Keep a gratitude journal

When you face fear of not being able to support yourself because you are unemployed, or potentially your family, it is easy to get stuck looking at what you do not have:

You do not have an income, you do not have quality food, you can not pay the bills and you are drinking lemonade instead of champagne.

It is completely understandable, but lethal, to focus on what you are without you. You will feel like a failure, which will prevent you from selling yourself as a winner in the application forms and in the interviews. You can turn this.

A lot of psychological research shows that gratitude and happiness go hand in hand. Multimillionaire Oprah Winfrey has kept a diary of gratitude since she was young. It is a simple but transformational concept.

At the end of each day, write down what happened to thank you. Has anyone opened a door for you? Was your bill a little less expensive than you expected? Did your son make something beautiful?

No matter how hard your day was, you can always find something to appreciate. In the darkest moments, you may simply find yourself writing “I’m grateful that my sister has let me use her shower” or even “I’m still alive”. It is in those moments that you will really understand the value of gratitude.

2)  Treat it like it’s your job

You are not unemployed Your job is to get a job. It’s probably the worst pay you’ve ever had, but if you work hard, you’ll be rewarded with skills of patience, persistence and, eventually, employment.

Imagine your new boss in an elegant suit, shaking your hand firmly and looking at you. That boss would be fine with you, dressed in pajamas, walking around the office at 11:00, getting comfortable in front of the computer and opening YouTube?

At this time, you are your own boss. That means you must arrive at the office at 9 a.m. every day. It means that you have to work to polish your CV, get advice from recruitment agencies, apply for jobs, maybe even practice your special skills or read about how to improve your application forms and interview techniques.

Take an hour for your lunch, if you would at work. Finish at the same time you would at work. Take off on weekends.

This not only helps you get into a routine, it also prevents you from feeling lazy and helps you keep track of the amount of effort you are putting in the job search.

3)  Take breaks

Not only do I mean to take fifteen minutes to have a cup of tea (although I do not know what a cup of tea can not cure). I mean take a mental break. When you face constant rejection and lack of feedback, your motivation may plummet. He only has his own voice to listen to and, after a while, he can start by saying “He can not do it”, “He keeps failing”, “He is not as good as the other candidates” or worst of all “You will never get a job”.

What would your best friend say if they heard you talk about you that way? If they said: “It’s amazing because you keep trying” or “You’re getting closer to the goal every day, every application form and every interview, do not worry”, you’ve chosen a good friend. Catch yourself when you are mentalizing yourself. Take a break. Breathe. Tell yourself exactly what that good friend would tell you. Then say it out loud.

Self-motivation is incredibly important for success.  It is the spark that will make the application begin, the telephone call made or the written CV.

4)  Talk about that.

Keep in mind that “talking” does not mean “whining”. Moping is fine in small, infrequent doses, but it is also something that simply has to go through.

Share your experience with someone you trust. Have your friends or family members ever been unemployed? Ask them about that. How did you feel? What did they do to overcome it? Absorb all the advice you can and use it yourself. You may (or may not) be surprised by the number of people who have been in a position similar to yours. This is not only the era of dismissal, but the age of people who feel more free to change jobs regularly and pursue the dreamed careers at surfwater.

5)  The golden rule: never give up when you are unemployed

You will not remain unemployed for ten years. It will not happen unless you work exceptionally hard to be unemployed or have unresolved psychological or physical problems that block you the way.

It can take months, it can take more than a year, it may not be the job of your dreams, but you will inevitably be employed. Somehow you will receive financial support during your unemployment, be it for savings, a parent, the government, a spouse or friend. There is always a way to get help. It can be agonizingly difficult and you can learn lessons about your pride, but it can be done.

Recently I met a successful and vibrantly happy man mike souheil who has a record of unemployment. When I had no home, I had every right to meditate on this pain and fear. Instead, he used the golden rule to ride him through his storm. I had worked before and I knew I could do it again. He had recovered from an addiction and, because of that, he knew he was strong enough to recover from homelessness. He had many more years of life ahead of him, so he could try again. And again. And again.