SUCCESSFULLY UNEMPLOYED: TIP 3

Greetings! I hope you well and I hope you enjoyed hearing how podcasts and meditation have helped me and can help you too! Now get pumped up for tip #3, which is…

EXERCISE

Physical activity is a powerful stress reliever

IF you are doing something you enjoy.

Even if it's just walking outside. No matter what it is, if your body is moving, you're doing it right!

Of course, a great side effect to exercise is becoming stronger and healthier, but I think the best reason to move that body is for the endorphins! Something I noticed when I was't working was that on days where I didn't move much I felt generally more tired and less motivated. The endorphins you get from just taking a short walk are the perfect fuel when you are trying to find a job, trying to launch that new business or just trying to figure out what to have for dinner that night.

Another side effect that comes from exercise is having a clear mind. Much like meditation, I hear a lot of runners say that they like running because it's their time to turn the brain off. I think this mental state applies to any form of exercise. 

Personally, I like yoga, group fitness classes and walking. They all afford me time to concentrate on what I'm doing in the present moment only. If you enjoy yoga too or are just curious about it, I highly recommend Yoga with Adriene videos on YouTube. I love her philosophy of 'find what feels good' and the way she fits together mental and physical wellness. Group fitness can be a great way to be around people, most gyms offer public classes, but if you want to just try a bunch of things, try Class Pass. I haven't tried it myself, but the concept sounds great! In the case of walking, if you find yourself getting distracted easily, it's a great chance to listen to a podcast.

No matter how you love to exercise, it will love you right back. If you haven't found an exercise that you feel happy with, try something new. Not everyone is going to love running or yoga, but I think there is something out there for everyone.

Also, don't think for a second that you have to exercise every day or you're a failure. Add in where you can. Be kind to yourself, treat exercise as a fun activity, not like work.

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Sooooo what exercises to you like to do? What ones would you like to try? Have you noticed yourself feeling better on days when you do choose to exercise?

I hope today's tip helped you to think differently about exercise and how it can help you.

Get ready for tomorrow's piece of advice. It's major. Possibly controversial…

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Intro | tip 1 | tip 2 

SUCCESSFULLY UNEMPLOYED: TIP 2

Hello again! After yesterday's post about podcasts, let's shift gears to…

MEDITATION

Meditation usually sounds like one of two things depending on who you talk to, either…

Really boring and sort of pointless

or

Really difficult

At its core, meditation is basically sitting in silence without thought. 

It can sounds like a waste of time because you aren't doing anything.

It's also difficult because we humans are encouraged to think alllllllll the time. Giving the noggin a break is not easy for anyone. I think it's even more difficult to do when you are in the middle of something very challenging or stressful, like not having a job… 

BUT that's why it's so important! 

Meditation encourages your mind to stop running in circles, replaying old struggles or projecting needless worry. Freaking out, panicking or feeling sorry for yourself are only damaging, not motivating. 

The point of meditation isn't the silence, the point is to to let your brain rest and free yourself of thought. A lot of people, myself included (I am always working on this), think that when thoughts creep in, which they will, means the effort is a failure. You can NEVER fail during meditation, ever. 

The fact that you will even notice when you have thoughts come in, is enough. Like most things, the more you practice, the better you will get.

I was introduced to meditation in a college holistic heath class where the first 10 minutes of each class was dedicated to this practice, led by the professor. A lot of my classmates hated it. I love it, but was also frustrated by it. It seemed so easy, but it wasn't. I picked it up again after listening to many podcasters and my favorite YouTubers describe how it changed their life. Their passion reminded me of that time in college when I was so fascinated by it. Since reintroducing meditation to my life, it has become easier for me to calm down from being upset, nervous or overly excited. It's all thanks to the self-awareness that's found in meditation.

If you're a beginner, start small, meditating for one minute a day, then build from there when you want. A lot of people do it two times a day (morning and evening) for 10 minute sessions. I try to do it once a day for 5 minutes. Sometimes I don't do it at all, meditating is a practice that I'm still working on. 

