A friend of mine recently had a pretty great interview- the organization is actively seeking new employees, the benefits and pay are exactly what she’s looking for, and she and the department head hit it off (so much so that he wanted her to apply to a higher-up position than the one she was seeking). All seemed good. Right? Still she had reservations about getting her hopes up just in case it didn’t work out. Why?
First of all, we manifest our own realities. Placebo effect, self-fulfilling prophecy, whatever you want to call it- it’s real. When you think something is true or happening it is significantly more likely to be true or happening. Therefore, why not just believe it’s going to work out? Jump in to the excitement and happiness of new possibilities and opportunities actually working out.
That being said, I’m not saying to put all the employment eggs (or any eggs, for that matter) in one basket. The success of this strategy is contingent upon the fact that you are always prepared for failure. You have to stay motivated to pursue plan Bs, Cs, and so on (and get excited about those opportunities, even though they may be in different stages of the process).
The worst case scenario is still not getting the job (or whatever it is that you want), in which case you will still have to have appropriate coping mechanisms to ‘grieve’ and move on. This is going to happen no matter how excited you get about the opportunity in the first place. The more practice you get with neutrally dealing with disappointment and setbacks the better (see: reframing disappointment from last week).
I wouldn't limit positive emotions because I’m afraid of disappointment or failure- that’s no fun.
GFFI,
D & K
