How to Get Motivated in Your Job Search

When you are looking for a job, the task can seem monumental, the discouragement can come easily, and the apathy can simply follow along. Here are some great things to think about to motivate yourself when you’re on a job search.

1. Do You Know What You’re Looking For Before you Start Your Job Search?

If you don’t have a clear knowledge of what you want to do with your life next, a great way to start opening up the possibilities is to get online and start taking tons of long, in-depth career questionnaires. These detailed, impersonal questions will give you a lot of insight about yourself and the areas in which you might have natural gifts.

Remember to play around with your new career search. Don’t take it too seriously in the beginning if you don’t know what you want to do. Think outside the box and try a variety of new things, perhaps getting a multitude of small jobs from a temp agency. That is a great way to stay working but to also try out a wider variety of things firsthand. Who knows? You may stumble onto your dream job unexpectedly but, at the very least, it will still give you excellent insight into yourself.

2. Do You Like Your Current Job Enough that It’s Hard to Move?

Sometimes, your current work is satisfying, even if it doesn’t seem satisfying enough. In this case, consider whether or not it’s the job or your lifestyle. If you’re burned out, it’s not the job. You need to have more social activities and more interesting things filling up your free time. If it’s your job, then yes, you are ready to move.

When you begin a job search, you may be tempted to try something similar to your current position. This is because the human brain prefers familiarity over unfamiliar territory. You might try something different from your current job. You might gain a much higher perspective by stepping out of your current comfort zone. This way, if you truly do prefer your current position, this reality will show up more clearly.

3. Are You Afraid of Change? (A Reasonable Fear to Have)

Change is one of the most terrifying things in the world and most people avoid it at all costs. If it’s simply a fear of change, ask several friends to help you figure out how to go about your job search. Simply having other perspectives and emotional support can make things seem under your control. Also, your friends will be a continuous support system from your current job until you’re safely ensconced in your new job. That’s a lot less frightening, isn’t it?

4. Are You Simply Feeling Lazy about All the Work of Finding a New Job?

The sheer work of finding a new job can seem overwhelming. Sending out CVs, going to interviews, calculating income levels, and facing rejection can all be enormous tasks on their own, let alone together. When this seems too much, break down your tasks into smaller steps. Make each step so tiny that it’s nothing to do it, in your opinion. When everything has been broken down that far, you’ll probably find that you feel a lot more motivated in your search.

5. Did Losing Your Last Job Make You Feel like You’re Standing on Quicksand?

Losing a job can be demoralizing. When this happens, you must take time and space for yourself to recover and then to heal from this. If you don’t, too much loss and pain can be combined with the otherwise exciting pursuit of a new job.

Perhaps you don’t have the luxury of time on your side to spend several days healing. In this instance, set aside an entire hour every evening to spend with yourself and heal and reflect on your place in the world. This will soften the blow of going from being fired to looking for a new job right away.

6. Do You Feel Ashamed of Being Unemployed or Not Loving Your Current Job?

Shame is a powerful emotion and it can drag all of us down. Let’s break this down into three separate parts:

If you feel ashamed that you are unemployed, this can put a massive stop on your progress forward. Forgive yourself for being in this position, acknowledge to yourself that you love working and you hate not working, and write down a list of reasons why you are a person of worth, with or without a job.

If you feel ashamed that you are not happier, think about ways in which you can feel a little bit better right now. Instead of setting your sights on total happiness, set your sights on feeling a little bit better, a little bit at a time.

If you feel ashamed that you don’t love your current job more, consider if and when there was a time when you did love it. Ask yourself if anything has changed between now and then and if you can pinpoint ways in which you can get that good feeling back.

7. Are You Burned Out?

If you feel burned out, it is rarely about the job. Instead, you need more activities outside of work to balance out your life. Make contacts with more members of your family. Spend time with friends you rarely see. Do activities and go to events which you normally would not attend. Fill your days with something more meaningful and your work may start to feel better again.

More Ideas for Feeling Better

1. Start a Life (Before You have the Job)

We often don’t engage in activities with friends until we are employed again. Instead, start interacting with your buddies and see how well you feel about your job search motivation. Spending positive time with other people dissipates the intensity of your career search unhappiness.

2. Get a Temp Job (Keeps Money Flowing In and You Gain Time to Think)

If you don’t know what you want to do for work and you still need to make money, go to a temp agency and sign up for work there. This way, you still have plenty of money flowing in so that you are not paralyzed from needing funds, as well. And, working at a temporary job will give you time to think and reflect on your career goals. Consult with a specialist about a new direction you might take.

3. Volunteer Some of Your Free Time (This Helps You Focus on What You Want To Do)

Whether or not you are currently working, volunteering can have a clarifying effect on the mind. If you regularly spend time doing something that you are not getting paid for, it can seriously sharpen up the pictures in your mind of what you would like to get paid for. Simply by not getting paid. This helps you see that, if you were to spend your time doing something for money, it might as well be something that you really, deeply enjoy.

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How to Get Motivated in Your Job Search