No job is guaranteed to be there tomorrow. Layoffs happen. If you get laid off tomorrow, are you prepared?
I got laid off in 2013 and I was not prepared. I had a payments for my home, Harley, ATV, cable/Internet, phone, and insurance. At that time, I had no problem buying things to support my hobbies, so my house and garage were full, unlike my bank account. The economy at that time was down, so when I received job offers at a fraction of the salary that I made before I got laid off, I turned them down.
After my layoff of 2013 I minimized my life (see my article The Purge – A Minimalist is Born.) In a nutshell, I got rid of everything that did not add value to my life. I got rid of just about everything including my Harley, ATV, camping gear, excessive clothing, and all of the other “stuff” that was just occupying space. After I got rid of everything in my house, I got rid of the house. At that point, everything that I owned fit in my Jeep. I was mobile, and I now had choices, where before, I was grounded by stuff and my choices were limited.
Now that I was mobile, I took to the road. I visited family and traveled a little while looking for new work. I finally took a job in a different state. One of my new employers condition of hiring me was that I needed to be at the new job on Monday, and I had just two days to get there. I was mobile, so getting there was no problem.
It has now been more than a year since I took this job. I now have a few more things than will fit in my Jeep, but ultimately I am still mobile. I have added a bed, futon, recliner, TV, a BBQ, two patio chairs, and a bicycle. Other than these large items, everything that I own will still fit in my Jeep. If I needed to, I could easily find homes for these large item, and then hit the road with just the Jeep. Or I could get a small trailer and take everything with me.
For my sake, I am fortunate that I prepared myself…….well…….because it just happened again. Last Thursday the company that I worked for lost their one major account and they had to make significant cutbacks. My job was eliminated and I now find myself unemployed. But I’m not worried, because I have options.
I’m prepared, and I’ve been through this before, more than once. I am looking locally for a new job, but I’m also looking at jobs in other states, and for other interesting jobs that may or may not be local. Let’s face it, jobs suck, so why should I limit my choices to jobs within my exact skill set that I can find locally. Since I live minimally, and I’m semi-mobile, I can find a job somewhere else that adds value to my life instead of a local job becoming a life-sucking endeavor.
I am comfortable where I am, but that doesn’t mean that I’m happy. I’m not necessarily unhappy where I am, but I’m always thinking about being somewhere else, especially in the summer when it’s 115°. Now that my employer has given me more options, I am looking at where those options might take me.
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