One of the most valuable career tips someone shared with me long ago (her initials are D.H.) when I was applying for a job at Travel Portland was this simple idea:

When you walk into the job interview, try to get a glimpse of the desk that you will be sitting at, and then visualize yourself sitting there, working away.

If you can do that, you’ve already created a powerful image of what is possible, and can transform your confidence from a “Can I?” to “I can!”

This advice has resonated throughout my life and helped me get through countless tough situations… and not only when I was interviewing for jobs.  Any time I encountered a challenging situation, I visualized myself on the other side of the issue, after I had worked it through.  The end result? I gave myself the hope and belief that it could be a positive ending after all.

So last year, when I was speaking at a conference and someone approached me after the presentation to ask, “Where can I buy your book?,”  I suddenly found myself at yet another crossroads.  I didn’t have a book to sell them.

Sure, I had harbored romantic ideas when I was a little girl that I would write that one amazing novel. But never had I ever imagined that I would write a non-fiction book. But the seed had been planted, and combined with a happenstance meeting with Greg Bell from Water the Bamboo, the idea of writing a book started to move towards reality.

I have to admit; I was scared. This was something totally new for me… it is one thing to have an idea, but a totally different one to put into action.

But the advice from my friend prevailed, so I visualized it: I had in my mind’s eye that I would be holding in my hand the book I wrote.

From there, there, the idea took off. Last December, I took a one-month leave of absence from my business and spent a lot of time in Starbucks (I know, it’s cliche’) writing away. Somehow, getting out of my office helped me focus… possibly having quick and easy access to unlimited amounts of caffeine probably helped, truth be told.

An editor helped fine-tune the content, and by mid-summer, I was getting close except the number of client projects literally exploded. It took my husband reminding me to focus in on the end goal with the book to finally make the project a reality.

The advice long administered to me years ago helped me keep a picture in my mind’s eye of what the final project would be… and I’m excited to announce that on October 15, 2012, “Forget Job Security: Build Your Marketability – Finding Job Success in the New Era of Career Management” will be available on Amazon.com.

I never thought I could do it until I created that mental image of what the finish line looked like- and the same goes for a job search – having a clear image of what the end goal will look like can prove to be a very powerful motivator to help propel you there!