Being laid off will have lingering effects on your life. One of which is the decision you make next. “What now?” is assuredly most common reaction. What now in deed.
For many of us the scenario is fraught with feelings akin to the loss of a loved one, grief, anger, blame, denial and acceptance. But during that cycle you are forced to address the question “What now?”.
For me it happened like this. I was a successful manager of a department that was well under control. I had been managing the department for several years and wanted a challenge. I was offered another Management position with far more employees and far more challenges. Challenges that I was sure I could handle despite the fact that this position was in a different division and a field entirely. But I believed that managing people and processes would be basically the same, and I had managed large groups in the past in a previous line of work.
Within the year, I had the employees trust, I had provided training and career paths where they were needed and in doing so the department had lost some of those folks who were better suited for different work. The illustrious numbers were great and all was well except we (the company) had been implicated in a recall and some related litigation. Stock prices fell –and middle management got cut. 5 out of 11 managers found ourselves holding a box. And as I was walking out like an escorted guest I remember thinking how pleasant the trial and conviction had been; all positive and professional with apologies and handshakes and wishes of good luck. Like at a funeral. And then I wondered “What did I sign?”. Sitting in my car after shaking the Security guards hand I thought with a tear in my eye “What now?”.
After sulking for a few days with the gears of my mind spinning like they were lubed with molasses I began to paint, garden, read cook, clean and pick the kids up from school. I thought that if we cut back on groceries and gas and we ate out less and a hundred other things happened that I could stay home do some freelance work and supplement my income with the sales of my paintings. Well, in reality what I thought we could do was misaligned with what we needed to do to cover my medical bills, insurance, food, utilities and so forth. After crunching the numbers it wasn’t gonna save us much if I stayed home. SO There I was again “what now?”
Looking back I realized that this next decision was very counter culture. What I choose to do goes against the US dream and the primary edict of our government. What I choose to do was downsize myself. I chose to find a job that was not management; I wanted less money and less responsibility, less damn prosperity. I decided that I would look for less stress, for less demands, less hours, just less of those things that had driven me for the past 25 years. I was ready to begin focusing on what drove me instead of the economy.
Well that’s easier said than done. Overqualified people are often distrusted like that free horse whose teeth no one is supposed to look at.
“So Mr. McLeod, tell us again why you left your last company?”
“You do realize this is not a salaried position.”
One man even said “So are you sure you won’t mind if we perform a background check?”
Seriously why is it so hard to understand why someone would want to look at their life from a position of living rather than earning?
Every day we are bombarded with get rich quick schemes, ways to work less and get paid more and even ways to get paid for doing things that don’t seem like work. But the fact of the matter is these jobs are marketed to people who want more. Our whole society is built on desire and ambition and the prize at the end. “Mo-money, Mo-money, Mo-money –Yah!” Not this man. I don’t like the view that that type of lens provides. That road seems endless. And frankly when I began to look at what I had and what I wanted to have when I first began working as a kid, I was there. That realization made me content. I began to see how comfortable I was and I began to realize the stability I had by working less and living more.
So now I have time to grow a small garden that provides more memories with my family than food. I have time to meditate and play the flute. I have time to take professional courses and get training in areas I never thought would interest me, like programming and bookbinding. And when I look over my finances the funny thing is we are able to save more because those things that drove me to make more money also drove me to spend more money, needlessly.
I believe that at least once in everyone’s life they are given a chance to arm themselves for their future. We are given a chance to pause on our journey and look at what we think we need to do next. Most of us seem to go for the gold. But for some of us paper plates are just fine.
For many of us the scenario is fraught with feelings akin to the loss of a loved one, grief, anger, blame, denial and acceptance. But during that cycle you are forced to address the question “What now?”.
For me it happened like this. I was a successful manager of a department that was well under control. I had been managing the department for several years and wanted a challenge. I was offered another Management position with far more employees and far more challenges. Challenges that I was sure I could handle despite the fact that this position was in a different division and a field entirely. But I believed that managing people and processes would be basically the same, and I had managed large groups in the past in a previous line of work.
Within the year, I had the employees trust, I had provided training and career paths where they were needed and in doing so the department had lost some of those folks who were better suited for different work. The illustrious numbers were great and all was well except we (the company) had been implicated in a recall and some related litigation. Stock prices fell –and middle management got cut. 5 out of 11 managers found ourselves holding a box. And as I was walking out like an escorted guest I remember thinking how pleasant the trial and conviction had been; all positive and professional with apologies and handshakes and wishes of good luck. Like at a funeral. And then I wondered “What did I sign?”. Sitting in my car after shaking the Security guards hand I thought with a tear in my eye “What now?”.
After sulking for a few days with the gears of my mind spinning like they were lubed with molasses I began to paint, garden, read cook, clean and pick the kids up from school. I thought that if we cut back on groceries and gas and we ate out less and a hundred other things happened that I could stay home do some freelance work and supplement my income with the sales of my paintings. Well, in reality what I thought we could do was misaligned with what we needed to do to cover my medical bills, insurance, food, utilities and so forth. After crunching the numbers it wasn’t gonna save us much if I stayed home. SO There I was again “what now?”
Looking back I realized that this next decision was very counter culture. What I choose to do goes against the US dream and the primary edict of our government. What I choose to do was downsize myself. I chose to find a job that was not management; I wanted less money and less responsibility, less damn prosperity. I decided that I would look for less stress, for less demands, less hours, just less of those things that had driven me for the past 25 years. I was ready to begin focusing on what drove me instead of the economy.
Well that’s easier said than done. Overqualified people are often distrusted like that free horse whose teeth no one is supposed to look at.
“So Mr. McLeod, tell us again why you left your last company?”
“You do realize this is not a salaried position.”
One man even said “So are you sure you won’t mind if we perform a background check?”
Seriously why is it so hard to understand why someone would want to look at their life from a position of living rather than earning?
Every day we are bombarded with get rich quick schemes, ways to work less and get paid more and even ways to get paid for doing things that don’t seem like work. But the fact of the matter is these jobs are marketed to people who want more. Our whole society is built on desire and ambition and the prize at the end. “Mo-money, Mo-money, Mo-money –Yah!” Not this man. I don’t like the view that that type of lens provides. That road seems endless. And frankly when I began to look at what I had and what I wanted to have when I first began working as a kid, I was there. That realization made me content. I began to see how comfortable I was and I began to realize the stability I had by working less and living more.
So now I have time to grow a small garden that provides more memories with my family than food. I have time to meditate and play the flute. I have time to take professional courses and get training in areas I never thought would interest me, like programming and bookbinding. And when I look over my finances the funny thing is we are able to save more because those things that drove me to make more money also drove me to spend more money, needlessly.
I believe that at least once in everyone’s life they are given a chance to arm themselves for their future. We are given a chance to pause on our journey and look at what we think we need to do next. Most of us seem to go for the gold. But for some of us paper plates are just fine.
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