Feeling Inadequate
Whether you live in or near a small town or a big city, you may feel inadequate to earn the kind of income you desire, to live the way you want. But I must ask, “Why do you feel that way?”
Are there limited opportunities for employment? Just a few jobs available, with many applicants competing for those positions? I know the feeling. It is discouraging.
A job search is a numbers game with some required creativity to get attention. Apply to enough places and you should be able to get an interview. Then, if you pay attention to what they are expecting to get with a new hire, a few interviews should land a new job!
It sounds like a lot of work, because it is. I consider finding a job harder work than the job itself. It will be up to you to make the effort worth it.
Consider Your Options
Take time to get to know yourself before you apply for jobs. Why do I say that? For a couple of reasons. First, you must identify your talents and sell them in the interviews. They will assess your confidence in what you can do. So, be prepared to tell of your skills.
Second, consider and research what abilities you have that will qualify you to do part-time work or self-employment.
Does that sound overwhelming to understand and explain? That is because most of us have a poor view of our abilities. Some abilities are learned, some come naturally but may not reveal themselves until a demand is made of you. In essence, you won’t know until you try.
Learning Comes from Intent
When taking a class in school, such as high school, college, or trade school, there is a lesson plan to progressively help you grow in understanding of a subject, the intent of your learning.
What will be your intent for learning? Perhaps the real question is how much will you limit your effort to learn what will improve your income options?
Your mindset for money should be open to the fact that this is truly the land of opportunity. Millions of people around the world want to move here because they can see it. Can you?
You may not see any possibility for improving your income potential. But that doesn’t mean it does not exist.
To aid this process of finding intent, there are several books by career counselors, who make a living by helping people find a happier way to make a better living!
Intent Can Motivate
Raise some questions about what you observe, such as who seems to make more money than you, who seems to enjoy their work, or what companies have a profitable business model.
Be curious. Go to the library. They have a lot of books about various careers, types of jobs, and types of industries. Read to raise questions about possible options for you to improve your income potential.
Excuse me for repeating the expression, “income potential”. I know not all of you are looking for that. I know many of you are more concerned about job satisfaction than income, for your mental health. And I respect that. But remember to keep spending less than your income!
I can assure you that the effort and time you spend with this search for options will be worth it.
Search to Find Your Answers
What do you hope to accomplish? That may sound like an unfair question if you don’t have any goals. How else would you know how to focus your attention?
At some point, you must go beyond classroom teaching. Your own effort to seek answers to questions raised by observation, reading, or social media, will greatly improve your learning experience.
That is referred to as self-education. To your advantage most do not seek education beyond the classroom, especially if they find a job that helps them “get by”.
Finishing School Was Your Gate to the Future
As a Baby Boomer, raised in a rapidly growing economy, jobs were plentiful, especially in manufacturing. But that economic environment slowly declined. In its place were opportunities affected by and requiring computer and other technical skills. This situation caught a lot of Boomers by surprise. Many good paying jobs disappeared. Then, many found themselves ill-prepared to find jobs that paid as much as they were used to getting.
We finished school and thought that was our Gate to the Future, only to find that we had a lot to learn!
Learn After School
Most of us were tired of learning when we finally finished the education that gave us the diploma, degree, or certification we sought to be able to get a job.
Too many of us say, “I have learned enough”, like that is all we need to know. The laws of life are unforgiving in this regard. As the saying goes, “Ignorance of the law is no excuse!”
So, what will you do to learn more about the economy and how your work opportunities are affected by it? And what do you plan to do if there is an adverse impact? (Do you know what I mean by “adverse”?)
The best perspective on learning after school is to consider the changes that occur in the world around us, we need to read, listen, and research what we need to learn to at least be aware of the changes and how we can adjust to them. That was a long way to say that continuous learning should be your goal.
Opportunity from Specific Study
The best time to look for your next job or income opportunity is while you still have a job. You will be glad you did some research and soul searching about what kind of work you would like to do.
If you wait for the disruption of a job loss, you will go into panic mode and take the first job that pays like your last job.
There is a book that many who are unemployed turn to for job seeking advice. It is What Color Is Your Parachute?, by Richard N. Bolles, which is updated annually. The most recent issue will be in your local library. Like many other books on career planning, he discusses looking internally before looking externally. Soul searching is important to do while you are still working.
What can you do? What do you want to do? Where can you do that?
Once you can begin to outline those answers, you can begin some specific study. With all the resources available to you, there is no excuse not to know!
Don’t forget the library!
Grow Yourself, Grow Your Options
If you give reading, study, and attention to ways that you can grow your understanding of the world around you, you can develop the intent to learn what will most likely affect your life in the best way.
The more you know the more likely you will identify what to learn specifically.
You can focus on a subject and research enough to know as much or more than a large portion of the population. At that point, others would consider you an expert.
Imagine being called an expert and all because you did a lot of reading and research on a subject. You can also imagine how your options and opportunities for income would grow.
Construct a Better Future
I know immediate needs can consume your attention in the short term. But setting time aside to prepare for your future will be time well invested.
Whether you work to become an expert on a narrow range of skills and knowledge, or try to widen your options with a variety of skills or training, any efforts to grow your abilities will build your confidence and help you gain respect.
The effort you make, even if it is slower than you hoped, will help you get past feeling inadequate, ignorant, and unskilled.
Grow yourself with intent to build a better future for you and your family!