Thursday’s Thought: Mushy Gushy Time

Since I often describe myself as the Simon Cowell for Career Consulting, I usually don't get too touchy feely. But we all need to step out of our comfort zone from time to time. There are a lot of great unemployed talent out there these days and I wanted to attempt to provide my heartfelt advice (or at least as much that could possibly come from a Simon Cowell type advise giver).

Lately, as I have talked with individuals 1:1, or in group settings, it appears that people have started to give up. The attendance at networking groups is down, the excitement and desire to win this game is no longer present, and the fire-in-the-eye attitude that they used to bring each day to work is going out. There have even been some that decided to no longer pursue this thing that we call "life".

With a large percentage of people being unemployed for 6 months or more, some do not see the light at the end of the tunnel and thus have lost hope.

Below is an Aborigine Philosophy that I heard from Jimmy Buffett:

Life's adventures are the verses and choruses of a unique song. And when it's over, you are dead. Adventures don't come calling like unexpected cousins visiting from out of town. You have to go looking for them.

Are you still looking for them?

If you look back at your life, and remember the rough spots (and adventures), didn't you learn or grow from them? Are those rough spots still bringing you down? Most are probably very smooth and shiny looking to you by now. Time, patience, and trust have turned your perception of them around.

You will get out of this unemployment mess that you find yourself in, and my bet is that you will look back to this time period in a few years and see the value you gained from this journey.

Bottom line message for today's post is: Like most males, we don't want to stop and ask for directions. We think we can do it on our own. However, this unemployment game is a team sport. When you are feeling that you can't play anymore, ask for help. You don't have to go through this alone.

Charged by momentum, driven by determination,

Kevin