Dreaming your job into existence is much more than simply knowing what you want.
There are three legs on the career management stool: understanding, promotion and attraction. Any effective job search, network conversation, cover letter, interview or development plan involves using all three. Understanding means all of the things you do to learn about what you want and where you might do it. Promotion includes everything you do to let people know you’re available and capable. Attraction is the work required to cause opportunity to come to you.
For most of us, thinking about your career or looking for work is anxiety laden and dread inducing. The subject unearths long held insecurities and desperately wants to run back into the closet. Rarely do you hear someone talk about the pleasure they take in finding work.
At the same time, there is extraordinary wisdom in the antiperspirant commercial. If they see you sweat or sense your desperation, the game is over. Being calm is the first half of infectious enthusiasm. Xanax and Prozac sales are surging as a way of mechanically solving some of the problem.
Attracting opportunity begins with being calm and grows to include a level of warmth that calls things into your field of view. If you don’t want the mechanical deadening that comes with prescription drugs, it’s possible to learn to be calm. Routine meditation and breathing exercises are where you start.
As important is being able to consistently deliver warmth in your interactions. Prepare for phone calls by considering a happy thought, smiling deeply and intending to make the other person in the conversation smile. Creating a positive environment and caring for the people who enter it is the sort of good manners that make you an attractive employee.
When you smile during a phone call, the other person can feel it.
The more attention you pay to generating a sense of calm enthusiasm, the more that opportunity will come your way.
