It Matters!

Mindset, attitude, frame of mind….call it what you want but it really can make all the difference in what opportunities come your way.

I've been watching my son for the last 2 months fill out application after application. He was going that extra mile following up and asking for a chance to prove himself, he just wanted a summer job. He had never had one before and while I was discouraged and wondered if in this job market if he would even have a chance, but he didn’t know any different. He just thought that this was the process. So he kept plodding along with the belief that an opportunity would come up.

I watched many people over the last few months give up, but my son's attitude was different. He didn’t know that no one else was getting hired (typicall High Schooler oblivious to what's going on in the "real" world). He wasn’t defeated by the job hunting process, and he knew that he would find the perfect job that gave him time to hang out with his friends and make money.

And something amazing happened as he walked up to the desk of yet another job recruiting specialist. He stood tall with a confidence I had never seen before and said “I here for a job, I’m willing to do anything I have to pay for college and I’d appreciate it if you can help me”. The recruiter paused for a moment and stated that she really didn't have anything, but asked him to leave his number and she would see what she could do. And we left. I tried to "prepare" him about the reality of the statement "I'll see what I can do" meant, and he just laughed and said mom she'll find me something. And 2 hours later he was hired and began work the next day.

He was thrilled and so was I, but more importantly I realized that he got a job not because he was more qualified than anyone else, but because he really believed that he would get one. He was in the same place, the right place, just like everyone else. But he was different. His mindset was different. He didn’t approach the job search with a defeatist attitude, but rather an excitement of what he would be doing and how he would spend his first paycheck. He had the right attitude and it got him the desired results.

The whole situation made me see that so often our mindset is the thing that keeps us from getting what we want, not the lack of opportunity. We may be at the right place at the right time, but if we don’t have the proper mindset it may just pass us by for someone who does.

Action: If you feel as if you are never in the right place at the right time, it may be time to do an attitude check. Ask yourself what are you expecting from the situations and the people in your life. Focus your mind on what it is that you are trying to create and what it is that you want. You may be suprised at how all of a sudden you are always in the right place at the right time!