Episode 22: Mastering Mindset to Unlock Your Professional Potential

Have you ever felt stuck in your career or anxious about a looming layoff? You're not alone. In this episode, we dive into the exhilarating yet challenging world of career transitions, guided by the powerful tool of mindset. As seasoned career coaches, we'll share our personal tales of overcoming imposter syndrome and the emotional whirlwind of job searching. We lay bare the essential role mindset plays in navigating these transitions, offering a fresh perspective on how small mental shifts can lead to significant career strides. 

Crafting a compelling professional narrative is more than just listing skills on a resume—it's about truly understanding and articulating your unique value. We provide you with practical exercises to uncover hidden strengths, utilizing AI tools like ChatGPT to identify transferable skills. Discover how personal branding can be your secret weapon in the competitive job market and learn to communicate your worth effectively across platforms. Prepare to transform your job search approach by mastering behavioral interviews with stories that resonate and reflect your true potential.

Job searching can sometimes feel like a solo expedition, fraught with emotional landmines like demotivation and the dreaded comparison trap. We share actionable strategies to counter these hurdles, emphasizing momentum over motivation. Get ready to embrace a structured approach to your job hunt with micro routines and time-blocking techniques that keep you on track. Finally, we delve into the art of owning your career narrative, helping you rewrite your story free from limiting beliefs and the fear of failure. Join us on Facebook for an ongoing conversation and get ready to take charge of your career journey with confidence and poise.

Transcript

Judy Gelniak: [00:00:00] Welcome back to In Your Head with Jody and Jody. I'm Jody. And I'm Judy. We are your host. We're two career coaches that come from the corporate and academic world, and we're big believers in the power of perspective. Jody, between the two of us, I would say we've navigated our fair share of pivots. Would you agree 

Jodi Hallerman: or more?

More than our fair share, maybe? Yeah. 

Judy Gelniak: I would say personally and professionally, and we both share a deeply held belief that our mindset and how we respond to life situations is our choice. That is why we're doing this podcast and a big. Big tenant in our work. I think I can say that for you as well, right?

Jodi Hallerman: Yes. Yeah, for sure. In in the past series, we've focused on a couple different approaches to improving our mindset. The first one was called Positive Intelligence, and we talked about identifying our saboteurs and using a sage perspective to help us find a gift in an opportunity in every situation. Then we went into a series on the energy leadership index, and we talked about how.[00:01:00] 

We have different energy levels that show up for us in many different ways. How to identify where we are and then learn how to shift to a more effective energy level. So in this series, we're gonna focus on a topic that's both timely and it's deeply personal for so many, and that is career transitions.

So maybe you've been laid off. Maybe you've hit a wall in your current role, or maybe you're just feeling a quiet nudge that it's time for something different. Even if you don't know what that is yet, or maybe you aren't even considering a career transition. I think this episode will still offer plenty of mindset tools that you can use anytime you feel stuck or you're experiencing a loss of motivation.

Judy Gelniak: Absolutely. I mean, some of the tools we also discussed in prior, in prior series, the energy leadership and positive intelligence can be used, obviously definitely in a career transition as well. But we're just gonna focus more on career transition right now. Yeah. So I would say wherever you are in your journey in life or career, um, one thing is [00:02:00] true, change can shake you.

To your core, it can also shape you. Mm-hmm. And the difference between the two often comes down to mindset. So today, in this very first episode of this series, we're gonna kick things off with a foundational question that we'll come back to, and that is, are you going to let this moment happen to you or are you going to step into it and take charge?

We'll talk about why your mindset might be the most powerful tool you have in a time of change, and how even the tiniest mindset shifts can create real momentum, especially when everything just feels stuck. 

Jodi Hallerman: We'll also give you a sneak peek at what's coming in the episodes ahead. So if you're feeling anxious stuck or just plain overwhelmed about what's next, you're in the right place.

So let's talk about how to start moving forward. Not with a perfect plan, but just what the stronger mindset, because mindset clearly matters during career transition. So let's talk about why. 

Judy Gelniak: [00:03:00] Yeah. So a lot of times you think about. You know, if you've, you're in a transition 'cause you've lost your job, certainly that puts us into a certain emotional energy, right?

There could be an emotional rollercoaster when we land interviews and we get regrets we're, we might be constantly up and down throughout the length of a career transition. A lot of emotions come up. Fear, you know, that's a big one, right? Mm-hmm. The uncertainty, you know, when am I gonna land a job where?

