I have heard this question repeatedly in the last 60 days. Certainly there is a valid reason for my clients asking it – after all, there are mass layoffs going on every day and the news is gloomy at best. Hope for the future is what most are hanging their hat on and that message is loud and clear: every body…FREEZE!

Are there any benefits to holding your breath to see “what happens next?” I don’t know. I think people who are high achievers usually bulk at this mentality and I think it sends the general wrong message.

Here are several things I do know:

• Companies are still growing.
• Companies still have problems that YOU can solve.
• Millions of jobs are still being advertised every day…..you just don’t hear about them on the news.
• If your competition isn’t up to bat it’s a good time for you to be.
• Millions of people have landed wonderful job opportunities in “bad” job markets before.
• Learning the strategies to penetrate jobs that are not advertised lead to more interviews and bigger offers.
• A resume that sends the right marketing message will get you interviews – especially in times when companies really have urgent needs.
• History is heavy laden with scores of successful people rose out of adverse conditions and situations to achieve great things.
• Some of the best opportunities are developed in the worst of times.

I could go on, fortunately.

Now not all of us are optimists. I happen to be one, as you might already know from reading my posts. I like to concentrate on the positive.

There are those out there though who would call themselves “critical thinkers” wanting to poke holes in my approach. Or maybe you have been fired or laid off – and these points only serve to fuel your anger and frustration.

Well, the facts are that the above statements ARE facts, that looking through the lens of critical analysis is dangerously limiting to your job search success and that anger and frustration over a layoff or letting go is normal in ANY job market and needs to be overcome regardless.

We all must take responsibility for how we process and what we do with the information we allow into our hearts and minds.

So why not look for your next best position right now? Why not decide today that the media is not going to control the way you think and feel. Why not turn off the TV and simply stay focused on the markets that are growing and the plan and strategy that is going to work best for you right now? There really isn’t ever a perfectly “right time” to do anything. I picked the worst time to start up my business – financially, family wise, etc… but my window of opportunity was there so I took it. Risk and all and I never looked back.

A friend of mine who coaches C-Level executives through career transitions recently shared with me that most of his clients were holding off until the New Year to take action. That is, except for one. And that one client, he said, was experiencing amazing results and landing multiple interviews.

The choice is yours.