Days Five Through Seven Without a Job; Talent Inventory and Embracing Openness
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. If you most enjoy quiet weekends at home with your favorite beverage in your favorite cup or glass under your favorite blanket reading your favorite book or watching your favorite movies or binge watching a favorite series. Time with your family, your children, pets, do it. This weekend there’s no guilt, no worries, no anxiety. It’s all about you to pamper and indulge yourself. Have fun. Relax. Enjoy this time!
We’re going to do some work on day seven.
The job we’re going to tackle today is going to expand upon and reinforce all you did to combat the feelings of worthlessness. And it’s going to start putting some things in motion toward your next opportunity.
But before we jump into these tasks, in an earlier article I walked you through the cultivation of an attitude of gratitude. This should be an ongoing exercise. Every morning, before you do anything else, I want you to take a few moments and remember those things, feel that gratitude, express it out loud in a way that feels natural to you, whether it’s through a prayer of thanksgiving to the God you recognize, or just a verbal affirmation, or in a conversation with a family member or friend. What’s important from here on out, is that you begin every day in this position of gratitude in some way before doing anything else.
When you’re ready, you’re going to open your journal again and start building a list. This is a list of everything you can think of, taking as much un-rushed time as you need, that you know, without a doubt, you are good at. My list would look something like this:
1. I’m a good writer.
2. I’m a good public speaker.
3. I do a good job of organizing information and presenting it to others.
4. I recently discovered I’m good at building a story board and putting together and editing audio and video.
5. I’m good at helping people think through their problems and pointing them to solutions.
6. I’m good at identifying weaknesses and opportunities for improvement.
7. I have a natural ability to see what’s coming usually before other people do.
8. I’m good at spotting insincerity and deception.
You get the idea. It’s your turn. Take as much time as you need and build this list.
The next thing you’re going to focus on today is embracing an openness to what may come next for you.
Most of us tend to have some limiting beliefs when it comes to what we can or cannot do, should or should not expect, are or are not willing to commit to. Those beliefs can keep trapped within a framework taught to you by others or by society. You don’t have to stay there! You don’t have to do what you’ve always done or been told you should always do.
If you’ve always worked, or thought you should work, a 9–5 job for a publicly traded company, this is the time to free you from that limitation and open yourself up to possibilities like:
· Doing your work as a free-lancer
· Starting your own business
· Instead of doing what you’ve learned and are good at, perhaps creating an income teaching others what you’ve learned and are good at.
· Working for a non-profit organization
· Working for a smaller, locally-owned company
· Building a cooperative with other like-minded professionals
You should also open yourself to the possibility that the work you’ve been doing for many years or decades isn’t really what you’re supposed to be doing.
You may be like so many other people and killed your dreams to begin doing something out of necessity to pay the bills, and found yourself still stuck there years later, and hating it! Now is the time to open your heart and mind back up to that dream and embrace it again! I spent twenty-four years doing business development and operations work in the newspaper industry when I was supposed to be a teacher, writer, speaker, and coach.
This day is all about openness, opening yourself back up to everything you’ve learned along the way so far, all of the skills and talents you’ve developed, and all of the ways that you can become who you are supposed to become that you may have never considered before.
