Welcome to the First Day of the Rest of Your Life
Did you just get laid off? Did you finally decide to quit your toxic job? Have you decided to work for yourself full-time?
Congratulations!
You are now part of an elite club that is unemployed, but still employable. Whether by your own making or otherwise, this is a great opportunity you are faced with.
Sure, not having a job is insanely stressful. I am writing this being recently laid off from a contract that ran out of money. It sucks, it’s awful, but it’s also the biggest opportunity of my life! I have been wanting to work for myself full-time for ages. This is not a new dream. For me, this is giving me an opportunity to finally drop the corporate lifestyle and work on myself and where I want to be.
I understand this is not applicable to everyone. Not everyone wants to work for themselves and there is absolutely nothing wrong with that, but the lesson here is still the same. Take this as a challenge and an opportunity. Use this time to better yourself and fill the gaps you’re missing. Don’t let interviews discourage you—use them as a learning tool to identify skill gaps and areas for improvement. Interviews can be a great window from another’s perspective into where your gaps are and what you can learn.
Redefine your success on your own. Give yourself a break. Stop pushing yourself towards unreasonable expectations. Take a deep breath. Feel better?
You are not always going to have all the answers, you don’t need to have every minute of the next 5 years planned out. Maybe you already did and that’s all been shattered. That’s alright! You are human. I have always held myself to standards higher than what any human is capable of and it was ruining me. When it was finally pointed out to me and I started to internalize it, I realized I indeed was the source of my own issues. I needed to take a second look at my self-talk and understand how unhealthy it was.
Remember, you don’t live to work. You work so you can live. Your income isn’t supposed to define you. It’s supposed to refine you. You make money so you can support your family, so your children have a house to grow in and toys to play with. To enjoy your time with your friends, to go out and party on the town. You don’t work so you can stay at work and never spend your money. That’s neither mentally nor physically healthy, and is also counterintuitive to earning money.
Take a moment, step back, understand that you’re not alone, you’re not stuck, you’re not worthless. Life didn’t just hand you a slap in the face, it handed you an opportunity to become better, to learn new skills, to better your interviewing skills, to take a step back and evaluate your worth. I’ve learned for me personally that if I were to return to a corporate position, I’m actually worth 30% more than I was getting paid previously. Imagine that! All this time, I had been undervalued—now I know that if I choose to return to a corporate job, I can earn even more.