How to stay postive when unemployed

Oy veh, have you read the paper? It can drive you meshugga!

Seriously, Fidelity, which had laid off 1,300 announced another 1,700 jobs will be cut. JPMorgan will be cutting jobs. Citibank lays off some 75,000 people over the past few months -- that is three times the size of my suburban community!

So there are a lot of folks who are looking for work. I met a woman who has been looking for another position as an office manager since last July. She wasn't very positive at this point.

No one argues that times are hard. A lot of experts believe that they are going to get harder before they get better. So, no one would fault you for feeling sorry for yourself should you be in the position of needing to find a new position. However, it's the worst thing you can do for yourself.

In just the same manner as sound business theory dictates that one should save cash when times are good and spend when times are bad, one must stay positive when one is in a tough position. If you are depressed, you will simply not be doing the things that you should be doing. You simply cannot afford the luxury of staying depressed.

In the hopes that someone benefits from seeing that they are not alone in tough times, here are some of the things I do regularly to keep myself positive and recommend them enthusiastically:

1. Count your blessings. Seriously. Daily. I do. My wife, my children, my health, my skills and experiences, my well-trained dog. Everything. And I do it vocally. Here is what I said to my wife this morning "Good morning, my love. I am so glad that you married me." That wouldn't be too hard for you to do, would it?
2. Enumerate your strengths. Call 'em out. Your years of experience. Your doggedness. Your perseverance. Your ability to judge people. Whatever it is that you know gives you power and ability.
   
3. Mitigate your weakness. Whether you feel you procrastinate, or you do not negotiate well, or you do not follow through, or you loose your temper, or whatever, there is a way you can mitigate these failings. First of all, you are in control of your life. You can make amazing things happen. These things you do not like about yourself are not fatal characteristic flaws -- otherwise you would already be dead! They are risks to your positive life style that you can identify, mitigate and control.
4. Write down your Values and Goals. List your Abstract Goals (long, healthy life; financial security; etc.), Concrete Goals ("A position as such and such earning so much annually") and your Immediate Goals (Two high-quality job applications today and four follow-up calls). Read daily out loud.
   
5. Exercise. Yes; take time for yourself to do whatever you need to do as exercise. Whether that be walking to the library for a new book, going for a jog, or swimming a mile, get yourself out of the house. There are tons of reasons why exercise is good for you, so only a great fool would deny themself such easy benefits, and you are no great fool, so what are you waiting for?!

We are here on this earth for such a short period of time and our opportunity to create things of wonder and beauty that outlast us shoots quickly by. So don't waste a moment. Your dreams are converted to goals as soon as you make a plan and start following it. The first step to achieving those goals is to be positive and believe that you can accomplish your goals.

I would very much like to hear what you do to get yourself positive when you're feeling down. Please take a moment to click on the "comment" link below and send me your ideas and practices.

Reflections on a marathon

I recently ran my first marathon. Simply stated; it wasn't easy.

In the best of circumstances, a marathon isn't supposed to be easy. Add to the mixture that I am not a natural endurance athlete and the equation becomes much more challenging to solve. Add that I was part of a sizable "reduction in work force" just two days before, and the challenge became yet even more steep.

Nonetheless, I did it. I (mostly) ran 26.2 miles, which is in my book a Really Big Distance, with my best friend along side me, cajoling and exhorting me to push through to the finish. It took me more than 4 hours and 35 minutes, which is in my book a Really Long Time. But I did it.

I will likely loose two toe nails and the blisters haven't quite healed, but are looking much better. But I did it. And I will do it again.

I have turned myself into a runner -- I really like it and look forward to it -- and I have turned myself into an endurance athlete -- I can swim, ride and run some pretty long distances now -- and I have tested my physical and mental mettle.

I ran a marathon, and I will do it again, and I will do better. That makes me feel really good.

Now that I am in the job market, having completed my marathon, looking for the next and best opportunity that can take full advantage of my passions, skills, determination, interests, and experiences, my marathon is more than just a race I ran. It is a mark of what I can achieve and a measure of how determination can see one through difficult challenges.

More on Things Physical

I've had a change of heart.

In following up with a number of doctors on the on-going issues related to having been hit by a car while riding my bike, I've had my self assessment changed.

While admittedly no younger, having all those doctors and other advisors say, "Well, you're still young..." as a preamble to their anaysis certainly has had an effect. I'm not feeling quite as old as I did in November when dealing with the injuries was more immediate. I've been through a winter of rehabilitation and have emerged into Spring with renewed passion.

On my first race of the season, even though I was pushed up into the next age group by the reality of my birth date, I was 10 seconds faster than my time last year -- and I did really well on that race last year.

Last night, I went running with my training partner. We ran further and faster together, keeping each other from flagging at different time and turned in a really respectable time for around 8.5 miles. Next week we push up to to around 10 miles.

Yes, I still need to swim, ride and run, plus stretch out and rest to keep my body flexible and strong and hold off the decay of spondylolisthesis. Having been hit by a car and the resulting long term injuries certainly complicates matters and requires significant additional time every day to restore strength and flexibility.

But, gosh darn it, I can do it. I am doing it!

Nothing like a new mind set to undo a year of aging.

On Things Physical

I'm no spring chicken.

There, I've admitted it. For those who know me, this isn't news. For those who don't know me, I am not deluding myself into believing that they care about this. But admitting that we are changing as we age is part of the optional wisdom available from aging.

Like lots of men my age I have a bunch of aches and injuries. Sometimes -- only sometimes mind you -- when I get together with my friends, we spend a few moments enumerating those aches and pains. Fortunately, we quickly realize that we're sounding like stereotypical old men and laugh it off.

For me, I have a repaired knee, a broken back and pain in my shoulder. And I still get out to swim, ride and run nearly every day. Because if I don't...

Because if I don't then I will really be an old man before my time.

All things physical wear out. My printer wears out. I get more comments on my printer repair posting than anything else. Gosh, but I wish I could write about taking a few screws out, pulling out the bad vertebra and epoxy the broken protuberance back into place. The printer I can repair. My back I have to manage.

Another part of that wisdom thing is knowing when you need to push against the ache and pains and when you need to respect them. And it isn't always obvious. Recognizing the difference takes experience. The danger, I think, is erring on the side of not doing enough.

So, when the shoulder aches, I can choose to not go swimming. But that lets the shoulder get weaker, which makes it ache more, so I postpone swimming even more. Et cetera until I can't go swimming because I've let my body weaken to the point of unusability.

At some point, my printer will wear out to the point of being too expensive to repair. We don't really have that luxury with our bodies. All the wonderful things that we can do in hospitals are still a shadow of the miracle of our own bodies.

Use it or loose it. Even if it takes more time to warm up and more time to stretch out. No one is a spring chicken for ever. It's what you do after you've stopped being young that makes the difference.