Do you find yourself depressed about your work?

Do you have trouble concentrating?

Is it difficult for you to finish your work?

Were you excited when you landed your current job and now you dread doing your job?

During the decades that I worked as a recruiter, I went through easy times, tough times, and times in between. However, there was no other job that I wanted to do.

For me, the swings in business were difficult mentally and emotionally.

There were also some parts of my job that I found boring.  For example, I would receive calls from job seekers I simply could not help.  They were talented people.

However, their experience did not match the experience of people my clients would hire. Sometimes, these job seekers pressed me to hear them out on why I should spend time on their job search.  I would hear phrases like this countless times:  “If you can sell one thing, you can sell anything.”

Explaining that my clients wanted people who could sell anything and who also were experts in the consumer-packaged goods industry, took patience.

At other times, doing what I did was very stressful.  Hiring companies wanted jobs filled right away.  Sometimes job seekers became frustrated and wanted to vent their frustrations.  Deals where I spent a great deal of time would fall apart on one phone call.

Finding Inspiration

At one point, I had been in recruiting for over a decade and American industry was going through a recession.  As a recruiter, I found this period very difficult.  I began to go through a state of depression.

I was sitting in a line in a car wash one day during this period.  It was a beautiful day.  I was driving a new car.  I was in line to have the luxury of having professionals vacuum and wash my car.

And yet, I was really depressed.

I had a Zig Ziglar tape sitting in my car, but I had never taken the time to listen to the tape.  I inserted the tape into my cassette player.  As I listened to the tape, my mood changed.  My depression lifted.  I realized that I had reasons to feel grateful. For starters, I had the privilege of having a new car and the convenience of having other people wash it.   I had a terrific family and a terrific life.  My day brightened.

I realized that the inspiration was in me all along.  I just needed to find ways to awaken it.

Today, I continually look for new ways to find inspiration and I act on these ways.

• Hang out with inspiring people.
• Make gratitude lists.
• Pause to meditate.
• Act in small steps.
• Watch, read, and listen to inspiring people.
• Follow the positive things and avoid the negative.

Today, I know that sometimes, inspiration simply does not simply happen.  However, I can do things that make inspiration happen.