Passion

First, successful people are passionate people. They know themselves well enough to know what motivates them and what makes them happiest. They have the courage to go after what they want and they believe that they can get it.
They set goals and stick with them. Once you know what it is you want, you must think about what steps are needed in order to achieve that goal. Do you need an education or more experience? Research what it is that you need and then make a plan of action. It helps to put a time limit on your goals. Refer back to your goals on a regular basis and see how you are doing at achieving them. Do not be frustrated if you fall behind in achieving your goals; think of it as an opportunity to reevaluate your plan of action.

Visualization

Successful people use the power of visualization. Use your mind to see yourself achieving your goals. It may be helpful to see yourself taking small steps which will lead up to the achievement of the big goal. Some people may be inclined to use prayer instead of visualization. This is fine but be sure to pray as if you have already achieved your goal. Never say, “I want,” because this plays on the subconscious that there is a need to be fulfilled and not a goal to be achieved.

Balance

Successful people are balanced. They make goals not just for career advancement, but for health, family and spirituality. It is easy to get off track and put business before the others, but remember that this brings you out of balance, resulting in stress building up in other areas of your life. The trick here is to know that one is not more important than the other.
They create mission statements for all areas of their life. A good mission statement will include what it is you want to receive and give in all areas of your life. For example, a mission statement may say that you have a goal for a promotion at work, time to self each day, and time with children each day. It is easy to focus all on work, but remember that you have failed at your mission statement if you lose track of self and family.

Time Managers

Finally, successful people are good at time management. This is the key to meeting all of your goals. Make a daily schedule and stick with it, no matter how tempting it is to put one goal before another. Allow yourself to work on your goal in the amount of time you had allotted and then move on to the next goal without feeling guilty.

Add some balance to your life by going back to school for that degree you have always wanted!

Well, that might have been the case before there were 14.5 million Americans looking for work right along beside you. With today’s unemployment rate still hovering solidly above 9% finding a job will probably not happen as quickly as you’d hoped. Eventually, your daily regime of web surfing and resume sending will get old. But you can’t let the disappointment of virtual doors being slammed in your face get you down. So how do you maintain a positive attitude in an economic firestorm?

A great way is to start your own job search support group, as opposed to a networking group. How is this going to get you a job? By keeping you and your job-seeking cohorts accountable. Because as your days of unemployment increase, your enthusiasm for looking for a job will decrease, thus lessening your chances of finding work.

Using the same concepts as Weight Watchers or Alcoholics Anonymous many of the unemployed are independently joining forces both online and in their own communities in order to stay focused on finding a job. They meet regularly (usually once a week) to set job-seeking goals for themselves and then to report back in the following weeks on the results. This gives jobseekers the motivation to be accountable when looking for a job.

And if the results come back dismal (meaning jobs were not forthcoming this week) then it’s up to the rest of the group to share experiences (showing that everyone is in the same boat) and provide the necessary pep talks to keep everyone encouraged so no one falls into the trap of giving up.

True, there are existing job support groups, most of which you can find on a state-by-state basis on the website job-hunt.org. However, these groups typically place an emphasis on networking (which is also important) and many times don’t offer the one-on-one support jobseekers need to keep their spirits up while looking for work.

For example, the website No Shortage of Work is not so much a job website as it is a place to get support in the areas you need while you look for work. NSOW truly believes there is NEVER a shortage of work—just sometimes not enough money to go around. Their motto? “Even when you’re not doing something for pay, do something anyway.” Only then do you stay active, focused, and motivated while looking for work. In other words, you have to be doing something productive in order to find a job.

NSOW offers an abundance of advice and inspiration, including putting you in contact with mentors, interns, and experts who can help you build a business or research your market. They even encourage you to submit articles and blogs. No, contributors don’t get paid (even the people who run the website don’t get paid) but if you’re in a career holding pattern anyway, why not share your thoughts on your personal job-seeking journey with others who want to hear what you have to say? Or if you’re not a writer, you can read what others have to say about how they’re coping.

