You’re out of work and feeling discouraged. So many applicants for the jobs you see advertised, however will you set yourself apart from the competition?

It’s overwhelming, right?

This is what I hear time and again. So, as is my wont, I’ve got some tips for you, to shake things up and make good things happen for you.

TIP # 1: Write down the kind of work, work environment, coworkers, location that would be optimal for you. Then do some homework online and find 10 companies who best embody those qualities. Send those companies an invitation/cover letter to get to know you better. In this way you become the buyer, not the seller, the colleague instead of the job seeker. This shift of perspective alone will boost your confidence tremendously. Pursue what you really want, not just what you think you might get, and watch what happens!

TIP # 2: Own your own business, even if you want to work for someone else. Regard your income earning work as your professional business concern. It really is, when you think about it. You are the CEO of your money making company: You, Inc., if you will. Begin to view/experience yourself more and more as a speculative collaborative partner than prospective employee. This particular perspective is mega-empowering and lots more fun than being another “hat in hand” job seeker.

TIP # 3: Do it differently. One of the most effective and innovative new techniques that successful seekers are using these days are video resumes. Not the boring old “talking head” resumes, but vibrant new snapshot videos that allow you to showcase your talents and skills right there, right now. They don’t have to imagine you, they can SEE you. And videos are more fun than resumes, trust me on this. The point here is: THINK OUTSIDE THE BOX. Go beyond the colored paper strategy and think bold, think engaging, think FUN! Being yourself and having fun while you’re doing the “getting work” dance will improve your overall confidence as it improves your results.

BONUS TIP: Be proactive. Don’t wait to be approached after you send out communications. Follow up relentlessly. Go for the work fulfillment you really truly want. That sets you up for greater success by making yourself your own courageous advocate and devoted PR representative. Folks would rather hire someone who shows that they are consistently motivated than some guy with equally great skills who isn’t actively pursuing their own dreams and goals. Goals are attractive. Use ‘em.

Well, there you have it. 3 confidence builders to make you stand out from the job competition. Three tips for setting yourself apart from the hoards of folks out there who are looking in the same old ways, getting the same old results.

How do you stand out?

——————————–

Molly Burke CPCC MSU
Queen of Confidence
www.lifepurposeworks.com
“I’ve bottled confidence and you can, too!”

This is an ongoing series of posts on various subjects for which I lacked a decent Google-searchable keyword title. Searching Google for ideas produced, “PEARLS OF WISDOM”, which has such a rich flavor of hubris and chuzpah that I just HAD to use it.

————————————-

Insanity: doing the same thing over and over but expecting different results.

I submit, Gentle Readers, that many of us engage in a kind of sad, self defeating insanity called New Year’s resolutions. And riiiiiight about now, if not before, most everyone who makes those superficially laudable resolutions fails to follow through.

Don’t worry, this is NOT a motivational pep talk post. Some other day, maybe, but not today.

We’re grown ups, well, most of us at least, and right now I am talking to and with those of us who identify as adults. Right about now you’re feeling badly about not keeping those earnestly made New Year’s resolutions. And pretty much like clockwork, you spend every January doing some version of this sick little dance.

How do I know this? Nevermind how I know.

Isn’t it about time you respected your word a bit more and stopped the futile habit of making those damned resolutions in the first place? Cut yourself some winter slack, assess your past annual resolution performances, and decide THIS year not to make yourself wrong and crazy and a liar NEXT year. Reserve the power of your word for the kind of resolutions that have a chance, those born of insight and an inner desire to make a positive change, not ones that are enacted in response to some arbitrary date on the calendar.

Stop setting yourself up for disappointment. Resist the urge to get caught up in New Year’s resolutions if you’ve got a history of not following through. You beat yourself up with those “resolutionary shoulds”. I should lose weight, I should quit smoking, I should go to the gym. And then you feel like crap even more when you fail yet again. So stop. Just stop. Don’t heap more evidence into the “I can’t depend on/trust myself” basket. You don’t need that.

What you need to do is get really clear about what is it that you really truly want. You know what I’m talking about, the deepest, most cherished dreams of your Soul. Ponder those things instead of those cursed “resolutionary shoulds”. Spend your precious time and energy dwelling upon, concentrating on and taking action on the dreams of your Highest Self.

When you get clear about what it is you really want, and take action on that, you’re MUCH more likely to follow through. And isn’t that what you ultimately want? To act with intention, secure that the direction you’re going is the right one, rich with lasting internal motivation?

Screw New Year’s resolutions and the same old same old. I’ll take a risk and do something different, starting now.

How about you?

—————————————

Molly Burke CPCC MSU
Queen of Confidence
www.lifepurposeworks.com
“I’ve bottled confidence and you can, too!”

