Cookies and cakes and pies oh my! I’m such a fan of homemade goodies, especially this time of year (and especially when accompanying a fine cup of Italian Roast coffee!).
However, baking has never been a strength of mine. I do make an excellent and eager audience for those who excel in the culinary craft though. And I know enough to respect the fact that for the best results, the ingredients need to be high quality, properly balanced, attended to with care and brought into the mix at the right time.
I liken the process to the steps involved with landing your dream job. They all require the right, high caliber ingredients to be successful, and they all need to be addressed in the optimal order.
Yet so often the must-have ingredients of career-oriented activities get omitted, skimped on or invoked out of order. Apparently, the ingredients in these three aren’t nearly as clearcut or familiar as those in our favorite chocolate chip recipe.
Let’s see what the three key ingredients of these career shapers are and why they’re so necessary to produce the most exquisite results. Then we’ll do a deep dive into ingredient number one.
The 3 Key Ingredients
So what are the three essential ingredients to the steps that lead to your dream job?
1. Your Mindset
2. Your Magic
3. Your Mechanics
Yep, that’s it! Let’s dig in to that first one, which is overlooked about 80% of the time, Your Mindset.
Your Mindset: It’s Mindful and Committed to Success & Growth
Without the right frame of mind, the success and happiness you achieve — personally and professionally — will be limited. With the right mindset, the sky’s the limit. And in this case, the right mindset is one that is mindful — so your mind is calm, kind and focused — and it’s one committed to success and growth — so your outlook remains positive, open to new possibilities and geared toward achievement.
You Are Mindful
When you’re being mindful, you’re not on autopilot. You are intentional. You’re not spacing out or lost in daydream or thought, like where you might eat an entire plate of cookies without even realizing it as you binge on Netflix, or you have a conversation with a friend and 5 minutes in you realize you have no idea what he’s been talking about.
You often hear people say “I ended up majoring in X, Y or Z (in my case, History!) because that’s where I had the most credits,” or “I ended up living in Chicago because I got a job there,” or “I fell into a career in retail because when I graduated I couldn’t get a job in my major.” Among other things, statements like these reflect a lack of intention.
Instead, when you are mindful, you are thoughtful, deliberate and purposeful with your approach. You are in the moment. You listen deeply. You’re aware of what you’re thinking and how you are feeling. You’re clearly aware of the choices you’re making and how the actions you take and the decisions you make contribute to the life and career you want to create for ourselves. For tips on how to cultivate this mindful approach, check out this article and this video.
You Have A Growth Mindset
A growth mindset means you are open to new experiences, you see opportunities where others see obstacles and you are constantly learning. You are curious and eager to challenge yourself to tackle new types of projects and develop new skills. You have a thirst for learning and see failure as instructive.
You Are Committed To Success
Success is less about specific actions you take and more about how you approach everything in life. It begins by defining what success means for you personally, with deep consideration given to all the possibilities beyond the traditional traps. It requires taking personal responsibility for all your decisions, and continuing to seek new solutions in times of real or perceived setbacks.
Applying Your Mindset To Your Career Matters
Imagine developing your resume or pursuing your dream job opportunity with the mindsets I’ve just described. This approach will allow you to be:
1) Focused, intentional, clear and creative.
You identify the path for you and won't drift off in directions that don’t serve you.
You find innovative ways to get the types of skills, experiences or work samples you need.
You pay attention to and stay focused on the details.
You create job search materials that are really a good fit for you and your larger life priorities.
You demonstrate a clear personal brand.
You have more fun and less stress in the process.
2) Open to growth and success.
You broaden and deepen your skills, adding value.
You see greater achievement and can present it that way, too.
You increase your effort in whatever you tackle.
You value constructive feedback as a means of strengthening yourself personally and as a candidate.
You manage disappointments by seeing remaining resilient and seeing them as gateways to other opportunities.
Next time we’ll look at the second essential ingredient in pursuit of your dream job. Like Your Mindset, this one is skipped or skimped on way too often: Your Magic. Yet without it, your dream job remains elusive and your results are bland and generic, much like flavorless, store brand sugar cookies. I mean, they’ll do in a pinch, but we can do better than that. :)
P.S. For more on how to pursue your dream job and develop your dream-job resume effectively, check out the brand new release "Resume Reglow: The 7 Principles You Need To Know For A Powerful, 2023 Dream-Job Resume."
Trie Angeleva LOVES helping people Reimagine Monday. A mindful Dream-Job Career Coach, she's a proud adopted-dog mom, former CIO and COO, travel-happy yogi and founder of The Love Monday Method. She developed and taught Career Success Preparation for The Media School at Indiana University, where she taught 21 classes. Trie has two Master's degrees, six coaching certifications and a certificate in Executive Leadership from Cornell University. Follow her on instagram at @reimaginemonday for tips and strategies on how to land work you love and thrive personally and professionally.
If you're stuck in YOUR dream-job search, Trie's got you covered! For recent and soon-to-be college students, she's got a free checklist you will LOVE. For pros in their prime, who need a little clarity figuring out what to do when in their search, Trie has a short, sweet and super succinct free roadmap that maps out all the steps to take in what order. Best wishes and reach out with any questions.