Joy in job search mode? No, I’m not kidding! We need to find peace daily, not just on vacation, but especially when unemployed or looking for a new career. A book I read a few years ago, titled The Joy of Not Working: A Book for the Retired, Unemployed and Overworked, by Ernie Zelinski flashed through my mind while on vacation this past week. His premise is you need to find quality of life by doing what you love to do. The title is a little misleading, but led to me to think about how we can find joy.
Ernie doesn’t say you should collect welfare but recommends finding work you love, which you would do, no matter what. The joy of working is discovering your gifts and using them. I’ve “morphed” or moved my career a number of times, always using the same skills differently.
Success Story
While on vacation I met an artist on the Long Beach Peninsula in Washington who makes a healthy living painting. Eric Weigardt lives in the area of his ancestors in Washington state. He attended the American Academy of Art in Chicago. Wiegardt Studio Gallery is in the home of Eric’s great grandfather, Heinrich Julius Wiegardt, an oystering pioneer from Denmark. He teaches art to thousands and guides budding artists on European trips to paint “en plein aire.” Seeing his paintings and meeting the artist… WOW!
Imagine what his dad, the oyster farmer, might have said to him when he wanted to become an artist. Visit his website, as it might percolate ideas running around your brain. Eric started a career in Civil Engineering, worked at Catapillar in Chicago when he convinced his young wife that corporate life was not for him. After art school, he started his own business in his small hometown in southwest Washington, which was not easy. His story is living proof we need to work for MORE than a Paycheck.
Quiet Time
Emotional upheaval and noise may surround you at home, like whitewater rapids, causing you distress. You need quiet time to think, plan, and explore. Job search is notoriously a manic-depressive experience. But summer is almost over. The kids will soon return to school. The house may be beastly quiet. Use it to advantage for introspection and quietly seek inner peace. Then move forward.
New Friends
I’m sure you know that 80% of jobs come via people or “networking.” The next step in your job search combines friends and fun. Laughter is great medicine for job search challenges.
Try new ways to meet employed people. How about attending a conference in your industry? How long has it been since you attended a civic meeting? Attend a gallery opening. Who knows? The CEO from your next company may be standing in line for appetizers. Have you ever attended a “Meet Up” Group? What is your passion outside of work? Dogs? There’s a Meetup group for that! I found a Meetup for people making their “bucket lists.”
Do Something Different
Buy a goldfish. Visit an art gallery. Register for a Spanish class. Drive around an industrial area, stopping to write down the names of companies you don’t recognize. One of those companies may need someone like you!
Look at the Bigger Picture
Some find great peace in their faith. Others, not so much. But there is a bigger picture. In almost every endeavor, we need variety, not just the manic, jump-for-joy that I experience when the Packers make a touchdown.
Finding joy during your job search will put a smile on your face, to keep you moving towards your target. You realize something better is just around the corner. When you find your attitude suffering, look around you. Experiencing joy daily is just one of the tasks for job seekers but every bit as important as revising your resume for the 40th time! Finding joy daily is critical, even if we are happily employed, retired, a homemaker or student!