There are two sides to every story, two sides to a coin, two sides of a debate and of course, two sides to our brains. Our left brain is responsible for logic, rational thought, analysis and reasoning while our right brain gives us philosophy, creativity, imagination, and intuition. As a person who has just been laid-off, I thought I’d share what the two halves of my brain are thinking and why they’re in such conflict.
[@LeftBrain] Laid-off. Fired. Downsized. Terminated. Made redundant.
It doesn’t matter how you say it, it always means the same thing – unemployed. To be honest, I’m feeling pretty anxious right now – worried about looming college tuition payments for my seventeen-year-old high school senior. He’s deciding between a state and private school which could mean a difference of over $30K per year. That’s $120K extra for a four year degree. Is it really worth it and what’s the ROI of that? I’ll have to analyze our budget to see how much additional debt we’ll have to take on to make it work. If I were entering college now, I’d doubt I’d be able to afford my degree from MIT, which was only $15K/year in 1987 – a real bargain compared to today’s cost of private schools. I’m skeptical I’ll be able to find a good, stable job before my severance runs out, but that’s what I’m aiming for.
[@RightBrain] Free. Opportunistic. Rejuvenated. Optimistic. Lucky.
I consider myself pretty lucky. In the span of a 22 year career, I’ve only been unemployed twice. Twice in the past five years, but who’s counting anyway. The big picture is that I feel pretty relieved. I can now leave behind all the stresses of my last job – the late nights, weekend work, company instability – and just move on to my next challenge. I see this as a good time for some self reflection. I can look back on what I’ve accomplished and refocus my career toward work that I’m really passionate about. I’m feeling pretty optimistic. There appear to be a number of interesting start-ups that can leverage the breadth of skills I offer while allowing me the opportunity to once again be strategic and creative.
Hey Matt — great to see you blogging.
I was fired (okay laid off) three times. And each time I ended up doing something better than before. Let me know how I can help.
David
Thanks, David. Your book “New Rules of Marketing and PR” has been a great inspiration to me. It’s encouraged me to start blogging and has triggered some great thoughts about personal branding. It’s also helped during the interview process, as many companies I’m speaking with know they need to create more content, but don’t know how to get started.
Best,
Matt
Unemployed twice in the last 5 years — number of interesting start-ups? Hmmm, I don’t like the sounds of that. I was thinking more like IBM or Apple.
Matt,
I keep going back to our conversation last year about what it’s like to search for a career. Unlike you I was starting at ground zero fresh out of college at the time.
After the initial panic mode, my right brain slowly caught up to my left and I was able to find a balance.
You’re a very creative individual but rational as well. I believe you’ll have success moving forward.
Hi Kevin,
Thanks for the words of encouragement. I’m glad to see that you are active on Twitter and have your own website with videos and pictures. Creating your online identity and establishing a personal brand is very important when looking for jobs, especially in marketing. Great start!
Matt