During my long reign as Queen of Confidence I have witnessed many triumphs and tragedies of confidence. Periodically I’ll be sharing what I hope shall be pithy insights intended to act as cautionary tales and inspirational anecdotes as well as practical tools for improving one’s own sense of confidence. You’ll also find powerful questions, confidence tasks and useful affirmations included from time to time, meant to further empower your own sense of confidence. These tips will be shared sporadically, as the inspiration strikes.

Your confidence tip of the day: Remember to breathe deep.

It’s a pretty common thing for a person’s breathing to change in response to their mood and thoughts. It’s also pretty common for a person’s breathing to shorten and become more shallow when they’re anxious. Likewise, when a person feels a measure of social anxiety, their breathing is affected.A simple way to immediately diffuse those rising feelings of social anxiety is to consciously change the rhythm of your breath. When you breathe shallowly, you feel less confident. So instead, breathe deep.

Here’s how:

First, notice how you’re already breathing. When you’re a bit anxious, your breathing will tend to be high in your chest, shallower and faster. Notice that? Good.

Now, scrunch your shoulders up to your ears. Hold them there tightly for a couple of seconds, then let go. Lower your shoulders down and then take a big belly breath. Starting at your navel, expand your belly first as you inhale while keeping your shoulders down. Pay attention to the feeling of the air going in your nose. Hold that big breath for a couple of seconds. Not too long, mind you, but just pause. Then let that big breath out through your mouth with a whooshing sigh.

Repeat this process 3 times.

This exercise will immediately do a whole big bunch of great things:

• lower your pulse rate and blood pressure
• better oxygenate your blood (great for improving cognition and problem solving)
• lower the levels of stress hormones being produced by the body
• calm your nerves
• enable you to ground and center yourself fast

This simple and effective technique can be practiced anywhere, does not require any special skills or equipment, and can be easily done by virtually anyone. It’s easy to teach, too, so pass this along when you see a friend who’s anxious or stressed. Like you when you use this tool, they’ll feel calmer and more confident.

Just breathe.

Molly Burke CPCC MSU
Queen of Confidence
www.lifepurposeworks.com
“I’ve bottled confidence and you can, too!”

The narcissus smell wonderful in the celadon vase near the artglass goblet full of cool water, textures and colors well suited to this cloudy day. The flowers are a heady scent that I love, these my favorite winter blooms. Everything is sweeter after the storm.

The rain has washed away the fog enough to clear the view across the bay to Berkeley. I can see the Claremont Hotel and the Campanile on campus there in the distance. A fleeting break in the clouds has flooded the skyscrapers of downtown San Francisco that I can likewise see from my balcony with a lovely light, ah, now shifted to another hillside, then gone.

Grey but not dreary. And really, a day of unexpected treasures. How sweet the walk this morning with the Moose, my fussy fuzzybutt dog who refuses to go pee in the long grass of the backyard when it rains. A respite from the rain and that short walk netted a handful of storm drooping narcissus now filling the room with such lush fragrance that I find myself viscerally moved, enchanted.

In the quiet grey of the afternoon, a tender peace is had. Private pleasure in the simple richness of life turns tasks into treasures. Stay the swift step, save the boisterous cries for another day. Smell the damp loam and mud beneath my boots, the pine and eucalyptus on this my small mountain, home. Breathe in the clean, fresh flavor of air that follows on a storm. Enjoy the contrasts, deciduous to evergreen, with rain today that already sweetens the shine to come.

What’s the purpose of this post? To share some of beauty of the day, these surroundings and the weather, with the hope that these idle musings might entertain and perchance inspire you to slow down and smell the rain soaked air. Sit in silence. Listen. Savor.

Enjoy.

Oh look, a rainbow. Right on cue. Ain’t life grand?

Molly Burke CPCC MSU
Queen of Confidence
www.lifepurposeworks.com
“I’ve bottled confidence and you can, too!”

This is an ongoing series of posts on various subjects for which I lacked a decent Google-searchable keyword title. Searching Google for ideas produced, “PEARLS OF WISDOM”, which has such a rich flavor of hubris and chuzpah that I just HAD to use it.
——————————————————–
This is the third and last post in the series, “Faster horses, [...]

This is an ongoing series of posts on various subjects for which I lacked a decent Google-searchable keyword title. Searching Google for ideas produced, “PEARLS of WISDOM”, which has such a rich flavor of hubris and chuzpah that I just HAD to use it.
—————————
This is the second in the series, “Faster horses, younger women, older [...]

2009 was rough for me. Family upheaval, economic upheaval, such a crucible! Through it all, I managed to make progress. Miracles came. Affirmations of the rightness of my path made themselves known. Allies appeared. Healing opportunities presented themselves. Magnificent mistakes were made, and some learning occurred. Not everything was resolved, nor healed, nor made right.
I [...]