One Year from The Day I Was Laid Off
How One Unplanned Event Vigorously Disrupting Your Life Can Reap Positive Rewards
One year from The Day I was Laid Off the day is warm and the sun is shining. As I reflect on all that has transpired on this unexpected, year-long journey, several things are different. I have experienced truths I previously knew only conceptually. My anticipation of tomorrow is different too, as I walk more easily in faith and in embracing the unknowns. And perhaps most important I am grateful for the ways that only living through an experience like being laid off can bring about.
Last March 2023, because of being laid off, I became a full-time employee of Your Life’s Direction, an executive coaching and learning & development consulting firm, a business I had owned but only operated on a part-time basis. As I reflect on this unplanned transition, numerous changes in me have occurred. I have grown to accept both my proficiencies and my opportunities. But deeper and even more profound is my thinking about those opportunities and how I can more easily recognize and accept my need for growth. As a result of this thinking, I experience less guilt, less shame perhaps, less defeat as I think about all the things I have still yet to learn and understand as a business owner. I now accept what I need to learn more easily, and I lean into what I don’t know more readily. This thinking has loosened my grip on certainty, strength, and confidence, making insecurity, discomfort, and uncertainty more permissible.
When I was an employee, I worked hard at getting results and I made others around me succeed, too. I also made myself and others proud of the work I (we) did. As a result, my future with the company was secure (or so I thought). I knew the recipe to a secure future. In the last year, however, I have reflected on the cost of that security. What did it cost me to get this sense of safety? What gain did I miss out on? Because I believe we are a product of our own belief system, my belief system drove my behavior, and so I was compelled to proficiency, competence, knowledge, etc. – all good traits except when that belief system excludes easily admitting what you don’t know and being ok with acknowledging it. Gains always come with a cost and for me, it was the cost of not looking like the expert. A year after I was laid off, I value asking questions to those more knowledgeable, researching to find answers, and allowing space to learn about myself through feelings of discomfort and ignorance.
Safety, control, hassle-free, and a comfortable life are all benefits of a secure job with a guaranteed future. As I reflect on the clients I have worked with and the people I’ve met in the last year, I believe these are things most people crave and desperately seek. Managing the tension between safety and security with growth and development allows for adaptability and spontaneity which cultivates decision-making that is objective and impartial. I believe this also allows for greater creativity and innovation in how time and resources are spent and how reasonable and achievable goals are set and achieved. In allowing space for growth and development and even the acceptance of and intentionally choosing change comes increased capacity and the broadening of thoughts, ideas, and actions. A life of safety and security can be maintained but made even more satisfying and rich when there is a deposit of innovation, curiosity, and creativity.
The past year, with the support of new friends, colleagues, and clients I have been freshly challenged to embrace new ways of thinking and behaving. This widening circle of advocates and promoters has introduced me to possibilities and a reservoir of perspectives. Upon reflection of my last year, there’s a difference in what I value and the choices I make. There is more gratitude. There is more hope. There is more appreciation for people, for work, and for the contribution I can make all because I was laid off.
One year after an unplanned event vigorously disrupted my life, I now think it wasn’t so bad after all. And at times I even dare to imagine what it might have looked like had I chosen and even planned for the disruptive change. If we only wait to respond to moments of disruption, do we miss out on all life has to offer? After all, life is a great adventure, only to be played, and not to be lost or won.