What Are You Telling Yourself?

Self talk is important to your success, or your lack of success.

Rarely do people succeed on first try, or the second. Success is built over time and effort. You have to overcome adversity. No matter what happens to us, it is how we react that matters more.

 

Positive thinking is no miracle cure. It doesn’t replace collaborating, experimenting, trials, planning, learning, nor failures. The habit of positive self talk is motivation to try again. Break down what you need to do to the smallest effort and start.

 

Victim talk where the world is against you, you think you have no control, you are powerless to do anything. “Look you don’t understand, …”. “They won’t let me…”. It discourages you from changing or even trying. It is not true, you have choices. Terina Allen deep dives this subject in her article below. 

 

Healthy self talk often starts, “Next time this happens, I will …”. This means you have learned something from the experience.

 

No one is perfect! We all need time to feel sorry for ourselves. The gift is to not stay stuck there. 

 

Don’t feel one failure or setback will stop you from coming back. It takes time and effort to improve or try something new. Don’t be afraid to try again in different or better circumstances. And yes we may fail again.

 

Prayer is important for us. It is not only for the surprise test in school. It focuses us on how we are to contribute, not solve it on our own. Ask whatever you wish.

 

“For I know the plans I have for you, declares the LORD, plans for wholeness and not for evil, to give you a future full of hope.” (Jer 29:11 ESV)

 

Forbes - This Is The Saddest Thing In The World That People Tell Themselves

https://www.forbes.com/sites/terinaallen/2019/11/15/this-is-the-saddest-thing-in-the-world-that-people-tell-themselves/#4a38951c22ad

 

Keep Calm and Carry On

 Our world has been disrupted. Covid-19 keeps spreading. Working or studying from home almost feels normal. If we are still working, many coworkers, friends and family are not. Multiple industries have cratered. Among ~400 engineers with notice will need a new job in November, and ~12,600 laid off this year in WA. Far from alone.

 

The expression above is British. During the nightly bombings they slept in bomb shelters not knowing if they would survive. In the morning they went to work and prepared for war. This extended months and years with no clue as to when it would end. Admire the people who went through World War 2 daily despite the hardships. They planned and executed projects to win a four and half year war. Frankly they saved the world.

 

Few people thrive in uncertainty. Who does? It is stressful, hard to make plans, confusing what to do next or figure out your options. Usually are too many choices in life. Second everyone wants to know when is it going to end? But no one knows.

 

Remember this too shall pass. Take a deep breath and pick something to do now. Does not have to be the perfect thing to do. Something else will be next. Just break things down and start small. Give yourself grace to make mistakes.

 

Decisions don’t have to be made immediately. Talk with other people who have been in or are in your situation. There are support groups for near any situation. Helping support other people will help you cope. Create more options by researching industries and careers using your skills. You need plan A, plan B and maybe more during a recession. Unemployment normally covers 26 weeks with a 13 week extension. Not much time to find work.

 

My plan A - Laid off from Boeing Commercial Airplanes, find work within Defense Space & Security or Global Systems. Plan B - nationwide job search for production/manufacturing engineering positions in aerospace, defense and space. Expand target industries if not finding opportunities. Plan C - supplement earnings with gig work. So far networking and implementing plan A.

 

Able to relocate, an option most people don’t have. They have to look for alternate careers in their neighborhood. Look at what is important to your life. Having relocated several times, do not recommend relocating for most people. Difficult to give up family, friends and support systems to start over.

 

If you are in this situation, feel free to reach out to me. Been here before and still saying my prayers. Start by reading Change Comes in a Minute. Adaptability, resilience and resourcefulness are learned by experience. You will be surprised how much you already have.

http://problem1solver.blogspot.com/2020/07/change-comes-in-minute.html