This was the very last question Wendy asked me during my recent interview process with Ingenuity. I was just getting ready to leave the restaurant when she sprang the rather unusual question on me. For those of you who have met Wendy, this would NOT come as a surprise. It took a minute to sort through all the thoughts running through my head like, “Why in the world is she asking me this?” and “What is she trying to get at with this question?” I had not prepared myself for this interview question and had no choice but to go with my gut reaction, which was exactly what Wendy was hoping.

Many of us are facing challenges we’ve never seen or thought about before in regard to our jobs and financial well-being. The way we choose to view our circumstances can greatly affect our ability to make it through such times. I would suggest that before you consider how lucky you are – or are not – take some steps that might just turn your luck around and put you in control of the outcome.

Here are 5 actions that can have a positive impact on how you handle a challenging career transition or life situation.

1. Know your strengths. Take some time to really learn what unique gifts and talents you have to offer the world. Doing so will increase your self-confidence and your self-awareness. I recommend using the book, Strength Finder 2.0.
2. Power up your network. During a career transition your personal network is your new best friend. Make sure that you’ve made all those LinkedIn connections you’ve been putting off. Attend every networking group and meeting you can to gain valuable knowledge about the job market and what industries are hiring. Meeting other people in the same situation will also keep you from feeling isolated.
3. Beware of the pitfalls of self-pity. Instead of thinking to yourself, “poor me” trying thinking, “What will I do about my situation?”
4. Be compassionate toward yourself. Too many people are their own worst enemies. Don’t self-accuse. Instead, try asking yourself, “What can I learn from this situation and how can I make it better for the future?”
5. Surround yourself with positive people. Join a support group or find another partner in the same situation. A group of positive, understanding peers can help build your personal power.

Question: The next time someone asks you, “Do you consider yourself lucky?” how will you answer?

The other day I was meeting with a new prospect who was interested in creating a blog for his firm. They have a strong niche and a national reach and he felt a blog would help him increase visibility, but he didn’t know how to help his partners add the demand of writing regularly to their already full schedules.

I suggested he hire a ghostwriter and he asked how exactly using a ghostwriter works. I get this question a lot, which points to the effectiveness of ghostwriting. You really don’t know how many blogs, articles and books are being written partly or entirely by a professional writer.

When we ghostwrite for a client, one of our writers will set up a time to call them and interview them for the subject of the article. All our client has to do is talk about the subject matter. As someone who doesn’t love to write, I can tell you it’s a lot easier to answer questions than it is to write out that same information.

Our writer works their magic and creates a finished article and then sends it back to the client for any edits. I’ve had articles ghostwritten for me and I can tell you it’s a delight to see a well-written piece that covers all the points I made but that I didn’t have to struggle through. We have some very talented writers and they can put my words together in less than half the time it would take me.

When I explained this all during my prospect meeting, his next question was, “Do people really do that?” I can understand why he’d ask that. In school we were all trained that it’s bad to have someone else write your paper. Well, this isn’t school. Your priority is to get your message across. It’s your information and expertise, why not use another professional’s skills to deliver that in a way that makes it easy for you and your audience to connect.

Our time is valuable. By letting someone else do what they do best, you can do more of what you do best. In fact, I often have my articles and blogs ghostwritten—including this one.

Question: What do you wish you could have ghostwritten?

Which writer do you think wrote Dawn’s article?