In the best of times, a job search rattles nerves. In times like now, that rattling amplifies. Where you once wanted a new job, you now need one. Or, you want to change jobs to further your career, and the search proves tedious. When your search drags on too long, regardless of your definition of “too long,” you may start to question yourself, your strategies, your abilities. You confidence is easily shaken.

The job search process is a wracking experience for anyone, and the average person deals with it multiple times in a lifetime. To navigate a successful search, both professionally and personally, you need a plan that fuels your self-confidence.

To create a confidence plan, first understand the dynamics that can undermine it. For example, consider that successful job candidates are almost always described as self-confident. Therefore, advice to job seekers often starts with the exhortation, “Project confidence, and put your best foot forward.” Easier said than done! Even an otherwise self-confident person can be challenged with self-doubt within months of starting a search.

Circumstances surrounding your search also affect your starting confidence level. Clearly, the seeker who recently navigated a re-organization and record-setting campaign enters the job search arena in a different emotional place than one who chose to resign under pressure from the board.

Another fear is that of facing and/or revealing potential weaknesses. If you have a healthy sense of self, you know it is not possible to excel in all areas. However, during a job search, any perceived weakness can amplify in your mind if not in the eyes of the interviewers.

And, finally, fears of branching out to something new can shake confidence. Though the change could be your most productive move, change itself can be unnerving. Remaining within the confines of self-imposed comfort zones can feel like the best way to maintain self-confidence, but that inhibits expanding skills, abilities, opportunities.

So, what can you do?

Reclaim control.

The job search can smack confidence because it feels like there’s an inherent lack of control in the process. Therefore, do everything you can to maintain the control you do have. The number of jobs for which you apply, the number of networking calls you make and the amount and quality of your outreach and follow up are all within your control. And, while someone else holds the decision about offering you a job, understand it is up to you to accept this position or not. When you feel the process happening to you instead of with you, take control by increasing the action you take.

Accept evaluation.

The job search process is rife with evaluation. So, pretend it’s not there, or be honest and willingly accept it and work with it. Reclaim mental control by realizing you, too, are doing the evaluating. It is a two-way process to discover not only whether you are a good fit for them but also if they are a good fit for you.

All of this evaluation is not a referendum on who you are. Even if you had difficulties in previous positions where you were told you needed to change aspects of yourself, understand now this is just the name of the game. Simply, it’s a process.

Deal with the past.

There is likely something in your past you want to justify, defend or explain. Clear up anything you need in your mind or history (and, honestly, we all have things we need to clear up in our minds). We each feel our job histories are blemished, and most of us greatly overestimate the liability of these blemishes.

Address the past. Forgive yourself for perceived or actual failures. Move on. If you have a chip on your shoulder, no matter how justified it feels, let go of it now. That chip will be seen a mile away. That chip is the first indicator showing an interviewer you are not the right candidate.

Take charge of your future.

Identify what it is you want. Non-profit leaders are usually driven by a deep sense of personal mission. This is not a field that attracts “ladder climbers”. Identify your personal mission, and use that mission to drive you to action. Decide what you want, and pursue it.

Decide once and for all that your self-esteem is determined by who you are rather than what you do. It is very easy to slip into thinking that your value is determined by what you do for a living rather than by who you are at your core. Staying firmly grounded in your worth as a human being will help you weather the ups and downs of the search process.

Stretch your comfort zone.

A job search is often a challenging stretch to your comfort zone. The default reaction to that discomfort is to retreat further into your comfort zone in all other areas. I advise my clients to do just the opposite. Actively stretch your comfort zones in other areas. Learn a new sport. Take an art class. Pick up a new genre of book. Make new friends. Stretching yourself in other areas will retrain your brain and teach you to see the job search stretch as simply one stretch of many in your life. Every new or uncomfortable experience you encounter during your job search will seem easier when you are working on expanding your sense of self in many areas.

Cultivate happiness.

Do what makes you happy. Deliberately set aside time to enjoy your life. Make a list of 50-100 activities you enjoy. Everything from watching the sunset to going to the theater counts in this list. The simple to the profound. The minutiae to the sublime. It all matters. Every day, do one or two list items that make you happy. What you do can take as much or as little time as you have to invest that day. If you enjoy gardening, then 2 minutes of weeding counts as a daily happiness activity.

The job search can be a monumental challenge to your self-confidence, but by your actions, you can mitigate the challenge. You are in control of this job search. Use the search to propel your life forward, and watch your self-confidence grow at the same time.

Career consultant and author Leah Jackman-Wheitner, Ph.D., specializes in helping professionals address their career issues to improve their lives. Dr. Leah has invested the last eight years consulting and coaching professionals, focusing on increasing her clients’ self-understanding during career transitions. She may be contacted directly by emails at leah@confidencebook.com or by telephone at (812)350-0306.

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