Is it gonna be for the same amount of salary, right? I mean, also imposter syndrome, right? So this can happen at any point in our lives, at any time. Imposter syndrome, but just feeling not capable enough, not good enough. You know, maybe you know that people feel and say good things about you, but maybe discounting what they're saying because you know, you have these self-doubts that that create that imposter syndrome.

Have you ever felt imposter syndrome? Oh gosh, yes. When I worked at Stanford Law School, [00:04:00] you know, I, I never finished a college degree and I was managing people with masters. Yeah. And I was surrounded by brilliant people and brilliant students, and I thought, wow, what do I have to contribute here? It took me years, you know, Jodi, I worked there 14 years.

Yeah. So I have plenty of time to try to get used to that. Yeah. And it did take me a long time. I didn't have the training that I have now and certainly the age. Yeah. That helps a lot too. But boy, that was, uh, there, there were, when I first started there, I came home and cried because I thought, oh my gosh, I love that I'm working there and I'm also feeling these weird emotions, and I couldn't, I didn't even know what I was feeling.

Yeah. At the time. What about you? 

Jodi Hallerman: Yeah, I never felt it until I was looking for a job. Oh, there you go. And, and it's the first time and it's you start questioning like, God, maybe I really have no idea what I was doing. Maybe I was just lucky. Maybe I really had everybody fooled. You know? Yeah. It's so easy, and I see this as we coach people through these transitions.

[00:05:00] That is the one thing that people, you know, it's so easy to lose, to kinda lose sight of like mm-hmm. Who you are and what you know you can do, and start getting really down and losing that self-confidence. So That's so true. I think it's really important to be aware of, so when we talk about mindset, we're not just talking about thinking positive, we're talking about really that awareness.

Of how you're feeling, what you're feeling, how you're showing up, and then making the choice. Mm-hmm. To shift it to something more positive. That's the power right there. 

Judy Gelniak: We also like to think about, you know, we've talked about it in prior episodes, but this fixed versus growth mindset 

Jodi Hallerman: and, 

Judy Gelniak: and that definitely applies in a job search.

For example, a fixed thought that we might have, what might be, I don't know how to search in today's job market. I mean, that's a truth and it's gonna suck. 'cause I don't know what I'm doing and I don't even know where to start. But if we change, just add just one word to that sentence, it [00:06:00] becomes a growth mindset, right?

Mm-hmm. And this is the word. So we say, I don't know how to search in today's job market yet. Yeah. And that yet is the one word that opens the possibility and it also changes the way we feel and think. Just adding that one word yet, I don't know yet. Yeah. I'm gonna figure it out. Right. And so it, it gets us into forward motion.

Yeah. 

Jodi Hallerman: Yeah. Another thing to keep in mind as we talk about mindset is that kind of concept of our thoughts leading to certain feelings that totally impact our actions. So here's a a little experiment you can try, or a little exercise. It's called a thought audit. Just thinking about like, okay, what is the thought I'm having right now?

Where's it coming from? Like, what is it that I'm thinking? What feeling does that produce? So if you're thinking, I'm no good, I don't have the skills everybody thinks I do, I'm, I'm an imposter. How does that make you feel? It probably makes you feel [00:07:00] very, I. Insecure. Left confidence. Inadequate. Yeah.

Inadequate. How do you wanna feel though? Is that really gonna help you? So think about how, how I wanna feel confident. I wanna feel powerful. I wanna feel in control. What thought would support that feeling? Yeah. Right. Yeah. So it's a good little exercise because I think how you show up and what actions you take is completely a result of how you're feeling, which comes from those thoughts that will put in your head.

Judy Gelniak: And this is what we've been focused on in our prior series. You know, both with positive intelligence as well as. The Energy Leadership Index because this is science. This is based on science. It's also used in cognitive behavioral therapy, and both of those programs are based on science. And so anytime you're feeling a negative thought, the challenge can become if you choose to accept it, getting to the thought, why am I feeling?

Inadequate right now. What is the thought that I'm having and then working into, [00:08:00] into that. So that's a great tool. So let's shift to talk about how mindset plays a role during various job search activities and some tangible tools. I. That can help you at various stages of career transition. So we'll be looking at mindset through the lens of career transition activities and also sharing some tips about how to move through a job search as well.

