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Losing a job often cuts the ground from under your feet. If you are no longer a successful professional, then who is? Jonah? Not at all. You are still the same person worthy of love, respect and recognition. You just have a problem to solve right now.
We’ve all heard of Walt Disney getting fired from the paper for lack of imagination, Oprah Winfrey once deemed “unsuitable for television”, and J.K. Rowling’s manuscript rejected by a dozen publishers.
The list of such “failures” is endless, and what all these people have in common is that they continued to go towards their dream and did not allow others to decide for them whether they had talent or not. But what do you do if you fail?
1. Stop “catastrophizing” the situation
If you have been fired and you have not been able to find a job for a long time, most likely, the brain constantly throws you scenarios one worse than the other: “I am spending what I have been saving for so long. Soon the money will run out. What if I never find a real job? What to do then? Go to work in a supermarket? What if they don’t take me there? What if I ruin my work and I can’t go back to the office? I need to feed my family. We’ll be turned off the electricity. We’ll be on the street…”
Caught yourself doing something like this? By continuing to doubt yourself, you deprive yourself of hope, which means it’s time to switch to more realistic and optimistic thoughts. Say to yourself: “Yes, it’s not easy right now, but I’ll think of something. I can handle”. And stop reproaching yourself for not foreseeing how everything will turn out, not “laying straws”, not putting aside more money – this will not help you now. Stop telling yourself: “Who needs / needs me!” Say, “I believe in myself. I will succeed”. Repeat over and over, make it your mantra.
2. Fight back your anxiety
It’s hard to be unemployed: the earth seems to be slipping away from under our feet, we are left without everything: without a salary, medical insurance, without any guarantees and stability, and most importantly, without self-confidence. And if at the same time we go to interviews, but we get refusal after refusal … Here you can lose heart. Anxiety about the future becomes our constant companion and deprives us of our last strength. So, it’s time to give her a decisive rebuff! How to do it?
- Find a way to relieve stress. Physical activity releases endorphins, allowing you to sleep better. This, in turn, reduces stress levels, allowing us to stay energized, alert, and full of energy for longer. Our cognitive functions improve.
- Help others. This is a great way to feel useful, needed and in demand again.
- Start with just one. Most likely, you have before your eyes now endless lists containing dozens of items of what needs to be done. But it is impossible to solve ten problems in parallel – even if all ten require your immediate attention, choose one and start with it.
In any case, it is better to do at least something than to continue to be in the grip of fear.
3. Stop Complaining
The more you lament, the darker and more hopeless the overall picture looks. Complain less yourself and don’t let the complaints of others deprive you of a fighting spirit. It is much more productive to find among friends someone who is also having a hard time now, and agree to regularly cheer each other up.
4. Don’t give up
There is little pleasant in what is happening to you now. But it’s too early to put an end to it – you will still have: new opportunities and new successes. And besides, life does not end with the loss of a job: you still have friends, family, hobbies, so do not forget to pay attention to all this, even if it seems that now is “not up to it”.
Remind yourself often of what you have already been able to overcome, what you have achieved – this will help not to lose your presence of mind.