By Tonie Auer
DFW Chapter President

Our industry is hurting, and I’m not talking about media and journalism alone, but also B2B publishing. Two of my dear friends and former editors were laid off just a few weeks ago right after their freelance budgets were eliminated. So, now the work of four full-time editors/writers along with the contributions of multiple freelancers landed square upon the shoulders of two people. Good luck to ya’ll.

I saw a post on Facebook from an ASBPE colleague that he had to lay off three highly competent journalists from his staff, too. A few days later came the post on Facebook from a friend at the Dallas Business Journal. She was now swimming in the jobless pool, too.

So, maybe it was kismet that the Dallas-Fort Worth chapter of the ASBPE hosted Janet White, author of Secrets of the Hidden Job Market, to talk on the topic of “Anything You Want, You Got It: A Primer on Using the Law of Attraction.”

White believes that every experience in your life stems from your thoughts, so if you believe your opportunities are limited because the economy is crummy or any other reason, you’re right, because of the Law of Attraction, you’re always right.

“The Law of Attraction is a metaphysical law that turns your thoughts feelings and beliefs into your experiences.Whatever you think about is what you attract. Whatever you give your focus to, good or bad, becomes your truth,” White said.

White had a living example at our DFW chapter meeting: Connie Gore, a former writer for GlobeSt.com. She was laid off in November when her employer eliminated positions. Gore admitted she was thinking about wanting a new challenge when the job loss occurred.

“You told the law, ‘Get me out of here,’ and the law complied,” White told Gore. “You were focused on getting out of there and the universe shoved you out.”

“What you could have done was focus on what you actually want: security and a steady financial abundance. Instead, now you’re focused on having a challenge and the universe has no problem creating challenges for Connie,” White explained.

Just like working in a garden where you till the soil, plant the seed and pull the weeds, it is not a one-time effort, but weeks, months and years of tending that garden for it to grow, she said.

“You can plant consciously: This is what I choose to grow. Or you can plan unconsciously by worrying, doubting and fretting,” White said.

With a four-step process, she said anyone can come to understand how powerful their thoughts are and what they can do to change their lives for the better.

The first step is to manifest your dream job. Know what you want and visualize it, she said. Don’t worry about the process of getting it.

“Create that mental vision of you having what you want and play that mental video at least three times a day because you want that image to go from your conscious mind to your subconscious mind,” White said. “You are training your mind to accept this as a new reality, which helps you build your belief that you have it.”

Building belief is a process that often doesn’t happen overnight, she said. It is like a daily affirmation a la Stuart Smalley. Maybe he had the right idea after all. I had to smile as I thought about “I’m good enough, I’m smart enough and doggonit, people like me!” But, maybe she was on to something.

“Anything you say becomes your reality,” White emphasized. “This is so important for you to understand. I live this stuff. I know the power of my word in my life. I cannot afford the luxury of a negative thought.”

White said she is “advocating changing your thinking. Move out of fear and lack and limitation and into saying yes to what you want. You’re not a victim of what is happening out there. This is the whole point, you are not a victim of conditions. When you really use this law, you will discover that conditions change because you have changed the way you look at conditions.”

White’s second step is to “be the person who has it.” This is where a lot of people stop, she said. Take what you do with what you love and apply it to any field that you want to, she advised.

Been a real estate writer and that industry is drying up? Well, take your passion for something else and combine it with the love for writing, she recommended.

The third step is to do what feels right. “While you’re having so much fun living, thinking and acting as if you have what you desire, if you have embodied it, your intuition will start talking to you big time. It will give you instructions and you should follow those inner nudges. That is your higher self — your guidance system — helping navigate for you,” she said.

The fourth — and final — step is the most difficult of them all, White said. “You must allow what will come to you and get out of your own way. The doubt, the fear, the worry has to move over. Believe that ‘Yes I can have it and yes it is possible.’ You may not know how it is possible, but that is the job of the universe. The universe knows stuff you will never know. You see with mortal eyes, but the universe sees things you can’t possibly know and see, when you get out of your way and move toward your goal with the right mindset you won’t have to do much at all,” she explained.

White has a knack for trusting that everything she needs will come to her. “I wasn’t going to make it happen, but I was going to let it happen,” White recounted.

So, has it worked for me? I’m not sure yet. But, I do believe in the power of positive thinking. My husband was laid off last year and out of work for seven months. In the meantime, we trusted the Universe (or God, or whom or whatever you want to call that higher power). My faith waivered and my frustration rose, but through it all, I came back to trusting that when one door closes, another opens.

So far, so good. My power of positive thinking is keeping me busy. I’ve had at least three different publications eliminate their freelance budgets (therefore eliminating their need for me). I’ve managed to find jobs when others have disappeared, and I’m doing more work for less money overall.

Just like White said — the hardest part for me is convincing myself that I’m not waiting for the other shoe to drop. No. I’m waiting for another opportunity to arrive.

You can find more information about White and her book at http://www.jobmarketsecrets.com/. To get your copy of Your Layoff and the Law of Attraction, just send an email with “Your Layoff Ebook” in the subject line to jobmarketsecrets@aol.com.