My Eureka! moment
Today I had an insight which I relished. I can't really think of any other way to put it. Anyway I want to process this, so I'm gonna put it up here.
I realized that getting a job is just a matter of putting the work in. I know that this seems like a simple concept, but I'd been depressed about this subject for a long time. At first I worked at this, but the work died off very quickly to be replaced by an attitude of doing the minimum amount to get by. I became lazy, mostly because I was working at the time (up in the U.P.) and so I felt justified in putting only part of the work in. I applied for new jobs every week, but I didn't do aggressive follow-up, and I didn't really go out there and scour the interwebs for information on potential employers.
The bad part about this was that the same attitude carried over when I finished work. I came down to Wisconsin in order to be closer to the places that I was trying to get hired. The whole reason for me coming down here (as opposed to staying up in the U.P. and continuing to work till I had a new job) was so that I could go and physically hand in resumes and talk to real people.
But as I said, I'd forgotten about that. I was still stuck in the same old attitude of doing the minimum to get by. This has the unfortunate affect of frequent failure - I basically was shooting blanks the whole time. Over time, I began to develop an attitude of persecution - I felt like the Universe had it out for me. I felt like I was constantly under or over-qualified. And truth be told, it's rare when I find a job that fits exactly my qualifications...but that doesn't mean I can't get them.
But this isn't about my past attitudes - this post is about my new attitude. Today I realized that I had adopted what, in psychology, is called an "external locus of control." This means that I felt like, in general, the Universe (or something else) was in control of everything and that I was powerless. The general symptoms of this are that people attribute successes and failures to things other than themselves. When they succeed, they don't own that success. When they fail, they blame it on other things. This is a very bad mindset.
I realized this today and began to brood over it. What can I do to make this better, I thought? I have to start taking responsibility for my actions. The reason I'm failing at finding jobs is because of me - not because the Universe doesn't like me or because nobody will give me a break or because the economy is shit. There are plenty of people out there that find jobs today - sure all we hear about is the ones that can't find work but that doesn't mean that NOBODY can find work. It just means that in order to find a job you have to be that much better than the competition... And my attitude of minimalism is NOT going to cut it. With that kind of attitude I could be waiting forever to find work. So quite simply, that attitude has to go.
Today I'm adopting a more pro-active attitude. I'm also going to work harder on taking credit for my successes and failures as well. I'm going to get back to that state of being - I miss that and want it back. The old Mouse is back in the house, and he's not going anywhere.
I realized that getting a job is just a matter of putting the work in. I know that this seems like a simple concept, but I'd been depressed about this subject for a long time. At first I worked at this, but the work died off very quickly to be replaced by an attitude of doing the minimum amount to get by. I became lazy, mostly because I was working at the time (up in the U.P.) and so I felt justified in putting only part of the work in. I applied for new jobs every week, but I didn't do aggressive follow-up, and I didn't really go out there and scour the interwebs for information on potential employers.
The bad part about this was that the same attitude carried over when I finished work. I came down to Wisconsin in order to be closer to the places that I was trying to get hired. The whole reason for me coming down here (as opposed to staying up in the U.P. and continuing to work till I had a new job) was so that I could go and physically hand in resumes and talk to real people.
But as I said, I'd forgotten about that. I was still stuck in the same old attitude of doing the minimum to get by. This has the unfortunate affect of frequent failure - I basically was shooting blanks the whole time. Over time, I began to develop an attitude of persecution - I felt like the Universe had it out for me. I felt like I was constantly under or over-qualified. And truth be told, it's rare when I find a job that fits exactly my qualifications...but that doesn't mean I can't get them.
But this isn't about my past attitudes - this post is about my new attitude. Today I realized that I had adopted what, in psychology, is called an "external locus of control." This means that I felt like, in general, the Universe (or something else) was in control of everything and that I was powerless. The general symptoms of this are that people attribute successes and failures to things other than themselves. When they succeed, they don't own that success. When they fail, they blame it on other things. This is a very bad mindset.
I realized this today and began to brood over it. What can I do to make this better, I thought? I have to start taking responsibility for my actions. The reason I'm failing at finding jobs is because of me - not because the Universe doesn't like me or because nobody will give me a break or because the economy is shit. There are plenty of people out there that find jobs today - sure all we hear about is the ones that can't find work but that doesn't mean that NOBODY can find work. It just means that in order to find a job you have to be that much better than the competition... And my attitude of minimalism is NOT going to cut it. With that kind of attitude I could be waiting forever to find work. So quite simply, that attitude has to go.
Today I'm adopting a more pro-active attitude. I'm also going to work harder on taking credit for my successes and failures as well. I'm going to get back to that state of being - I miss that and want it back. The old Mouse is back in the house, and he's not going anywhere.