Losing your job can feel like a disaster. After all, how are you supposed to get paid?
But, in reality, it’s not actually as bad as it might seem. Sure, financially there’s a problem. But it might be just the event you need to take your life to the next level.
Some people get made redundant and never recover. But these individuals tend to have few skills and don’t build them.
Most people have the capacity to get training and find new opportunities. And when they do, they can fly.
Consider how much you grew in your last role before your boss made you unemployed. Chances are, you developed significantly as a human being, making yourself tremendously more valuable compared to before.
However, when you first took your job, your boss agreed to pay you your salary without the benefit of any of that growth or experience. Today, that’s all capital you’ve built and something you can leverage to earn even more money in the future.
Losing your job can feel awful, but it’s not terminal. Here are some things you should remember if you’re at a career crossroads.
You’re Probably Worth More Than You Think
Employers are wretched for underpaying talented, efficient, and productive people. They’ll do whatever they can get away with.
Therefore, you’ll want to consider what your talents and skills are really worth to future customers and businesses you work for. Just because your old firm paid you a pittance, doesn’t mean you have to accept that from a new one.
You Can Easily Bounce Back
Bouncing back from a job loss feels difficult, but when you have skills and experience, it’s not particularly tough, even in a recession. People who want it can always find work, and usually good work.
Feeling depressed is normal but you should get out of this mode of thinking as soon as possible. Throw a party and then start looking for work the following Monday that suits your skills. Consider building a side hustle so you can generate income while you wait.
You Can Still Take Control Of Your Life
When your boss makes you unemployed, it can feel like you are losing control of your life. Your company is taking away your freedom to earn money and it feels like there is nothing you can do.
This mentality, though, is one of the working and middle class. We look to our great leaders to have mercy on us and give us work.
Try taking control of your economic situation personally. Avoid the sensation that you are somehow dependent on the grace of others. You have your own value and you can sell that to whoever you want.
You Can Still Take Time To Grieve
Job loss is sometimes unavoidable. You might be doing great in your role, but if the company is failing as a whole, there isn’t much you can do.
However, other times, bosses push you out for personal or political reasons, and that can feel rough. You’re putting in as much effort as you can, only for them to treat you like junk.
The key here is to give yourself some time to grieve. Losing a job you love is particularly devastating if you had close relationships at work. You need a time-out to process what’s happened and come to terms with it.
You Should Consider Your Self-Talk
Try to adjust the way you talk to yourself about your job loss to put you in a more powerful psychological position. Avoid the habit of turning yourself into the victim and blaming the world for the awful way it is treating you. Instead, focus on being the victor. You’re someone who can overcome any adversity and bounce back from a setback. Your old job was okay, but you should never let the good be the enemy of the great.
You Can Still Work, Even If Your Lost A Job
Most workers think that their job and their work are the same things, but this isn’t true. Work is what you do, a job is just a role defined by an employer.
Do entertainers have jobs? Not really. They can do their thing regardless of whether an official employer is paying them or not.
The same goes for writers. Their work is in producing elegant prose that engages their audiences, not completing projects for their boss.
The same is probably true of you. When you lose your job, nobody takes away your ability to work. That’s still intact.
You Can Recreate Yourself
Getting away from your former employer also gives you space to recreate yourself. You climb out of the corporate straight jacket and rethink your life more authentically.
It is worth pointing out that jobs come and go. Most people go through more than five during their working lives after college, so there’s nothing unusual about it. The reason it feels bad is that we think about it in the wrong way.
Recreating yourself can be a fun process and it moves you closer to your full potential. Without a cloying corporate culture holding you back, you can do pretty much whatever you want.
You Can More Easily Identify Your Skills
Most workers have no idea what they are good at because they spend most of their time working. They don’t get an opportunity to sit and reflect on their talents.
Remember, finding out what you are good at is an ongoing process. And skills can change dramatically in the course of employment. You might go into a job believing that your skills lie in computer programming and come out of it realizing that you’re more of a manager.
Whatever it is, losing your job gives you time to explore your skills. If you can sell what you’re good at, you’ll enjoy your working life more and make more money to boot.
Conclusion
In summary, if you lose your job, it’s not an outright disaster. For many people, it is the catalyst that spurs them onto greater things.