To land a job, you need to be ready to brag about yourself, to tout your abilities and to interview with confidence. Problem is, you were just laid off, you are feeling low, or you have lost a lot of the confidence you once had.
This is a very legitimate issue that has no easy solution. You can try to talk yourself up with the “I’m good enough, I’m smart enough…” all of that we’ve all have heard. You can follow the “suck it up you’re better than that” which is awful and unhelpful in many ways.
Not sure that there is any psychological merit to this, but I know it happens with me where I will remember, much more easily, the negative things people say about me than the uplifting comments they say. Once that soundtrack enters my head, it is tough to drown it out!
Here are a few things that people have either shared with me over the years or I have found to be helpful in my own moments of feeling beaten up.
🔸 Create a folder in your email titled “positive feedback”. Save every email that you get from coworkers, bosses, vendors, clients, friends – anyone who has mentioned how much you have brightened their day or brought goodness to their world.
🔸 Have 3-5 people you can call when you are feeling down. I have a list of people I know will instantly give me a boost. Any of them will answer when I call and be ready with a positive word or give me the confidence that I need to charge ahead.
🔸 Pray or dig into your favorite faith-based reading. For me, just about every negative thought always comes back to listening. If I pause and listen, things get much clearer. I love Proverbs 17:27 because we can have a bad reel running in our heads and that passage reminds me to stop talking (even to myself) and wisdom will follow.
🔸 Meditate / be still. There is so much noise. Sitting quietly helps me reset the messaging in my head and gives me more energy to move forward.
🔸 Inventory your accomplishments, even the small ones just within the last few hours. Little wins are still wins and need to be counted. Having a company tell you that you are no longer being considered for a role is one less company you need to worry about not having feedback from – that is a win.
🔸 Help a friend or several friends through their own negative thoughts. Encouraging someone else will help you lift your own spirits.
🔸 Turn off the news.
I am not sure when the news gets better as far as layoffs go, but I do know that things will get better. Lean on the things you know to be true – you didn’t get to where you are today by accident. You have achieved the level you have achieved because of you, your work, your diligence and your talents and abilities, not someone else’s.