It’s already weeks into 2011 and nothing, I tell you, nothing has happened.

You haven’t found a new job and you haven’t won the lottery. Me either. Yes, yes I know—snow has happened. And a lot of it. Shoveling has replaced the gym three out of seven days a week but other than that, we've been at a standstill.

Wasn’t the change of dates and new decade supposed to bring in all the changes we wanted? Those we resolved to make and those we magically wished would happen?

Incessant snowfall and persistent unemployment plague you like those 10 or 20 lbs. that you unrealistically promised yourself you’d miraculously lose by February (hey, you’ve still got a few more days). You haven’t broken all of those other bad habits you said you would.

Snow has cancelled many of the networking events you promised yourself you’d attend in the new year and you have yet to push your job hunting search to a new level. Plus, the kids have been out of school more than in—or so it seems—and your networking, resume rewriting and job reinvention timetable is all thrown off. Because the start of 2011 is beginning to resemble much of 2010, you may feel a bit disappointed or that it’s entirely your fault, but it’s not. Re-employment takes time.

Expressing hopelessness during a recent telephone conversation, my friend—a former colleague and fellow transitional media executive who was bemoaning the lackluster start to his new year—told me: “They say the longer you are out of work and the older you are, the harder it is to find a job.”

If this is even remotely true and we can’t do anything about it, why waste so much time on futile efforts? You might as well skip the gym, not make the phone calls, find new contacts or explore new career directions. It isn’t your fault the economy is not rebounding as quickly as many would like. Your age isn’t your fault, nor did you choose the length of time you’ve been out of work. 

The “they” of the statement—the collective of career coaches, human resources professionals, statisticians and the retired neighbor down the block with a lifetime pension and medical insurance—will always be there to tell you how long your odds are. “They” may even be right, but that and $21.00 will buy you a round trip ticket to Grand Central Station for your next informational interview. However, unlike your informational meeting, the futility statement will do you no good.

There are many exceptions and we have to believe we are one of them. Every day someone who hasn’t worked in a long time has found a new job. I myself know several. By no means are there as many good results as there are people who need them, but that is just today. Tomorrow there will be more and the next day more, and then it will be our story that will inspire the next person to keep working at it. We have to find the “good” stories and believe them about ourselves. 

It’s like the lottery—we don’t buy a ticket believing we are going to lose although the odds are against us. So put the donut down, get back in the gym, make the phone calls, and do the work. That next good story can be yours or mine. January may be done but 2011 has just begun. Just like the lotto, you can’t win if you don’t play.

Mindy Gibson is a Rye Neck resident who has worked in broadcast media through most of her career, primarily as a television programming executive launching three networks, including Telemundo and USA Network's cable channels in Latin America and Brazil. Her column, Career Interrupted, will appear twice a month on Rye Patch.