How to be a ROCK STAR after losing your Job!

Ever been fired or let go from your job? It’s safe to say a lot of you guys have had the luxury of getting to experience such a tragic moment especially if it came as a complete surprise.  If you have ever had the rug pulled out from underneath you then you can relate to having the same gut wrenching feeling as when your boss gives you the, “You need to exit my business asap” speech.  Sometimes you may daydream and think you want to hear those word because that could be your way out of your lifeless job BUT then you remember all those bills you have to pay and those mouths to feed!

Patience is key to having a life of more freedom

After the initial shock of the devastating news you may very well go into depression and shear anxiety attack mode. You may find yourself lying in bed at 1 pm (because you never got out of bed that morning) and wondering if this is all there is to life. The automatic response to be sad and feel sorry for yourself is totally normal but it is not your only choice nor is it the right choice.

I am here to tell you that staying in bed all day feeling sorry for yourself is detrimental to your health, those around you, and your future self! Setting yourself up to go downhill is not going to get you to that sweet life of more freedom any faster. Think about the example you will be setting for your children, parents, and friends. Aside from the effects that staying down will have on others, what it can physically and mentally do to a person could lead them to getting lazy, gaining weight, losing self confidence, living in a car, or sleeping under a bridge! Because I too have been feeling the jobless blues, I want to share with you some of the simple things that have made a huge impact on my life and my attitude towards my recent job loss that has kept me moving forward with confidence every single unemployed day.

1. Get up

This is one simple routine step we took every morning when we had a job but somehow now that motivation to get up has stepped out of our morning routines and it feels like we are trying to move mountains just to pull the covers off of our face. I know the feeling you are going through. That first thought in the morning after you crack open your eyes is the painstaking reminder that you are out of a job. That thought will then creep down to your throat creating a lump that will ease its way down to the pit of your stomach and then cue the belly aches leaving the only legit reason to get out of bed is to run to the bathroom.

There is something to say about getting up, getting dressed, and heading out to give your time and contribution to things in society, such as a job. But ladies and gentleman that is NOT the only reason to get out of bed in the morning. The determination and will to start a brand new day should not be dependent on having a job or not. Believe me when I say that I had my moments where my job defined me and that was who I was in life, period, no one was going to tell me different! But the truth is that you are not defined by your work. You are a unique individual with so much more than a job title to offer this world. Getting out of bed, putting your feet on the floor, and showing the world that you are not going down and that this minor setback is just that…. A Minor Setback.

Once you have decided that you are getting out of bed every single morning you will then have taken the first and very critical step towards being a Rock Star after losing your job!

2. stay on top of your health

Keeping a healthy routine is another critical tip that you must maintain to live a Rock Star life as you breeze on through this awkward yet temporary transition of your life. A solid Healthy lifestyle includes but is not limited to:

• Staying active
• Eating good nutritious foods
• Getting outside and in the sun
• Getting good sleep (Staying in bed all day does not count)
• Keeping in touch with friends and family

One of the things I make sure I do at least every other day is hit the gym. It’s one of my healthy habits that keeps me at the top of my game no matter what. After the fall out of losing my job my motivation to work out went somewhere from Mount Everest peak to somewhere below sea level where science has never even explored. I was not having it! Those that are serious about their work outs and who fully understand the power of staying active then I am sure this tip resonates well with you. You understand that when you think you hit rock bottom and all the sudden you go from one extreme to the other and you are left crying thinking that you may never get pumped again about those cycles classes you hold so dearly to you all because you lost your mojo to work out again. You crazy gym goers, you must keep showing up for your workouts!

Looking at the positive side, you can now go to the gym before the after work crowd comes in!

Aside from staying active, fueling your body with the right foods is essential. This should be whole foods as pure and clean as possible. Sweets, fats, and carbs have been known to be our BFs when we feel down. Just say no! Looking those culinary delights square in the eyes and refusing to consume will contribute to your overall physical and mental wellness in a positive way just as exercise does and will make the road to overcome this transition a lot smoother.

Vitamin D plays a positive role in our overall health. Plenty of sunshine is great way to get it. Taking walks outside to get fresh air will do good. If you happen to live in a place where access to sun is limited then try supplementing with more vitamin D enriched foods or vitamins.  

Do not forget to stay in touch with your family and friends. This tip should not be overlooked. Talking about your situation to whomever you trust is a great way to keep the momentum of the positive vibes going. Your friends should be supportive through this. Allow them to stay connected with you while you go through this time of change even if you don’t feel like it.

