I am influenced by movies. Always have been. I get provoked to act or think about how my life is going when I have another example for comparison.
The most recent movie that played this role for me was Crazy Heart starring Jeff Bridges as a washed up old country singer. He’s trying to keep a career going by playing in some pretty small clubs and bowling alleys across the U.S.
I’m also a lover of music. I think it can be a great driver and companion to life experiences. Music can also play a strong role in your job search psychology. And the music in Crazy Heart is excellent. So I bought the CD and have now over-played like i do every new piece of music.
One of the songs on the album reminded me of a post I wrote many months back about optimism. The danger of optimism in job search. And you might ask: “Is there still optimism out there? Really? And what’s wrong with optimism?”
Well, nothing. As long as optimism doesn’t lead you to feeling complacent. And keep you from taking action to build a great strategy.
The song is called Fallin’ & Flyin’ and the key line is:
“It’s funny how fallin’ feels like flyin’ for a little while”
In job search, career and life it may mean that you are not paying attention as closely as you should. Or that you are distracted by false signs of momentum.
As I said, it’s not that I don’t believe in optimism. I do. But I worry about people who believe they are doing everything they need to be doing. When they are not.
So this week I am presenting about job search strategy in Huntington Beach. If you are local, would love to have you there. I am bringing to life a post I wrote a few months back called One Day In Job Search. It identifies each of the days that lead up to your eventual job offer. So there is optimism in that post but it is framed in a strategy to enable each of those days. Instead of simply hoping for them.
Do you have a solid strategy for your job search? Are you sure?
The way to be sure is to write it down. If you can’t write it down in detail, well, is it really there? For example:
- What are your job search objectives?
- Who are your target companies?
- How are you using networking to create new relationships in your industry?
You also need to be paying attention to signs that your job search is on the right track. Or not. Measuring the success of your effort allows you to replace optimism with planned and effective action.
So my call to action for you. For this Monday. Is to ask yourself the question:
Do you have a great job search strategy or a powerful imagination?
If you say yes to strategy, prove it. To yourself. If not, is it time to build some real structure into your effort?
