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The Day I Lost My Job
Tuesday, Sept. 5 started off a little different for me. It was my daughter’s first day of kindergarten, so there was a ton of excitement. I hopped in the car after getting her on the bus and headed to work.
I got in the office at 9 a.m., by 9:25, my boss told me I was being let go. So, I grabbed a box, packed up my stuff and around 9:45 a.m., I walked out the door for the last time.
It’s no secret that I have wanted to start my own business for a while now, but I never expected to lose my job before that happened.
The minute I got let go, I thought of Matt Cheuvront, the man behind Life Without Pants and one of the great folks at Proof Branding. Matt wrote a post in early 2010 when he lost his job.
One of the three pieces of wisdom he wrote was:
I’m upset – I’m sitting here, writing this, two hours after being fired. The blogger and writer within said that this is something I need to write about, to vent, for closure, for support, and to look back on later and appreciate that every single thing happens for a reason – that it’s all a part of the journey. But it’s also OK, from time to time, to wear you emotions on your sleeve. You can’t see me right now, which is probably a good thing, but believe me, I’m a little broken down. The battle may have been lost, but not the war, right?
My first hours after losing my job were filled with anger, hope, frustration, and enthusiasm. What am I going to do? How am I going to make ends meet?
Well, first things first. I got home, sat down, and started planning my next steps. I looked at what I had been working on to start my own business eventually. Now, I put those things into serious motion.
If you don’t believe in yourself, you’re destined to fail.
Sure, I had my moments of doubt. Can I do this? Am I good enough? I keep coming back to the belief that I know I can make it on my own. Why shouldn’t hold true to that. Just because I was let go, doesn’t mean I stink. I believe in my skills, my knowledge, and that businesses need a solid communications plan, involving the marriage of social media and public relations.
If you have lost your job, be ticked. It’s fine. But don’t let the anger and frustration consume you. This isn’t the end of your career. It’s the start of a new journey with better results!
How are you moving forward after losing your job. Let me know in the comments!
Gimme a Break!
“You got me workin’… day and night.”- Michael Jackson
That’s the way I’ve felt lately. I work during the day, then come home and jump into doing my consulting work. This isn’t me complaining about work. Believe me, I love consulting and working with passionate people. It keeps the juices really flowing. But, at some point, you feel your body start to crack.
Last week, I felt that cracking. A constant negativity was overcoming me and I didn’t like it. You may know this feeling. You slouch, you look in the mirror and don’t like what you see, or even worse, nothing makes you happy. What helped? It was really simple. I stepped away. No blogging, Tweeting, or scouring over white papers for insight.
Why is this important? Because, at some point, you will break if you don’t take a break. I don’t care if you have all the energy in the world, you need to relax your mind and body. You can’t be running on Red Bull and Starbucks all the time.
So, whether you are a parent or a new pro fresh out of college, find the time to recharge and refresh. Here’s some ways you can “reboot.”
-Music: Load up your iPod and just lose yourself in some great tunes. You’d be surprised just how invigorating music can be.
-Curl up to a good book- Whether you are old school (hard copy) or new school (e-reader), take an hour (or more) and read that book you’ve been putting off since last Christmas.
-Travel to a winery- How can this be relaxing? A wine tasting is the perfect place to let your senses do the work. Plus, a good tasting wine can spur on a good time. Don’t like wine? Hit up a local brewery.
-Shut down the social- Don’t check in on Foursquare, post on Twitter or Facebook, or even touch your blog. You’d be amazed just how much you’ll appreciate the social shut down.
What do you do to recharge the batteries? Share your ideas in the comments section!
