âMotivation is the key to your success,â says career counselor Randy Place in his book, Your One-Minute Job Finding Coach. âAnyone who has tried and failed and then learned and mastered a sport, a musical instrument, or a field of study knows that failures are the foundation for success.â The reason you kept on keeping on? You were motivated to do it.â
Randy expands on these insights by stating that a lack of motivation can lead to procrastination, adding, âa reason you might lack motivation is that you have no GOAL for your search. Without a specific job or career target, youâll confuse the job marketplace. If youâre unsure about a goal, itâs okay to have several targets. Then youâll conduct your job campaign in three main buckets as a way to uncover the right target for you.â
Given the necessary role of motivation in both initiating and sustaining a productive job finding campaign, Randy offers FIVE TIPS FOR GETTING AND STAYING MOTIVATED:
LOVE WHAT YOU DO. Loving what you do and doing what you love gives your life a meaning and a purpose. People who love what they do have enthusiasm, a key selling point in interviews. Several studies show that happy campers earn more money, have higher productivity rates, and are more motivated to succeed.
AVOID BEING OVERWHELMED. Feeling unmotivated can be the result of being swamped. The antidote to feeling overwhelmed is to be very specific when writing tasks on your to do list. For example, by listing âwrite the first draft of my SUMMARYâ rather than âwrite my RESUME,â youâve given yourself a task thatâs doable today.
NARROW YOUR FOCUS. Not only should you break tasks down into achievable portions, but also narrow your focus to accomplish just five things today. Nobody has to tell you that long task lists donât work. You never get to cross of the 22 items youâve jotted down. Youâll feel motivated with the confidence that youâre going to get the more important stuff done today.
PICTURE THE OUTCOME OF WHAT YOU WANT. Just imagine how nice your completed resume looks and see yourself proudly handing it to a recruiter. Picture yourself hugging your spouse, partner, or friend as they congratulate you on landing a new job as customer service representative, trader, or physical therapist.
TARGET YOUR SEARCH. Having a goal guarantees a positive outcome, and allows you to assess your progress, and redirect if necessary. Without one, you can become a victim of a fear of failure or a fear of success. When you fear, you choose to fail. Therefore you become successful in preventing a positive outcome.
Listen to my conversation with Randy on âTurn the Pageâ to gain his advice on other common challenges you might face related to a job search or your career, like negotiating salary and asking for a raise.
Benefit from the wealth of in-depth guidance that Randy generously offers by reading his book, âYour One-Minute Job Finding Coachâ and visiting his website, where you can post and receive his responses to your job search questions.
