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Jobless rate hits 7.2% - yikes!
By Kris Carey | January 10, 2009
In reading the headlines from the New York Times today I saw this: Jobless Rate Hits 7.2%, a 16-Year High
This is very disturbing news, especially if you are one of the 7.2%. It makes me wonder how many people see this as an opportunity vs. a curse.
I remember a lady who I worked with at my last job. She had been with the company for 18 years and was very entrenched. She was also clearly bored, using her longevity as an excuse to slack off of her work, and generally stonewalling any progress the company wanted to make that involved the processes she oversaw. I sat right next to her and could see her dissatisfaction hanging over her desk like a cloud; it made me feel awful. One day the boss warned me this was it - she was getting fired. He warned all of us in the office, in fact, because he was afraid of her reaction and wanted us to be on guard for anything she might do. She took the news badly and made a visible exit from the building - not an easy day for anybody: her, her boss, and those of us left behind.
I have often thought of this lady and how she handled her job loss. Did she go home and sit on the coach and feel sorry for herself for an extended period of time? Blame the company for letting her go? Watch a lot of crummy TV? Or did she use this as an opportunity to feel bad for a bit, but then regroup, take whatever lesson was available to her, and move on to something better, something more suited to her skills, passion and dreams? I hope for the latter.
If you get caught in this 7.2% go ahead and take some time to feel lousy, then regroup. Being out of work may be the best thing that ever happened to you. After all, it was the threat of being fired that caused me to finally start my own business… but that’s a story for another time.
Topics: Career Change, Dream Job, Enough Time, Freedom, Risk, Start Your Own Business, Uncategorized |