This is a series of 6 articles about the different aspects of your job search…
Aspect #5: Physical Aspects Of A Job Search Part 1
The physical aspects of your job search involve taking care of your body so that it will be able to handle this stress-filled endeavor. Because this is a very large topic, today we will cover your diet, sleep, addictions and, personal hygiene. In our next blog post we will cover exercise patterns, and your time management. All of these aspects are important to maintaining your health in order to conduct a rigorous job search campaign.
Charles Spurgeon eloquently expressed the link between the body, heart, mind, and emotions in a system that impacts each other when he said:
To sit long in one posture, poring over a book, or driving a quill, is in itself a taxing of nature; but add to this a badly-ventilated chamber, a body which has long been without muscular exercise, and a heart burdened with many cares, and we have all the elements for preparing a seething cauldron of despair, especially in the dim months of fog.”
Hygiene:
Don’t let working at home on your job search be an excuse to not maintain personal hygiene. Shower, brush your teeth, take care of your hair, and do all the other things you normally do when going to work. This will help you feel better emotionally, and you’ll be ready should someone request a spur of the moment meeting.
It’s challenging to carry on a serious phone conversation when you’re still dressed in your pajamas. You’ll be hard pressed to represent yourself well to recruiters calling to discuss your qualifications for positions they have open when it’s as if you just rolled out of bed.
Diet:
Think about your diet. Do you eat a balanced diet ‒ vegetables, fruit, protein, the whole nine yards? Is your diet more of packaged meals, or does it include an intake of fresh foods? Do you drink too much alcohol, coffee, soda, or other drinks that aren’t especially healthful? Do you snack all day on chips, cookies, candy? What changes do your behaviors call for?
Addictions:
Do you have addictions that are harmful to your body? This is a good time to come to grips with those and deal with them in a mature way. Addictions can take many forms ‒ alcohol, drugs, sex, television, exercise (yes, this too can be an addiction when your appearance takes precedence over everything else), or chocolate, to name only a few.
If you need help, there are plenty of groups to assist with addictions of all kinds. Seek out one in your church or in other groups for help in dealing with what’s holding you back.
Sleep:
Proper rest is another requirement for good health and for conducting an effective job search. For some, sleep is an escape. They sleep long hours so they don’t have to deal with the reality of being out of work and all the tasks required to find another position.
Others are so worried and anxious about finding work that they don’t get the amount of sleep they need to function properly.
Determine the amount of sleep you need to function at your best, and then maintain a schedule that ensures that you get that. Compromising on this will affect the other things you are trying to do. Emotional health will also help address too much or not enough sleep.
Read what C.S. Lewis said about sleep:
Something of God flows into us from the blue of the sky, the taste of honey, the delicious embrace of water whether cold or hot, and even from sleep itself.”
What a perspective, to acknowledge that God can be at work in you even when you’re asleep.
Psalm 139:17,18 says:
How precious also are your thoughts to me, oh God. How vast is the sum of them. If I were to count them, they would outnumber the sand. When I awaken I am still with thee.”
God referred to David as a man after His own heart, even though he had been a murderer, adulterer, and had a family that was a mess. David wrote in these verses that God thought a lot about him, and thought about him deeply. You can count on the fact that He thinks of you in the same way, regardless of what you may have done or left undone. And when you are asleep; He’s building in you.
To read about any of the other Job Search Aspects, please click on a link below:
The Spiritual Aspect
This is an excerpt from my book “The Christian Job Search Manual,” click on this link to purchase the book.
If you would like to explore working with a Christian centered Career Coach, Contact me for a no-obligation 60-90 minute job search consultation with America’s Job Searching Coach, or text me at 425-220-0707 and we can discuss your situation, your résumé, what you would like to achieve, and structure your job search to fit your uniqueness.
I am also available to speak to groups.
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