So when we first start out a job search, I don't know about you, Jody, but I like to help people start to focus on their skills and their strengths and also their attributes or characteristics that they hold personally and. So what happens when we don't have a starting path especially, is that that fear that we're feeling from being in the career transition or those self doubts that come up, they tend to hold us back.

They create inion. Maybe you're getting some triggers that are happening when you think about, okay, what are my strengths? And there's just a blinking cursor You have though. Like, what are my strengths? I don't know. Right? And maybe the thought is that you don't have much to offer. All of those [00:09:00] things can certainly prevent us from taking action.

But the, the truth is, you know that you do have value and it's important to name, and it's important to go through this step. 

Jodi Hallerman: Yeah, it is. There's, there's some great exercises you can do. So one that I think we both recommend doing is spending time really reflecting on the skills that you have. What are your strengths?

Thinking about the accomplishments you've had throughout your career, what are different attributes that you bring that maybe somebody else doesn't, or even if they do, like why is it important in you? And then ask others that, you know. People that you know well, or people you've worked with, however you might know them for their thoughts on what your strengths are because you, it is so shocking sometimes when you ask somebody to name what your strengths are, the things they'll come up with that maybe you never thought of.

Yeah. So I always recommend doing that. And then also reviewing your past performance reviews. A lot of people keep those for years and years. The insight that you'll [00:10:00] gain from those is extensive. 

Judy Gelniak: Yeah. Another way to combat the the linking cursor is to think about challenges you've experienced in prior jobs and how you overcame them.

You know, think about how did I overcame them? What skills and strengths did I use to overcome those challenges? Where did you do well? You know, and what skills and strengths did did you use to do well? We also wanna think about how those, those wins and those strengths apply across industries, especially if you're looking to make a career shift of some sort.

Right. Ai I. Chat, GBT is a great tool for exploring what strengths and skills you possess if you're, again, another way to, to not to be able to start a list of ideas for yourself that you can add onto, right? You can also use it. To source transferable skills. If you are changing careers, you can put in your, just the content of your resume, not your name and identifying information, but just the [00:11:00] content and your, and a job description, and ask it to list the top 10 transferable skills from, from both documents, and that can really get you started in the right direction.

Jodi Hallerman: Yeah, I think the transferable skill part of it is probably the most important. That's because we all have skills that, you know, we developed in a certain area. Almost all of our skills are transferable to something else. So this is where like, I hate even using the word chat, GPT, because I say it way too often, more than I ever wanted to.

But it's unbelievably helpful when it comes to something like this, is really figuring out like, okay, these are the top skills. Even putting your resume in, list your skills. Yeah. And saying what types of jobs would these skills be transferable for? Yeah. And, and you know. Listing the job description with your resume, which skills do I wanna highlight to make sure they're transferable into this type of a role?

So, mm-hmm. It's so easy to explore those kind of things with ai. 

Judy Gelniak: Yeah. I mean, I think the next sort of stage of a job search really, I. Is [00:12:00] on branding. Mm-hmm. Branding yourself for your search. So branding is who you are, what you do, and really importantly, why it matters to employers. What's the benefit to them, right?

And so what we do is we look for patterns in the workup on your skills, strengths and attributes, and kind of put it all together. 

Jodi Hallerman: So there's a format that you can kind of use to do this when you're developing a branding statement, so to speak, starting with an adjective that describes you. So say steadfast or goal oriented, proactive, motivated, those types of words.

And then list your job title. So what was your last job title? Then you're gonna follow that with focused on or specializing in, and then list what exactly you do. Add the words that result in, followed by the problem you solve or the opportunity you provide, and then what is the outcome to the organization?

So, [00:13:00] Judy, do you have an 

Judy Gelniak: example of that? Yeah, so just putting it all together. An example might be, and I actually got this from another coach friend of ours, from a client that she was working with, but it might be something like this, steadfast payroll professional committed to delivering reliable payroll systems that result in seamless and error-free payroll experiences, reducing risk and ensuring compliance for organizations.

So that that long, it's kind of a mouthful. You could break it into two sentences. A brand new statement can be two sentences, but just to illustrate sort of, that's the framework that, you know, the adjective that describes you, that describes you the most in your role and. Then adding the title of the position you're going for, and then committed to specializing in or focused on something to that effect, and then talking about what you do, bringing in the results for the organization at the end.

