That to Which You Give Attention Grows

That to which you give attention, grows. If you’re having a terrible time with your job search, you’re the reason. Those who stop reading here are especially the ones who should continue. Do any of these phrases sound familiar?

• Craig’s Consulting laid off 150 consultants. Now the market is flooded.
• It’s hard to find a job when the economy is so terrible.
• No one is hiring me! I’ll never find a job!

If you’re uttering these types of phrases, stop it. With today’s technology offering everything from how to be a social worker to getting your masters, you can pursue any career. Thought precedes action precedes results. Whether you’re aware of it or not, your actions support your thoughts. Negative statements such as these perpetuate themselves unconsciously with every ensuing decision. It becomes useless to improve your resume. You disqualify yourself from ads. Your efforts become less intense. Look at what’s going wrong, and if you don’t know what it is – and you probably don’t or it wouldn’t be happening – then find someone who can tell you. Notice the automatic phrases and beliefs to which people subscribe without even realizing it. For example:

I can’t believe I’m always doing stupid things!
This day started off badly, and it just keeps getting worse!
Why am I always losing things?
I’m so bad with names!

Those who repeatedly experience such situations do so because they give continued attention to what is, thus it stays that way. Here’s the insight:

You’re doing stupid things, because you perpetuate in believing you do stupid things. When you decide that you’re sick of doing “stupid things” and choose to change the situation by reframing how you see it, then you’ll stop doing “stupid” things.
You were cut off in traffic and got mad. You stayed mad, because you unconsciously chose to. Hang with me here…part of you likes it! You have a great story to tell when you get to work (“Can you believe what he did to me?”). Drama can be very satisfying for some, and bad days make for good drama. So the bad continues to be dwelt on and thus keeps happening, until for some reason, you decide to snap out of it when something “makes” you happy.
When you become tired of losing things, you’ll start paying attention to where you put them and stop losing them.
Repeat the name and make a point of remembering it. Stop using that phrase as an excuse.

What do all these things have in common? Choice. You control your thoughts, you control your choices, you control your actions, you control the results.

When it comes to finding your perfect job, first you have to choose to believe there is such a thing, because you can’t find it if you don’t believe it exists.

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Judi Perkins

Judi Perkins, the How-To Career Coach, was a recruiter for 22 years and worked with hundreds of hiring authorities on entry level through CEO. She set up over 15,000 interviews, and has seen over half a million resumes. Her clients often find jobs 8 – 12 weeks because she brings them sequence, structure and focus, and shows why typical strategies often fail. She’s been on PBS’s Frontline, Good Morning Connecticut, in Smart Money magazine, CareerBuilder, MSN Careers, Yahoo Hot Jobs, New York Times, New York Daily News, multiple radio shows including a regular Thursday morning gig, and quoted in numerous career books. Sign up for her free newsletter at www.FindthePerfectJob.com.