Last Thursday was like any other; I got up, went to work, and started my day. Mid-morning, my boss asked to see me. I walked into his office and when I turned the corner I noticed our HR Manager was there and my eyes got wide. I took a seat and was told that because of the way the business was going and job consolidation, he had eliminated my job. HR walked me through some paperwork, I packed my belongings, and was escorted out the door. I got in my car and drove home. I was in shock.
Friday when I woke up the shock was gone and I could look at things objectively. I started to game plan my immediate future.
Here are five lessons I learned when when my job was eliminated:
1) Look at the Positive – Find what you’re grateful for and focus on that. What can you take from the experience? How does that affect you?
I was given a great opportunity while working there. I learned so many things and met so many valuable people. Being in such environment inspired me to chase a life long dream and get an MBA in Marketing along the way. It made me grow personally and professionally. I am a different person today (I would even say a better person) than I was the day I started. I can move into my next adventure with the utmost confidence.
2) Close the Door – Don’t dwell on what happened. Stop the internal conversations with yourself. They won’t change anything. Realize, it is what it is.
The day after, my mind continued to follow tasks that were in progress and I was responsible for at work. I realized I needed to let it go. I was not working for them anymore, although I was excited about so many of the projects I was involved in. I needed to close the door and move on. I had to break off my relationship with that job and put it in the past. I couldn’t start a new chapter of my life if I didn’t let go of the previous one.
3) Friends and Family Make Things Better – Don’t try to handle things by yourself. Reach out and be open to help. It’s there if you ask for it. You may be surprised how many people are there for you. Who can you rely on when things get rough?
My wife is incredibly supportive. She was able to help me see that this was the start of something even better.
My mom and sister made me feel better, reminding me of all my strengths and skills. They assured me that new opportunities were awaiting. Dad said my MBA was reason enough to grow and move on.
Calls and texts from my friends made me feel supported and cared for. I could feel the love and it helped me get through quite a difficult day.
4) You Create Your Future – You are the architect of your life. Don’t let anyone or anything stand in your way.
Friday when I woke up I felt better. In fact, I felt free. I thought about what I would put on business cards for networking – anything I wanted! I could create the kind of future I wanted. If there was ever a time to do it, now was it!
5) Structure Your Day – Devote a certain amount of time each day to things that help you grow. For me it will be time dedicated to my job search, improving my resume, and bolstering skills that employers are looking for. I need to take advantage of my time.
Yes, I was blindsided by having my job eliminated, but that doesn’t mean I can’t get back up and move on. Getting knocked down is a part of life. It’s how you get back up that determines whether you’re in charge. It also determines what happens next. Here’s to bigger and better things ahead!
Have you ever been blindsided? How did you deal with it? What did you learn?
Hi Greg 🙂
I’ve learned that through endings, came growth. In my life, most every ending, precipitated major personal growth. Of course, hindsight being 20/20, and my absolute adoration for learning of any kind, I worried that I should never desire success of any long standing relationships, lol, lest I grew and learned the most lessons possible!
Upon looking back, viewing the gains I’ve gathered along my way, I saw how emotionally excruciating it has been for meto grow, and for what length of time it felt almost unbearable. before it would dawn on me to see the beauty of storms.
With beginning, comes ending. With birth, eventually follows death. With good, there is some bad, and with even the most committed and passionate love, there too risks a modicum of angst. They say pleasure is too a form of pain. I’ve learned that common to each ending, perception is key. I’ve learned so so much about the power of our perceptions, relative to almost everything worthy of doing, that I truly believe, if we only consider there exists always another perception of each event in life, our choices and actions become better, and bigger, and our giving back, and leaving, what was once a beginning, become less of one or the other, and more of a reflection of our growth and the importance of each and every one of us.
Thanks Mary! We’re all constantly learning how to navigate through life trying to do the best we can. You just can’t sit there and let things happen to you without responding. You need to learn and adapt and move on. We can learn an awful lot from negative things that happen, if we’re good at responding (and lucky) we can turn them into positive experiences. At least that’s the hope when we look back at them. It’s not easy growing (or growing up) 🙂 If we can learn from and help each other, that’s something positive. Thanks for sharing your story. I appreciate it!