Being hired is nice, being fired is awesome!
Remember that quote about the biggest risk of not taking risks? Like trying routine and realizing it’s lethal? This post is all about that, from the work perspective. And if it happened to you as well, you shouldn’t feel bad about it, consider it a blessing.
See below what happened to me in the past (multiple times) and might be experienced by you as well, but first, I want to play a little game by letting you know that I’ve hidden two links to two closely related short articles leading to my blog. One is about the next step in my career, which followed after the events described here and the other one is about some crazy stuff I’ve done in between. So good luck on hunting them!
Less remorses
First of all, the entire “effort” was done by your boss or manager already, therefore you don’t have to ask yourself before going to bed if that was the right decision or if you were too harsh with yourself or your co-workers. Not even wondering if you should have asked for a raise instead… or just changing teams or the project, because usually you’re not tired or burned, it means you’re not doing what you love.
Being outcasted from that culture, even if it’s a healthy one, means you were not meant for the kind of leadership and “core values” promoted there. It’s a service made to you for acknowledging faster that is not the environment for you to thrive. If by any chance you feel this should happen to you but didn’t happen yet, then just be yourself and put you, your family, hobbies, creativity and common sense on the 1st place and either that place suffers a revolution, either you’re out sooner than expected. When the moment comes, be happy, keep your smile of inner pride on your face and don’t react to anybody trying to hurt you. Die and rejuvenate by standing up rather than making a compromise on your knees. In the end everyone will win, and mostly you.
Freedom
Who doesn’t want to let their inner body clock to wake them up in the morning, instead of having an alarm for that. No more coffee-drive-meeting or standup routine or checking your mail/Slack first thing in the morning and expecting things you won’t like. What about reading a few pages from your favorite book or listening to that self-growth podcast you had on your wish-list for ages. There’s nobody to ping you on asking for a quick Zoom or an alarming production bug or an impatient angry client/co-worker selfish enough to make a priority from anything related to his/her success.
This is the sabbatical (the miniature version) you were looking for, the time between jobs nurtures the best adventures of your life. Today you’re looking for some flights, tomorrow for an Airbnb and in two weeks you’re off to your desired sunny island, no need to beg for time-off approval or being afraid of what will happen when you return, as a rotten organization will always consider it bad timing whenever you feel to take a vacation.
Now is the time for taking your camera and going outside traveling and taking pictures or… just sitting on a bench and enjoying the stillness of life while reading a fiction or self-development book that will open your eyes even more. Buying some fresh vegetables from the local market and trying that recipe that you always thought it will make you the best chef in the neighborhood.
Let the energy of life flow through you and enjoy every moment like a psychopath… no cellphone or worries nor stupid movies playing in your head. This is the beginning of the real life. It’s like exiting the Matrix for the first time. And the good part is that you’ll be able to continue on doing the things you already got familiarized with in your next role too. A role that brings the perfect fit for you, while achieving more with less time involved by having a clear focus on impact & results. And of course, by loving what you do.
No (need for) money
So got time & energy, but for sure there’s no money left since there’s no paycheck at the end of the month, right? And the bills, rent, food and life needs are still coming the same. Well, this is the moment of time when you can accept the blue pill and stop reading this right now while getting back to what you were doing and forget anything I said OR… you can take the red one and start preparing for reinventing yourself. You have to unlearn everything that the school, society or government taught you and forget anything you know you can’t do. I don’t want to see any complaints or victimization at this stage, otherwise you deserve the bullshit that already surrounds you.
And the recipe is simple but not everyone has the determination to make a self-religion out of it:
- You don’t want to be rich, you want to be wealthy. (and happy)
- Seek an opportunity in every problem you encounter and say “challenge accepted”.
- Study the market, find the niche where the demand is greater than the offer, learn & grow, do things differently and way better than the others: make yourself irreplaceable! Reach that level where your value shines, no matter if your current employer can see it or not.
- Learn to say “no”, know when to stop, understand that only 20% of your actions bring 80% of the results… so focus on those.
- You have to think 10x, not just double or “more”. 10x faster, 10x profit
With these in mind, you’ll pave your own path and you’ll discover opportunities you never knew about. During this adventure, move to a smaller cheaper rent, buy less, sell your useless stuff, drop activities wasting your time (even your so called “friends”), live simpler and adopt discipline: choose what you want most over what you want now. Want a quick example? Why the hell spending 2–3h daily in traffic jams, when you can commute by bike, thus dropping the costs to 0 and making cardio at the same time?
Conclusion? Just two hours spent wisely focused on improving yourself daily will get you further than those filthy 40 hours per week in a “job you hate to buy shit you don’t need to impress people you don’t like”. And the money will follow, even more than you expect.
Good life
Now, assuming the “I’m running out of money” part is solved or at least on a good trajectory, while spending your savings, seat back and just enjoy the remaining 16 hours of personal time. Not a single reason to not sleep at least 8h per night and wake-up fresh and full of energy & enthusiasm each morning. By the way, what wakes you up in the morning now?
And this is not about having free time, since it’s more than you need, this is more like a hard reset on asking yourself where you’re heading to, splitting that into measurable objectives, then crafting a plan on achieving them and finally adjusting it and working by it day by day. Some modern entrepreneurs will overuse the “grinding” buzzword along with the 80 hours/week hustle not being enough and “sleep is for the weak” bragging. Nah, that’s not my cup of tea I’d say. I believe in a healthy sleep schedule with a balanced lifestyle, since a well rested (and entertained) mind will produce better decisions and will spot harder to exploit opportunities. With what helps you a unicorn or a fatty bank account if the rest of your life is miserable? Or even better, why ruining what you achieved (or on the way to achieve) with poor decision making for some extra temporary speed you gained by sleeping less, not exercising, eating in a rush, not taking enough pauses and not fruiting your relationships?
There’s no anxiety on how you decide to spend your day, no stress from your micro-manager moving the pressure from his/her shoulders to yours like a coward and nobody who blames you for not meeting the (unrealistic) expectations. Just good vibes|byes only! And you feel worthy, as long as you don’t decide to scroll social networks all day long. Work (and its rigid schedule), no matter how bad it is, has nothing to do with your inability to express your creativity and making habits out of your hobbies. It is you who stops you and fosters the bad decisions you sink in. So why not dropping the old behavior, strategy and perception about yourself and start digging into your passions, finding some areas you’re excited about, then getting good at it? Eventually you’ll even afford to hire the people that do the stuff you don’t like or not having the time for.
Next chapter
This time you aren’t starting from scratch, you’re starting from experience — a LinkedIn popular post says. Even the interviews for your next role are unfolding more organically, because you have nothing to lose… and no pressure that makes you to miss out the best offer. So go ahead, speak to people, step on your ego, build your network, take interviews, list your “terms” firmly, discard the cultures not aligning with you, obtain at least 2–3 final offers, negotiate, then go all-in for the winning choice. And adopt the servant mindset, stay humble.
Remember, this is not finding a replacement for your lost source of income, it’s stepping up to the next level in your career. With visible improvements on your mind, body and soul… otherwise you should get back to the drawing board.
