Journey In Unemployment Land | 21
Post 21: 11/21/2024
2024-11-21 18:17:44
🗓️ Month 6, week 2 into my #JourneyInUnemploymentLand. I've had a shift in my mindset.
🧠 Managing stress is the toughest part of being unemployed. I recently watched a video by Kurtzgesagt that digs into staying healthy and how stress contributes to chronic inflammation. According to their research, human beings living in the modern era aren't equipped to handle all the little stresses we encounter every day: driving in traffic, the bills we have to pay, talking with so many people in person and virtually, and more. We still have the brains our ancestors had 10,000 years ago as hunter-gatherers. It's no wonder I feel so stressed out at the prospect of being unemployed for another month or more.
🧘🏿♀️ The goal is to stay healthy. I am slowing down on applying; maybe I'll apply one day a week, maybe I'll skip a week. I'm not sure yet. But when it comes to job hunting, it's more important to be strategic and take care of my body than to find a job quickly.
🏃🏿♂️ I realized that many employers don't understand (or aren't empathetic) my sense of urgency. They have their own priorities. Job seekers like me are worried about the day-to-day challenges of living. Employers, on the other hand, are concerned about their bottom line, team dynamics, and reducing turnover (among other things). It can be difficult for job seekers like me to wrap our minds around this, but it's important that we do. Otherwise, we'll just end up stressing ourselves out or taking rejection personally.
🔢 I am approaching over 250 job applications since June. I've written over 130k words on personal projects. I've had 3 interviews. I've spoken to over 15 colleagues and obtained 5 referrals. I'm enrolled in one writing course and have at least 5 bookmarked on LinkedIn Learning. Numbers don't lie about your effort. Or, as a wise woman told me at age 18, a tracked number grows.
🖋 Working on myself during these past 6 months has been the best decision I've ever made. I could've sat, cried, and whined for a long time like I've done during previous seasons of joblessness, but I didn't. I dusted myself off and stayed consistent. Now, I get to rest during the holiday season. Why? Because I'm being realistic. Folks are going on vacations. It's very rare for someone to rush hiring during the holidays. The goal is to manage stress and there's nothing standing between me and achieving peace.