Valuable Lessons Learned from a Job Loss

I recently found myself like so many other people lately trying to deal with the sudden loss of a job and my family's primary source of income. Like everyone in this situation, I was shocked at first since this was through no fault of my own and was completely unexpected. The first week or so was rough, since in my mind this was the worst possible thing that could happen. Then a strange thing began to happen. I realized that without the high level of stress from my now former job, I was more relaxed. The more I thought about it, and the more time went on, I realized that what at first seemed to be a disaster, was actually a fantastic opportunity to make changes in my life that I had only thought about before. I had been held prisoner to a job I really did not like with a company I did not want to work for. I had now been forced to re-evaluate my life at the age of 52. Fortunately, my wife and I believed in the concept of a rainy day fund, and we were prepared to this type of event. I'll talk more about that later. Because of this experience, I made several decisions that I plan to follow going forward. I wanted to share these in hopes that they will help others.

Work to Live, Not Live to Work

I was the type of employee that lived, ate and breathed work. I guess you could call me a workaholic. I would stay late several days a week. Since I was salary, I did not get any overtime, so the company made out. Even at home, I would always bring my laptop home and do some type of work on my "days off". I was also on call 24/7/365 and spent many holidays working. This apparently did not make a difference to my now former employer. In fact, it was expected of all salaried employees. I have vowed to never get into this type of situation again. Life will always come before work.

Never Work at a Job You Hate

I spent more years of my life than I care to remember getting up and going to a job I hated. I know many people are in the same situation. Even though I would change jobs about every five years or so, I would go back to doing the same thing I was always doing, except with a different company. I fit the definition of crazy; doing the same thing over and over and expecting different results. I am sure that the time I spent in these jobs took a physical as well as mental toll on me and it will do the same thing to everyone in a similar situation. When I started my search for another job, I once again started to fall into the same trap of applying for the same types of jobs. I am an Environmental Engineer by profession, which has become a high stress position given the amount of environmental regulations that have been passed in the last twenty years. I started applying for the same types of positions, and then I woke up and decided that I did not want to go back to doing the same high stress job. I ended up taking a position for half of what I was making, but I look forward and as a matter of fact I love to go to work. I have historically worked in Power Plants, but I now work at a Zoo doing something completely different than anything I have done in the past. I now enjoy my job so much that I do not consider it "work". Life is too short to waste time and energy doing something you don't want to do. I know how difficult it is to leave your comfort zone, but the rewards can be fantastic. Anyone working in a job they hate should be doing everything they can to change the situation for their sake and the sake of loved ones. First you have to ask the question "What do I really want to do? What am I passionate about? What are my talents? Once you have that part figured out, start coming up with a game plan to reach that goal. Read everything you can about what it is you want to do and set a date to get there, even if it is 5 to 10 years out. The most important part of the process is believe that you are going to succeed.

Never depend on a single source of income

Having only one source on income can spell disaster if that source is suddenly cut off. Most couples will most likely have two income sources and that can mean the difference between a family having food and shelter or not. Also, never make major purchases that will require both incomes. Buy a house or car that you can afford with only one income. Put the other income into a rainy day fund to cover at least 6 months of expenses. After that is funded, use the extra income to pay down the mortgage, car loans or other debt and then stay debt free as much as possible. I realize that this advice is not new information, but it is information that is sound, but seldom followed. Are two income sources enough? Why not have three, four, five or more? We are fortunate to live in a time where businesses can be set up on the internet and, if done correctly, take very little time to operate. There are literally millions of people making money off of the internet, be it auction sites or their own site. A word of caution is required here. There are also millions of scammers on the internet that do nothing all day but try to convince honest people to invest in business models that are nothing but scams. If it sounds too good to be true, it is. Other sources of income could be hobbies. For instance, if you are talented at woodworking, that could be explored as an income source selling what you make. Do you play a musical instrument? Give lessons. Do you like to garden and have some property? Grow extra and sell at a farmers market. There are hundreds of ways to add income sources, but the key is to look for those that require a minimum of time and produce mostly passive income. A quick search on Google will help get you started, or pick up one of the various business magazines that are in stores. Remember, don't do something that you really don't want to do just to make extra money, do something you will enjoy doing.

Summary

A job loss does not have to be the end of the world. This can be an opportunity to take a look at what you really want to do in life. I know situations are different for everyone. The time to begin the strategy of minimizing the effect of the loss of a job is while you still have a job. That can be easier said than done, IF you are in a less than your dream job, you owe it to yourself to start thinking of a game plan to make a living at something you really want to do. Too many of us have compromised our dreams for higher positions and/or income and are reluctant or fearful to leave our comfort zones. You have to ask yourself this one question: Is this job what I want to do for the rest of my life? Is this a job that I would keep on coming to even when I am old enough to retire? I try to consider the possibility that I will never collect social security or other retirement funds. We believe that we can depend on these income sources, but social security is not currently sustainable and many people have already experienced the loss of a pension due to a company going bankrupt. We need to think like a people did before social security, pension plans and retirement funds came along. These people knew they had to work as long a physically possible and to provide for themselves, instead of relying on a company or government to provide for them. I have learned some valuable lessons due to an unfortunate situation. My former employer, without knowing it, did me a huge favor by letting me go. I am a thousand times better off now than I have been in the last 25 years.