Changing your job search techniques, or changing any behavior that isn't working first requires getting conscious about it.

If you want something to be different, then something needs to change.

This is a simple dynamic. Are you still chasing postings on job boards, but not getting the results you want? Is your idea of networking to ask people if they know of job leads? Do you face each day without any idea of what you should be doing? Bottom line: have you continued to do the same things over and over expecting to get different results? We've all heard it before -- that's the definition of insanity!

If you agree that your methodology or thinking needs to change, then pick just one or two thing to do differently. It is too hard to try to change everything at once, and, it is too hard to sustain multiple changes. It is possible to make minor changes to begin with, and build on them as they become habits. Making one or two small changes to your approach can dramatically change the outcomes you are getting.

But getting started is hard too. Developing a plan for making necessary changes is as critical as the plan you will make for specifically accomplishing your goals. With a strong commitment to changing your behavior, your plan for addressing the needed changes will make it easier to do than you would think.

Get started:

The first step in making a plan for change is to identify your barriers to doing something differently than how you have done it in the past. You'll need to establish which internal elements and which external elements have been affecting your job search results. Is it your health? Bad planning? Procrastination? Lack of focus? Or is it the economy? The weather? Competition? If the issues are external, your reaction to them is the only thing you can control, and that is what may need to change.

• Face your barriers.
• Take a closer look. Deal with reality. What can you change?
• Which one behavior can you work on for the next 30 days? Write it down.
• Make a decision about what you need to do differently.
• Write out the steps you need to take. Plan them. Do them.