Attack your job search with a three prong approach. Your time and effort should be dedicated to (1.) search & research, (2.) production, and (3.) follow-up.

Search & Research might involve the use of specialty job boards, meta-search sites, the Careers/Employment page of company websites, job boards linked to professional associations, your alumni association(s), and networking (person-to-person + e~networking sites).

Production involves getting your personal marketing materials out the door, in response to job leads. This includes snail mail, email, fax, via job boards & uploads…and activating your network. Your resume needs to focus on strengths, areas of expertise and achievements. Develop templates for a standard cover letter and letter of introduction. And remember that your resume and letters are business documents – so make sure they’re focused and concise. During each week of your job search, make a commitment to respond to several qualified job leads.

And don’t forget to Follow-Up! This can be the most challenging and frustrating part of the search process. This step forces you to deal with obstacles, barriers, dead-ends, and rejection. But if you’re willing to be a bit tenacious, this step will allow you to gauge which leads are getting warmer (and deserve more attention) and which have gone cold. So track your weekly job search activity (use a simple spreadsheet), get tough… and complete those follow-up calls and emails.

Decide how much time you can realistically dedicate to your job search each week. Then follow an organized, three prong approach to finding your next career opportunity.

I invite you to explore and experience the website for psychologist Dr. Paul T.P. Wong’s International Network on Personal Meaning (INPM). You will find a broad scope and depth of resources, organized by theme and subject. Two areas of the site that I was most drawn to included the page for Meaningful Living and the INPM Links Section.

The Meaningful Living page offers material under eight headings, including the Meaning of Life Course (MOLC) and the Worthy Lives Gallery. The MOLC is offers four content rich modules of self directed learning aimed at challenging the reader to explore and seek out answers to some very basic but enduring questions. I browsed through the content in each module but could easily spend months pondering and digesting information that seems philosophical, spiritual and practical all at once. Module one delves into 5 Basic Questions: Who am I?, Why am I here?, Where am I going?, What is the meaning of suffering and death? and How can I find significance and happiness? These were far from 5 simple questions, as each one offered a rich list of sub questions aimed at dissecting the core question.

As I truly enjoy biographical information, I was drawn to the stories presented within the Worthy Lives Gallery. This is a wonderful collection of concise biographies on a variety of historical figures whose lives and work have had a positive impact on the world. I was quite inspired by the list of people on the web page, while also being a bit awe struck by the scope of rousing contributions represented within this gallery.

Under the Links section, was an inspiring subsection called Positive News. This area includes links to content such as News for the Soul, The Optimist and Upbeat Positive News, just to name a few. What a brilliant alternative to the daily barrage of negativity that hits us on the radio, television and Internet, disguised as information that some producer decides we need to know.

What have I learned from all this material? I guess it would be that a person’s journey, their struggles, triumphs and engagement in the world around them, is what creates meaning. And each journey is unique, each creates ripples and some of those ripples become incredible waves for genuine goodness, growth and positivity.

…thank you for being a part of my journey.

“People come into your life for a reason, a season, or a lifetime. When you figure out which one it is, you will know what to do for each person.

When someone is in your life for a REASON…It is usually to meet a need you have expressed. They have come to assist you through a difficulty, to provide you with guidance and support, to aid you physically, emotionally, or spiritually. They may seem like a Godsend and they are! They are there for the reason you need them to be.

Then without any wrongdoing on your part, or at an inconvenient time, this person will say or do something to bring the relationship to an end. Sometimes they walk away. Sometimes they act up and force you to take a stand. Sometimes they die. What we must realize is that our need has been met, our desire fulfilled, their work is done. Your need has been answered, and now it is time to move on.

When people come into your life for a SEASON…It is because your turn has come to share, grow, or learn. They bring you an experience of peace or make you laugh. They may teach you something you have never done. They usually give you an unbelievable amount of joy. Believe it! It is real! But, only for a season.

LIFETIME relationships teach you lifetime lessons; things you must build upon in order to have a solid emotional foundation. Your job is to accept the lesson, love the person, and put what you have learned to use in all other relationships and areas of your life. It is said that love is blind but friendship is clairvoyant.”

