Would You Hire Yourself?

If you had a job that you needed someone to do, would you hire yourself? Think about that for a minute - because how you answer that question could be the reason you are still looking for work or are unsatisfied with where you currently are in your life.

I have found going through life between times of where I was a full-time student to times where I was unemployed and having difficulty trying to find a job with McDonalds and Wal-Mart a few truths that I grasp on to and that continue to motivate me to be better not only for my family but also for the kingdom of God.

How do you view yourself?

This is a very important point that needs to be discussed and thought out thoroughly. With the various world-views out there and the different ways we have been raised in our homeschool culture, the way we view ourselves (self-perception) can make a huge impact on the thoughts that we have, the choices we make, and the jobs we apply for.

Let me illustrate it like this: If I, as a contract employee who will be effectively unemployed once my contract runs out, just sees myself as a contract employee, then what am I willing to do to change that? My mind-set may be, “I’m supposed to be the next Joel Osteen, or John Maxwell, but that is just never going to happen…alas woe is me.” Where am I heading with this very subtle train of thought? I’m heading back to Chickfila and Wal-Mart where I am going to be until something changes with how I view myself.

We are to live with a healthy fear of God and respect towards others, but nowhere in the Bible does it stipulate that we are to conform to a worldly normalcy. Just because all my friends or peers are doing it, does not mean that is necessarily the right/smart path to go down.

Do you view yourself as a job-seeker who is unemployed and ready to take the first bone thrown at him? If that is your state of mind you are going to be a very miserable and un-fulfilled person.

I once heard this story of this man who worked at this rail-yard on trains. One day he was walking through the yard with his son and he pointed out a well-dressed man in a suit who was walking to his office. “See that man? We both started on the same day on the same shift, now he’s the VP of the company,” he told his son. “How did that happen?” His son asked. “Well son,” he explained, “I went to work for 4 bucks an hour, while he went to work for the rail-yard.”

That little illustration is just a story, but the principle is none-the-less true: if you view yourself as a wage-earner for 4 bucks an hour, just trying to get out of un-employment status, you are not going to be a very happy person and chances are, you will find yourself back on the hunt for another job.

See yourself as a brand name – the old Colgate commercials in the 1950s “It cleans your breath while you clean your teeth” propelled a not-so-well-known company into one of the most popular toothpaste companies in the US. In the same way, name brand yourself. I’ll share my personal name brand – “I’m David Auge, your PC pain reliever.” It sounds cute and silly but if you see yourself as an asset to them, as something they need, they just don’t know it yet, rather than a mere job-seeker willing to do whatever for $15 bucks an hour, not only will you provide better services, but you will enjoy doing it to.

Zig Ziglar, world famous motivational speaker said, “You can anything in life you want, if you just help enough other people get what they want.” Positive thinking (in accordance with God’s Word) is just half the battle though. The other half is in proper goal-setting, which I’ll post soon.