Posts Tagged ‘fear’
What’s that you say? Fear is good?
Career Change: What do you have to lose?
Are you thinking about a career change, and are your limiting beliefs stopping you from stepping out into a direction you’ve always dreamed of?
Let’s assume yes. What are those limiting beliefs? Maybe you’re worried about risk. Maybe you’re worried about losing money. Maybe you’re worried about failure and possible humiliation. I’d advise you to weigh the options. Fear or happiness? Seems like happiness should be winning here, but I get it… fear is very hard to overcome.
But what if you could take a few easy little steps toward that exciting direction? I’m talking about safe, risk-free steps in which you don’t have to commit to making a leap… yet. C’mon, what do you have to lose?
If you’re open to that, then let me recommend a painless 1st basic step…
Imagine.
Use your imagination and think about what your destination and your direction would look like for you. Ask yourself what it would take to get your dream. Allow yourself to think big. Allow yourself to think creatively. Just step out of your way for a minute and IMAGINE.
Having trouble doing that? Fear is notorious for putting a damper on creativity. Be sure to put your fears aside for at least a few minutes so you can allow yourself to imagine what your perfect work situation would look like.
So are you ready for next step? I promise it’ll be baby step. Still pretty risk free!
Tell someone about your dream.
I don’t mean tell someone who is not your staunchest supporter. You know who it is who’d shoot you down. Don’t go and talk to them. Talk to the one who is most likely to look at you in the eye and say, “Cool!”
This step doesn’t take much more than opening your mouth and saying some words. Say it, and see what happens next. See how it feels to say it. Go ahead – you can do it!
Feeling a little braver now? Want something more substantial to do next? You’ll see that this 3rd step is not dangerous at all, but it does take some effort.
Investigate.
Investigating merely takes a little time and energy. Remember, you’re still not committing to anything.
Investigating could take the form of online research. Just you and your computer. No one needs to know. But if you want to have some fun with this, go talk to some folks doing the work you’re imagining. Think you’d enjoy being a massage therapist? Take one out for coffee (or a cup of herbal tea) and find out what it’s like to be a massage therapist.
These are only 3 basic, baby steps. When you’re ready to shed your fears, there are 3 powerful steps you can take to achieve career freedom: The CareerFinder™ Method. The CareerFinder™ Method only works when you’re truly ready to unleash. So, are you ready? Are you ready to make a difference with your work… with your life? What do you have to lose?
Angela Loëb is an author, speaker and career coach. She and her partner, Jay Markunas, help people make successful career transitions through workshops, webclasses and 2×1 individualized coaching services. Listen to them on The Job Search Boot Camp Show. Find out more about their programs & services at www.greatoccupations.com. NOTE: For a limited time during Graduation Season, Angela & Jay are offering the perfect new grad gift: The Job Search Boot Camp for College Grads, a live, interactive & intensive program. For more details, click here.Fear Can Too Easily Sink You
Job Search Attitudes is the topic of tomorrow’s Job Search Boot Camp Show, and Brian Massey, author of The Market For Me, is our guest. By day Brian is a conversion scientist. By night (and this weekend!), he volunteers to give advice to job seekers. So, we are very honored to have him on the show to talk to us about his top tips around attitude and job search. He’ll share some concepts from his presentation “10 Job Search Attitudes that will get you more interviews at the places you want to work” – which you might want to take a peek at on slideshare.
I look forward to asking Brian what he thinks about what I consider one of the biggest attitude hurdles for most folks… and that is fear. Fear of the unknown, fear of rejection and fear of financial strain.
Last night I gave a presentation at a local church. Afterward a woman came to speak to me about how fear recently crept in and sabotaged a fabulous job opportunity. She’s in sales, and the hiring manager asked her what territory she would like. She froze. She said a feeling of self-doubt and fear that she might not be able to handle the job flashed through her. In that moment, she hesitated – she hemmed and hawed – she blinked when she should have been steady and fearless. They didn’t make the offer – they chose someone else.
In today’s market, the talent pool is deep, and fear can too easily sink you to the bottom. Your attitude is everything, and you can’t afford to stay in fear.
Fearless minds climb soonest into crowns. –William Shakespeare
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ Angela Loëb is an author, speaker and career coach. Along with partner, Jay Markunas, she helps people gain clarity and develop successful strategies for career transition. Through their company, Great Occupations, they help job seekers and career shifters by offering seminars, webinars, tele-coaching events and individualized coaching services. Listen to them on The Job Search Boot Camp Show & check out their upcoming event The Job Search Boot Camp Webcast Series. Find out more about their services at www.greatoccupations.com.
Your Attitude Affects Your Body Language From The Inside Out
Yesterday I gave practical tips about body language. Today we address the main source of your unconscious body language, which I believe holds the key to career success, job search results, happiness in your home life, quality relationships with friends, etc. And that is attitude.
Attitude affects body language from the inside out. You can practice the mechanics of sitting this way or making eye contact that way all you want, but if you’re not “feeling it,” you will most certainly sabotage your chances for a successful interpersonal encounter. In the interview, a mal-adjusted attitude is the death-knell for your chances of landing the offer. And I remind you of what yet another poet once said… “There ain’t no way to hide your lyin’ eyes.”
In the Job Search Boot Camp, Jay & I ask attendees to complete a set of powerful exercises designed to help recognize and then release emotional baggage and attitudes like those below:
- Rejection – many interviews, but no offer yet
- Fear, anxiety, uncertainty – feeling of no control
- Anger – one of the stages of grief due to job loss
- Unresolved issues with past employers or managers – having trouble finding the positive spin
- Lack of confidence – personal hang-ups creeping in, such as I’m too old, young, overweight, tall, short, etc.
- Blame – it’s the economy, they’re discriminating, my old manager is giving me a bad reference, etc.
- Frustration – lack of personal vision leading to lack of effective personal expression
When I was a recruiter, hiring managers would sometimes call me saying that they couldn’t put their “finger on it,” but the candidate they’d interviewed wasn’t the right fit even though the qualifications were a perfect match. On the flipside, I’ve also observed many candidates get their jobs because they showed a lot of enthusiasm and passion even when they didn’t possess every qualification listed on the job description.
I want to challenge you to think about this question… If you’re not enthusiastic about the job you’re interviewing for, why are wasting your time and the company’s time? No, I’m not trying to be flip or insensitive. I realize that you might just need to get a job to pay the bills, and so you are willing to grab anything that comes along. But do you seriously think that your unenthusiastic attitude won’t be revealed through your body language? Do you think the interviewer won’t be thinking to herself, “This guy doesn’t seem very committed. If I hire him, he’ll be right out the door looking for something he’d prefer to do as soon as the economy changes. I have 15 other applicants as qualified as him.” And she is politely nodding at you while she is calculating how to tactfully end the interview as soon as possible.
It’s time for you to slow down and consider your attitude for just a little while. How are you doing in this area? Before you go out there and start selling the concept of you, you need to be sure you are delivering the concept of you with authentic enthusiasm… and that your body language is delivering it just as authentically.
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ Angela Loëb is an author, speaker and career coach. Along with partner, Jay Markunas, she helps people gain clarity and develop successful strategies for career transition. Through their company, Great Occupations, they help job seekers and career shifters by offering seminars, webinars, tele-coaching events and individualized coaching services. Listen to them on The Job Search Boot Camp Show & check out their upcoming events Find A Career You Love & the Job Search Boot Camp Webcast. Find out more about their services at www.greatoccupations.com.