You don't need special clothes or pillows, just a place to sit comfortably. The only recommendation I do have is to try not to meditate in bed, you might get too cozy and fall asleep.

Here are my recommendations for meditating
Vipassanā meditation
Headspace meditation app
Visualization - My personal favorite after trying many other techniques… I ask myself where I am and then I silently describe to myself what I see in my mind. It almost always involves walking or being in nature, like the desert, mountains, forest, or beach by myself. I describe the light, the air quality, what the sun feels like, the smell. The interesting thing is that it's always a different experience, sometimes the same place (it's almost never a place I've actually been to either), but the details change, like the weather, time of day, etc. When I am done, my mind feels like it just had a vacation.

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Let me know if you meditate and how you do it. If you are just getting started, enjoy it and let me know what you think!

Tomorrow I'm sharing tip #3 which is a new perspective on an old piece of advice!

See you then!

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Intro | tip 1 

SUCCESSFULLY UNEMPLOYED: TIP 1

Hellooooo! And welcome to the first successfully unemployed tip, which is…

PODCASTS

I chose this as my number 1 tip for a reason!

Podcasts are FREE bits of juicy information that you can listen to while doing other things.

I listen to podcasts while I'm washing the dishes, drawing, walking around town, even while I take a shower (thanks to a waterproof bluetooth speaker). You can easily listen to them in the car too.

Because I'm just about the worst at multi-taksing successfully I have never done well with tv or videos as my background noise, but for some reason podcasts are completely different for me.

When I add a podcast to my surroundings I feel so much more support, which is especially helpful to fight off imposter syndrome and what-the-hell-am-I-doing-with-my-life syndrome during unemployment. Podcasts can pep you up, teach you something, make you laugh, and make you feel less alone, all while you are doing other things.

The podcasts I've been most attracted to have been ones that focus on anything relating to my livelihood. I would recommend anyone to do the same who is looking for their next step in their career. It will help you stay informed on what's going on in your target market. For me, I devoured podcasts about design, art and business. I also love shows that focus on health and well being. Not only is that an interest of mine, but it did help to reframe what is important in life instead of focusing on everything I didn't have while I was jobless.

Here are my favorite podcasts
The Lively Show
Smart Passive Income
Creative Pep Talk
Seanwes Podcast
99 percent invisible

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Do you have a favorite podcast right now? What kind of value does it add to your life?

I can't wait to share more with you tomorrow! :)

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Intro

HOW TO BE SUCCESSFULLY UNEMPLOYED

I spent 5 months without earning a regular paycheck

and I became a better person.

The backstory, in case you'd like to know more; I moved to Minnesota with my husband for him to start his brand new job. We were thrilled! I even had the opportunity to freelance for my former employer for the first few months after the move. 

Once that job wrapped up I was left with only myself, no one telling me what to do next or how to do approach this new territory. In the very beginning I felt two things: Overwhelming confusion and liberation.

I had a very strong urge to just take the first job that came my way. Only after reading through forums and forums of job postings that didn't resonated with me did I know that the only way I would know what to do next was if I gain a better understanding of who I am and what I value… Think 'makeover of the soul' as Cher from the movie Clueless put it best :)

What I gained from the past few months was major growth in creativity and a boost in confidence with my point of view and voice.

It took a lot of trial and error to uncover the best ways to improve myself. The impact of all of this self improvement was becoming a better help to others, which in turn, can mean better for future employers and/or collaborators.

So If you ever find yourself in the uncomfortable position of being unemployed, All this week I'll be sharing my tips to use this time well.

I was going to do this all in one post, but it was turning into a serious TL;DR amount of information and I think these tips are too useful to be just shoved into one post that's too overwhelming to read.

REAL QUICK shoutout to all of you that currently have a job, especially if you are feeling stuck in that job, but don't know how to move on — a lot of these tips I'm sharing are things that I plan to continue to use in my life, even with a job. Sure, these things have been scaled back a bit, but self improvement is never a job that's finished, it keeps evolving. I hope that this series will be useful to you and anyone who needs extra motivation in their day to day lives.

And with that, I'll see you tomorrow with my first tip!