This is a blog post I wished I had written so I am re-posting. It speaks to what I see as one of the biggest challenges of jobseeking right now: staying positive. This is a guest post  from Lindsey Pollak’s Career Blog which I subscribe to and highly recommend.

This guest post is by Sandra Naiman, author of The High Achiever’s Secret Codebook: The Unwritten Rules for Success at Work.

At best, looking for a job can feel like a roller coaster ride. For many people, the longer they search, the more they get discouraged. This is especially true in a flailing economy where there’s more competition for fewer jobs.

So how does a job seeker remain positive throughout the job hunt? While this certainly is a challenging time, there are steps that can help people stay upbeat:

1. Engage in activities that make you feel good about yourself. Identify the skills and aptitudes that make you good at your work and also make a list of what you like about yourself, such as sense of humor or empathy. Then find a way to demonstrate those skills and characteristics. For example, if you are good at planning, organize the book drive at your child’s school. If you pride yourself for your ability to put people at ease, volunteer to work in the waiting room for families of surgery patients.

2. Achieve tangible results. Many job search related activities do not provide an immediate tangible outcome. To maintain a sense of control, do something every day that does afford concrete results. It can be as simple as cleaning out a closet, organizing the garage or waxing the car. It can also be related to volunteer or family activities, such as writing a neighborhood watch newsletter or making cookies with the kids. Make sure, that at the end of each day, you can point to something you accomplished.

3. Surround yourself with positive, supportive people. Identify those people who have confidence in you and build your own confidence in yourself. Avoid the people who always see the glass as half empty or those who drain your energy.

4. Keep promises to yourself. Now is a good time to end a bad habit, take a class that you’ve wanted to pursue, or learn a new skill.

5. Reward yourself. At the end of each day, chronicle the things you did well and reward yourself with a good book, a soak in the tub, or some other activity that says to you “job well done.” As far as job searching goes, pride yourself on the things you accomplished that day, rather than waiting for results before you celebrate what you’ve done. The latter usually doesn’t come as quickly as you would wish.

6. Follow a healthy routine. Eat well, exercise and take good care of your body.

7. Allow yourself some down time. You can’t be up and optimistic all the time, so give yourself permission to have a bad day. If you diligently follow the above suggestions, you can count on tomorrow to be better.

Read more helpful career tips in Sandra Naiman’s book, The High Achiever’s Secret Codebook: The Unwritten Rules for Success at Work.