – just a suggestion. Remember Stephen Covey’s 3rd Habit: First Things First.
Regarding Stress: This will kill you folks. Get rid of anything you can that is causing you stress because you need to be on your “A” game in your job search. You’ve heard it a hundred times and it is still true: get your rest, get your exercise and eat properly. Your worst enemy is that negative voice in your head. Your family will appreciate you being calm.
I just looked up the leading causes of stress. According to the American Psychological Association (APA), here’s the top forms of stress:
1. The death of a loved one.
2. Divorce.
3. Loss of a job.
4. Moving to a new home.
5. Watching the Detroit Tigers* (OK, I may have added this last one to the list)
If you hate job searching – you’d rather have a root canal - and are interested in getting help in your job search, check us out: MedicalSalesMentors.com. You'll find we - like you - are one-of-a-kind