Unemployment: A Detour for Change?

photo credit: sara la tempete

Hello Lil Beebies! It's Erin from Design for Mankind, writing about yes, unemployment. Oh, unemployment. I read yesterday that 33,000 New Yorkers have been laid off since August, and wow. That is a pretty stark figure. And although I don’t know much about the rest of the country’s state of employment, I do know that in my own circle of friends, many of us are living what we like to call “The Laid Off Life.”

You know what I’m talking about--- the life of Ramen, coupons and cancelled cable. Quite similar to The College Years, but without the drinking binges and straight C’s.

In fact, I found myself smack dab on the corner of Laid Off Life and Hell a few years ago, and although I did spend the first few weeks moping around with my two dogs, somewhere around Week Four, I woke up. And I realized this:

I could do one of two things:
(a). Fall into a hole of desperation and curse my former employer for the rest of my life, OR
(b). Embrace the change.

Because desperation isn’t really my color, I chose the latter and got to work. The first step I took? Changed the word ‘Unemployed’ to ‘Unattached.’ Every good marketer knows that it’s all in the brand, and by re-framing my situation into something positive, I saved myself a lot of heartache and awkward conversations.

I then hit the books. One really groundbreaking book I bought [and would highly recommend] is Do What You Are by Paul D. Tieger. I learned more about myself in that book than in twenty-four years of existence, and I quickly carved out some potential careers that were far better-suited for my skill set than the world of marketing and advertising. And once I held that priceless information, I knew exactly what I wanted to pursue.

I truly think that this was the hardest part. You can spend months and years pursuing something you love, but how to know what you love? The good news is that soul-searching is completely free, as are friends, family, and career tests. Trial and error? Also free. And with a hearty dose of these, you’re well on your way to finding what you love.

The next trick is to get off the couch and do it. My choice of pursuit was to build a blog that I hadn’t read before--- something different and unique… something inspirational. I like to think I’m still on the road to achieving my goal and although it’s quite a long road, I’m thrilled to be traveling it.

Looking back, I’ve realized that my previous career in marketing and advertising was just a tiny detour toward the road I love so much. And in reality, you’ve gotta take the detour to get where you need to be.