I have been blogging for so long that when I miss a day because I need a day off, or my travel or work schedule precludes me from writing, I miss it because I break my routine.
Routines are important. They are like daily habits. Sometimes they are so ingrained into our psyche that we are barely aware of them. For me, writing is one of those routines. To be truthful, if I fall out of this routine I can struggle a bit re-establishing the process.
There is another routine that is easy to slip out of — networking in a job search. Like writing is for me, re-establishing the routine of making new contacts and leveraging information to develop actionable intelligence on the job market (who is hiring, who is leaving and where employment opportunities may emerge) can be hard for executives to do – another good excuse not to do it is always right around the corner. While networking is not particularly difficult work, many job seeking executives hate doing it, but here is the thing, you cannot have a readable blog if you do not write, just as it is going to be hard to find a new position if you do not network.
The fear of rejection is a common excuse not to do what it takes to network. Even when people say they have been working the telephones, they are often just shooting the breeze with friends who are probably not going to add value to their job search. You have to make new friends, and then you have to work at developing the type of relationship that will contribute to your job search.
Being tired, or arguing with myself that I will wait to write a new blog or podcast script tomorrow is not a very good strategy.
That is something to think about when your full time job is finding a new job.