Although it takes up only a paragraph or two, Preliminary Target Investigation is essential. Agnes's investigation will probably take only a few weeks because she is high in energy and can devote full time to it. She has to test her ideas for targets in the marketplace to see which ones are worth pursuing. As she researches at the library, and by meeting with people in her fields of choice, she will refine those targets and perhaps develop other ones. Then she will know where to focus her job search, and the search will be completed much more quickly than if she had skipped this important step.
People who conduct a Preliminary Target Investigation while employed sometimes take a year to explore various fields while they continue in their old jobs. If you are not at all familiar with some of the job targets you have selected, do some Preliminary Target Investigation now through library research and networking. You will find that some targets are not right for you. Eliminate them and conduct a full campaign in those areas that seem right for you and which offer some reasonable hope of success.
Whether you are employed or between jobs, Preliminary Target Investigation is well worth your time and a lot of fun. It is the difference between blindly continuing in your old career path because it is the only thing you know, and finding out what is really happening in the world so you can latch on to a field that may carry you forward for many, many years. This is a wonderful time to explore to find out what the world offers. Most job hunters narrow their job targets down too quickly, and wind up later with not much to go after. It is better for you emotionally as well as practically to develop now more targets than you need so you will have them when you are actively campaigning. If, on the other hand, you do not have the inclination or time to explore, you can move on. Just remember, you can come back to this point if your search dries up and you need more targets.
Final Thoughts
Sometimes we get so caught up in the path we are on that we think we have no choice. We forget what we would rather be doing. It is easy to lose sight of what would make us happy. We forget we have made choices that have brought us to where we are.
Approach job hunting with an open mind be open to the possibilities available to you. It is only by going out into the world and testing your ideas that the possibilities present themselves. Explore. Don't rush to take a job just because it is something well known to you.
Although your motivated skills do not change, keep reexamining them so you can see how they fit into various situations in your changing world. You will always fit in because your motivated skills adapt themselves to new situations and new possibilities.
Expect to be surprised. And think of surprise as a pleasant thing, because it adds interest to your life. Every move you make will open a new range of possibilities.
The step you are now taking is one that can alter the direction of your life. If you are aware, it can have as much or as little effect as you want it to have. If it turns out to be a mistake, you can move on.
This is not the last step: it is a transition. The next step is a preparation for the one after that. In the future, it will rarely be possible to say, in concrete terms, "I want to be this for the rest of my life." The past is over and is subject to a new interpretation depending on the situation you are now in and where you want to go from here. It's your story, and it is a story you make up as you go along. You don't know how the story will end, and the ending really doesn't matter. What matters is that you are living your life, enjoying the process of living. It's a journey, not a battle.
Optimism Emerges As Best Predictor To Success In Life
"Hope has proven a powerful predictor of outcome in every study we've done so far," said Dr. Charles R. Snyder, a psychologist at the University of Kansas... "Having hope means believing you have both the will and the way to accomplish your goals, whatever they may be... It's not enough to just have the wish for something. You need the means, too. On the other hand, all the skills to solve a problem won't help if you don't have the willpower to do it." DANIEL GOLEMAN, the New York Times, December 24, 1991
