Friday, January 18, 2013

The Games People Play

 By Mary Salvino, Career Coach



Who amongst us has never devoted an hour or two moving cards from one pile to another in order to win a hand of solitaire?  The handiness of our electronic devices makes it easy to open a game in an effort to beat the deck and reign victoriously over those same suited cards.  I too, have spent countless minutes in search of dominance.  I am keenly aware that is my masterful decisions the decide success vs. defeat.  It is my choice of which card to stack where that determines my success.  It’s almost like applying for new career opportunities.  Is it not?

Many of us have been hard-wired to believe that our future is solely determined by our own ability to make the right decisions at the right time.  If that were indeed the case, when given the choice to make one move or another, we would all make simply make the right choice consistently and win the game [of life] every time.

Your future is determined by a unique combination of talent, determination and luck.  If you want to change your life, it requires a combination of time and effort; there is no way around that truism. 

“I’m a great believer in luck; the harder I work, the more I have of it” ~ Thomas Jefferson

It doesn’t take a genius to figure out that the laws of probability at play here.  Solitaire, FreeCell to be exact, is my procrastinating ‘game of choice’, but you can easily substitute any other electronic game or even surfing the Internet.  These sorts of pastimes have nothing to do with intelligence, skill or even experience. 

So, what should you, as a job seeker, do instead of spending countless minutes/hours playing sedentary games?  Do something that requires the expenditure of calories.  Plan and give yourself opportunities to help you feel a sense of accomplishment and good about yourself.  Go out for a walk, take up gardening, either in your own yard or at your local community garden.  If leaving your residence is not an option, you can always cull your bookshelves or clean out your closet. 
Today we were given 86,400 seconds. We all received this gift equally, second by second, minute by minute, day after day, until the day we die. It behoves us all to use this gift wisely.



Copyright © 2013, Career Matters. All Rights Reserved. Permission to Reprint: This article may be reprinted, provided it appears in its entirety with the following attribution: Copyright © 2013, Career Matters. Reprinted by permission of the author, Mary Salvino. “Career Matters” is a blog authored by Mary Salvino, Senior Consultant for SMART Career Planning.com that is dedicated to those who are seeking advice on managing their career and future job opportunities. We welcome readers to share their experiences, post their comments or ask questions about career related matters. This blog is also dedicated to those who stand a little taller each time they picked themselves up after failing and those who gained the wisdom and humility from those experiences to help others do the same. For any questions or comments that are better addressed privately, please feel free to e-mail Mary directly at Mary.Salvino@shaw.ca

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