Bet on yourself in times of economic uncertainty

Know your own strength: follow your own paths

By: Eli Amdur
Vantage Point
Columnist

..... You'd think that after the wildest, zamiest, most disruptive, and mean-spirited midterm election in history, we could finally exhale and settle back into our careers, job searches, or whatever else keeps normal humans busy during normal times. Perhaps even a little well-deserved, self-constructed Mundanity Right?
..... No chance. At the writing, a week after the midterms, final results are not near, which means that recounts, challenges and audits probably are. And a runoff. that's more than a bit ridiculous when you can watch a ballgame and know the speed of a pitch before it pops into the catcher's glove, Alas.
..... Then: an eye-popping crypto crisis, alarming stock market volatility, ongoing war in Ukraine, interruption of the world food supply, energy wars, inflation, more viruses on the way, the UK disintegrating in front of our eyes, Elon Musk being...well...Elon Musk, and Facebook announcing layoffs of 11,000 workers - more than the population of the nation of Tuvalu. (Don't scoff; they have an Olympic term Truvalu, not Facebook.)
..... And if Twitter's 3,700 layoffs plus Facebook's 11,000 are not enough for you, Layoffs.fyi , a service that provides daily updates of tech companies, reports that 779 tech firms have laid off 120,155 workers this year through November 12. [2022]
..... As I have repeatedly stated, stuff like this would be enough to cast our economy off the precipice and into the abyss of the 52nd recession in our history - I intimated the possibility just two weeks ago - yet that;s not what we're headed, it appears. I've coach clients through three recessions, worked through eight, and lived through 12. I've seen enough to know that it took far less than the above causes to get us into a recession. So are we facing another?
..... As the dust settles on the midterms, as job creation and open jobs numbers remain strong, as the rate of inflation cools, as we will see the infrastructure bill cerate millions of jobs - we continue to see that the job market is what has been and will continue to be our buoy. so, while everyone is talking about a recession - basically talking themselves into it - I'm ready to bet against it. But that doesn't ensure smooth sailing. Changes is change, whether positive or negative, and that causes uncertainly.
..... And in times of uncertainly, the only thing about which we can be certain is ourselves. If I've discovered any immutable truths in ,y 25+ years as an independent career coach, that's one of them.
..... What does that mean? As Henry David Thoreau said, "We must live within ourselves, always tucked up and ready for a start."
..... It's no wonder; he was the prodigy of Ralph Waldo Emerson, whose essay, Self Reliance, was the beginning of America's second revolution. The first, as we know, declared our independence; the second declared our originality.
..... It's no stretch to connect the philosophies of Emerson and Thoreau to our modern economy and job market. Emerson, in other works and lectures, boldly and repeatedly declared, "We will work on our own feet; we will work with our own hands; we will speak our own minds," and we did.
..... I've referred to this more than once in the past, but there's a difference now.
..... For instance, in and following the Great Recession of 2008-2009, and immediately after the 22-million job loss disaster of 2020, Emerson and Thoreau's words were difficult to turn into action although there was no excuse not to try. Now, however, there's every opportunity to take inventory of your career and job readiness and to shore up your assets - career plans, job search strategies, resumes, profiles, networking, and continuing professional development.
..... Maximize your strengths and eliminate your weaknesses. All by itself, the open jobs number sustaining at or near 11 million - should tell you all you need to know.
..... If you're a qualified candidate, there are two jobs waiting for you; if not, it should be easy to see what you need to do. Aside from the job market's strength, it has a quality it hasn't had since the 1990s: clarity. In 2008 and 2020, it was a mes, a pile of rubble. Today, it's open for anyone who embraces what Emerson and Thoreau were saying.
..... Or embraces what I'm saying: In times of uncertainly, the only thing about which we can be certain is ourselves. All tucked up.
..... Come to think of it, that's not so uncertain, is it?

..... Eli Amdur has been providing individualized career and executive coaching as well as corporate leadership advice since 1997. for 15 years he taught graduate leadership course at FDU. He has been a regular writer for this and other publication since 2003, You can reach him at eli.amdur@amdurcoaching.com or 201-357-5844.

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