At 28 I was let go.
Our department of what started as four people, grew to nine people, lost our Director, became self-managing, gained a Director, lost our designers to another team and ended up with two of us remaining under a VP. Three managers in three years. And the final result? The one team member was moved to another team and I was the last man standing. The ending?
“Your department is eliminated.”
You see, I once had a theory that I never wanted to be the last man standing before the ship sinks. I would catch the vibes, heighten my EQ, and get out before folks could continue to complain about their environment. However, I learned that everyone complains and worries in every job. Those people will always be there, regardless of where you go. I learned to settle in and absorb the changes while keeping myself centered and grounded.
This past position gave me time to breathe and push into a position just like you would in chair pose of a hot yoga class. Maybe it was more of a crescent lunge into this past company, but regardless, I learned to push into every change. I knew I loved change and when I came on, I was ready to experience change having listened to so much critique of the last 10 years of “this is how it goes here.”
While co-workers were stuck in the past, I was ready to charge into new ideas with forward-thinking thoughts like “why not do it?”. I buckled in and watched as co-workers eventually became my managers. What gets lost when reorgs happen and change strikes, is the ability to maintain momentum with what I call the community of teams. How do you equip, encourage and maintain a worry-free environment?
In the theme of worry, I found a fear that I couldn’t shake for the past 10 months. So often I’ve read about the power of manifesting that fear. Genuinely speaking, we don’t always choose these tracks, but I have found so much “life” in this season to restart.
With that, I hope this encourages you today that if you find yourself in a position of fear or on the verge of a reorg, trust that this is your season to reset. Reset your emotions toward work. Reset and consider the side projects you want to take seriously. Reset your goals and breathe. You are not alone even if no one else is talking about it. Remember, you could have left a year ago, but you stuck it out to learn more.
Trust the opportunity to reset this season.
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