Let Thanksgiving Inspire Your Job Search

With all the doom and gloom surrounding the economic scene, now is a perfect time to step back and reflect on the bigger picture. And what better time than Thanksgiving to do this? 

Thanksgiving is a favorite holiday, a time to focus on everything for which we’re grateful. Especially while job hunting, Thanksgiving is about seeing the good in our lives and feeling appreciation despite outer circumstances or conditions. Our happiness isn’t about how much stuff we’ve accumulated. Rather, it’s about feeling grateful for who, what and where we are right now. It’s about gratitude for how far we’ve come, what we can do and for the challenges we’ve worked through.

Gratitude and the Law of Attraction: Gratitude is critical to the success of our job search. According to Rhonda Byrne, author of The Secret, we attract what we think about and concentrate on through the universal Law of Attraction. When we focus on our cup being half full, we attract more abundance and prosperity. This includes job opportunities, especially in these challenging times. When we think that job hunting is hard, and focus on the jobs we didn’t get offered, we attract more rejection and disappointment.

It’s been said that, “Attitude is everything.” That’s especially true in job search. Although we may not control anything outside of ourselves, we are in control of what we think, feel and do. This Thanksgiving, why not try these 4 simple gratitude steps to improve your job search?

1) Start a Gratitude Journal: Oprah Winfrey has credited her success in part to keeping a gratitude journal, logging in at least five items each night for which she’s grateful. This shifts your energy. “What we think about and thank about, we bring about”, according to Dr. John Demartini, The Secret. Adopt an “attitude of gratitude” and start writing down five items each day for which you are grateful. This gets easier after a few days and soon it starts to shift your mindset from lack to prosperity.

2) Focus on Prosperity: Jack Canfield, co-author of the series of books, Chicken Soup for the Soul, suggests focusing on prosperity and abundance. Focus on inner joy, peace, vision, and the outer things appear naturally. “Your voice and vision on the inside”, he adds, “must be louder than the noise outside.”

3) Visualize Without Limits: Joe Vitale, also featured in The Secret, suggests closing your eyes in the morning and visualizing what you want without limits. Then focus on what you’re grateful for. He mentally reviews a gratitude list in the shower. He then releases all of this to the Universe, while breathing deeply. Canfield adds that, “Energy flows where attention goes”.

4) Be Grateful When a Job Falls Through: This may sound strange at first. When you pursue job opportunities, always leave the Universe the option to deliver the “right” job to you. It’s important to acknowledge that you don’t know which exact job is best for you. Be grateful when a certain job opportunity falls through, and always detach from a specific outcome. When job opportunities fall apart, the job wasn’t right for you. Who knows why? No matter. Surrender to the Universe, knowing that the best job for you will come to you at the right time.

Summary The wise give thanks for what most of us take for granted. Spend a few quiet moments during this Thanksgiving holiday to try some of these simple, yet powerful steps. These steps, based on gratitude and the Law of Attraction, will not only help move you toward the right job for you at the right time, they’ll also enrich your Thanksgiving weekend and last well beyond the turkey leftovers.

Sue