When you get what you wanted

, recently saw a sign that read, ³5e member when you wanted what you now have?´ I can’t get it out of my mind. It keeps resurfacing and I think it is because it is so true. /ately, I’ve been caught in cycles of thought where I’m constantly dwelling on what I do not have. I need to earn more money to support my family, I want to live in my own built from scratch mansion, I want to start a business, I want to start the foundation, I want my career to take off…

0y mind is often a congested cloud of wants and desires that prevents me from seeing what I have and the path on which I’ve traveled.

MARVELLOUS

$bout four years ago my husband lost his job.

We were living with our parents, I also found myself out of a job. I remember thinking that I would do just about any job as long as it meant security for my family. The idea of even the most modest apartment sounded marvelous. $bove all else, I just wanted our baby to be healthy. Then everything would be okay and I’d be happy. )ast forward four years my husband has a good job at respectable establishment, we now have two healthy children and I having been consulting for major companies and will be starting work for a good company.

We stay in a more then comfortable house with enough space in the backyard for a little garden.

Things are stable and our basic needs are met. Essentially, I have everything I wanted four years ago, yet there are still nights where I lay awake at night feeling stuck and sick, like I’m a failure, and wonder how I’m ever going to get to where I want to be.

Then I think, ³5emember when you wanted what you now have?´ $nd I’m reminded that gratitude is a muscle prone to atrophy.

*ratitude isn’t about settling or pre tending like things are something they are not.

It is okay to long for new things and to strive to make things better.

But as the saying goes, we should never let our longing µruin the meal we are being served now.’ There is beauty in everything it just takes intention and moments of clarity to see it.

I’m sure I’m not the only one familiar with that congested cloud of wants and desires that inhibits seeing the depth of reality in this way.

I’ve been wrestling with feelings of cynicism and self doubt all day today.

However, when I look around with loving awareness I see the warm light of a lamp, I feel the comfort of my clothes,

I breathe in the bergamot aroma from my tea, I enjoy the lovely instrumental music playing in my ears, and I realise this moment is beautiful and I’m thank ful for it.

I’m even able to find something won derful in my cynicism and self doubt because they are teachers.

In fact, it was the tension between my cynicism and that sign that prompted me to write this and to do some inner reflection.

I’m thankful for my moments of self doubt because they reveal things about myself and I’m grateful for the dis covery.

'o I want to reduce my negative thoughts and cynical habits?

GOAL

But I still witness and accept them just the same because there is something beautiful in the truth they reveal. With out gratitude, we are untethered living anywhere but in the present moment. $nd as we’ve all been told, the present is the only moment in which we exist.

5emember in -anuary when we were all about goal setting well I know as the year almost ends we may not have kept on track but if I could suggest that you get hold of the book $TO0I& H$B ITS and change your life you will see that the things you want are attainable and that four/five years ago you didn’t have the things you have now. $tomic Habits is the definitive guide to break

to not let rejection discourage us. 5ejection, for the most part, doesn’t say anything about us.

Or, you may have experienced the dreaded recruitment ghosting, where you’ve never heard back from a recruiter after an interview.

0aybe, as in my case when I was switching roles years ago, you may have applied for hundreds of jobs and had no responses at all.

0y advice is to focus things you can control.

.eep applying for jobs, focus on growing your network, being visi ble on platforms such as /inkedIn, and working on building your rep utation.

/earn strategies help you boost when you need it. on the you can use to your resilience

CONTROL

We can’t control whether some one will get back to us, but we can control how we react to it and we can improve our chances of landing that perfect role. Elitist build your online reputation. The term µpersonal branding’ can sometimes sound a bit elitist, it’s actually just your reputation.

It’s what people know you for and how they view you.

Translating your reputation online can be done by consistently writing about topics of interest sharing in teresting articles, facts, or data and joining conversations with people in your chosen field.

Over time, you can build a profile of who you want to be and what you want to be known for.

This won’t happen overnight or by just posting on a few occasions on /inkedIn if you want to be come the person people come to for a specific topic, it requires a com mitment to small, frequent steps that help you to showcase your ex pertise. /inkedIn is a good place to start. I must say it has worked out ing bad behaviours and adopting good ones in four steps, showing you how small, incremental, everyday routines compound into massive, positive change over time. -ames &lear is able to easily explain the workings of human behav iour, discussing ground breaking topics on human behavioural psychology and neurology. &lear explains precisely how and why it is that we form certain habits and patterns in our own lives. This book is divided into five distinct sections that each break down the process of habit formation, and provide an extremely practical framework to implement small improvements to your already existing routine, cultivating it for greater effi ciency and growth. We often fall under the impression that in order to make any significant changes in our lives, we must first accomplish extravagant acts of bravery or achievement.

CHANGE

But, this book continuously empha sises that the contrary is often the case.

-ames &lear is able to explain that real change comes not from once off acts of motivation or courage, but from the compounded effect of hundreds of small decisions made on a daily basis, that appear insignificant at first, but in the end lead to remarkable results.

Who’s up for a book review I think next week we can do a full review on this book share your thoughts at GDUW\ # JPDLO FRP if you have read the book if not go out and get it or download the 3') for those that are still not sold wait for next weeks edition and make the right choice. The book will change your life and help you get the things you want so you can stop feeling inadequate or left behind and live to your full potential.

for me if you have an interest ing thought related to your career, share it.

When posting an article you like, add your opinion and let people get to know you.

'on’t overthink what you’re post ing once you get in the habit of sharing your thoughts you’ll start to feel more comfortable.

$s time goes on it will come more naturally and subsequently build up. 5ole personal branding is impor tant no matter who you are and es pecially post &O9I' .

When you’re applying to jobs on line, employers will want to look you up and get an idea of who you are and what you know.

It’s also a great way to build your network and relationships with people who might lead you to your next role.

Everyone can benefit from being in control of their reputation online because the truth is that you’ll have a reputation or brand either way, so you may as well take control of it. Nurture a flexible mindset.

LESSON

'o not take things too seriously. If we’re having fun in our working lives, we won’t lose our way.

The biggest lesson I have learned in my career is that change is nor mal and we need to be flexible and accept if things don’t always go to plan. 0aybe you had an idea of what you wanted to be and set yourself some very long term goals early on in your career, but then things took a different turn, or your priorities changed, or you realised you wanted something else for your life. That’s O..

&hecking in with yourself to see whether your goals and your ca reer trajectory still align with your needs or wants is crucial, and if they don’t, changing course is per fectly acceptable.

In a post pandemic world, we should all adopt this mindset in

. )or comments PNKDEHODQ DPKOD#JPDLO FR V]