Of Bears and Teddy Bears in your Life

Life is full of encounters with ferocious bears and cute, cuddly teddy bears; choose wisely. 

The other perspective of ‘You are the average of the 5 people you surround yourself with’ is its impact on your own mental state. 

Would you give a BEAR to your Valentine. Not a real one, of course. A toy bear. A soft toy bear. 

Probably not. They are ferocious animals. Scary even. 

But what about the Teddy Bear ! 

Aren’t Teddy Bears the most common soft toy gifted between lovers? 

Still a bear, right? 

The mental image and perception of a teddy bear are hugely different from those of a bear. 

One fills you with love and a cute, cuddly feeling, while the other one fills you with fear. 

Look around; you are always surrounded by bears and teddy bears. 

When you have a setback in life, they will all come and interact with you.

Some will comfort you and make you feel better.

Some will scare you, fill you with negative thoughts, and make you feel worse. 

Some will be tricky. They will appear to be sympathetic and say the right things. But after the interaction, you don’t feel good. You feel worse. The head says they were good, but the heart points the other way. 

Listen to your heart. 

Reduce your interactions with toxic people; let the bears not scare you. 

Increase your exposure to the Teddy Bears. 

They make you feel better. 

They encourage you. 

They fill you with hope.

They are helping you connect with other people. 

They are helping you be in the right state of mind.  

Being confident and in the right frame of mind is essential in a job loss situation, as well as when preparing for and attending an interview. So do yourself a favor and surround yourself with the right kind of people (Teddy Bears) and reduce your exposure to the negative lot (Bears)  

As you increase your exposure to the positive lot, actively figure out the conversations that you should be having with your friends, colleagues, managers, mentors, coaches, etc. 

Conversations with the right people will open your mind to new possibilities. 

These positive conversations and a positive mindset are what you need when asking some key questions: 

1. What was about the last job that you liked the most, enjoyed the most and what did not feel like work at all? 

2. What was it about the last job that you did NOT like at all, which sapped your energy, and work felt like drudgery while executing those tasks?

3. What do you want to do next?  

There are a lot more questions to ask but this is a good place to start since it basically tells you what kind of job to search for and what kind of job/organization to avoid. This can make a huge difference going forward. 

So this Valentine, make a list of the Teddy Bears of your life and wish them Happy valentine's (and maybe even gift them a Teddy) !! 😊

#kmcc #takecharge #layoffs #coaching #jobinterview 

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This is the second article in the ‘Job Interview Coaching’ series that I am doing. I plan to write about this topic on a regular basis (hopefully 4-5 times per week in February 2023). You can follow me to avoid missing out. 

Here is the post about why I am doing this series - https://bit.ly/CJI00    

The 1st Post – Learned Helplessness and Job Search is akin to dating - https://bit.ly/CJI01  

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