Searching for a job isn’t easy! Whether you are looking to work for someone else, or trying to generate work for yourself, frequently it can be downright boring! What happens to your motivation, focus and inspiration when you’ve been out of work for a while, feeling a little defeated and even a bit depressed?  Your confidence and effectiveness will start to waiver.  After a few months of job search, maybe with fewer responses and interviews than you’d anticipated or hoped, the weight of your job search takes its toll and it becomes a bit harder to stay inspired.  You really want to be working – even if it is not in your original career path – to keep food on the table and the bills paid.   So where do you turn to improve your focus and gain insight?  What do you do to get inspired?
Many people find solace in their place of worship, in their religious beliefs, spiritual teachings and biblical scripture.  Others do meditation or yoga for quiet introspection, and many people derive satisfaction from more physical pursuits like jogging or aerobic exercise, or competitive sports.  These are all good and important practices!
But what about other ways to find new ideas and perspectives?  Then where do you go?
These days the Internet will be the place many people explore first.  For those with chosen career paths or particular interests, industry-specific sites can be a treasure trove of ideas and inspiration.  Many controlled circulation trade journals and print publications are worth investigating because they sometimes have slightly different content than their online counterparts, and some don’t post their most current offerings online until a month after their cover date to keep their most dedicated subscribers reading their print issues.  And in some cases trade-specific, and non-trade publishers will provide supplemental content on the web that doesn’t appear in print.
Another potential source for the infusion of inspiration can come in audio form.  The continued proliferation and availability of podcasts from major manufacturers, industry insiders, inventors, business columnists, etc, can provide a deeper understanding of trends and ideas.  When you find someone whose content you like, you’re likely to keep going back to hear more of what they do and have to say.  This can also be true on topic-specific broadcasts, whether on satellite, the Internet or good old fashioned terrestrial radio.
Many find inspiration in music, in the words of their favorite singers, songwriters, composers and musicians.  And not just for those seeking careers in the music and allied industries.  Ideas expressed in song – popular and classical – have moved people to act since the earliest humans pounded on a log with a stick and found a beat and rhythm they liked.
Some people get inspired by hearing talks and presentations about particular topics of interest.  Trade shows, lectures, classes, professional development programs, and networking events can frequently stir the creative juices and wake new ideas, or provide clarity to older ideas that you’ve kept on the back burner.
Your local library or bookstore can provide perspectives both current and historical.  There you can find opinion, information and inspiration from sales leaders, marketing gurus, political leaders, sports figures, old- and new-guard corporate executives, entrepreneurs and others who wanted to share their thoughts and experiences, to provide perspective and insight.  Literature – in all its forms – has inspired dreams and creativity throughout the ages.
Inspiration can be found in any idea, thought or action that makes you think about, and see life and experiences – yours and others’ – from a different perspective.   Sometimes inspiration just comes, and sometimes you must go looking for it.  It can happen passively while walking, or actively while reading or listening.  But no matter how, when or where it comes, you must be open to it, and ready to act on it.
When inspiration strikes, are you prepared to capture it?  Pen and paper may be old school, but frequently the easiest and cheapest to access.  Today’s smart phones, in addition to making telephone calls, allow you to capture your inspiration in whatever form it comes.  You’re able to enter text, make a voice and/or video recording, take photographs, draw and sketch out with great convenience your ideas and thoughts.
Inspiration is out there, no matter what you do or want to do.  And I hope you never let your inspiration go to waste. Capture it, use it, and make it work for you.  In your job search and in your life!
Within the next month or so, I’m hoping to send out the first in a series of monthly email notes containing links to articles and stories I hope will inspire and inform job seekers, the folks who do the hiring, and those who want to be their own bosses.  Inspiration and information abound.  If you’d like to subscribe to receive these monthly notes, please click on the Register link on the left.  Thank you!
For more tips and ideas for job seekers and those on the job please search this blog and visit:  hanklondon.com