Jodi Hallerman: What I love about that is you can reformat that for so many different kinds of [00:14:00] uses, so, mm-hmm. Your LinkedIn headline. Which, when you look at your LinkedIn profile, it's the, it's kind of the title. Many people have their title at the, at so-and-so company. So you can reformat that for that headline. You can also use that in your bout section, which is such an important section on, on LinkedIn profile, the elevator pitch or kind of that, you know, when somebody says, so tell me about yourself.

You know, you wanna have that kind of your elevator pitch that isn't your whole life story. It's some nice little snippet of who you are and what you do. Right. And 

Judy Gelniak: then we have the positioning statement, which is, is like the branding statement, but it's a little bit different. Mm-hmm. In my, mm-hmm. In my mind.

So the positioning statement lives at the top of your resume. It's sort of like the where the objective or summary and it's five or six sentences long and it's really a summary of who you are and and what you do and results you obtain. Similar to the branding, so it includes the branding statement and also allows you room to elaborate.

And you can also provide other examples [00:15:00] of problems you solve in your work and just generally how you work. Again, you know what results you're getting for those companies. So it's a a little bit more about who you are and what you do. And all of this really just helps us control the narrative, right?

We're in control, we're in the driver's seat. This is our narrative, and it allows us to take charge of that. 

Jodi Hallerman: Yeah, totally increases your confidence. Yes. When you can get something that's solid, when you own it, when you say it and you mean it, it really helps your confidence. Another area that kind of goes along with this, um, narrative piece is what we refer to as the exit statement.

So whenever I meet somebody who has recently been unemployed, I wanna know why. So what happened? What, what brought you here? And this is really to help them talk about their transition without shame or without defensiveness, because so often you find yourselves in different types of transition situations.

One could be you were fired because performance was bad. One could be you're part [00:16:00] of a large, you know, layoff within a company, a reorg where your department was impacted. But it's important to be able to communicate that to, especially if it's a hiring manager or recruiter that's talking to you, that you're able to say kind of your exit statement again without coming across defensive or feeling like you have to have shame.

So. We can talk about a couple examples, but I think the important thing is here, being able to reframe the story. So instead of just focusing on what happened, like, well, I was part of a reorg. I lost my job, or I got fired because a performance, whatever. Right? It's, it's being able to state that, but then talking about what's next, so what kind of gift and opportunity am I getting from this happening?

To me, it's, it's completely turning it. Do you have any thoughts or examples on that? 

Judy Gelniak: Yeah, I mean, I think it's can be hard initially to find that gift and opportunity, especially when, if you're not controlling the circumstance that you're in, if you lost your job. So, but I think it, you can definitely find one if you tune [00:17:00] your mind into looking for the, for that opportunity or that gift that this is giving you.

One example might be, you know, maybe you have more time with your family. Maybe you're able to take a break and re-energize, right? Maybe you, mm-hmm. You also have time to upskill, like learn something new, a new tool or a platform that's important to your role. Maybe you got certified in something, right?

Mm-hmm. And so these are just examples of things that you can. Speak to when talking about your exit. Yes. You know? Mm-hmm. The company laid off thousands of employees, my position being one of them, but what this has allowed me to do is X, Y, and Z. Mm-hmm. And I'm really happy to be here talking with you about the position you have.

I think I can make a great impact. 

Jodi Hallerman: Right. Yeah. The one that's a little more challenging, I think is when you've been fired and you're just the only one you lost your job because for whatever reason, they didn't feel you were doing your job. Yeah. And oftentimes I find it's really more of a matter of fit than it is that you are incompetent.

And I think [00:18:00] reframing that and just accepting like, not every job's the perfect fit for everybody. So I lost my job. We decided that it just wasn't a good fit for me. And what this has done has given me an opportunity to really look at where my strengths and my attributes lie and to apply them in, in a job going forward.

So there's ways to write that and to come up with that statement, but I, I kind of like planning that statement and having something ready to say so you can come across the right way. 

Judy Gelniak: Absolutely. Really important. So another stage in a job search are interviews, obviously. Mm-hmm. So I can't tell you how many times I've gone into interviews in my past where I'm just a ball of nerves.

Yeah. I would, you know, you know, prepare, prepare, prepare. And this is long before I do what I do now. Now I would prepare much differently than I did back then, but it is, I think, anxiety producing for most people, not all of my, mm-hmm. Clients have, you know, anxiety when it comes, or nervousness when it comes to [00:19:00] interviewing, but many, many do.

