Off to Cooperstown
As I sit to write this blog (I usually compose the blogs and newsletter for the next calendar month, in the closing weeks of the previous calendar month), I am a few days away from leaving with my wife for a weekend trip to Cooperstown, New York. If you are a baseball fan like we are, you know that is the site of the National Baseball Hall of Fame. Additionally, this coming weekend, (the final one of July), is when the new inductees are formally recognized in a ceremony on Sunday afternoon.
While being a baseball spectator and fan is a passion for me and has been since a very young age, I realize that it is not more important than the work I do as a career coach. During a work week, I look to focus my efforts on either sessions with my clients, documents to assist them with their search strategy or providing guidance in the bi-weekly job search webinars I provide. However, even I can find myself getting overwhelmed about the schedule of activities that I may need to keep in a coming week, (while at the same time packing for a few days away on an upcoming vacation weekend).
A great job search does require commitment. For one without a job, it should be seen as your job now, so in each week, that may mean about 40 hours of activity. While how to best use those 40 hours may vary by individual, (I personally feel that using as much of the time for networking activities, and having conversations with others that can help you in the job search), certainly tasks such as researching possible openings and applying for them, updating documentation on yourself, and research companies is going to be a part of it too. The bottom line is, while the need for finding a job can overtake your life, it does not mean your search should be taking 168 hours of your life each week, (the number of hours in any given week).
One needs to build in time for themselves. When home, that may mean a couple of hours each day for personal activities one enjoys doing. Certainly, rewarding oneself for steps that are moving the search forward, (gaining a job interview, completing documentation that was woefully out of date, completing informational interviews), should also qualify for some time for oneself. Perhaps it may mean watching a particular program one likes, or going to a movie. And, it also will mean if the search runs a longer period, which it very well may, some time away for oneself.
My wife and I have been to Cooperstown previously, for Hall of Fame inductions. The first time in 2019, we got to experience “the entire weekend”, complete with the Parade of Legends, and the Sunday induction ceremony. Due back for a similar experience in 2020, our plans were changed, as were many that summer by the Covid-19 pandemic. And, while we did get to experience the Hall of Fame induction the next year, it was a compromised version of what we had experienced before. It was held in the middle of the week as opposed to the weekend, keeping down the crowds. There was no Parade of Legends. Additionally, there was still a tension “in the air,” over pandemic conditions even despite vaccinations becoming more available.
However, what was available both times, and I know when we return this year, will be the quiet, quaint town Cooperstown is of an America that you just do not see anymore in many places. Described by many as “a Norman Rockwell picture,” I can remember in 2021 standing in the middle of Main Street, looking down the street, (which was closed off to traffic) and seeing the whole scene in front of me. In addition, just about everyone who was there were like my wife and I. They were baseball fans. In did not matter we rooted for different teams. We could be there to support the induction of different players. Or maybe we were not there to support any one player, but the history of the sport itself.
What is the Cooperstown feeling in your life? Have you neglected experiencing it while in job search. Perhaps you cannot experience it in its entirety, as I realize you may have cashflow restrictions. However, there are other experiences you can build into your day or week to enjoy, that will help re-energize you and your search. They may even be items you do not have the time to do often when you are working fulltime. So, give yourself permission to take care of yourself, as you make this next important step forward in your life.
