This post is courtesy of guest blogger, Jessica Stoja.

A job search isn’t for the faint of hearts…. it’s grueling.

There is a lot of non-response, ghosting at various stages in the process, that feeling of sending your materials into a black hole, and an immense amount of rejection on all fronts. This process can beat down your confidence such that you begin wondering whether your skills are marketable and question your value as a professional. If you’re frustrated, sad, angry, hurt, annoyed, indifferent, resentful, and questioning every decision you’ve made throughout your career –  congratulations you have fully invested yourself in a job search!

Most professionals have experienced this same process. Unfortunately, we live in a world where professionals publicly celebrate their promotions, new jobs, and new educational credentials. Yet, there is not enough sharing of the lows they too have experienced to let us all know that everyone goes through these low points as well. And better yet, how they continued to dust themselves off, and get back in the game.

We cannot stay in this pit of despair for long as lost time is lost opportunity. And even worse, if you are in this state of mind as you continue to search and potentially meet with new prospective employers, they can see it no matter how much you try to conceal these feelings, they’ll bleed right through. Plus, the longer we let ourselves stay in this negative place, the more consuming it will feel.

The best strategy is to generate positive energy intentionally, and continuously from within yourself by creating positive emotions internally. We have a great deal of control over how we create our own perspective. And thus, generating positive emotions from within.

So here is what I have done to proactively create positive energy throughout a job search. I created a list of ten positive emotions. I then began to list two specific actions I could take which would create these positive emotions within me.  Here is the list I created to rev my positive energy engine:

1. Joy

• Made my favorite meal since I really enjoy cooking
• Scheduled a night out to a Blues club with a favorite friend

2. Gratitude

• Wrote a thank you note to someone for a recent impact they had made upon me
• Read all the recommendations on my LinkedIn page

3. Serenity

• Took ten deep breaths in my nose and out of my mouth to relax
• Went to a yoga class

4. Interest

• Read a new book, “The 6 working Geniuses” by Patrick Lencioni
• Went to a local bar and had a conversation with a stranger

5. Hope

• Watched an inspirational movie, Secretariat
• Bought a cup of coffee for a police officer behind me in the line at D&D and simply asked him to try to find a kind gesture they could pay forward sometime that day.

6. Pride

• Read through a list of nice emails sent to me by teammates
• Thought about my last big professional win and immersed myself in how that felt

7. Amusement

• Watched funny Tiktok videos for 30 min
• Watched one of my favorite comedian’s skits

8. Inspiration

• Listened to uplifting music and danced
• Watched a documentary about Ray Kroc, McDonald’s franchise creator

9. Awe

• Took a walk in the forest preserve
• Walked through the historic district of St. Louis thinking of all the Blues musicians who had walked in my footsteps

10. Love

• Cuddled with my puppy
• Went to brunch with a girlfriend who exudes love and admiration for me

Life is all about perspective. I hope my list of actions I have taken to generate positive energy helps you to think about and create actions which are unique to you and will help create positive energy within yourself. Only you can decide to make action to create positive energy – so get to it! As soon as you start creating positive energy, you’ll start changing your perspective and you’ll see all kinds of opportunity all around you. You can create a landslide of positivity. But only if you start.

Bio: Jessica has nearly 20 years of progressive, multi-industry experience as a strategic transformation enabler with demonstrated success in P&L responsibility and Sales execution. She’s characterized as a savvy strategist and tenacious leader who brings a unique value and perspective to Supply Chain with expertise in Operations, Finance, and Sales with a deep understanding of technology. She was recently recognized as a subject matter expert in Supply Chain in multiple publications including Supply Chain Best Practices, Food Ingredients First, Transportation & Logistics International Magazine, & Marquis Who’s Who in America.