Arleen Bradley Career Coaching

Relax and recharge.

How frustrating it is when you want a cold glass of milk, but someone before you took it all.  The carton is empty.  When it’s gone, it’s gone.  Nil, zip, zero.   No matter how much you want it, there is nothing there.  You can squeeze and squeeze, but you won’t get anything.  The same is true with your energy, your perseverance, your patience, and your positive outlook, to mention only a few.  At this point in your job search, you may be noticing some of these are being sapped from you.  The result is you just don’t have the strength to continue on, or so you think.  You have lost the momentum.

What happened to the momentum?  It has been slowly leaking from you after repeatedly sending out unanswered resumes, interviews that don’t result in an offer, staring at a computer screen day after day looking for the elusive needle in the haystack-the right opportunity that fits your skills to a T.  When this happens it is difficult to remain optimistic and to continue your search.  And this comes through in your attitude and appearance–the two most important tools after your marketing materials.

How you present yourself to your network or to the person interviewing you is crucial.  In order to be successful in your job search you must show energy and enthusiasm.  It’s a catch 22.  You need what is draining out of you to get a job.  You need to take care of you just as much as you are taking care of your job search.  In fact, if you don’t take care of you, your job search will suffer.  You need to pay attention to your mind, body and spirit.  Proper nutrition, adequate sleep, exercise and connecting with your Higher Power should be high priorities on your to-do list.

Eating nutritious foods instead of snacking on carbs provides your body with the necessary vitamins and minerals to keep your energy up and maintain a healthy weight.  (Weight gain is another whole blog.)  Exercising release endorphins that make you feel good and look fit.  Taking care of your spirit will keep you centered and grounded.  Below are some things you can do to keep your body fit and your mind clear.  It is not an exhaustive list but it serves as a way to jump-start your creativity to find things that you can do to take care of you.

• Exercise:  Keep yourself physically fit.  Fit into some clothes that have gotten too small.  Prevent yourself from gaining weight.   (Check with your physician before starting any exercise program.)
• Prepare healthy meals yourself:  No take out. Shop and chop fresh fruits and veggies.  It is cheaper to prepare a healthy meal at home than to buy fast food loaded with sodium, fat and calories.
• Meditate:  Usually involved with meditation is deep and conscious breathing.  Breathing this way has a calming effect on the body.  Meditation will also focus your mind off your troubles and  on to calm peaceful thoughts–a respite from the anxiety.
• Connect with your Higher Power:  The lessons taught by your Higher Power are often the ones we need to hear most often.  By looking at the lessons, we see which are appropriate for our current situation and can find ways to feel better about ourselves by following the practices of the faith we subscribe to.
• Learn something new:  Learning something new carries a sense of satisfaction with it and promotes self-confidence.  At this time your self-confidence has taken a hit below the belt by first being laid off, then feeling rejected by not being chosen for the jobs you interview for.  You counter these negative feelings by showing yourself you are a capable person.
• Relax:  Take time each day to relax in any way you choose.  This is vital to your health.  Being over stressed can take its emotional and physical toll on the body resulting in illness, aches and pains.  Overcome this by relaxing your mind and body each day.

Taking care of you holds in check the frustration you feel while unemployed.  If you are doing all the right tasks to find a job, the only thing left to do is try to relax while waiting for the good news to come.  Instead of a cold glass of milk take a cold glass of lemonade and a good book under a shady tree and read something that affirms you.

Arleen Bradley is a certified career coach providing stuck job searchers with the tools they need to find the job of their dreams.  www.arleenbradley.com.