What an interesting social phenomenon this year has been to observe and be a part of.

With both of my businesses paused, endless quarantine day after day, no social interaction, nowhere to go, nothing to do, all I have had to do is eat, sleep, watch the news, and scroll Facebook all day long, day after endless day.

All I’ve had to think about is the virus, my own health, the death count ticker on the television, my Mom who, because of her compromised immune system has been quarantined away from all human contact for eight months and counting, the…

“Flight 5176 has been delayed 25 minutes.”

This was the message that popped up on my airline app as I was beginning my trip to speak at a conference.

This would not have been so bad, except for the fact that the 25 minute delay meant I was likely to arrive in Houston too late to make my connecting flight to Austin. This in turn meant that I would have to wait until the next flight and not arrive until around midnight and then have to take a taxi to the hotel instead of being picked up by my friend.

…

There are two principles that I want to introduce to you in this article, which will help explain why I am encouraging you, now, to begin, today, giving yourself away for free.

First is a principle known by different names. Some call it the principle of sowing and reaping. Some call it Karma. The idea is, whatever energy you put out into the world, you’ll receive that same energy back. Give freely to others, and others will give freely to you. I don’t want to get all spiritual and mystical with you here. Let’s keep it very practical.

When you…

In the previous article in this series, I encouraged you to think about and ask yourself some questions about the preferred life you envision for yourself and the obstacles that appear to be standing in your way.

Let’s first deal with the obstacles you identified. Using the list you made, I now want you to evaluate the purpose of each obstacle.

Is this obstacle meant to slow me down to give me time and space to learn the lessons, add the talents, and find the connections I need to help me toward my preferred life? …

Whether you were living your preferred life or not in the job you just lost, that has now come to an abrupt end.

If you absolutely loved that job and the work you were doing, if it was perfectly aligned with your skill set, your passion, and what you envisioned for your life, this is only an interruption, an obstacle. You now have the opportunity to reimagine that preferred life, continuing to do what you love and are great at, but just in a different place, a different way, with different people.

Perhaps, like so many other people, you were doing a job and collecting a paycheck, not because you loved what you were doing, but because you loved having food to eat…

On the first weekend after the four days discussed in earlier articles, (recognizing that you may have lost your job on a Wednesday, Thursday or Friday and have seen two calendar weekends) I want you to spend it like a true weekend. You’re going to forget about jobs and work and income and paychecks.

You’re going to spend this weekend as if everything was fine and the job loss had never happened.

And you should spend it doing your favorite things to do on a weekend. If you enjoy being with family and/or friends doing backyard bbq’s or boating or playing ball or going out to eat or to a show or a sporting event, then do that…

You’ve felt all of the negative emotions that came as a result of the trauma of losing your job. You’ve spent some time, after the emotional rush, asking yourself questions about and processing through those emotions. Today, our focus is on gratitude. That’s all we’re going to do today. You aren’t going to job hunt yet, you aren’t going to network, you’re going to focus on all that is good in your life despite the loss of your job. And we’re going to do this with two lists so it’s time to open your journal.

For your first list I want you to write down everything, and I mean everything, that you’re grateful for today.

I’m not talking about big…

You’ve just been told that your job has ended.

You’ve just entered one of the most difficult times in your life, and you’re going to struggle with much more than just financial insecurity. How do navigate the days ahead in a healthy way to shorten your time between jobs and walk confidently into your next opportunity?

This may sound counter-intuitive, but for the first (or next) 48 hours, I want you to begin by not doing anything, except feeling and paying attention.

You’re going to be tempted to immediately start doing stuff to fix what just happened. Stop. Don’t. I promise you that nearly everything you try to do right now will just be to medicate and mask the trauma, won’t move you forward in a healthy way, and may even derail what is supposed…