How your hobbies can help you while you search for work.

There is no doubt that job searching can be a difficult, frustrating and stressful time. Many recruiters will tell you job searching needs to be your full time work until you land that job and get back into the game.

It is also true that your mindset is a crucial part of that game. No matter the reason why you have left your previous position nor where in the process of job hunting you may be, receiving a series of "no's" to your application can make it hard to maintain faith in yourself.

Maintaining faith in yourself is crucial for job hunting.

Your faith in yourself will impact on every part of your job seeking process from choosing the jobs you go for to how you present in the interview.

So how can you maintain this faith?

I suggest to my clients they focus on their hobbies at the same time as they are focusing on job hunting.

Here's why...

Pursuing your hobbies brings you pleasure which allows your body to experience the 4 hormones of happiness. - a state of being not often associated with job hunting!

Each one of these hormones brings something different to the state of happiness.

• Dopamine brings anticipation of happiness - its energy is striving.
• Oxytocin brings bonding and relationships - its energy is attentiveness and connection
• Serotonin brings the overall mood of your day - its energy is to uplift your energy (conversely if you don't get enough of this you will be in a grumpy or even depressed mood)
• Endorphins bring the power to mask pain and discomfort - its energy is to keep you going though the discomfort and find a solution.

Each one of these hormones are necessary for job hunting and will become depleted as you receive compounded negative responses to your job hunting period.

One of the ways you can lift the mood is by exercise, which is why health professionals insist it's important for mental health and well being. This exercise can be anything from a trip to the gym, yoga, Pilates, a brisk walk or a dance around the room at regular intervals. This exercise can break and help activate the hormones and shift the low mood.

But an even better way is to incorporate your hobbies into this plan as well... but what kind of hobbies?

Well that depends on your individual make up.

For some its playing sports. These can be individual or team sports. But the key is to provide yourself with goals that you can accomplish such as: Team championships, half marathons etc, beating your lowest golf score. What's needed is a fixed goal and time to meet it and then the preparation and time set aside to achieve it.

For others it's creative hobbies. And the same thing applies. Find like minded folks who would be willing to meet up to discuss or follow their pursuit. (www.meetup.com is a great place to see what might be happening locally, and if you can't find one, why not start your own?)

Aim at doing an hour a day and try to make it an evening or weekend pursuit so your life continues to be full. As we know being a couch potato or binge watching netflix is not productive as a regular activity.

So job hunt and continue to apply yourself to your hobbies and those feel good hormones can help you get into Your Next Career Sweet Spot!

Melody R. Green is a Soul Coach for Women in Career or Life Transition, Energy Healer and Award-winning Author of Your Career Your Way. The Your Career Sweet Spot Course is coming soon. Melody assists others to connect to their Soul Path and bring more joy into their lives.