More than 40 years ago, the late Earl Nightingale wrote a book that would motivate millions of people worldwide called, The Strangest Secret. In essence, the strangest secret is, “You are what you think; you are your thoughts.”
For those of you who might be students of history and philosophy, you know that as powerful as this message is, it is not a new one. Abraham Lincoln said, “People are about as happy as they make up their mind to be.” Ralph Waldo Emerson said, “We become what we think about all day long.” William Shakespeare said, “There is nothing either good or bad, but thinking makes it so.” And Jesus said, “As you think, so shall you be.”
Looking to Land a New Job ? Change Your Thinking and You Will
Are you seeking a new job? Well, are you planning on conducting your job campaign with high energy, enthusiasm and confidence? What are your beliefs about seeking out a new job or identifying a new career? What are your beliefs about the economy and the current state of the job market? What are your beliefs about résumés and interviewing? What are your beliefs about how many hours you will invest in landing a new, more rewarding job? And what are your beliefs about how others will perceive you if you have been downsized or are unemployed?
Most of your beliefs are merely thoughts which have been conditioned or programmed into your mind. For instance, when you experience a job loss, the automatic conditioned pattern of response is to think that this event is devastating, humiliating and painful. You involuntarily associate fear to joblessness because that is how you’ve been conditioned to react. On the other hand, you can consciously and authentically change your beliefs about job loss and look at the event as a gift and as an opportunity to improve yourself, your income and your future. The situation of losing a job is just that, a job loss. The emotions associated with this event, be it positive or negative, are derived from your beliefs – how you think – about losing a job. In other words, it’s not the events in your life that make the difference between happiness and unhappiness. Rather, it’s the meaning and beliefs that you associate to those events. It’s how you think.
You Control How You Think
People have the unique ability to change whenever they make the decision to do so. How you deal with adversity will shape your life more than almost anything else. If you associate pain, fear and failure to job loss, you may begin to believe that there’s nothing you can do to make things better. You’ll risk developing a sense of hopelessness or outright depression. These beliefs are destructive beliefs and success achievement becomes almost impossible. On the other hand, when you realize that your belief system is not healthy emotionally and is not supporting your goals, ambitions and potential, you can change how you think instantly!
Nothing has to change in order for you to feel better about something except the meaning you give to it based on the thoughts you associate to it.
One of the best examples of the power of a belief is that age-old question, is the glass half empty or half full? If you perceive the glass as half empty, you’ll probably have an empty and painful experience. If you altered your belief and viewed the glass as half full, you’ll have a much better chance of experiencing a feeling of optimism, hope and pleasure. Same glass; same amount of liquid in the glass; but different emotions and feelings based on your beliefs – it’s how you think!
Proof – Beyond a Shadow of a Doubt !
No human being had ever run a mile in under 4 minutes. However, in 1954 Roger Banister did just that. But there’s a greater story hidden behind this story. After Banister did what no human had ever accomplished, 37 other people broke the 4 minute mile within a 12-month period. Can you begin to see how changing a belief can result in almost miraculous achievement? Once Banister broke the 4 minute mile barrier, he also broke the belief barrier for others. As a result, runners instantly adopted a new belief that breaking the 4 minute mile was achievable. Once you believe that you can overcome and successfully work through a job loss or, any life or career challenge for that matter, because others have successfully done so, you get a renewed sense of confidence and a strong feeling of certainty that you too, can achieve the same successful results.
What Are Your Beliefs about Landing a New Job?
Consider the following beliefs and the consequences, both positive and negative, that would result if you were to adopt one versus the other.
- This is a bad economy and there are no good jobs available.
- This is a challenging economy but there are plenty of good paying jobs just waiting for me if I work smarter and harder than my competitors.
- The job search is a painful and humiliating experience.
- The job campaign will be enjoyable and a character-building endeavor.
- It will take me forever to land a new job.
- Armed with the right tools and strategies, I can land a new job quickly.
- I’ll never find another job that will pay me what I was earning before.
- I know my value, the results I can produce and the benefits I bring to a new employer. This will position me to land a better paying job in no time.
- My family and friends will look down at me because I don’t have a job; this is embarrassing and humiliating.
- With a confident attitude, my family and friends will support my job transition efforts and will be a positive influence in landing my next job.
- An interview is a forum where I am judged; and I don’t like being judged.
- An interview is just a meeting where two parties gather together to determine whether they can meet each other’s needs in an amicable and friendly manner.
- I hate networking. I’ll never get a good job because I don’t have a strong network of contacts.
- I’ll enjoy the process of establishing a personal sales team; made up of people I know and new relationships I will cultivate who will assist me to land the perfect job.
- I am too old to get a new job. There is definite age discrimination against older workers like me.
- I will land a new job based on my ability to produce results, not my age.
Beliefs Will Either Empower or Limit Success Achievement
No doubt you are well-aware of the concept of the self-fulfilling prophecy. The definition of a self-fulfilling prophecy is that ‘negative’ beliefs predict or manifest negative behavior. But, interestingly enough, we don’t associate the self-fulfilling prophecy with positive beliefs to manifest positive events. But in truth, your beliefs, whether they are positive or negative; empowering or limiting, will determine behavior and influence outcome. The concept of the self-fulfilling prophecy is normally associated with negative beliefs that result in limited achievement or downright disaster. The challenge here is that this idea goes contrary with the law of attraction and the concept of positive affirmations. The fact of the matter is, if you associate positive beliefs with deep emotion, you can predict and manifest positive events.