Waking up on the first day with nowhere to go. The emotions alone are so difficult to deal with that you might not make it out of bed.
We are driven by need. We eat because we are hungry, sleep when we are tired and work to earn money – It’s the way the world works. Unfortunately, the ability to earn money is not always up to you. You can be the world’s most dedicated employee, contributing to most if not all the employer’s success, but due to circumstances beyond your control you find yourself unemployed.
What now, Where to? What do you do when you get out of bed? From experience I can tell you that all you need to do is just that; get out of bed. I was lucky, I had the support of a wife and family to help me. Dropping the kids off at school was a great motivator, I only pray that all people have this help. You see, before that morning I had meaning, numerous families depended on me going to work. I was important, I provided for my family, I was part of building something impressive, self-sustaining and self-fulfilling. The best part of all was that if I wasn’t going to work I was on holiday. This was completely different, even after having my wife wake me up and use the kids to get me off to school, I found myself driving back home, lost in depressing thoughts. It only got worse from there, it took me two weeks to set up a little office and workshop. I was reverting to my old trade of building, selling and repairing Computers. After it took two weeks to set it up it took me another whole week before I got to sit down at my desk. Before long I had my first pay day with no pay. The reality is that I was avoiding facing the truth and getting on with it. Once I landed my first client and had something to plan and do, things got progressively better. I was living with a purpose again, my mind focused on a task to complete and most importantly at that stage – getting paid. It wasn’t an easy couple of weeks and although I regret taking so long to get going the lesson I learned was invaluable. I could not sit around and do nothing, not when I had to get going and work. Sadly, one thing you cannot control is finding clients and work on the schedule you need but getting started could mean doing something like marketing yourself. Setting yourself a goal like setting up a Facebook page, working on your letterhead or organizing your tools could easily match the feeling you get when landing the first job.
I trust in the belief that we are put into situations for a reason. I trust that through this I can accomplish giving you some assistance by telling my story, giving you my thoughts and perhaps even help inspiring you from time to time. So here we are, without work, nowhere to go, what now? Many websites and self-help sources have useful tips on how to carry on, what to do with yourself etc. Much can be said for the notions that you should stay busy, set goals and keep working, just like I have mentioned above.
From my own experience I can certainly place a lot of emphasis on the importance of admitting your situation. Sounds like a rehab program; step 1 – admit you have a problem. I don’t mean to be all negative about this, I just have this logical way of dealing with things. My basic theology is this, if you are honest about this new part of your life, you will be able to deal with the depression. In my case I would have been able to talk about what I was feeling and dealing with, with my wife. This would have helped me focus on moving on and not getting caught up with pride issues. I can recount many ways that my own pride stopped me from approaching all my friends and family, working all my contacts to find me work. If I had done this on that first day, my first job may have come in a few days and not in a few weeks. Throughout this period in my life, unemployed, depressed and desperate to earn much needed money I realized that every contact held a wealth of untapped resources. Contacts, albeit friends and family was a valuable resource for finding clients and much needed support to get going.
Once you have overcome this feeling of being overwhelmed you can start looking forward. Looking forward is what will help you design a plan of action
I am not saying I have all the answers, or any secret technique to make it all better. I cannot even promise to guarantee success, but all I ask / suggest is this.
- Follow this site, sign up for newsletters and like my page on Facebook – might as well give a selfless plug here right 😊
- Take a deep breath.
- Set your goals aimed at getting yourself ready emotionally and physically to do that first job and help that first customer.
If you have something to do – even something like reading blogs and learning from others – you will learn to keep going! Good luck and enjoy, freedom and self-sufficiency is attainable by all of us.
As always, thanks for reading, I trust you found this useful and encourage you to help me by sharing this article on my social media options below.