4 Effective Ways to Stay Positive While Looking for a Job

No matter how hard it gets, you have to keep your head up

Looking for a new job can be like a quest from Lord of the Rings.

It’s an odyssey with plenty of twists and turns.

Putting yourself out there and scrolling through Indeed, Craigslist, or Upwork can be a rollercoaster of emotions.

I know from experience.

I’m currently looking for a new job. Whenever I start sending applications, feelings of excitement, curiosity, dread, and hopelessness can take my mind for a joyride in the carpool lane.

Each day I try to keep my feelings under control.

At the same time, I try to let two emotions take the wheel:

Optimism and hope.

We have to keep our heads up, no matter how dark it feels. Even when our job prospects look gloomy we need to weather the storm.

I’ve discovered a few daily habits to stay positive during a job search.

If you’re like me and also looking for a job, then you may find this information useful.

1. Make your bed immediately after waking up each day

My dad is a former Marine so you can say he drilled this habit into my brain ever since I was a child.

When we aren’t working it’s easy to get lazy and wait to make the bed until later. Don’t fall into the trap. Making the bed starts a morning routine.

Making the bed means we accomplished something at the start of our day.

Since looking for a new job I’ve faced a lot of rejection, so a small victory in the morning goes a long way.

For me, it’s been a confidence boost. I feel like I succeeded. Also, seeing a clean bed (at least for me) just feels refreshing.

2. Keep consistent personal grooming habits.

Just because we don’t have to connect to work or commute to the office it doesn’t mean we should stop bathing.

Showering every day, especially early in the morning, makes us alert. Getting clean is energizing. When our bodies feel good then this carries over into the mind.

Don’t stop there.

Brushing our teeth and shaving are important too. If you can grow a beard, do you feel better about yourself with three-day-old stubble or with well-maintained facial hair? For me, it’s option two.

Keep a routine that simulates what it would be like to get ready for work. This has many benefits.

First, we stay disciplined and ready for when we do eventually work.

Second, it’s another tiny burst of accomplishment that elevates our self-esteem.

3. Handwash your dirty dishes

This tip is for the folks who have a dishwasher.

If you have one in your house, stop using it. Instead, get your hands dirty and scrub those plates, forks, and pots by hand. Why should you do this?

For me, handwashing is like daily therapy. It distracts my mind. When it’s over I feel happy because everything is clean. It’s a mini reminder that doing “hard” work pays off in the end.

Just like finding a job, dishwashing is a process that can look messy at first.

In the end, we all will reach our goal, and looking back the journey wasn’t that bad.

If you’re reading this and think– I already handwash every day — then here is another idea:

Next time you put some soap on those plates try to put one hundred percent of your attention on what’s in your sink.

Whenever I become fully present while doing the dishes I get into a flow state and it feels great.

4. Use positive self-talk as your internal best friend

I read an excellent article on Medium by Nick Wignall regarding bad habits that happy people avoid.

One of these habits is negative self-talk.

Think about it.

We are thinking the moment we wake up each morning. If all our thoughts were negative, we would become a negative person. Our internal state blossoms into our external without us even knowing it.

By shifting the internal voice to a positive tone, we become happier.

It’s an easy concept but takes time to practice.

I work at it every day and sometimes I catch myself thinking negatively without realizing it.

So, in the context of getting a job, if we think to ourselves:

• It’s impossible to get a job.
• I’m too stupid for that role.
• I’m not good enough to get hired.

Then the odds are good that we will fail.

However, if we reframe our thoughts to be like a best friend rooting for us, things can shift enormously.

Our internal voice may sound like this:

• I’m thankful for this process towards a job I love.
• This job wasn’t a good fit but the right one is coming soon.
• Remember where I started! Even the most successful people have failed.

Changing the way we talk to ourselves may not lead to external changes at first. It will, however, make us happier inside. Happiness is the most important internal state in my opinion.

Also, if we are happy we feel good about ourselves. When we feel good about ourselves we become hopeful about landing our next job. It also makes us feel optimistic that our next job is right around the corner.

Well, friends, I hope you found this article useful.

If you are on the job hunt, I fully believe in you!

Thanks for reading.

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