Pity City

I once had a manager who told clients "You can visit Pity City, but you can't live there!" Great advise for job transitioners. It's really easy to get into the pity mode and spread bad karma to everyone else. Here are two exercises to keep you out of Pity City:

Take an afternoon and go somewhere quiet. Write down all the things you don't want to do i.e. boring work, working with stupid people, etc. Write as many items as you can think of in 30 minutes. Once you've completed this exercise look at each entry carefully and prioritize your top 10. This will help you see what you really don't want in your next position. This exercise will also help you eliminate feelings around those things you don't want in your career. Once you're written down the gripes, you feel lighter.

Now take 30 minutes and write down all the things you want in your next job. Think about every possible situation and person who make the job perfect. Notice how you feel while you're completing this exercise. Writing about position situations and the way you want your workplace to be give your more energy and you become more positive.

Pity City drags you down. The less time you spent there the better.

Keep Your Sanity During Your Job Search

Here are a few tips to help you keep your sanity during your job search. Looking for a job can be very isolating and exhausting, so try a couple of these:

Volunteer a couple of hours a week

Leave your resume alone for one month....don't change anything!

Build your personal brand. Who are you? What makes you unique? What need to you fill in the marketplace?

Remember, this is a temporary situation. It won't last forever.

Watch a great funny movie every so often. Monty Python....anything by Mel Brooks...

Become a guest blogger and write articles about your speciality.

Make one new networking contact a week and find out how you can help them.

Take ten deep consecutive breathes three times a day.

Exercise thirty minutes daily.

Become social networking savvy. Try becoming proficient at Linkedin, Twitter and Facebook.

Smile more.

What is Personal Branding and why you should care

Perception is everything. That's why Personal Branding is so important today. Your success depends largely on how you're perceived in today's marketplace. Because the talent market has become so competitive, you want to stand out from the crowd and have your "story" down. Creating your personal brand is a sales campaign where you are the product. You are selling you. You want to educate people about who you are and why you matter. Here are a few tips to get the process started:
1. Know who you really are. Make a list of words you use to describe yourself: leader, professional, listener, results producer, forward thinking, etc.
2. Create your "I Am" statement.
3. Use your "I Am" statement when you introduce yourself. Try out different iterations until you find one that works.....you'll know because people will pay attention and ask more questions.
4. Write articles about your industry and become a subject matter expert (SME)and guest blogger. Writing increases your visibility and credibility. Make your articles short, interesting and informative.
5. Believe in yourself and your brand. If you don't, no one else will.
ACTION ITEM:Commit to taking action - what three things could you do this week to begin building your personal brand?