How Persistence Can Help You in Your Job Search and in Your Life

My dog Bailey, a black Labrador retriever, has a habit that can be really annoying for me, but I’m sure it is great fun and exercise for her. She loves to play with a tennis ball with me throwing it up in the air for her to catch. This can go on and on for hours, with her catching and me throwing. If I try to stop, she is relentless and will bother me until I throw the ball for her.

She is persistent.

This got me thinking that, while it can be an annoying trait in my dog, it can be advantageous for us personally.

Persistence can be a great quality to have when you are in job-search mode or when you have a dream or a goal that you want to reach. The key to persistence is to not give up, even though you may feel discouraged or feel like throwing in the towel.

The definition of persistence, according to Webster, is “to continue steadily in any business or course.” If you look up persistence in Roget’s Thesaurus, you will find the following: continue, last, endure, go on, remain, seize an opportunity, and permanent.

These are all positive words with positive meanings that can be applied to a job search or in goal-setting. The bottom line is to never give up, no matter what.

So, how do you keep persistent, especially when things are not going the way you want them to?

Here are a few steps you can take:

1. It takes persistence to find a job these days

If you are seeking a particular job, do your research about the position and the company that is hiring; make sure you have the experience, education, and qualities they are looking for. Get out there and market yourself through your resume and networking, both in-person and online. Commit to connecting with the people who hire or know someone who does.

2. Keep your goals in front of you at all times

Write them down and place them where you can see them, such as on your bathroom mirror, in your car, in your planner. This serves two purposes: when you write your goals down, you commit to them and they become real; putting them where you can see them helps you to keep focused on them at all times.

3. Visualize

See yourself in that job or reaching that goal. Visualizing can bring reality by “showing” your brain that you can attain whatever it is you want. Seeing can help to manifest your goals and dreams.

4. Vocalize

Say your dream or goal out loud and often. Again, this helps train your brain to think positively and get it to set about doing. This is what The Secret is based on – when you think it and say it, you start to believe it and then you do it.

5. Get a support system in place

You need positive people to be your cheerleader and to support you as you take the steps needed to reach whatever goal you have set for yourself. These are people who can give you the “atta boy” when you succeed or the “you can do it” when you feel you can’t.

6. Commit

To the attainment of the goal or the job search. This means doing something every day no matter what. In order to reach a goal, you must be fully committed to the end result without worrying about the pain to get there.

Commitment forces action; persistence results in success!