Maintain A Positive Attitude

I wanted to share an article that I came across the other day in which stories of triumphing over long-term unemployment during this recession are shared (http://www.slate.com/id/2298957). In conjunction with this article, I have been reminded by a few experiences already this week of the importance of trying to maintain a positive attitude and outlook during the job search, regardless of the obstacles you may face. It is easy right now to feel down on yourself, and wonder what is wrong with you. Just turn on any of the cable news networks for 5 minutes, and you will assuredly be reminded of the pathetic unemployment numbers in this country right now. To be successful in your job search, you have to let go of the negative, and focus on the positive. I have come to a point where I can tell which candidates are going to find jobs quickly, and which are not. It has nothing to do with credentials, pedigree, experience or otherwise. It has everything to do with attitude.

I have a close colleague who I met for lunch one Friday afternoon. He had been laid off from a position as a Financial Reporting Manager for a Fortune 1000 company three months prior, and after a long and tumultuous effort to find a new job without success had all but thrown in the towel. It was apparent in his attitude that the negative effects of being unemployed and not having had any success in his job search had taken it’s toll. Instead of being confident in interviews, he approached them with self-defeat. How could he ever expect to land a job when he didn’t believe in himself?

His problem was not that he lacked credentials, accolades or experience. His problem was that he was wallowing in self-pity and self-defeat. It was as plain and easy for the interviewers to see as the words on his resume. I tried my best to give him a motivational talk, and suggested he go to the nearest bookstore and buy a copy of “The Power of Positive Thinking.” It could have been any of a number of books, and by no means am I promoting that exclusively (although I have seen many people thrive after reading it and acting upon its precepts). I knew though he needed something that would inject a dose of positivism into his outlook. If he was going to change his dismal outlook on his job prospects, he needed to first change his attitude, and leave the self-defeat behind.

On a Friday morning exactly 2 weeks later, I received a string of texts from him on my way in to the office. That very week he had been offered 3 jobs, and was on his way to accept one of them at that moment. He told me he let go of every negative thing that had been holding him back, tried to be positive, and it was as if suddenly a magnetic force was attracting hiring managers and recruiters to him.

Magnets work because they have a magnetic field. The end that points in the North is called the North Pole of the magnet, and the end that points South is called the South Pole of the magnet. Like magnetic poles repel each other, whereas unlike poles attract each other. If you are mired in self-defeat, you’re repelling people in a position to give you a job. If your magnet is steered in a positive direction, you will likewise see incredible results. It may not happen overnight, or in a week, or even in a month. But if you stay the course, it will happen, and you will be sharing your success story with others to inspire them.

Let me close by relating a story from the book “Think and Grow Rich.”

“An uncle of R.U. Darby was caught by the “gold fever” in the gold-rush days, and went out West to dig and grow rich. He had never heard that more gold has been mined from the brains of men than has ever been taken from the Earth. He staked a claim and went to work with pick and shovel. The going was hard, but his lust for gold was definite. After weeks of labor, he was rewarded by the discovery of the shining ore. He needed machinery to bring the ore to the surface. Quietly, he covered up the mine, retraced his footsteps to his home in Williamsburg, Maryland, and then told his relatives and a few neighbors of the “strike.” They got together money for the needed machinery, and had it shipped to location. The uncle and Darby went back to work the mine.

The first car of ore was mined, and shipped to a smelter. The returns proved they had one of the richest mines in Colorado! A few more cars of that ore would clear the debts. Then would come the big killing in profits.

Down went the drills! Up went the hopes of Darby and Uncle! Then something happened! The vein of gold ore disappeared! They had come to the end of the rainbow, and the pot of gold was no longer there! They drilled on, desperately trying to pick up the vein again - all to no avail. Finally, they decided to quit.

They sold the machinery to a junk man for a few hundred dollars, and took the train back home. Some “junk” men are dumb, but not this one! He called in a mining engineer to look at the mine and do a little calculating. The engineer advised that the project had failed, because the owners were not familiar with “fault lines.” His calculations showed that the vein would be found just three feet from where the Darbys had stopped drilling! That is exactly where it was found!

The “junk” man took millions of dollars in ore from the mine, because he knew enough to seek expert counsel before giving up.”

You may be standing 3 feet from gold right now. Don’t stop until you find it.