There is ALWAYS something to be grateful for

"When it comes to life, the critical thing is whether you take things for granted or take them with gratitude."~ Anonymous

Hi Audie,

Welcome to November! It's hard to believe there's two months remaining in 2022 -- this year is flying by!

I love November as my favorite holiday is later this month -- Thanksgiving! 🦃  Spending time with family and friends, enjoying all the delicious Thanksgiving food ... Anyone else love the sweet potato casserole covered with melted marshmallows? YUM! 😋

I realize this time of year may not be all peaches and cream for everyone. It's not unusual for people to feel anxious or lonely. As a friendly reminder, you never know what people are going through, so I encourage you to heed this advice: "Be kind, for everyone you meet is fighting a battle you know nothing about."

There Is Always, Always, Always Something to Be Grateful For

I feel fortunate to have had many wonderful experiences and times in my life -- amazing life-long friends, colleagues and clients from every stage of my life and an awesome family.

However, like many of you, I've had plenty of disappointments and distressing situations in my life, including being downsized not once, but twice, from positions I loved and excelled in.

What I found to be extremely helpful to pull me through these challenging times are the following:

🎃 Focus on the positives in your life. At bedtime, reflect on your day and come up with three things you're grateful for in your life or the positive things that occurred throughout your day.

🎃 Who do you know who's experienced what you're going through? Identify one or two people you feel you can confide in, and reach out to them. Seek their advice on what they did to help them overcome this situation, what they would have done differently if they were going through the situation again (hindsight is 20/20), etc.

🎃 What are some logical next steps you can begin taking to move you forward? Grab a pen and paper and do a brain dump. Don't judge or second guess yourself! Step away for a period of time, and come back and review your list. What is the first step you can take? What's the next one? What's the third one? Now take action and make sure you evaluate as you go along. If need be, course correct ... but keep moving forward.

Here are some pitfalls to avoid when you're experiencing challenging times:

💀 Overstaying your welcome at your pity party! Depending upon the situation, it's important to acknowledge how you're feeling and take time to deal with it. For example, if you've been downsized, take time to deal with the shock, anger, disappointment or grieve your loss, but the best thing you can do is to put a plan in place and move forward as soon as possible.

💀 While in job search mode, try to keep any frustrations or negative feelings to a few 'chosen' people. I's so important to be positive and upbeat outwardly as you never know who you may meet or run into who could be helpful to you in your search.

💀 Avoid (or minimize) surrounding yourself with negative people during this time. It's fairly common for downsized professionals to meet (virtually or in person) and grip about their situation. Instead, use this opportunity to help each other with introductions or referrals, share strategies that are working, and/or act as accountability partners for one another.

*****

In closing, I hope you found this email to be thought-provoking, uplifting and helpful. Hit reply and let me know what resonated with you the most -- I read every email and will respond. I love hearing from you!

Have a wonderful November, and if you're in the US, enjoy your Thanksgiving! Stay tuned for other valuable job search tips, strategies, mindset shifts and light bulb moments.

To your career success,

Audie

P.S. Feel free to share this email with your network of mid- to senior-level corporate leaders you feel could benefit from it. Thank you for spreading the love!

P.P.S. If you are a mid- to senior-level corporate leader and motivated to find your next opportunity (or know someone who is), I'd love to speak with you to better understand your situation and see how I may be of help. Click here to schedule a complimentary 40-minute strategy session.

P.P.P.S. If we haven't yet connected on LinkedIn, let's connect now!

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