What to Do When You're Faced with Sudden Job Loss through No Fault of Your Own

We're All in This Together

Our difficult economic climate has caused massive stress and struggle for many hard-working people. Small business owners who simply can't keep up, loyal employees sideswiped by unexpected layoffs, graduating college students who thought their studying and hard work would land them an immediate job, stay-at-home parents wishing to reenter the labor force -- these are just some of the folks who find themselves challenged by the thoughts: "What happened? What do I do now? How do I do it?" So the first thing I want to emphasize is that whichever category you belong to, remember that you're not alone. Just knowing this, and reminding yourself of this daily, will help. We're in it together.

It Isn't You...

A close corollary is the fact that your recession-induced lack of employment has nothing to do with you personally. You are not to beat up on yourself or to give up your personal power. Keep up your confidence and self-esteem so as not to sabatoge yourself. Daily you must tell yourself you're as "good" as anyone else, and besides, your employment status does not and must not define your worth as a human being.

Moving Forward

Of course you're going to feel badly for a while. Unemployment is a shock to the system. I know that from personal experience. Allow yourself some time for grief, anger, even envy. These are all natural human emotions. But at some point you need to leave the past behind. If there's the possibility of a return to your past position in the future, fine. But nothing you do NOW is going to accelerate that. A paradigm shift is required at this point. Now is the time to look at this phase of your life as a "blessing in disguise," an opportunity to embark on a grand new adventure. It's time to move forward. It's time to figure out what you can do now to get yourself going where YOU want to go! And that's a great thing.

How?

There are a few steps you can take to determine what path to follow next.

1. Decide whether you want or need to continue to work in the same field as before. If so:
2. Pursue any new skills or training you may need to make yourself more competitive in today’s market. Then network, network, network. Use social media as well as networking groups such as those you can easily find on meetup.com. Talk to everyone you know. Do the obvious -- update your resume, get business cards and other relevant promotional materials, and create your brand.
3. If not, and you can afford to take a bit of time for self-exploration, begin to brainstorm. Identify your true life passion. You may not have ever considered that your passion could parlay into the way you earn a living. Well, I'm here to tell you that it most certainly can. You need to be able to envision the life you crave and realistically determine how you can "cross the bridge" to get there. Then go back to step #2 and follow the same course of action described above.
4. In either case, it will be important for you to design your "steps to success" by creating a measurable action plan for yourself, and keeping a log of your daily progress. None of this is easy.  Most important, don't listen to naysayers. You'll need to believe in yourself. 

But I Need Some Guidance. Help!

For some lucky people, all of this is a piece of cake. They know exactly what they need to do, and they take on the challenge with great confidence and gusto. But many of us are bewildered. If we want to stay in our chosen field, we notice that many things have changed since the last time we had to job hunt. If we're new to the labor force, we have no experience navigating the waters of job hunting, let alone job hunting in a difficult economy. And certainly, if we wish to change direction by following our passion, we may not have the slightest idea where to begin. We may not even know what our true passion is, and we may need some help in discovering it.

Never Fear!

Life coaches, in particular Life Transitions Coaches, are here to help guide you down whatever path you decide you wish to follow, or even to help you discover what that path is. We're trained to ask the right questions so the answers become clear, and then to help you design your path. We help you weed out any negativity that may be standing in your way, and we celebrate with you even your smallest victories. Most importantly, we take the stance that "failure" is not an option. Once we commit to you, we see you through to achieving your goals.

 

I hope you'll join me here. Please comment. Let's get the conversation going! You're also, of course, welcome to contact me anytime via: my website, FB page, Twitter account, or email 

With Peace and Joy,

~ Lisa Marian Ames, M.P.S., CPC, "Designing Steps to Success"

about.me/lisa_ames

SNEAK PREVIEW:  The next installment in this series about Life Transitions will focus on Adjusting to Being in a Relationship.  Look for it early next week.