The Language of Your Job Search - How the Words You Use Can Make a Huge Difference
They say that the words first formed in your thoughts shape your experiences. “As a man thinketh…”
Even though you might not see the fruits of your thoughts right away, you most assuredly have set something into motion. Career expert and physicist, Tom Cassidy, uses the analogy of the sausage machine to logically explain the effects of thoughts influencing reality. You put beef into one end of the sausage machine, and you’ll get beef sausage out of the other end.
And so it is with your use of words. The words you use lead to how your life will take a certain shape. In his book, Release Your Brilliance, Simon T. Bailey describes it this way, “Your life right now is the sum total of every word you’ve ever spoken – in your head and out loud.”
How are you using words? What are you uttering when you refer to your circumstances? Positive words or negative words? Pay attention. What you say aloud is your barometer to measure what’s going on internally.
I come across this all the time. Earlier this year, I gave a presentation to a group of job seekers at a local church. Afterward, an attendee approached me with a question. She began with, “My problem is that I…” After I answered her question, I pointed out that she’d used the words “my problem” when talking about her situation. Her eyes opened wide as she told me that she didn’t even realize that she had said “my problem.” She agreed with my point though… Say you have a problem, and, sure enough, you have one. Say you have a challenge, and it sounds more like a puzzle to be solved. Just a small shift in thinking and projection, but it’s one that could make a huge difference… like a ripple effect.
This past week, I spoke to a client who was stuck in her search. She complained about hitting deadends with her job leads. I told her that instead of only thinking or saying, “This or that isn’t working,” go further and ask “How can this be done?” A small shift in verbal and nonverbal language like this can pay huge dividends, especially when it opens your mind to other creative possibilities.
Once you pay attention to your language and then consciously choose the words you use, watch what happens. And I mean internally AND externally.
I believe it was Gandhi who said, “Your beliefs become your thoughts. Your thoughts become your words. Your words become your actions. Your actions become your habits. Your habits become your values. Your values become your destiny.”
Time to ask yourself… how are you shaping your daily situation? And, consequently, how are you thinking and speaking your destiny?
