Life is more than your job. Way way way more. It just may be very hard to see if you don't have a job that is satisfying or that provides enough income to satisfy your basic needs (food, water, shelter, clothing, transportation, utilities, debts, and a bit of extra spending money to enjoy life with or to buffer you against unexpected events or emergencies, e.g. your car breaks down or your bike gets stolen, or you need a new suit for that interview.) If this is your situation, this article is for you.
The benefit of a road map.If you are lost in the circular angst of an uninspiring job and being paid too little to meet your basic needs and financial demands, you are not alone. Knowing this, you try to "get out" by researching job opportunities, scanning Craigslist daily, sending out email and contact blasts on Linkedin, Facebook, or Twitter. This is one way to grow in job skills and...number of jobs, but how to get where you really want to be? Follow a road map with real guidelines and alternates solutions all within the framework of a time-schedule. Take this timeline out occasionally, or on que on your calendar, bi-weekly, monthly, or every 2-3 months. Either way, follow a road map. Notify others. Have them check in with you at scheduled, regular periods of time to keep you on track. Either way, make your road map and actually follow it. You can make changes as you go along, but at least try following it for a while.
Hang-ups. Though, the most important thing (for our overall happiness as well) that people who are in this situation know is that getting hung up on the "job" and "how much money you have" severely limits your ability to 1. enjoy your life, 2. enjoy your free time after work, 3. think about and actually seek other life opportunities, be they work, education, relationships, hobbies, or other personal pursuits such as traveling. Aka, we miss the boat on self-development and life enjoyment when we constantly worry about how much money we are making and whether or not we like or jobs or even whether we will have a job. Even if we have these concerns and must address them, address them within a very specific block of time each day, e.g. 1 hour per day during lunch, or 1 hour in the morning at work, or 1 hour in the evening before dinner time per day, or even, only one day a week, such as on Monday evenings. Whatever works for you, just make sure to categorize those thoughts enough to allow you to focus on things that move you forward or just keep you where you are but allow you to enjoy a richer, more fulfilling expression of that life.
Perspective. Recognizing your limitations with your job search and that time spent worry about money or the future or job-seeking is often fruitless, you will then be able to enjoy the present on a level you have yet to discover. Recognizing that you could be spending those hours reading new books or going to the beach or planning that trip to China you've always wanted to go on is way more satisfying than choosing tubs of ice cream, countless calls home in tears, or purchasing more clothes, electronics or dinners out just to make yourself feel better. Stop pining and start living. Start by leaving the current concerns behind in your head and move forward with your life. Write that blog. Plan that trip to India- and go! Take that year off to live in Alaska. Write that novel in the evenings instead of looking for new jobs. Be productive, go forward, and get out of the cycle of job searching and money-seeking. You will never have more time for yourself than by stopping the activities that hold your brain hostage for so many of your productive waking hours. Use that time to start that mushroom-growing business or that internet business. Be productive for yourself now. You will only hold yourself back by not giving yourself the time and permission to do so by NOT doing other things- such as that hugely time-consuming job of finding new work or fulfilling work. Ask not what your country can do for you but what you can do for country. Write now. Program now. Contact buyers. Just act on the things that are integral to getting you in the place you want to be. If that is working in your current job and developing job skills, then continue to do that. However, if you want to be somewhere else, this information is here to get you started (and remember to try and enjoy the present as well- check out scheduling for life balance.)
Remind yourself that news headlines temp agencies, and other services prey on the desperate and financially hungry. Ignore the quick solutions, the quicksand traps, and take the long, arduous, and ultimately necessary route to your dream.
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