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If you've got a job, you're probably worried about losing it. If you've lost your job, you need another. If you are self-employed, you're probably concerned about your business. But for those of us who feel vulnerable in this gloomy economic climate, there are strategies that will enhance your chances of retaining your job, of getting one, or of keeping your business afloat. I'm going to talk about employees, but these techniques are effective for everyone in the workplace.

The key is to have a positive mental attitude and to communicate this to the people around you. You must also be effective and useful to make yourself the most indispensable person in the company. Maybe the boss is having a tough time and passing on fear to the rest of the team. Perhaps he or she is making unreasonable demands, or being aggressive. However much of this filters through to you, it's vital that you deflect it, refuse to take anything personally and respond by making a positive contribution rather than by being critical. Your focus is on what you can give to the team, not what it's giving you.

Remember that you can be resilient, the glue at the heart of the company, the person who makes the difference. Dare to go against the negative flow. If nine people out of ten are to be culled and one of them is unfailingly helpful, positive and smiling - which one would you save?

How To Keep Calm with Max Kirsten

Hypnotherapist Max Kirsten helps you cope with anxiety in our new series of podcasts

Survive and thrive in 2009

Anxiety is endemic in a recession, but a leading hypnotherapist says there are ways to keep the gloom at bay

• Survive and thrive: eight steps to mental wellbeing

• Survive and thrive: financial insecurity

• How To Keep Calm with Max Kirsten

Max Kirsten: how to protect your relationship

In the second part of his series, a leading clinical hypnotherapist reveals how emotional connections can be so important

• How To Keep Calm with Max Kirsten

So, how do you get rid of the fear that threatens to pull you down? The solution lies in your focus, which you must shift from yourself and the what-ifs associated with losing your job to concentrating on enhancing the performance of the team. Anticipate what may be useful, become the person who solves problems, who has an endless roll of sticking plaster to hand when the business starts to struggle.

Be attentive, receptive and affirmative. I heard of a waiter who was getting more tips than his colleagues. He was doing what the others weren't: repeating customers' orders. That showed that he was listening, that he processed the request - and communicated that he was effective. Do the same: show respect, give positive reinforcement - it's important, and could be lucrative.

Make eye contact, engage with what's outside you. Posture is important. How confident do you feel in a slouch? You look as though you're retreating into yourself. Whether you're sitting or standing, straighten your spine: that shift of just a couple of inches will make you feel and look confident, make you appear active rather than passive.

Use breathing too. Before an important meeting take a few deep breaths, hold them before you exhale and feel the benefit of the sensation of strength that they give you.

Interview by Penny Wark

Reach for the sky

Sit down somewhere quiet, where you won't be disturbed. Straighten your back, close your eyes and imagine that each of your negative thoughts - fears that you might lose your job, that you've lost your job and will never get another, that your business will go under, that you won't be able to pay the bills - is a cloud in the sky. As you watch the sky, it starts to lighten from leaden to blue, the clouds change from heavy and grey to fluffy and white. Take a long, deep breath and, as you're looking at the clouds, blow into them. Watch them float away from you and disperse, and the longer you watch, notice how the sunlight becomes stronger and warmer. Breathe deeply and enjoy the healing energy of that sunlight, unhindered by any clouds, and you'll find that your focus has shifted from negative to positive.

Things will soon be looking up

Leave your desk or place of work, move to a window, go outside - do something to change your perspective. When you're walking about, reach up to your ideal confident shape, and look up, not down. Immediately this will mean that you begin to find your positive resources and that you look alert and receptive. Recognise how different you feel, and how differently people perceive you - as someone ready to engage and contribute rather than someone whom they don't need. After a minute or two, return, ready to get on with your work.

www.maxkirsten.com

Tomorrow: How to get a good night's sleep

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