I would like to share a story with you around motivation and resilience:
After a client meeting recently where we had been discussing the fact that my client knew he could probably be doing more in terms of networking, I started to reflect on the whole subject of motivation and internal “resilience”, and I was reminded of a time when my resilience almost failed me…
I wanted to raise some money for a charity I supported by doing an 80 mile off road ride on my trusty mountain bike. This involved 8 trips back and forth along a 10 mile route that I was familiar with, but had only ever done 20 miles at one time.
The worst leg of the trip was during the 7th 10 mile stretch. I had really seized up by that point, and I got to a bend in the track where I saw a patch of grass. I skidded to a halt (not that I was going that fast by then!), lay the bike down, got down on the ground and just lay there with my eyes closed, feeling nauseous… I was done, finished, and only just over a leg away from achieving my goal.
To cap it all I couldn’t let my family (who were meeting me at the next stage) know that this had happened, as there was no mobile phone signal! After a few minutes of simply breathing and gathering my thoughts, some words of wisdom from a seasoned biker friend popped into my head, “Get up, keep going. If you don’t do this no one else is going to”. So I got up, pushed off, and eventually made it to the penultimate checkpoint. The last leg was pure adrenaline, and spookily easy considering what had just happened.
It can be like this when job hunting; the early enthusiasm, motivation and systematized approach can start to wane a few months in, particularly when achieving your next senior role can take many months. You might start to take your ‘foot off the gas’ in terms of the numbers of meetings you’re arranging and the general networking and job application levels can dip. I understand how that can feel. However, I’ve learned a few strategies to help combat these moments. In the meantime ask yourself the following questions:
Am I consistently engaging with people in LinkedIn groups to leverage the hidden jobs market?
Am I keeping track of meetings I’ve had, and follow ups due?
Am I presenting the right personal brand to the market?
Do I have a weekly LinkedIn strategy for engagement and connections?
Am I keeping in touch with head hunters and recruiters?
Am I as motivated as I was 3,6,9 months ago?
If you can answer yes to all of the above, then keep pushing forward. If you’d like to find out more about some of the ways we help our clients to maintain resilience and motivation, just visit our about page, which will explain a bit more, or simply contact us to set up a confidential, complimentary career strategy call.
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