And it's normal, right? We're in a hot seat situation and especially when we're out of work and want, we wanna be gainfully employed as soon as possible, it can create another level of anxiety. Imagine, you know, being able to. To answer those behavioral interview questions. You know, the ones that are, tell me about a time you experienced this and what you did to overcome it or handle it.

Um, there is a way that you can answer those with confidence. And we like to use what's called the SOAR technique. For that, Jody and I both use this. It's a situation, obstacle, action, and result. That's the framework. So being able to put all four of those pieces together in a story that you tell. There's also a lot of corporations refer to it as the star method, which is situation, task, action result.

They're both very interchangeable and they're both a good key to gaining that confidence in, in an interview. 

Jodi Hallerman: I always recommend that [00:20:00] people kind of break it into categories. So thinking about some of those common questions that where you're asked, tell me about a time when oftentimes tell me about a time when you failed.

Yeah. Tell me about a time when you had to work for somebody very difficult, or you had to deal with a very difficult I. Customer or you had a timeline or a deadline that was unrealistic, like thinking about different things where you might have a story to tell and then going back and with this method, you're actually, I actually write them out.

Like type it up, write it however you wanna do it, but then practice saying it and it's, you're telling a story. Mm-hmm. So this is your response. Tell me about a time when, well, there was this time and you tell the story. Mm-hmm. From beginning to end. Mm-hmm. So it's great practice. It gives you great confidence.

And it's way more fun when you're prepared. 

Judy Gelniak: Oh, by far. Absolutely. And I think one source story, we call them, I think one source story can answer a number of different behavioral interview questions. Like if someone says, tell me about a time that [00:21:00] you know a project wasn't going as planned and, and what you did about it.

Well, if you don't have a project but you worked with someone who was difficult, that could be your, that could be your response is, you know, there was a time we worked on blah, blah, blah, and I get it. A colleague that, you know, we weren't meshing, et cetera. Really having at least five is, is a good benchmark for that.

Also, preparing for those common questions. Tell me about yourself. What is your greatest strength in your work? Also, I. What is, what is the gap? What is your greatest weakness? Where do you see yourself in next number of years? Why should we hire you? These questions still get asked quite a bit in interviews, so having some really strong answers for those questions we recommend as well, and practice 

Jodi Hallerman: those 

Judy Gelniak: I.

Jodi Hallerman: One of the things on the behavioral ones, especially just another chat GPT tip, is just to go in and type in a job description in your resume into chat GPT. You can copy and paste it and then ask for what are the talking points, what would be the [00:22:00] questions that might. Be asked mm-hmm. That I can demonstrate my fit, that I'm an excellent candidate.

Like what kind of questions should I be prepared for? What kind of responses would be the best responses to prove my fit? So yeah, that's another little thing. And then some other tools for prepping are just the practice interview itself is, is hard if you don't have somebody that can practice with you, ask you the questions and give you feedback.

Live. There's a really great tool called ly. Y-O-O-D-L-I and it is an incredible interview, um, AI driven tool where you can customize it and basically practice your interviews like with like, you're doing it with a person, so, mm-hmm. Mm-hmm. And then just any kind of mock interview. 

Judy Gelniak: Yeah. I also think AI can do a good job of helping you prepare.

It's not recording yourself, but it's typing up your responses so you can run a prompt that says, using this resume and this job description, interview me for this [00:23:00] position. Ask me, you know, three behavioral interview questions and tell her what to ask you, and then say. Allow me time to respond and then critique my response.

Yeah. And so what you're doing is you're setting up chat GBT as the interviewer, and if as you answer a question, it will give you feedback immediately and then move on to the next, next question. So it's another, it's a kind of a, a different way to prepare. 

Jodi Hallerman: Judy, you always say, too, another thing you always talk about is just leaning into curiosity with mm-hmm.

Interviews. Yeah. To make them a little bit less anxiety ridden. 

Judy Gelniak: Yeah. So when I'm curious about something, I don't know about you or anyone else, but when I'm curious about something and, and focused on learning about it, I'm not able to feel anything else. 'cause my thoughts are conditioned to, how can I learn more about this company?

How can I learn more about the people? What are, what am I looking forward to gauge whether this is a good fit. As much as you know, I've already done my practice right. I've already, my responses pretty much memorized in practice [00:24:00] and I can articulate them well. So in addition to that, I'm, I'm leaning into that curiosity to kind of cu any last bit of those nerves.

