Fear is running rampant through our society today. More businesses are closing, more people are unemployed, homes are lost and lives are shattered. You can't open the paper or click on a news site without bad news blasting through the headlines. People want security and they want answers. Unfortunately, what we want and what we get are often quite different.
So how do you manage to hold onto a little bit of peace during turbulent times when the core of our lives are seemingly mangled beyond repair? Well, it requires a little bit of work but it can be done. I lost the job I loved in January and I am a single mother and the main provider for my two daughters, so I know a little bit about fear. But I also know a little bit about peace. Here's what I know.
Fear will take over your life if you let it. It will cause illness, it will cause anxiety, it will cause you to lose your mind. Make a decision to put a stop to that immediately. The best way to do that is to get it all onto paper. Write your fears down, every one of them. Once you can see them clearly on a sheet of paper in front of you, you can deal with them.
Next, on a separate sheet of paper make two columns. In Column One put the fears that you can deal with. In Column Two, put the fears that you have no idea how to manage. Let's say your fears are outstanding debt, losing your home, losing your health insurance, becoming ill and having to declare bankruptcy because of potential exhorbitant medical expenses.
Now, separate those into the two columns. Column One (fears you can deal with) should include outstanding debt and losing your health insurance. You can take action on these. Calling your creditors and being open and honest with them will often allow them to give you options you never thought of. Call a private health insurance agent and if you don't know one, ask family or friends. Somebody knows a reliable insurance guy, trust me. Get a quote. Don't just give up - taking action will restore some inner peace.
Put the other items in Column Two. Those you cannot deal with right now. But ask yourself, what is the worst that can happen. I asked myself that when I lost my job. "Well, what if I lose my home" said I. And the answer was "Okay, then you move into an apartment until things pick up financially and make that your home for awhile" and I felt better. Peace was restored. I didn't have to worry about an unknown - 'what might happen' - because I knew the answer.
Taking action regarding things like your health will help you too. If you don't currently take care of your physical self, try to do little things to get started. This will help you feel like you are more in control. If you are getting healthy, you'll be less worried about 'what happens if I get sick" and you will keep that boulder from rolling back down the hill and keep the fear from starting up again.
So take some action to maintain a sense of inner peace during tumultuous times and you might just be surprised at the level of serenity you've achieved. Have faith because this too shall pass. Honest.
When I got into the business of being on a permanent job search, I never even heard of an Elevator Speech. But every networking function I've attended touts this 30 second diatribe as some sort of personal branding that will land you a job on your way up to the 30th floor. Will it? Who knows. Did I create one? You bet. I'm not taking any chances here.
Know Yourself:
So what does an elevator speech entail? Well, first of all you need to know a few things and first and foremost you need to know yourself. It's imperative that you figure out what type of job you want to land and create your speech accordingly. Then make sure you know who you are delivering said speech to. If you're on an elevator with the CEO of a Fortune 500 company, you probably want to talk about relevant job experience instead of non-profit volunteer work you did in your spare time.
You Need a Hook
I attended a Meet-Up group for job searchers one time where we had to stand up and give our elevator speech in under a minute. Let me mention that I was not prepared to give any type of speech, elevator or otherwise so mine was boring and trite. I think I even said um in there once or twice. Note: Don't do this. Ever. Anyway, there was a guy attending the group from the Middle East with a name that was as long as my arm with the first syllable being "Yog". He said "Many people cannot pronounce my name so you can just call me Yogi the Bear". This was funny and we all laughed. Later on, the facilitator was making mention of the few speeches that would be remembered later an whose was first? Yep - Yogi. Whose wasn't? Yep, me. This was Yog's hook and it made people remember him.
Keep It Simple
The best elevator speeches are truly ones that you give to people in under 45 seconds. Make it short, sweet, and to the point. Give relevant information about yourself that will make people want to hire you. Tell them who you are, what you did, how you can add value to a company, and how you can solve their problems in about five sentences. Add a hook in there somewhere - doesn't have to be a play on your name. My hook is "So when the cat's got your tongue, let me say it for you". Not one "um" in there anywhere and most people will remember that.
Ask How You Can Follow Up
After you give your spiel, ask if you can call them later to follow up. And call them later to follow up - don't wait. Don't let them forget about your awesome elevator speech with your interesting hook and the way you can add value to their company. Follow up with them (or whoever's name they give you) right away so you can land your dream job....all because of the power of a great elevator speech.
I attended a networking lunch yesterday where a career coach spoke to us about career transitioning and change especially in an economy like ours. One of the questions in our workbook was "how do you maintain faith over fear?" That's a really relevant question for me as I move rapidly toward my eighth consecutive week of unemployment...which is, by the way, the last week that I'll receive a paycheck from Circuit City. If there was ever a time for fear to set in, it's now.
So, how do I not let fear get the best of me and better still, how is my faith working for me in tumultuous times? For me, faith is like a muscle - it has to be worked at for it to become strong. Some ways that I work on my faith muscle is through prayer and through practice. For some, practicing their faith is going to church, for others, it's an awareness of God or a higher power. For me, it's a combination of those. I do go to church, I volunteer as a religious education teacher, I work on the social justice ministry feeding the hungry and clothing the homeless...you know, building up those treasures in heaven! But I also try to incorporate my faith into every situation - especially the bad ones.
I commit my job search to God and I do that through prayer. I ask for wisdom and guidance in the jobs that I am applying for. I ask for direction as I go about my week seeking His guidance in opportunities that may present themselves. Should I go to that job fair, should I go to that conference, should I spend more time sifting through job vacancies online? Then I rely on an intuition after that. If opportunities present themselves more than once and I feel a sense of peace and comfort, I will usually take that as a sign of something I am supposed to pursue. If I feel anxious or apprehensive about an opportunity, I generally pass.
My brain and my heart will be in sync if I am walking in faith. I won't have that gnawing feeling inside that I am doing something wrong. I start my day in prayer and meditation, asking for God's guidance and then I just go about my day without worrying about how it unfolds. I take great comfort in knowing that, no matter how the day unfolds, my faith will be strong and my God will be in the lead.
God rested on the 7th day, ball players have the 7th inning stretch, and I'm taking this week off from job hunting. With unemployment reaching double digits in some states, the odds of finding a job in the near future are slim. But job hunting is a job in and of itself, albeit a poorly paid one. So it's important to take breaks from the daily grind just like you would if you had a paying job.
I am still attending two out of three of my networking events because I enjoy them, not because I have to. And I did sit down at the computer and apply online for three jobs yesterday which took a total of one hour. But usually when I take a vacation from my job, I check in and deal with issues in some form or other so it really wasn't a big deal to send in a few online applications.
But I stepped out of my regular routine this week. I booked a massage using a gift certificate from a dear friend. I left there feeling so good, almost as though I spent a week at a spa (which I've never done so please forgive the analogy if you've done both and they are nothing alike). Then I went shopping. Since I was in Carytown for the massage in the first place, I checked out the Clothes Rack for incredible deals..and found one. Then I headed over to Short Pump Town Center to use up a credit that Macy's was nice enough to give me just because it really was mine. I've taken some long walks, played with my dogs in the yard, visited the dentist (which I really would do on my vacation time when I did have a job) and made some long overdue social phone calls. I feel rested and relaxed and come Monday morning, I'll be ready to face the job search again with renewed vigor.