By Mary Ann Faremouth, CPC
Not long ago, I had to get a new prescription filled for my glasses. I had recently had minor surgery on my eyes and upon my recovery, my old glasses didn’t work anymore. It occurred to me there might be a metaphor here: Aren’t we all having to look through new lenses to see our way through and around the New Work World and beyond? Could the old way of looking at things no longer work? As motivational speaker Wayne Dyer famously said, “If you change the way you look at things, things you look at change.”
As a seasoned recruiter for over 35 years, I know I have to look at things differently these days if I want to be successful. With unprecedented talent shortages, layoffs abounding and technology front and center, many of the old techniques in recruiting don’t work anymore. When talking to hiring authorities and candidates, I hear they are also challenged to move forward and be productive.
Interesting how the Third Step of the Faremouth Method™, “Step Out of Your Comfort Zone,” might apply here. With all the changes in our lives, especially in the New Work World, this might be the time that we all step out of our comfort zone and try new ways of hiring and, for the candidates, finding a job.
Personally, stepping out of my comfort zone and changing my own mindset isn’t really an easy process. But then I remember my loving father’s wise counsel when he would insinuate the power of perception and imagination to create the reality you want. He would often say, “If you keep telling yourself you can’t achieve this or that, you won’t. If you put your mind to it, you can achieve whatever it is you want in life, Mary Ann.” I have never forgotten his wise words.
The idea of becoming aware of the subjectivity of our perceptions is an admittedly abstract one, the likes of which are considered philosophy and science fiction. However, human perceptions and their ramifications are very real and potentially life changing. Research shows that people may hold an unconscious bias against creativity because it represents uncertainty unless they are able to perceive that uncertainty in a positive light.
We read so much these days about a “changing mindset,” and it’s critical for our own sanity that we change our way of thinking. We must change our perception because when we do the gates of our mind can open to innovation and transformation. Our minds are much more powerful than we think and we often don’t give them enough credit. We can create a positive environment by focusing upon positive thoughts and affirmations. We are what we think.
How might we harness the power of perception to live more deliberate lives and perhaps even recast the most challenging situations, like all the events going on in 2025, and the effects of them in the New Work World?
We might consider a simple formula of three words:
REVIEW, RECONSIDER, RESTART
REVIEW – Conduct a thorough review of where you have been in your career and what is reasonably available to you now. Believe in yourself and that you have what it takes to navigate rough waters. Research your current options and do what is necessary to establish a plan of action. If you need to take more online classes to become more familiar with the digital world, do it. If you need to take a bit of a pay cut for now to put food on the table, evaluate what in your current lifestyle you can do without. It must start with YOU and the mindset that you will survive these challenging times and be able to communicate your service orientation and strong contribution to a prospective employer.
RECONSIDER – Reconsider how you can refine your skill set to meet the demands of the New Work World. If there is more of a need for temporary or contract workers at this time, investigate those opportunities and whether those jobs might eventually go permanent. Reconsider how you may have to take two part-time jobs to maintain your financial balance and realize that this won’t last forever. Understand that you are not stagnant. You are not stuck with the amount of talent or competency you were born with. Realize you can choose to expand your skills with deliberate action and determination to grow. You are the only one navigating your boat to calmer waters ahead. You will get there with the right compass and strategic plan. First, you have to believe in yourself and your abilities and change your mindset to get to this new destination.
RESTART – Don’t look at this situation as an ending. Consider it as a new beginning to allow you to meet many interesting people along the way and contribute to your own personal growth and expanded awareness of your work world journey. Just because you have been, for example, a sales assistant in the oil and gas industry doesn’t mean those skills are not transferable to another industry that uses the same skill-set mechanics of tracking, logistics, follow-up and backup as the sales force. It might have to be done now in more of an online/digital way with less face-to-face interaction. The online jobs of the future will increasingly allow us to have more interface with people and cultures in different countries that might add value and enhance our understanding of the job and the world at large.
Stepping Out of Your Comfort Zone can be an opportunity for a new growth mindset and more meaning in our lives in ways we never thought possible. A friend reminded me of the “Moss Rose.” In some cultures, it is considered a weed because it can take over a garden. In other cultures, it is highly desired for its beauty and fragrance. It really depends on the gardener’s perspective. Let your perspective produce an expanded growth mindset. Step Out of Your Comfort Zone into the New Work World that might offer benefits you could only have imagined.
Ruha Benjamin, professor of sociology at Boston University, said, “What we are fighting for is our imagination, the right to imagine a life and relationships and a social world that are happier, less anxious, more harmonious and more just. We are not being diligent enough or deliberate enough about culminating our imagination. We have to fight for our ability to imagine the world we want.”
The recent pandemic and world events have already dramatically changed the way many jobs are done, and employers are now planning how best to extract benefits from those changes. Greater digitization and automation, along with more demand for independent contractors, increases reliance on remote work and has the potential to deliver better productivity, lower costs and enhanced resilience. Historically, innovation has driven changes beneficial to workers and humanity at large while new workplace trends hold the promise of greater productivity that will fuel broader well-being.
We have to put forth a conscious and deliberate effort to look through a new lens to create our own new reality. We must envision that new mindset in order to create it. It has been shown that when we imagine what that New Work World might look like, we are able to see ourselves in a much better position where we can thrive economically and personally. This is where we can move our own personal mountains and envision what is on the other side of all these changes to become more productive and deliberate individuals. We are not limited by challenges when we seek ways to overcome those obstacles by creatively looking though a new lens.
I’m happy I can see better with my new glasses. Be willing to change that metaphorical lens you use in your professional and personal arena to see a more radiant and fulfilling future ahead!
Mary Ann’s award-winning first book Revolutionary Recruiting has been listed by Book Authority as Number #1 Best 100 Recruiting Books; #1 Best Seller, Non-Fiction, Amazon (2019); Top 20 Recruiting books, Recruitics; Readers’ Choice finalist (2019), Houston Literary Awards; Best Non-Fiction (2018), Best Cover (2019), and Best Self-Help (2018), Authors Marketing Guild. This was followed by “Revolutionary Reinvention”, a workbook for job seekers giving advice on how to rediscover your skills and passions and reinvent your career. Her most recent book is “Revolutionary Results” , a collection of life lessons about relationships, integrity and contributing to the world.
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