I've also felt like at times, you know, we have this, these physical responses to nerves like butterflies in the stomach or sweaty palms, you know, that kind of nervous energy creates that. I also think excitement creates that. Sometimes I'll, you know, fake up my brain and say, am I feeling nervous or am I feeling excited?

This is a great opportunity and I get to explore whether it's a good fit for me. Right. And kind of reframe it that 

Jodi Hallerman: way. Yeah, that's a great point. I love that. Okay, so lastly, let's spend some time on motivation, because working with lots and lots of people going through this, this is where the mindset is really challenged.

And that's because. A job loss and job searching is hard. You've probably heard that looking for a job is a full-time job, and I would say that is pretty true. [00:25:00] I think the main reason it's so hard is because there's no clear boundaries, so you're working away trying to find the job and. Real life and everything else kind of gets blurred together.

That becomes kind of all you're focused on. So there aren't boundaries. You don't have hours, there's no, you know, set schedule. It's also really hard to have any kind of visible progress. The job search is invisible. You're submitting applications, putting in resumes. It's all going through a system.

Sometimes it takes a few days, sometimes it takes weeks. It's very, very uncertain and there's a lot of just uncertainty every day. Am I going to hear from them? Did I get turned down? Am I gonna get an interview? Are there jobs out there for me? So I think just that lack of visibility in what the progress is, is really difficult.

I. 

Judy Gelniak: Yeah, certainly when you hit those, that's gonna affect most, most anyone walking around on the planet who's in that, in that situation is gonna affect us. There's also that, you know, [00:26:00] rejection, those regret letters. Mm-hmm. I like to call them regret letters or also ghosting as you talked about. You know, sometimes we're working with recruiters and they just don't get back to us.

That's a big one. Sometimes we never hear about what happened to that job. That we talk to people about, right? Mm-hmm. I mean, it's very disappointing to not have closure, and that also chips away at her self worth. 

Jodi Hallerman: Yeah, definitely does. It's funny, if I had, if I could ever give one piece of advice to recruiters that because, and I try to remind my people that I work with, that they're in a different world than the recruiter is.

We don't know what they're going through. We don't know how many people they're talking to or seeing, or how many resumes are reviewing a day. So when you feel like you're being ghosted. It's a horrible feeling and I would wanna remind the recruiters, like there are other people, there are live people on the other end of this, right?

There are live people waiting for a response of some kind. Yes, yes. So that ghosting, I have a hard time with that because, well, I understand it and I know that there's a lot going on for many of [00:27:00] these recruiters. It's very hard to just ignore somebody and to be that person on the ignoring it. It's hard to be on 

Judy Gelniak: the receiving end of that for sure.

It's, and I also know that they have more people than they can probably humanly respond to reaching out to them. So it is important to maintain that perspective, but also acknowledge that it's a difficult, it makes job searching harder. 

Jodi Hallerman: For sure. Yeah. Yeah. 

Judy Gelniak: There's the comparison trap too, that we get in.

You know, a lot of times on LinkedIn, LinkedIn is such a big deal for job searching and everything professional, right? And so when we spend time on LinkedIn, you know, we have strategies for leveraging it, we have ways to optimize your LinkedIn Pro profile. We work on all these different things. And part of that is actually, you know, looking around and, and commenting on posts and seeing what other people are doing.

We can get caught up in that comparison. Right? 

Jodi Hallerman: Yeah. 

Judy Gelniak: Of, oh, look what they're doing. I'm not doing anything that's nearly as cool. Or look, they are, they landed a job and I haven't yet. Right. All the different cross comparisons [00:28:00] between ourselves and others can, can come up. So that makes another element that makes job searching a mindset trap.

Jodi Hallerman: Yeah, totally. Yeah. You know, I think it's, I also think under the motivation, like it's very important that. We just kind of normalize that there are gonna be slumps like this, right? Yeah. It's normal to feel demotivated at the beginning and really at any point throughout the job search. And it's not because you're lazy, it's because you're overwhelmed or you might be discouraged.

It's just, it's completely normal. It's not personal. It's not just you. Everybody goes through it. So going back to that like thought, feeling piece we talked about earlier is like, start by naming that feeling like, what is going on here? I'm feeling disconnected maybe, or I'm, I'm just sensing that lack of urgency, or I'm feeling burnout, or I'm so overwhelmed.

