Why YOU Need To Get Moving NOW!

Imagine if you will a circle in the middle of a large piece of paper. In the center of that circle, you print your name to represent yourself at this point in time, March 19, 2013. Now draw on that paper, extended out in relative equal proximity, 4 or 5 boxes with each representing possible career or job opportunities that you are interested in. It will not matter if they are in the same field or sector, and in fact the point might be better made if they were diverse in nature, so don’t feel constricted in your choice.

Now standing back from that paper, look at the image before you for a moment. There you are in the middle with a few options before you that you have an interest in pursuing. One of the first things you need to realize and accept is that because you yourself put a job or career in each of those 4 or 5 boxes that you would find rewarding and fulfilling, any single one of them would bring you a measure of happiness and satisfaction. This must be clearly internalized and accepted, because you chose the job titles yourself rather than having someone else impose them on you. If you only put something down because others expect it of you but it’s not something you want really, go back and erase it and substitute it with a job or career that really would bring you a measure of happiness.

Okay now, choose one of those boxes and draw a line out from the center circle towards it. Along that line, place 7 or 8 shorter perpendicular lines. Each one of these intersecting shorter lines represents a barrier that must be overcome; a step that must be achieved in order to continue to move toward your goal. Now some of these barriers and steps are relatively easily achieved as in the case of targeting your resume to that position. However others are more time-consuming, such as in the instance where you must attend some University, College or training program to acquire the necessary credentials to compete for that job or career.

Of critical importance in this exercise is the objectivity it takes to plot things out honestly. So if a return to school to take a 3 or 4 year program isn’t something you are willing to undertake, but is necessary in order to eventually compete and be interviewed/hired for a career or job, you have to accept then that you will not obtain that ultimate goal represented in the box you are heading toward. If this is what you experienced, draw a second line to another of your boxes with a different job or career from your circle in the center of the page. Plot out the same lines and repeat the process. You may find that one job or career is more easily obtainable with acceptable steps which will remove the barriers, and have you arrive at your chosen career or job.

But here is why YOU really need to get going NOW. You see that circle in which you printed your name? Well that’s you today being the 19th day of March 2013. How long has it been since you had paid employment? How current are your references? How up-to-date are your technical skills and academic knowledge? The longer you stay in this center area, without focused movement toward one of your chosen career or job goals, the more your experience will become distant, your references less relevant, your technical or academic skills outdated.

Now the loss of those assets are of immense concern on their own. However, what is less immediately obvious, is that further problems and barriers will appear along all of the lines you have drawn extending out from your center. The longer you remain without movement in any direction, you will notice perhaps Fear, Depression, Anxiety, Self-Doubt, and Isolation appearing. While the appearance of one or two is difficult to overcome, the presence of all of these accumulated together can be debilitating and paralyzing.

Now some might find this whole process demoralizing and frustrating. If this is your reality however, seeing things for the way they are is the first step to making change. You DO have the power to make change in your own life and no one is as impacted by whatever decision you make from this day going forward as you yourself. You have the capacity to continue in the center, blaming a past employer, an illness, a disability, a failed relationship or any other of a number of things, including poor past decisions you have made. Or, you have the power and ability to take a step, (large or small) in one direction, and by doing so, shorten the distance between where you are and where you want to be.

If you find that plotting out your barriers was easy although distressing, but plotting out the steps to remove those barriers is the challenge, enlist the aid of an Employment Counsellor or Career Coach. It may be that they recommend other professionals, such as a Mental Health Counsellor, or a Physiotherapist or a Guidance Counsellor. Who ever you consult and work with becomes part of your ‘team’. Take this step and you can pride yourself on movement and reduce the negative effect of Isolation.

This is only one tool designed to help get you moving but like any tool, it is only useful if you pick it up and use it.
Cheers.