The Web 2.0 Revolution, blogging, and social media tools like Linkedin and Twitter allow all of us to become our own marketing machine, brand identity, and valuable resource. The following are 10 New Year’s Resolutions and steps any job seeker can take to begin to differentiate themselves and stand apart from the rest of their competition.

10 New Year’s Career Resolutions for Job Seekers

1. Direction: You can not begin a job search with passion and intention if you do not know what you truly want to do. Without direction there is no forward progress. Assessment testing, research, and networking can help bring clarity.

2. Declare Your Intentions: Let the world know that you are open to new opportunities and you are actively seeking new opportunities. One of the biggest mistakes we see people make in their job search is to not declare their availability for new opportunities.

3. Clarify Your Message: Simply put if you are looking for a position in engineering, then make the focus of your message in your linkedin profile, on your blog, or on any other social media site your abilities as an engineer. Do NOT make the mistake of listing a “consulting” job or a job in a completely different field because you fear a gap in employment. Nothing hurts your ability to find new opportunities than the wrong message.

4. The Job of Finding a Job: Take the job of finding a job as serious as a job. Structure your day at home like a work day in an office setting. Create a routine, schedule and instill discipline in your day. Listing and creating structure provides a job seeker with the frame work to move forward. Without this structure, days float into weeks which can turn into months without results.

5. Research: You can’t find what you don’t understand. In order to find the job you desire it is necessary to research your industry of interest, the job market, the companies, and the hiring managers involved in your search. Compiling lists through your research becomes the “intelligence” that moves employment efforts forward; without research your efforts will stall.

6. Obsolete Methodology: Resumes are not a strategy or proactive method of finding a job. Resumes are simply a listing of your accomplishments meant as a “calling card” snapshot of your value to the potential employer. If you simply rely upon sending resumes, your efforts in finding a job will be nearly impossible in today’s job market.

7. Linkedin Profiles: Linkedin is the most important tool for job seekers today-yet very few truly understand how to utilize Linkedin. Your profile on linkedin is MORE IMPORTANT than your resume. It should be written so that anyone can understand you are open for new opportunities, you have value to give, and you have current skill sets that bring value. Updating your Linkedin profile must be a manditory once per week activity.

8. Blogging: Blogging is the most powerful marketing tool, broadcasting tool, and branding tool a job seeker can utilize. A blog is the centerpiece of any employment campaign designed to deliver your message of value to strategically targeted hiring managers, companies, and industry associations.

9. Understand the New Trend: Due to Web 2.0 social media tools now is the most amazing time in human history for communication, connectivity, networking, collaboration, and branding “you.” Tools such as Linkedin.com, twitter.com, facebook.com, and blogs support a global conversation. We now have the ability, as individuals, to create our message of value and deliver it to a global, national. local, or niche level. The mass media no longer controls the flow of information. We all have a chance to brand and deliver our message; simply put, this is the biggest development in job search in the last 50+ years. The tipping point for change is not far away.

10. First Adopter Rule: Is what you are doing now in trying to find a job working? If it is not then consider adopting social media tools, blogging, and employment campaigning as your new strategy in finding the right job for you.

Q: What one thing can you do to enjoy success in all aspects of your life?

A: Hold yourself personally responsible for your success.

Personal responsibility is one debilitating obstacle that gets in the way for many of us. We recognize that unwanted pounds don’t melt away on their own, the love of our life isn’t delivered to our front door and our dream career doesn’t materialize overnight. Yet while we act responsibly to promote our employer’s success and our family’s well being, we often don’t maintain the same standards in pushing forth our own desires and dreams.

Consider these reasons to hold yourself responsible for your success:

· Control: You shift from a mindset of “I want greater success” to “My actions will create more success.”

· Opportunities: You recognize that it is your role to initiate your opportunities. You are not passively waiting for opportunities or good luck to land in your lap.

· Accountability: You see that the only thing standing in your way of creating success is yourself. You recognize that external challenges can be overcome with your focus and dedication to doing what it takes.

Steps to take this week to take responsibility for your success:

1. Consider your desires and dreams at the same priority level as your family responsibilities and job. Just like you wouldn’t ignore requests from your boss or fail to provide your child with health or school needs, don’t allow yourself to slack off on the steps you need to take to create your success.

2. Schedule time for the building of your success. You are in control of how you spend your time; don’t let it be your excuse. Put your necessary steps on your calendar and commit to them. Think of time as being the most important asset you have and invest it wisely. Always ask yourself if what you are doing is leading you to where you want to go.

www.innerarchitect.com

A reduction in your income may impact many things, including how you perceive yourself, whether you are conscious of it or not. If you have prided yourself on financial success, your ability to feel good about yourself may be impacted as you battle a tough economy.

How to manage this challenge:

1. Remember that a successful life is not all about the money. Look for other non-monetary ways to define success.

• Are you helping people?

• Are you growing as an individual?

• What are you contributing to your community or to the world that does not involve money?

2. Look back on your life to periods when you weren’t making as much money as you are now. Believe that you have the capability to increase your income level once again.

• Is this an opportunity to start something new that could lead you to a better place?

www.innerarchitect.com

Most of us approach our lives by way of our conditioning. That is, we make our decisions based on how we were taught. Unfortunately, many of the ideas that have been passed down through generations go against what we really need to do to create and maintain personal happiness.

Here are just a few misconceptions:

Misconception #1: If an established, secure job or relationship no longer makes you happy, something must be wrong with you.

Consider instead: Your life experiences have caused you to grow and change. You are not the same person as you were, so what you are no longer happy with may no longer be a fit.

Misconception #2: Following your heart anywhere except your love life is bound to get you in trouble. Use your rational mind to make decisions.

Consider instead: Your heart is connected to ideas and passions that you do not consciously select and which reside in your being. Think of your heart as the most accurate compass for your life decisions.

Misconception #3: Taking steps backwards financially should be avoided at all costs.

Consider instead: Improving your inner quality of life deserves as much an investment priority as upgrading your external environment and material possessions.

Misconception #4: Having a successful career doing what you love is an unrealistic fantasy that happens only to a lucky few.

Consider instead: What you love is what you are here to do. Expect that you can create a successful career doing it.

www.innerarchitect.com

What is an Obstacle?

The underpinnings and support you build for yourself when you begin to implement change in your life are first challenged and often thwarted by what you perceive as obstacles that get in the way of your transition. If you can become aware of these obstacles, you give yourself the permission to change the meaning of the very obstacle(s) that stand in your way. Begin by redefining the word “obstacle”:

“The brick walls are there for a reason. The brick walls are not there to keep us out; the brick walls are there to give us a chance to show how badly we want something. . . the brick walls are there to stop the people who don’t want it badly enough. . . they’re there to stop the ‘other’ people.”

–Randy Pausch, Carnegie Mellon Professor and author of The Last Lecture

In Susan Hanshaw’s Inner Architect: How To Build The Life You Were Designed To Live, Phase 3 “Breaking Through Fear” contains a very important tool when considering your obstacles: Step 8 “Define What Lies Between You And Change.”

3 Common Types of Obstacles:

1. Fears: Your thoughts about your ability to successfully create change

2. Limited Beliefs: What you think you are capable of acheiveing or becoming

3. Lack of Commitment: Not being completely dedicated to the work involved with the necessary steps

Ultimate Responsibility:

Accountability for your actions and efforts is the ultimate responsibility we all have to ourselves.

“We can commit to becoming accountable and responsible to our jobs-careers, to our family and friends, yet we often don’t make that same commitment to ourselves.”

–Susan Hanshaw, Founder/CEO and author,Inner Architect