Moment-to-Moment Optimism

William Henry Nurmi II has a bachelor’s degree from Michigan State University and a MBA from the University of Phoenix. Bill has a background in operations management, logistics, and sales. Bill is an avid bicyclist and is a volunteer on the board of directors at the Mission of Hope Cancer Fund. He lives in Lansing, MI and is currently seeking new employment while serving as a Post-Graduate and Career Transition Fellow of Optimism with Moment-to-Moment Enterprises.  Bill’s Fellowship project entails writing about optimism and providing advice and consultation on marketing, sales, and new program development.  Today’s guest post, is the first of series of posts that Bill plans to write under the title: “Adventures of a Struggling Optimist.” 

As I sit here with 3 weeks behind me since becoming unemployed, I realize that I have much less time day-to-day than I thought I would.  Some of this can of course be explained by my ineffective time spent on the internet, though this cannot be all of it! Can it?  Who would have thought that during a time of unemployment I would find myself having a problem with time management; if anything it should be the opposite.  It now occurs to me that this process of finding myself a new job (or career, if that sounds better to you) in an economic downturn will not be an easy one. 

Every day I open my eyes and face the world and all of its realities; and every day I think that I will find a job that will pay me enough money to meet my financial obligations, have great work hours, and that is also something that I love to do.  Then after that moment of optimism comes crashing in the thoughts of what I have always liked to call “realism,” for I have never thought of myself as pessimistic.  The more I think about it, “realism” is really just splitting hairs and is certainly a form of pessimism, but I have it nonetheless.

Even though I have recognized that I struggle with optimism I still need to move forth, so I do of course.  I then wonder, “Am I just self-deceived about all of this and the fact is that I will not find that ideal position within the ideal company? Or even one that I vaguely like?”  Of course not! My arrogance then steps back in with full force and says, “I am educated and have great past experience, don’t they know who I am?”  Here I am caught struggling in the middle.  It seems I am an egomaniac with an inferiority complex perhaps.

So, am I arrogant, or am I optimistic? Am I pessimistic, or am I realistic? Am I maybe just being too hard on myself? Do I really even need to know? It seems I am pondering over all of this too much.  Will the outcome of my job search change a bit if I find the answers to these few questions?

I really do need to stay focused and reasonably work toward finding a new job with which I can be happy and fulfilled.  No amount of over analyzing the situation is going to get me an interview and perhaps an offer, so I need to put this stuff aside and do some footwork.  I do know, though, that there will be daily struggles with regard to finding a job.  There will also be daily struggles remaining optimistic; it’s just my nature to have difficulty in this department.  I have a need to be optimistic during this time of self re-invention and job seeking because every day will not always be a perfect one.  I will be learning to take each set back as a chance to learn and each success as proof that I am in fact competent. 

I am not sure where this journey will take me; in fact, I may be sitting here in this same seat a year, two, or maybe five years from now saying, “I would not have pictured this outcome.”  I think that this is a likely scenario, though whatever the progression, I am definitely in for some twists and turns.

The real footwork starts now...