If you would have told two years ago that I would be writing an article about how I secured a great job through the power of positive thinking, I would have laughed, probably. I was in a real slump, and all I could think about was finding some work. I was confident I could snap out of my perpetual bad mood if only I could get hired, and feel more secure about my career. But I found out it actually works the other way around.

It wasn’t the job that was going to make me happy. My negative attitude kept me from landing my dream job. Once I managed to sort that out, everything else just fell into place. I imagine everyone knows about the great things positive thinking can do for you. You probably know some of these things from your own experience.

I’m not going to go into too much detail about the situation I was in before I found the position I’m currently holding. Every situation is unique, and though I hope some of you are going to benefit from my story, I realize everyone has to find the solutions that work best for them. Suffice to say, I was in a pretty sorry state.

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Friends kept telling me I need to snap out of it. Easier said than done. But eventually, I felt like I ran out of options, so I tried doing some positive thinking exercises. The first thing I did was to try to include as many positive words as I could in my daily conversations. You wouldn’t believe how much that changed my perspective! I tried finding the good aspects in every situation, even the ones that seemed to have nothing positive about them, so I could describe in positive, rather than negative terms.

This helped me understand that there is value in negative emotions, if you look at them in the right light. I was missing out on a great opportunity to learn new things about myself, and to really figure out want I wanted from life, by focusing on the way these emotions made me feel. I started to think about why I had these feelings in the first place, and get at the root of the problem. And then I tried finding solutions.

I started going out more, and talking to people about my passions, about the things that really interested me, rather than focusing all my conversations on my dire situation (which, as it turned out, wasn’t all that dire after all). I found people that shared the same interests.

I discovered that a positive attitude has a tendency to spread to the people around. If I was in a jolly mood, the people around tended to be as well. And their optimism enhanced mine. Being surrounded by positive people made me want to get proactive, so I started taking online courses, and polishing my skills. Now, I had new things to add to my CV.

All of a sudden, I started getting calls for interviews, thanks to the network of friends and acquaintances I had built, and my improved resume.

Positive thinking also allowed me to reconsider the jobs I was being offered. I realized that, back in the days when I felt down, nothing would satisfy. I always found some minor detail in every job description that bothered me, or something I didn’t like about the interviewer. Silly things like this, that kept me from enjoying the opportunities I was given.

By focusing on my positive feelings, I realized there was a whole world of possibilities out there. I just couldn’t see them, because I was so wrapped up in my negative attitude towards everything.

If I had been offered the job I have now when I was stuck in that bubble of negativity, I would have found some reason to turn it down, or accept it reluctantly. Negative emotions, such as frustration, or anger, have a way of ruining your whole thought process.

I guess the point I’m trying to make here is that positive thinking allowed me to get a great job because it allowed me to see it as a great job. It made a person other people want to be around, a person others could trust to get the job done.

Finding a good job isn’t just about sending your resume every which way, until someone hires you. It’s about how you relate to that job, how well you interact with the other people working there. It’s about the environment you’re going to work in. And the environment you make for yourself and those around you is really up to you.

Author bio: Amanda Wilks is a Boston University and a Contributing Editor at Job Application Center. She has a great interest in everything related to job-seeking, career-building, and entrepreneurship and loves helping people reach their true potential.

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