Maybe I'm even feeling grief. Because when we lose a job, there's definitely a sense, sense of, of grief. So. [00:29:00] It's not that you're broken, you're human. That's That's right. This stuff is all super normal. And the thing on top of all this is when you don't have immediate external validation, you're not working with a boss, you don't have coworkers, I.

You know? Yeah. All you're getting maybe is rejection emails, so it's really easy to spiral. 

Judy Gelniak: Absolutely. I mean, I think the key here to remember is that motivation isn't about willpower. It's about emotional energy. Yeah. And when you're drained that energy dips fast. But it is completely normal. And so now we're gonna kind of switch gears and talk a little bit about some strategies.

If you're feeling that lack of motivation at any point, and again, this, these strategies can be used for any loss of motivation in anything you're doing, you know, inside and outside of job search, right? 

Jodi Hallerman: Mm-hmm. 

Judy Gelniak: So one thing that's certain is that action can really create clarity and not the other way around.

And so we [00:30:00] want to use that momentum that action creates in order to combat the motivation. So one, one tool you can use is called the one small step. And this is about, you know, take doing one small action, one action. That's not gonna take a lot of time that you are guaranteed. To complete. This is important.

You don't wanna take on something that is gonna be too involved, that you're not going to complete for this particular strategy. This is a neuroscience strategy, right? And so you, you need to be able to complete it. So examples of that might be send one message to someone in your network. Someone you know, easy step.

One and done did it. Maybe put one update in your LinkedIn headline. You don't have to do the whole LinkedIn headline, just one small update. Maybe research one company and write down why you like them. Write one, like bullet accomplishment, one accomplishment that you can put on your resume, just [00:31:00] one. And what happens is when you accomplish it that.

Spirals your motivation up in your brain and that dopamine kicks in and then it gets easier to do more and more and more. So it's important that when you use this, as we talked about, to make sure that you're choosing something that you can easily accomplish. 

Jodi Hallerman: So it's momentum over motivation, right?

Momentum over motivation. I like it. Yes. Yeah. It's that one small thing that might feel like nothing at first, but it's a signal to your brain. We're still in motion, we're still capable. And that's how you build momentum. That's how you do it. Yeah. Also, I think like micro routines, like just to have an anchor for your day.

So maybe you create a, a search, a work search hour, you know, same time, same vibe. Same place every day. Just one hour where I'm just gonna, this is all I'm gonna do. Or get dressed like you're going to work. Mm-hmm. Sometimes that makes a huge difference. And I think there's actually studies on, you know, the casual [00:32:00] Fridays and that kind of thing.

Oh, absolutely. 

Judy Gelniak: When we were in first days of the shutdown Back in, what? 2020? 

Jodi Hallerman: Yeah. 

Judy Gelniak: I was like, I, I started having to get dressed again. 'cause I was like, that helped me with motivation. Because you know, too many days of sweats. I was like, oh my gosh, I'm losing it here. Yeah. So there, that really does help.

Jodi Hallerman: Yeah. Yeah. Even you could have like a specific playlist that you have. No, I like that. Going every single day. I think too, time blocking the tasks, so rather than say I'm gonna go spend my entire morning, maybe you do 30 minutes of applying, 20 minutes of learning, 10 minutes of working on your mindset, you know, and set a timer, set a timer so you don't go over.

Yeah. I think those are great tools for, for helping you anchor your day. 

Judy Gelniak: I agree. I mean, I like the setting a timer, especially when there's something that you know you want to do but don't want to do it. Yeah. Does that make sense? Something that is necessary to do for your [00:33:00] search that's really gonna be helpful, but it maybe is something you don't do well or don't love doing.

Setting a timer can be helpful. So setting, what is the, the smallest amount of time that I can imagine doing X? Is it five minutes? Is it 10 minutes? Whatever it is, you set the timer. When that timer goes off, you stop doing whatever it is you're doing. So you know when you get started, you're not gonna be doing this for half a day.

It gets easier to get motivated at that point to do it, and then when that timer goes off, you can stop and then come back to it later and restart again. As long as you come back to it, right, you're still moving the ball. What happens a lot of times is that when that timer goes off, we're already in a groove of whatever it is we're doing.

Yeah. So we end up continuing to work on it of our own. Choice at that point, right? Yeah. But regardless of whether you still wanna do it or not, you have the option of stopping, you know? Yeah. And so that creates a lot of good motivation to get started. 

