Why Being Laid Off Was the Best Thing to Ever Happen to My Career

I celebrated a very special day in my professional career on Saturday. It was the 5-year anniversary of the last time I ever got laid off.

That's right. I've been an independent professional for five years now. I haven't had my own cube... or answered to a boss... or needed to ask for vacation time... or wasted my life away in endless meetings... or had to find a million different ways to say the same thing over and over again about the same product... or dealt with office politics... or anything else like that in five years.

So much has happened since that day. But I still remember the feeling like it was yesterday.

I was vacationing up at my mother's vineyard when I saw that a voicemail had come in from my VP. I didn't even know he had my cell phone number. We pulled off to the side of the road and I gave him a call.

Another round of layoffs was happening and my name was up this time. I was in shock. Hadn't seen it coming.

The irony though was that I had just finished telling my family how I was ready for something new. I wasn't sure what it would be, but I knew it was on the horizon. I was about to finish my MBA program and needed a new challenge.

The shock of the news lasted for about an hour. I wondered how I would break the news to my wife back home. We were trying to start a family and this would be a big setback. I didn't think she'd be too thrilled. And of course, I had no prospects at the time. So the idea of looking for another job wasn't high on my list of things I had wanted to do.

But then something happened. The shock wore off. And in its place was the last thing I had expected... excitement. At that moment, I somehow knew that I was never going to work for anyone but myself again.

I remember telling my family that I would one day look back on this layoff as the greatest thing to ever happen to my career. I was remarkably at peace. Scared and nervous... but at peace.

I didn't know the form it would take. I didn't know how it would play out. What I did know was that I was on the verge of a major life change. And it was going to be alright. Something really, really great was going to come of this layoff.

Five years later, here I sit.

I've built a sucessful marketing communications business from the ground up. I have a client list that includes Apple, TiVo, Gymboree, Plantronics, and a bunch of other really huge names that I have been simply blessed to be able to write for.

I was able to work from home and raise my son during the first three years of his life. And now that he is off at pre-school, I'm still able to cut out when I need to and be the father I've always wanted to be. We bought our first house a few years ago. I call my own shots. I work when I want and with whom I want. I never have to ask for time off if I want to go on vacation with my family. And I've done it all on my own terms.

I can't pretend it's been easy. The first few years of this business were more challenging than I could have possibly imagined. But the rewards have been incredible. And well worth all of the struggle, which is now farther and farther away in the rearview mirror.

They say 95% of businesses don't last five years. Mine is among the 5% that has. Five years and two days, to be exact.

And I was right. The layoff was the best thing to ever happen to my career.

The time is now. If you aren't doing something that makes you happy, ask yourself why. And then figure out a way to make it happen. It's possible. But not until you decide to make it so.

Comments

[Tsufit]

Cory,
Being pushed out of the nest (I was a lawyer) was the best thing that happened to me too. Got on national TV as a singer/actress/comedienne, started a coaching/consulting business and now my first book, Step Into The Spotlight! is coming out in April. Freedom rocks! Tsufit