How to Shift Bleak Career Opportunities

When you feel stuck in your career it seems like there are no opportunities and there is no way out. People tend to live their lives in one of three places: Resignation, Anger, or Possibility. The economy is bad, recent graduates can’t find jobs, and people have been losing their jobs for months. It sounds bad all around. So even though you want to change jobs, you tell yourself to hold tight because this is all there is or the best you can do, etc. So you have resigned yourself to the idea that this is just the way it is. Or even worse maybe you are angry about feeling stuck. When you live in resignation or anger, it becomes impossible to grow, change or shift things in your life.

Benjamin Zander, co-author of the Art of Possibility, discusses how you can change your circumstances by shifting your thoughts to possibilities. We have all heard that people who are the most successful are “out of the box” thinkers. How to you get to the out of the box thinking? By asking yourself these questions:

What assumptions am I making that I don’t know I am making?
What can I invent that I have not yet invented that will give me something new?

If you realize that you are dealing with assumptions, you naturally move to possibilities. It may not seem possible to leave your career at the moment, but if you allow yourself to disregard that assumption, you can actually create a shift in your thinking. That shift will allow you to be open to more opportunities and ideas. The new career may not arrive next week, but you will be creating the space for it to happen. The movement from resignation to possibility lies in the decisions you make and how you chose to live your life. When new jobs or opportunities do present themselves, employers will want someone who is fresh, energetic, and hopeful. Being resigned to a situation or downright angry about it is never appealing to prospective employers. There are many people who are having great success in this economy, the key to their success is not just plain luck; it’s their ability to focus on the possibilities. Whether it’s starting a new business or reinventing your career, you can move from being stuck to successful if you are willing to invent new ways of doing things.