Unknown author…

During the holidays we’re inundated with messages from the media and our brain to hurry up and get ready for this special time of the year. But as we rush and scramble and plan for the perfect holiday, stress mounts. We take it all in stride and tell ourselves that all this stress is just part of the process, but is that true? Maybe it’s OK to reach a point where we can say, we’ve done enough and we’re ready…ready to experience the beauty and optimism of the holidays with co-workers, friends and family who enrich our life. And when we bump into pessimism, sarcasm, ego, greed, frustration, etc. on our path, we simply need to pause, breathe and visualize a balloon of gratitude we are sending to the sky to honor our blessings.

Here are a few links to sites that offer simple yet powerful (and free) exercises and resources for progressive relaxation and stress reduction. I invite you to take 10 minutes out of your day a few times a week to relax and replenish some positive energy.

Progressive Relaxation Recordings from the Michigan State University Counseling Center.

Progressive Relaxation Exercises and Resources from the McKinley Health Center at that University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign

At the 2012 Global Conference of the National Career Development Association, I had the privilege of attending an information sessions with VetJobs. I was amazed at the scope of information, resources and support offered to Veterans by this premier organization, which is right here in Marietta, GA. Throughout the session we heard from Veterans who had decades of service with our military, and those who had served for several years. These Veterans conveyed a compelling message of strength, commitment, respect, and resilience. I was amazed to hear that Veterans often face an uphill battle as they communicate the value that they offer civilian employers. Their value is clear and compelling! They offer an outstanding array of PROVEN career and life skills. Job candidates strive to communicate and match the “key words” they identify in job postings. I have 24 years of career experience (spanning management, human resources, college teaching, and coaching) and it is crystal clear to me what Veterans offer employers. To put it in terms of KEY or BUZZ words…these are leaders, change agents, project managers, strategists, analysts, specialists…ready to hit the ground running and bring immediate value to an organization.

I invite you to digest the powerful message from Thich Nhat Hanh (TNH), a Vietnamese Buddhist monk, author, teacher and peace activist, from his interview with Marianne Schnall. TNH shares insights on core questions posed by Ms. Schnall, such as How can we balance being engaged with the world while nurturing our inner life?

TNH: We must be willing to challenge the assumption that time spent in relaxation and meditation takes away from our realizing other goals, such as a successful career or successful relationships. My own experience and that of my students has been that, as paradoxical as it may seem, when we take time for meditation we actually gain in the other areas of our lives.

After reading the full interview, I challenge you to set some daily bells of mindfulness and practice being present rather than functioning on autopilot.

Emmy-award-winning journalist Jane Pauley is shining a spotlight on people who are reinventing themselves in new and different ways. With her radio show and guest segments on the Today show, YOUR LIFE CALLING, Pauley is sharing stories of people who are choosing to embrace change and pursue a new path with the mindset that age is simply a number. Please enjoy these inspiring stories of courage, tenacity and change. Ask yourself, what is holding me back from evolving and committing to  new path?

Stephen Covey’s 7 Habits of Highly Effective People continues to offer simple, powerful self coaching techniques. Covey passed away on 07/16/12 at the age of 79 and leaves behind a legacy of wisdom spanning such areas as organizational development, change management, leadership development, coaching, human development, motivational speaking, writing, and teaching. His work will continue to inspire for generations. I invite you to revist Covey’s 7 Habits, courtesy of S. Sprung at Business Insider.

To E.T. by Robert Frost

I slumbered with your poems on my breast
Spread open as I dropped them half-read through
Like dove wings on a figure on a tomb
To see, if in a dream they brought of you,

I might not have the chance I missed in life
Through some delay, and call you to your face
First soldier, and then poet, and then both,
Who died a soldier-poet of your race.

I meant, you meant, that nothing should remain
Unsaid between us, brother, and this remained–
And one thing more that was not then to say:
The Victory for what it lost and gained.

You went to meet the shell’s embrace of fire
On Vimy Ridge; and when you fell that day
The war seemed over more for you than me,
But now for me than you–the other way.

How over, though, for even me who knew
The foe thrust back unsafe beyond the Rhine,
If I was not to speak of it to you
And see you pleased once more with words of mine?