Discouraged with your job search? Try positive thinking. Norman Vincent Peale and Wayne Dyer are just two of the prominent people who advocate the power behind positive thinking. And just how does positive thinking relate to your job search?
See yourself not as you are, but how you want to be. Visualize your bank account with the large pay check you’d like to have. Imagine yourself smiling and satisfied with your work. See yourself surrounded by competent coworkers. Get the idea? See the future as you’d like it to be and watch reality conform to it.
You can even take this technique a step further using affirmations. Affirmations are declarations of how you want your life to be using the present tense and omitting the word, don’t. For example:
· I am happy and fulfilled in my work.
· I make more money than even before.
· My boss and coworkers appreciate me and my contributions.
Write your own affirmations and read them at least three to five times a day.
Another way to stay positive is to create a vision board or treasure map. Cut out pictures and words from magazines depicting the future you want and paste them on the inside of a manila folder. You can even print them from the Internet. Your pictures can include a scenic view from your office window, an organized desk, laughing coworkers, and money. Words you choose can include “fulfillment, satisfaction, enjoyment, appreciation, money, and fulfilled aspirations.” Get the “picture?”
Don’t believe these technique works? Just ask your friends who use them to tell you their stories. Better yet, try them yourself and tell others your own stories. The bottom line is to focus on the way your want your life and career to be, believe your desires can become reality, think positively, read your affirmations and look at your treasure map daily, then enjoy the journey of walking into the future you create for yourself.
Terry L. Wynne, Ed.S., LPC, BCC and Hallie Crawford, Certified Career Coaches
