Use Positive Psychology to Power Your Job Search

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Positive psychology is a relatively new field that focuses on what makes individuals and communities thrive. Instead of the negative psychology that is emphatically prevalent in our culture, the emphasis is on what's right about someone, not what's wrong. What makes for the person's happiness, not what causes their pain and difficulty. The successful ways they've managed their lives, not their failures.

Job seekers are always told to "stay positive," and for good reason. Law of Attraction theory says that like attracts like. So, if you have positive views of yourself, a positive vision of the future when you will be employed in a job you like, and positive mental habits, you will be more likely to get a great job. If you are consistently negative, you will see negative things, feel down, and execute a lackluster job search.

What are some ways you keep on the positive side? Here are 7 DAILY habits that can help.

1. Take 15 minutes before you start your day to meditate or listen to some calming music.

2. Create an image in your mind of yourself in the job you are targeting. Picture yourself hired, dressed to go to work, doing your job, eating lunch, working through the afternoon and going home.

3. As you contemplate the image, let yourself feel the relief of having landed a great job, the satisfaction from doing the job you know you can do, and any other feelings that you would have.

4. Make a list of your top 5 qualities and your top 3 career successes. Write them down. Periodically through the day remind yourself of your positive qualities that have enabled you to be successful in the past and of the times you were able to exercise your knowledge, skills, and abilities to do a great job.

5. After doing some hard aspect of the job search - for some that might be cold-calling or going to a networking meeting - reward yourself. Go to a basketball game, buy some new eye makeup, try a new restaurant, etc.

6. At the end of your day, think of 3 ways in which you made progress towards your goal that day.

7. Get the "attitude of gratitude" - spend a few minutes being thankful for your many gifts and anticipating only good things the next day.

Have you found ways of staying positive through a job search?

It may not be magic, but there is a power in it. The hard part of being positive for most people is that they have to move out of their comfort zone and the culture that are used to negative thinkging - particularly about job search.

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