A is for Attitude

It's time to move forward. Don't let the past negatively impact your future. You must develop a positive attitude around what you are about to do. It's important to learn from past experiences, however, you cannot allow negative experiences rule your life. You may or may not agree with why you are out of work; but whether you quit, were laid off or fired, you need to now focus on the next opportunity. The past is the past. Now is the time to evaluate where you are and where you want to go.
Winners think about winning and figure out a way to get it done. Your next opportunity should be the best one yet. Keep in mind; you will go into the next role with more experience and more knowledge. You will have seen how things were done someplace else so you therefore bring an additional perspective that may prove to be valuable to your next employer. You are going to be chosen for the unique skills and abilities that you bring to the table.

One way to help you with the attitude adjustment is to not get away from your routine. If you normally wake up at 6:00 AM, don't shift to 10:00AM. If so, you are losing valuable time. Continue to wake up early and get your day started. This may be a good time to go to the gym, walk or jog. This could be your self-time to actually plan your day. You may find this time of day very rewarding. The fact that you're not in traffic is a pretty good reward in itself!
You should approach your job search as if you have a job. What I mean by this is, you should be up working on your next opportunity when other business people are doing business. Start when they start, break for lunch as they do and end your day in the same manner. In doing this, you will find that you cover a tremendous amount of territory and accomplish quite a bit. If you are out of work and your search doesn't drive you to looking forward to Friday evening, then you aren't working hard enough on your search.
A bad attitude can absolutely zap the energy out of you and those around you. Attitude comes across in your voice, your mannerisms and body language. Have you ever called 411 for a phone number and when you hung up you wanted to use a four or five letter word to describe the operator because of their attitude? Well yeah that could be you. Maybe that operator was having a bad day, or maybe their boss just chewed them out. Whatever it is or was, you didn't cause it and you probably didn't appreciate the little funky attitude that came across. And what really ticks you off is that you can't do anything about it because they have now disconnected the line and given you the number you requested. (Most of the time right but sometimes wrong) and you have to pay for it. Well guess what? No one appreciates your little funky attitude either so stuff it!

My point here is that you must stay positive, stay focused and understand that you are talented and that your talents will get you to where you need to be. It may not always happen in your time frame but it will happen. As you are going through your process of a job search you will find yourself speaking with people over the phone and in person.

You need to present yourself as someone who is in complete control. Attitude cannot be the break in your armor. Don't allow yourself to become frustrated and fatigued. These things will show up in your actions if you're not careful. You should build plan and work your plan on a daily basis. Stay focused on your goals, give it your all, and don't dwell on the past. Stay positive; create your future