A friend of mine told me about a motivational story that was truly inspiring to me. It was about a man, Jeff Glasbrenner, who was training to complete his 8th Ironman championship in just 8 months. While that sounds like a feat in it’s own, what’s really motivating is the fact that he has one leg. An Ironman competition includes a 2.4 mile swim, then a 112 mile bike ride and at the end a marathon of 26.2 miles.
When discussing the event that led to the loss of the bottom part of his leg at 8 years old he says of the event: “I look at it as my greatest opportunity. I look at it as a life-changing event and you can either embrace it or just kind of fall by the wayside.”
His motivation for competing in the Ironman events is his children. He says: “I just really want to be a role model for my two children and others. If they believe it in here [their heads] and in here [their hearts], no matter what obstacles are in front of them, they can get to that finish line. That’s the reason why I really want to do it.”
I loved reading his story because he is so positive and has created goals for him that he is proud of, and he is able to overcoming his obstacles (of having one fully operational leg) and achieve them. No matter what your story is, use the New Year as a time to examine yourself and your job search. Having the right outlook is key to determining where obstacles will lead you.
“Life’s challenges are not supposed to paralyze you, they’re supposed to help you discover who you are.”
-Bernice Johnson Reagon
Here are three quick tips on helping you to overcome your obstacles in your job search:
1. Be committed and walk your talk. You have to be 100% committed to overcoming your obstacles; it can’t be all talk.
2. Learn from disappointment. If you don’t land the first job you go for, don’t let that stop you. Disappointment is part of life. Keep going. Learn from the experience and turn the disappointment into motivation or determination to find another job.
3. Turn obstacles into challenges to conquer and overcome. What’s getting in the way of you landing your ideal job (salary, experience, etc.)? Don’t sit and mope. Figure out your next move.
Final thought: The people I know who are successful in finding a career they love, are not people who avoided failure or didn’t have obstacles – but people who knew how to overcome those failures and obstacles!!
If you’d like help overcoming career obstacles, contact us to set up a complimentary phone consultation.
Hallie Crawford
Certified Career Coach
