This is the year of WTF. Yep, What the F&&&.
It doesn’t matter what got you to the point of saying it. Maybe you got fired/layed off. Maybe your company went out of business. Maybe you quit because you couldn’t take it any longer. Maybe you are just graduating from school and the prospects of living at home are far worse than cramming in with 12 roommates in a beater house or apartment you call “The Hotel”. Whatever the reason, the question is how do you turn this time into the start of something good?
I’m here to give you your WTF To Do List.
1. Recognize that its ok to live like a student
It doesn’t matter where you live. It doesn’t matter how you live. It doesn’t matter what kind of car you drive. It doesn’t matter what kind of clothes you wear. It doesn’t matter. Your biggest enemies are your bills. The more you owe, the more you stress. The more you stress over bills, the more difficult it is to focus on your goals. More importantly, if you set your monthly income requirements too high, you eliminate a significant number of opportunities. The cheaper you can live, the greater your options. Remember that.
2. Take Lots of Chances
If you are living cheap, and ready to find out where your future lies, now is the time to try anything. WTF time means fighting through your fears to take a job in a new industry. It means trying different things to find out what it is you love to do. There will be no such thing as too many jobs. In this type of economy getting a job is tough if not often impossible. So you are going to have bust ass to create opportunities for yourself.
Creating opportunities means looking where others are not. Look outside where all your friends are looking. Make a list of jobs and businesses that are outside the norm. I know you want to follow your passions and get a job in sports, movies, tv, shooting video for Girls Gone Wild, and other things your friends would love. Why fight the crowds? Go where people are not. Just like you never thought you would ever fall in love with someone else, you will find another industry or job that you will love as much as your first love. Move down your list to other things. Then get ready to work.
In this kind of economy, it really is a numbers game. You are going to have to keep on applying for everything and anything that opens a door you want to walk through. You can never slow down. Its hard work finding a job. If you have bills you have to pay, and it means taking a night job in order to keep looking for the day job or to keep a job you want, do it. Be a waiter, a night janitor, wash clothes, sell vacuum cleaners door to door, whatever you need to do, all the while reminding yourself that it opens the door for your future.
Then when you do find a job, remind yourself again that you are winging it. Everyone always sees the bright side of the job they just took. You have to. The new job you just took that you thought would be amazing, will be amazing. Most probably it will be amazing for about 3 months. Then you will realize its not so amazing and you will need to find something else that is amazing. Thats ok. You don’t have to be right everytime. You just have to be right one time. Finding the right job is a lot like dating. Its hard until you start, then when you start, its great till its not. Then its frustrating as hell until you get it right. But when you do, it all comes together.
3. Figuring out if you are in the right job
Its really easy to know if you are in the right job. If it matters how much you get paid, you are not in a job you really really love. I’m not saying that you shouldn’t want to make more money. I’m not saying that you shouldn’t bust your ass to make as much money as possible. Thats not the issue. The issue is whether or not you truly love your job. If you love what you do so much that you are willing to continue to live like a student in order to be able to stay in the job, you have found your calling.
4. Figure out how to be the best
Once you have found out what you love to do, there is only one goal. How can you be the best in the world at it. It doesn’t matter if you are a filing clerk, an athlete, an accountant or a bartender. All that matters is that you do whatever you can to be the best. Of course “the best” is all relative. The one person who you should never believe when it comes to evaluating your abilities is you. The very worst judge of your abilities is you. Self Evaluation is never successful. When you are the best at something, the demand for your services will grow. People want to hire the best. They want to be associated with the best. In 2009, in this economy so many people switch jobs and industries and its so much easier to stay connected via social networks and other digital means, people who need you can and will find you. So rather than trying to convince people you are the best, let the quality of your work do your talking.
5. Start the day motivated with a positive attitude
You are going to screw up. We all do. I cant tell you how many times I did and do. It happens too often. No matter what happens, every morning, the minute after you wipe away the crust from your eyes, remind yourself that you are going to enjoy every minute of the day. You are going to enjoy the 20 interviews you have. You are going to enjoy waiting in the heat for your roommate to pick you up afterwards. You are going to enjoy realizing how frayed your collar is becoming and how sick you are of your one tie. You are going to enjoy all the bullshit you have to deal with as you chase your goals and dreams because you want to remember them all. Each and every experience will serve as motivation and provide great memories when you finally make it all happen.
Its your choice. What are you going to do?
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