For those who might be interested in finding a new job, whether you’ve got a job now or are unemployed, here’s a quick tip for you that’s sure to be a success. I’m so sure of this strategy that it might be worth writing down so you will remember it.
By implementing this approach, I can guarantee you will not get what you want, whether it’s an interview, the job, a girl – whatever.
Here it is:
Don’t try.
That’s right; simply don’t try. It’s super easy. Don’t apply for the job, don’t try during the interview and certainly don’t ask that special someone out. Success – or failure, depending on how you look at it – is guaranteed.
One of my clients shared with me this statement, which I believe is attributed to hockey’s great Wayne Gretzky: “You miss 100% of the shots you don’t take”. What Wayne was really saying is that we are guaranteed to never get what we want if we don’t try.
I can hear you all hand slapping your heads in amazement, awed at this revelation. (Note the sarcasm) One would think Wayne’s statement is a no-brainer. Yet based on conversations I’ve had or witnessed during my work with those in the job market, it appears that there are lots of people who are good at not trying.
Personally, trying is something I think I’m good at. If there is something I really want, I will try for it.
Back in high school the number one thing I wanted was to be on the dance team that performed during half-time at football games. Dancing was in my blood; I had been taking lessons since I was three years old.
When try-outs came there was fierce competition for a very limited number of openings. Despite my dance background, I didn’t make the team. And I was crushed.
I allowed myself a couple days of pity as I considered my options. Try again was the first thing that came to mind.
Meeting with the team coach, I learned which techniques I needed to improve on to qualify. Every night for an entire year I practiced in front of the mirror in my bedroom, stretching, dancing and smiling. I knew that I was either going to make the team or die trying.
My efforts paid off; at the next try-out I made the team. But if I had never tried – if I had given up – I would have guaranteed myself a seat in the bleachers instead of on the field.
Same can be true for us at work. If we are not in the right job or if we want to move on to something different we have to put forth the effort and try in order to find something new. Just waiting for a new job opportunity to land in front of us rarely results in success.
We have to hush that little voice in our head that says, “I probably won’t get the job”; “I don’t think I’m qualified”; “I don’t have time to update my resume/search for a job/network with people I know”.
What the voice is really saying is, “Don’t try”.
I get it; trying is hard work. It takes time and patience and it means accepting the fact that failure may happen.
Yet successful people try again and again and again, until they get what they want.
Remember, if you don’t try you will miss every opportunity. Guaranteed.
Like Tami, I was terminated once (By my best friend, BTW – he is now on the board of the agency I lead, so I got him back – ha!), but you don’t have to be unemployed to learn something from this book. 
