I Lost My Job. Now What?
Entering the unknown: where legends are born.
The Interruption
It was supposed to be a normal Monday morning check-in with my supervisor.
But immediately he said something signaling this was far from routine.
“Carol1 from HR is here with us.”
Of course, that isn’t the kind of thing anyone ever wants to hear.
I knew she wasn’t jumping on the call to give me a raise or a reward. She was on the call to tell me something that my intuition had sensed was coming for a few months: I no longer had a job with the organization.
It was quick and straightforward. It’s not you, it’s us, she basically said. The company was moving in another direction―a direction that dissolved my team and left a few of us without roles. The terms were relatively generous, including a bit of a runway to faze out along with some severance. But still, there I was, a couple months into the new year, just a year and a half from a cross-country move that incorporated this promising job into the equation, and with a family of five that would soon be without employer-provided health insurance.
All that is to say… none of this was fun. In an instant, I had been cast into the unknown.
Lost in the Woods
People lose their jobs all the time. But it’s the kind of thing you’re oblivious to until you are the one going through it. Then you start to notice it everywhere. You see the #OpenToWork posts on LinkedIn or hear about the friend’s friend who is “between jobs.” And you realize these people are carrying a lot. They are living in a state of exile from the life that was familiar just moments ago. They’re scrambling to figure out a way forward. And that’s a hard thing to do when you feel like you’re lost in the woods.
These days a lot of people are getting calls from HR. The Trump administration’s heartless slashing of government jobs, haphazard grant funding cuts, attacks against universities and other institutions, and tariff-chaos are leaving countless people locked out of the office. Without work. Devastated. Scared. Disoriented.
Not only that, but as these newly-unemployed people pick up the pieces and start to look for work, many of them are finding that the industries they’ve dedicated their careers to have all-but disappeared (think: USAID and all adjacent international aid work). Making matters more complicated, AI is on the rise, dramatically reshaping the future of work.2
What a time to be alive… What a time to lose your job!
A Legend is Born?
A couple weeks after that phone call, I returned to central command. It was a nice way to get some closure. After a morning of turning some things in and having some wrap-up conversations, I stepped outside into the frigid northern air. I took a selfie and immediately texted a friend the following message:
THIS IS WHERE LEGENDS ARE BORN.
What the hell did I mean?
Indeed there were so many questions (And questions behind the questions!).
What would I do next?
(Was this giving me an opportunity to finally pursue my passion as I had been dreaming about for years—or would I hide from the daunting task?)
Could we handle this financially?
(Would we see the abundance of our lives or shrink into a scarcity mindset?)
Would the kids be alright?
(How do we let them into the adventure of the unknown, but also help them feel safe?)
As these questions and the questions behind the questions demonstrate, the unknown is filled with external insecurity and instability.
And yet I had a sense that being plunged into the unknown like this—as scary as it was—was an invitation to grow within. An opportunity to courageously become more fully myself. A chance to get creative and get on with the work of more fully expressing my core contribution to the world.
How did I know this?
Well, for one, I had been here before. It was not the first time I was in between things and facing a fair amount of uncertainty. Even a cursory look at previous iterations of this experience in my life would reveal that good things have again and again come from seasons of the unknown. The same is true for you. Remember this if you’ve recently lost your job. This isn’t your first rodeo. You’ve navigated complexity and uncertainty before—if not on the job front, then in some other area of your life, such as relationships, health, etc. Let this serve as a source of courage!
But it wasn’t just personal experience telling me that this was a gift in disguise—an opportunity for evolution. I had the wisdom of the ages on my side. The stories of old repeatedly speak of how the hero’s rise is always preceded by an interruption—a call to adventure—that plunges the protagonist into the unknown (It’s one of the central themes of my book, The Way Home, by the way).
A New Beginning
Three years have past since I lost my job. Which means I’ve had time to test the audacious THIS IS WHERE LEGENDS ARE BORN text message I sent my friend. In many ways, I’m still in the unknown. Still learning a lot. Still becoming.
And so, in the coming weeks, I’m going to be reflecting on what I’ve been learning as well as turning to some ancient stories for wisdom to help navigate the unknown in our work lives.
In the meantime, if you
lost your job recently or are
thinking of leaving or have been
in between work for a while or are
walking a creative path,
I want you to remember this:
What may feel like a low point in your life and career is actually the beginning of the epic adventure you’ve always been wanting to embark on.
The unknown is an invitation to go within and discover your power. After all, your professional journey is always a spiritual journey.
The unknown has many gifts to give you.
The question is: will you open yourself up to receive them?