Jodi Hallerman: Yeah. We've talked a lot about like emotional maintenance tools, like just, [00:34:00] you know, things that you can do to keep yourself going.

One thing that I think works really well with a job search is just like a daily check-in prompt. So what's one thing I can control today? Think about that and then work on that because it's in your control rather than. All of a sudden facing all these things that are completely outta your control. Yeah.

You know, being focused on something that I actually have a little bit of control over this. The other thing is like celebrate your effort and not necessarily outcomes. So you're not gonna get a job every day. You may not get a. Interview every day. Yeah. But you can celebrate the fact that you followed through on something you said you were gonna do again.

Whether that's updating one thing on your resume, updating one thing on your LinkedIn profile, connecting with one person. Celebrate those things and reward yourself. 

Judy Gelniak: Definitely reward yourself. So what I find helpful for that is, you know, for myself to speak of myself, I have to actually think about rewards because I'm so conditioned to [00:35:00] like, accomplish something I don't ever celebrate.

It doesn't occur to me to celebrate 'cause I'm so action oriented. Um, I'll just say next, what's next? Okay, good. Got that done. Now, next I have to stop and say, oh my gosh, this was huge. This was huge. What I just did. I mean, you know, and I am just moving on, you know, to stop and I have to actually think, how do I wanna reward myself?

I have to make a list. As silly as that sounds, I have to make a list of small things, large things that are options for me because it's so foreign to me to actually celebrate. And yet that is such a big part of. You know that emotional maintenance that we're talking about. And so if you have to, at the beginning of your job search, create a list of large and small things that you can do for yourself to celebrate those efforts that you're making.

And then just look at the list when you're ready. 

Jodi Hallerman: Yeah. And speaking of lists, it's kind of like using a journal or. A habit tracker to visually see your progress. So I'm a big one for lists and just checking things off like that is a huge motivator for [00:36:00] me is I make a list and it might be like 10 little things I'm gonna do today.

I love checking those things off. Me too. And I just love the visual of seeing it. So even if it's just. You showed up and you tried. Yeah. You know, acknowledging that. So 

Judy Gelniak: yeah, and maybe you wanna have mantras or reminders for yourself, you know, this is another strategy. Some people, this really resonates with.

You know, thinking about what is gonna motivate you, maybe thinking about what you're, what's pulling you off track and creating a positive mantra that's true about that. So, examples of this might be, this is a season, not a sentence. Or I don't have to do everything, just one thing. My job is out there. I'm getting closer.

Jodi Hallerman: Yeah. I. Action is the antidote to fear. Yeah. Another great examples. Yeah, I, I, I did this when I, many years ago, I was trying to lose some weight and I put, I had a little note that just said it's just seven pounds in one week every week. Not that I had lose seven [00:37:00] pounds in one week, but it was like I only for one week had to track, and I, I knew that it was only seven pounds.

And so when I look at that, it was like, okay, it's not that big a deal. I only have to do this for one week. And that isn't that much. Yeah. And each week I'll, I'll nick away at that. And it, in a way, it motivated me. Totally motivat me. That's awesome. I love that. Yeah. Yeah. So 

Judy Gelniak: as we wrap up, we're coming to the close of our episode, this first one in a series.

Next time you're feeling challenged by something outside your control, maybe it's what we're talking about, losing your job and and making a change. Maybe it's something else, revisiting that question we asked at the beginning. Are you gonna let this moment happen to you? Or are you going to step in and take charge?

What thought are you having about the situation and how is it serving you? 

Jodi Hallerman: Yeah, I would reflect on this, like what's one small mindset shift that you can make today? Mm-hmm. Mm-hmm. Exactly. It's just one small one. Yeah. 

Judy Gelniak: So we have [00:38:00] episode two coming up pretty soon. What are we gonna talk about in episode two?

Jodi Hallerman: So our next episode is gonna be about rewriting your story and how to own your own narrative during a career change. So. Thinking about those internal narratives, the limiting beliefs and the fear failure, that can completely derail your transition. And then what can you do about that? That's what we'll be talking about.

Judy Gelniak: Great. And so hopefully you got some great ideas from our episode today. And if you would like, please, we would love to hear from you. If you'd like to follow us on Facebook in your head with Jody and Judy, share a comment and maybe just subscribe and follow for our next episodes. We'd love any feedback from 

Jodi Hallerman: you.

So until then, stay positive and we'll see you on the next episode of In Your Head with Jody and Judy. See you then.