“Set fire to the broken pieces; start anew.”
―
Lauren DeStefano
Jobs today are
like roller-coaster rides; they may come and go. Some job losses could be
forced like when a company is downsized and the axe falls on you, despite
having worked satisfactorily for a number of years. There are some that are
voluntary, but nonetheless anticipated; you yourself decide to quit because of
various reasons. However, the strain and ordeal are just the same in both.
A job loss is a
loss, whether expected or not, whether voluntary or otherwise. It is rather
difficult to foretell who will survive an unexpected job loss and flourish thereafter,
their background or reasons for the crash notwithstanding. This is a fact
relevant to everybody – men or women, young or old and leavers or losers. But while
some people cope with it in a positive manner, others find it difficult to
terms with. How is that possible? Having rendered jobless, what are the vital
tasks that need to be done to put your career back on rails?
Anybody who is
able to bounce back will agree on one singular truth and that is that the
revival process is gradual and not overnight. The period can extend to weeks
and months. You may discover shortcuts in your job search, but finding them for
your emotional regaining is indeed difficult. The transition to a fresh
stability will have to undergo three elemental phases entailing forgetting the
past, remaining without a clear identity for some time and then embarking on a
new path. These phases are:
· Liberating yourself of the past: The
maiden step required to be taken by you is severing your links with your
previous job – both physically and mentally. You must refrain from making
references to or using your old designation, status or associations till you
are secure at some other place. Your old company should be out of your mind,
including what is transpiring there or what is happening to whom there. You may
find your experience enjoyable and to some extent also invigorating. But the
fact is that you will find it difficult to reconcile to the fact that you are
jobless. You will be able to come to terms with it when you mourn its demise once
and for all and understand that on the emotional plane it is all over. This
phase can be trying alright, but it has to be undergone.
· Lolling about to open up: People
have varying personalities – they could be loud and unreserved or quiet and
reticent; bright and buoyant or gloomy and unenthusiastic; and precise and
measured or creative and imaginative. But when a crash hits them, there could
be drastic changes in their outlooks. That apart, you need to be flexible in
your approach because you are now required to cut through your skylines and
cogitate all-over again as to who you are and what you aspire to be. You need
to afford yourself time to reassess your abilities and aspirations. This will
be possible only if you repel the stunt of settling in a new career straightaway.
This phase will be one when you could be devoid of an identity, but you can
overcome this disturbance by treating your present times like a vacation. It is
only when you have come to terms with your job loss should you think of get
going once again.
· Taking the forward plunge: Your
lolling about automatically ceases when you decide to take on a job. Your
precedence should not be to find a job alone. While at a job, people regard it
as central to their life and a source of their [H1]
self-esteem, self-confidence, pride and dignity. Little do they realise that it
is devouring all their time and there is no happiness in their life. That is
why, it is necessary to go through a self-awareness exercise before taking up a
job or career. Now that you happen to be once bitten and twice shy, you need to
alter that arrangement. You need to consider all things more holistically and
accord priorities to other things that you now realise are important. Your new
job could well turn out to be a different pursuit altogether, a new beginning
as they say.
Following a
sudden job loss, you should view your life as a fresh chapter. You should
explore yourself one again. And if you are persevering enough, you will emerge
as a more self-assured and assertive individual. You will find your new job or
career rewarding on both your individual and professional planes. Remember that
there are as many worlds as there are kinds of days. You ought to realise that
if a door closed, it was because whatever was behind it was not meant for you. Just
as an opal changes its colours and its fire to match the nature of a day, so can
you. You always raze the old to raise the new.
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