Urgent! Must Act Now!

Advertisements and emails tell me everyday to act immediately in order to get in on some amazing opportunity. Of course, the opportunities usually aren't all that amazing. The products or services offered rarely even hit the "I might need this once in a blue moon" spectrum. As much as these messages annoy me, worse are the times I catch myself actually considering something I don't need simply because of the established sense of urgency and importance.

Wouldn't life be perfect if the things truly crucial to our health, happiness, success and well being were promoted in such a fashion? Job seekers stuck waiting for opportunity to come their way would benefit from a call to action. Imagine an email along the lines of "contact Alice today and let her know you are looking for a job because the company she works for will have an opening next Wednesday and you are the perfect fit!" How fantastic would that be?

Interestingly, I find many job seekers already have a sense of urgency in their gut telling them they must do more and do it right away or they'll miss out. They know they need to reach out to as many people as possible, get out and circulate, plug into business news and upgrade skills to increase their odds of success. Their gut telling them to get moving often isn't enough, however. Why? Have all of the external prompts for the meaningless opportunity in our lives left job seekers dependent on them? Are they in limbo waiting for someone else to tell them when and how to do something?

Ignoring that inner voice heightens anxiety during a search. The stress of not having a job is magnified by the knowledge crucial actions needed in order to secure employment quickly aren't happening. It leads to that toxic situation where you're mad at your circumstances and mad at yourself for not doing more to change them.

For those of you reading who have been tuning out your gut and not allowing it to drive you to action, your challenge is to embrace that inner energy. Unlike all of those emails and advertisements attempting to motivate you to do something out of urgency, your gut is more likely to be pointing you in the right direction. Don't fear embracing the things that statistically are more likely to benefit than harm.