3. Start Looking for work

Walking in the right direction that mentally strong people do when faced with a job loss is a confidence booster. Being confident that things will be OK is uplifting! Now that you are starting to live the Rock Star life after the first two tips, we need to concentrate on the fact that no dollar bills are coming your way!  I got use to seeing a nice beautiful electronic deposit get descended down from the heavenly check gods every week and fall nice and gently into my eagerly awaiting bank account. That was a warm comfy feeling and no doubt it had a hold on me. I depended on it and thought what a lot of us think about a paycheck being a sense of “security”. (Another article later on the false idea of job security)  

Right about now you may be feeling as if you are stranded in the middle of a desert with no compass saying things like, “How on earth am I going to get another job?” or “What if I can’t find another job?” or maybe even, “Should I find a sugar daddy/mama?” Again those are normal but what is not normal is sitting around waiting for money to start coming in. The next logical move would be to start looking for a source of income immediately!

For a moment in the beginning of my job loss I mistakenly twisted my time off as a benefit for me thinking this will be a nice vacation time to relax and redefine myself and look for opportunities to make money on my own terms! Whoop Freedom Finally!! Yea sounded great to me at the time too…Some of you guys are guilty of falling prey to this very exciting thought. It is tempting to think this way as we want to be financially free and do what we want when we want and not have to go to work. But the cold hard truth is that without the help of some type of income most of our dreams simply can not flourish. Between your mortgage, insurance, vehicles and even your basic survival needs, they all require dollar bills and last I checked honesty doesn’t pay the rent. Single people, parents, families, etc all have to be able to support themselves or loved ones so they do not end up under that bridge!

Get fired up when you start your job search! Reach out to all your people and spend some time networking to let them know you are on the hunt for work. Set up accounts on online job boards, physically go up to businesses and hand them your resume. (This one may be old school but it still shows your determination to work.) Do not be too proud to work part time gigs or independent contract work such as Uber driving or food delivery. Any little bit of income will be of help in the meantime as you continue the search for full time work. 

4. Practice Gratitude in Everything

While you are busy applying for jobs you may start to feel overwhelmed. I personally feel as if looking for a full time job is a full time job. Between keeping up with every employer I contacted, reminders of who to follow up with, and a list of rejection emails, my head was spinning like crazy! I would refresh my emails every hour to see if any one reached out to me about an application or constantly check to be the first to see new job posts. It was a vicious cycle of chasing the wind. Getting so caught up in what felt like a game, I shut down my surroundings and honed in on what I thought was the only thing that mattered.

Acting as if finding a job was the only thing in life to worry about was a ticking time bomb! Sad to say I ended up losing it and broke down to realize that this cycle was only going to destroy me. No matter how bad I wanted to have a job again and how bad I needed to have money come my way, I was not going to get it any faster by risking severe burn out.

To start changing my way of thinking I had to take some steps back and reevaluate the situation at hand. I had discovered that my attitude was not coming from a place of love and gratitude but from selfishness and impatience. Of course I wanted to work and stack paper on the daily and be back in my own element and take road trips and go out to eat and do all the things that require the moneys but all because of my attitude I was not getting what I wanted.

You get what you give. Put out anger and negative feelings and force things to come your way then you will receive those things back and consequently will add more fuel to your flame. That was a very hard pill for me to swallow. Having to come down from the control I thought I had over the situation was not easy. In order to relieve this way of thinking I had to do the opposite and choose to start being grateful for what I had instead of being bitter for what I did not yet have.

Turning this thought process over can be difficult at first. Just when you think you got it down the mind will play tricks and try to convert you back into your old ways of thinking. If you need, try putting little notes around your house to remind yourself of how much good you still have in your life despite not having a job. You will be training your mind to start looking for the positive things in life that give reasons to bring you up instead of the current reasons why you could be drug down. Doing this will not only help you during your transition but for future tough times as well.

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The feeling of not wanting to go to bed at night because you know tomorrow will be there and also not wanting to wake up in the morning because you dread facing the situation you are in, is a very real and uneasy feeling. It can be so scary for some. Just know too, that It is OK to seek professional help if you feel you just can not overcome the loss of your job.

All of these tips I have mentioned have been my personal approach to overcoming the frustrations of dealing with my job loss. I recommend these tips because they have given me the momentum I absolutely needed in order to put one foot in front of the other one day at a time. They have helped me go from Average Joe to Rock Star life! My hope is that you too can do the same and realize that better times lie ahead!

Keep moving forward fellow Freedom Chasers!

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