13 Ways To Stay Positive During An Economic Downturn
ningcontentWhilst some individuals find the notion of being positive to be a little ‘fluffy’ – intellectually, most people understand that your state of mind and how you feel has a direct impact on your actions and the results you achieve in your career – and indeed elsewhere in your life.
But on a practical level, how can you remain positive when you’re surrounded by bad news and little sign of the ‘green shoots’ of recovery reaching the job market…?
Here are 13 tips which may help:
1. Keep your mind focused on solutions instead of problems. In every market there are opportunities – but you’ve got to stop focusing on all the noise about how bad things are in order to see the solutions and potential opportunities.
2. Don’t stress about stuff you can’t control. The economy, lay-offs and a shortage of opportunities are out of your control – so quit worrying about them. Focus 100% of your mental energy and time on those things which you can control or influence. It’s far more productive.
3. Minimise your consumption of the press and media. The recession, credit crunch and redundancies are big stories and big business for media outlets. The bigger the story -the higher the circulation, viewing figures and online hits – all of which fuels advertising revenues which are already squeezed during a downturn.
Yes, you need to be informed about the stories and the market place – but you don’t need to be inundated with every news story about major lay off announcements, unemployment figures and comparisons to the 1930s depression. Overloading yourself with bad news just instils a level of anxiety and fear which stops you taking the very actions you need to take to make progress at such a time.
4. Look out for good news and opportunities. I usually scan a couple of newspapers every day to stay up to date as well as watching headlines on news channels. But it really is a quick scan – my focus is on reading either ‘good news’ stories or articles which are bad news dressed up as opportunities.
5. Minimise your exposure to negative people. The type of people that want to constantly moan and whine about anything and everything. We all know people like this and it’s not always easy to avoid them when they are friends, family or colleagues. But in the current climate, negative people can be like poison.
So reduce your exposure to moaners and whiners, whilst increasing your exposure to positive people who are focussed on solutions and opportunities instead of just the problems. If you’re a negative person yourself, spend less time with yourself and more time on the other 12 points in this article.
6. Walk away from social conversations which begin with “aren’t things terrible these days…?” If you’re at the pub/bar, go buy a round. If you’re in a restaurant, change the subject.
7. Hit the pause button. As soon as you hear yourself thinking and talking about how terrible things are and you develop a ‘poor me’ dialogue in your head, hit the pause button and remind yourself to move on to something else.
8. Celebrate your small successes and wins. I recently treated a client to a glass of champagne. Not because he’d secured a job – but because he’d secured his first interview in more than 3 months of persistent job searching. In fact it was he’s first job interview for 15 years. Whilst he didn’t progress beyond the first interview, it was still a big step forward and deserved a mini celebration to acknowledge his efforts and ensure his confidence continued to grow despite failing to progress to the second interview.
When you’re climbing uphill in the middle of a terrible storm (often with some baggage), you absolutely need to pat yourself on the back with every small success. Focusing on the small wins gives you the energy and confidence to tackle the bigger challenges that you know still lie ahead.
9. Be grateful. There are approximately 6.8 billion people living on this planet. And I’m pretty confident that everyone reading this article is likely to be in the top 5% of that population in terms of material wealth, living conditions, opportunities and probably education too. Whilst we’re experiencing tough times economically, we still have a lot to be grateful for.
So as bad as it may seem on some days, try and develop a habit of focussing on what you’re grateful for instead of just the bad stuff. In addition to ‘keeping you going’, being grateful puts you in the right state of mind to take action and attract more of the opportunities you want.
10. Laugh more. Laughing gives your body a feel-good factor whilst providing you with a refreshing sense of perspective on things. So hang out with people who make you laugh, watch comedy on TV or YouTube, read humorous books. If you’re feeling open-minded, go and try out some ‘Laughter Yoga’ (I tried it last year – it’s hilarious!)
11. Exercise more. Giving yourself a regular shot of endorphins gives you more energy and confidence. It doesn’t matter what it is – a 20-minute walk, a quick run, a game of tennis or taking a class at the gym. Just do something on a regular basis.
12. Look for the lesson. As painful as they are, the best lessons in business, careers – and indeed life – often come during tough times. So what are the lessons you’re learning right now? How are you going to implement this learning? What’s the first step?
“Unlucky 13” Stop telling yourself how lucky other people are in comparison to you. Whether you have been laid off or are stuck in a job or career you hate,being a victim ensures that you’ll make little progress and join the ranks of negative people highlighted in number 5 above. Don’t go there.
Whether we’re currently seeing the green shoots of recovery or just green weeds is a matter of debate amongst the economists. But trying to focus your mind on the positives does start to help you create your own green shoots of opportunity.
So no matter how cynical you are about ‘being positive’, taking some of the above steps on a regular basis will change how you feel. And as all top performers in any field know, feeling mentally fit and emotionally strong is the foundation of any success – be that in your career, or elsewhere.
Article by, Sital Ruparelia and courtesy of CareerHub.com. The Career Hub blog connects job seekers with experts in career counseling, resume writing, personal branding and recruiting.
