Getting Fired or Getting Laid Off: How to Handle the Emotional Impact
by www.Sedona.com
The U.S. unemployment rate reached 5.1 percent in March, the highest level since September 2005. Meanwhile, 80,000 jobs were lost in March alone, making the total tally of lost jobs in the first three months of 2008 232,000.
So if you have been fired or laid off, rest assured you are not alone.
Losing your job, of course, is much more than just a financial strain. Typically, the first thing it impacts is your emotional state, and if you’re not careful, the devastation you feel may cause far more of a setback than the event itself. Common emotions you may experience upon a lay off include:
It is also not uncommon for you to experience a complete loss of identity, particularly if you had been working in the same place for many years. Upon losing this familiar, steady routine, you may now feel like a fish out of water in your own life.
But you must remember, losing a job IS big, but it is also something that you can overcome, and even turn into a positive. How? By finding your inner resiliency.
Moving Forward Emotionally After a Job Loss
When you are resilient, you are able to harness your inner strength and grow from it even in the face of adversity. You do not dwell on your problems or mistakes, you do not feel victimized, and you do not rely on unhealthy coping mechanisms, such as overeating, alcohol or drugs.
How can you find your inner resilience? Building resilience involves letting go of the doubts, fears, sadness and other negative emotions that are clouding your view of a bright future, which is something you can learn how to do by using The Sedona Method. You can begin by letting go of the tendency to take getting fired as a personal affront.
“Remember especially in today’s economic environment to do your best to not take it personally,” says Hale Dwoskin, CEO and director of training of Sedona Training Associates. “If you do feel it is personal then allow yourself to welcome that feeling and let it go. Then allow yourself to let go of your feelings about getting fired or laid off and also any feelings about the job itself and your prospects for a new one.”
As you let go of your negative associations with being laid off or fired, along with those you have about your past job, you are making room for a new future.
“By letting go about all of these topics and then setting a clear intention and letting go about that, you are clearing the space to find an even better job -- as opposed to dwelling on what could or should have been,” Dwoskin says. “This will make it much easier to attract the right job for you and to take the actions required to allow this to happen.”
In short, once you are fired or laid off, you cannot change what was. But you CAN focus on getting a new, and more fulfilling, career that ultimately can make you a much happier person. As the saying goes, every problem is a possibility in disguise. All you have to do is figure out what’s hiding underneath the mask.
Sources
Associated Press April 4, 2008
Bloomberg.com | 