Regardless how you do it, the ONLY way you’ll find a job in this market is to keep looking, even if your prospects look doubtful. I know it’s hard to stay enthusiastic when your bank account is dwindling, but it beats the alternative, which is to give up. That’s not an option. Because no one ever found a job by sticking their head in the sand.

Do you know of other websites that offer job-seeking support similar to that of No Shortage of Work? If so, post a comment. We’d love to hear about it!

I don’t like making resolutions. I know I’ll just break them even before the first bud of spring emerges (I’m lucky to last that long). The stress of knowing the inevitable is coming, but not knowing when, is like buying a new car and then waiting anxiously for the first dent to happen. You know some wing nut is out there, driving 70 mph down the freeway, texting his lawyer about his last car accident, just waiting for the right moment to slide into your pristine Subaru wagon.

So this year, to avoid all that nasty suspense, I’m just going to take a hammer to the bumper right off the bat. My resolution is that I’m not going to make a resolution. However, now I will break that resolution by saying my real resolution is that I’m not going to let the jerks I encounter in public get me down. There. Since I’ve already made and broken my primary New Year’s resolution, any that follow after that are not binding (at least in my quirky universe).

With that out of the way, I can now lay out my plan for how I will not let the jerks of 2011 get in my way. Feel free to adopt some of this sage advice for your own rules to live by (or just read on and have a good chuckle).

At the Office

Dealing with jerks in the office is tricky because quite often the biggest jerk you encounter is the person you work for. In this case, it’s counterproductive to use your snappy wit to make your boss look like the goon he/she is. Since I’m a freelancer I’m my own boss, and yes as such I have to admit sometimes I can be a bit of an ass, however, for the most part I’m pretty easy to work with, if I do say so myself.

If, however, I have to deal with work-related jerks in 2011 (boss or otherwise) I vow to just sit back and let the jerk do all the talking with no interruption from me. Nothing reveals a person’s lack of character and integrity more than a heaping helping of self-serving BS dished up for all to hear. ‘Nuff said.

In the Car

We’ve all been there. The Mercedes that won’t let you merge; The Hummer that tailgates you on an icy road; The Honda that slips into the parking spot you’ve been patiently waiting for. These are the jerks you encounter in your car. Nothing sparks a good dose of road rage like being flipped off by some nimrod who illegally passes you on the right in an attempt to beat the yellow light before it turns red.

For these sad accidents waiting to happen I vow in 2011 to just pull over and let them go first. And if one of them gives me the one-fingered peace sign, then I will look at them and politely and mouth “Have a nice day,” with the biggest, sappiest grin I can muster up. I might even wave when we pull up next to each other at the next red light. (You really got so much further ahead by angrily zooming past me, didn’t you?)

In Line at Department Store

This happens to me all the time. I wait in line to pay for something. Finally, it’s my turn. Then the phone rings and the person behind the counter answers the phone instead of helping me next. It’s like the person on the phone just cut in front of me and nobody seems to care.

So the next time this happens I vow to pull out my cell phone, call the store, ask for the department counter at which I’m standing and then when the salesperson puts the current caller on hold to take my call I will politely ask her to take my credit card over the phone so I can pay for my purchase and get the heck out of there, possibly to never return—at least until after I blog and tweet about it.

On the Phone

For me, the only phone jerks I have to deal with are telemarketers and the customer service reps in Bali who can’t pronounce my last name if their lives depended on it. These people aren’t jerks, really, I’m sure at home they’re very nice people. It’s just that they have very annoying jobs.

So in 2011, instead of being ill-tempered to these poor rubes (who are just trying to earn a living), I vow to use the opportunity to try out new material on them. As a writer and comedian I’m always coming up with new ideas, jokes and even routines. If I happen to get stuck on the phone with one of these people (and in the case of customer service, not getting anywhere) then I will try out new jokes to the point at which they hang up on me. I guarantee they’ll put me on their Do-Not-Call list faster than Wells Fargo accumulates interest.

Ah yes, now that I’ve made a New Year’s resolution, broken it, then committed to one that doesn’t really count, I feel like the stress of a resolution has been lifted. Plus, I’ve got some good new rules to live by. And if I decide those little tidbits of altruistic wisdom are just too limiting, well, um…I guess there’s always next year.