If you’re lying awake at night anxious about whether you’ll lose your house and health to downsizing, you’re not the only one awake and anxious on your block.
Millions of Americans have lost good paying jobs in the last few years. Even more troubling, the rate of new job losses hit a record high last year in many
Downsizing hurts brains and business long after people claimed they downsized with dignity. The problem is likely to get worse. As big business moves offshore, and the public purse strings tighten, employees find themselves unable to pay for their future.
Add to that, the recent collapse of the subprime housing market, that makes it harder for those with tarnished credit to refinance their homes, and you can see why stress increasingly mounts.
Many workers who find themselves out of work, haven’t made use of hidden and unused resources in their own brains to make a comeback.
Here are a 5 questions that will help you to survive cuts that come to your workplace – whether you’ve been hit yet or not.
1. Do you have a strong relationship with a few people you admire who can advise you in a pinch. There are few substitutes for a strong support system – especially when the ax falls your way. When your plans forward are limited by the stress hormone, cortisol in the shock of a job loss, your brain is less calibrated to find a mentor for support.
2. Have you listed options for an emergency back up plan that will allow you to retain your core assets. For instance, you may wish to check for programs at your bank related to helping you to stay in the race after a financial blow. Some banks allow for lesser payments monthly, or an agreement whereby you agree to pay the missed payments by a certain date. Other banks will modify your agreement to make monthly payments more affordable. People who plan ahead – while the brain fuels itself with more serotonin in good times, save themselves frantic nights of panic if job-loss comes.
3. What exactly do you expect for yourself and your family that will ensure you move on? If you’re already in a reduced position, or in danger of losing your job, you’ll want to envision what moving on will look like for you. It may mean putting your home up for sale, but it should also include an ideal plan for how you will take advantage of the proceeds from your sale. Make sure you build in a few parts of a dream you’ve had. Take a week to learn gardening, sign up for a painting or mechanics course, or purchase a ticket for a three day tour to a new area that will allow you to set new visions into action.
4. How will you keep track of your progress – beyond the loss of a job? Draw from your multiple intelligences as you plan a new horizon for your future career, and track your progress to see which intelligences you used in any given day. Too old? Guess what, it’s no longer an excuse – because we now know how dendrites grow your intelligence daily and research shows that IQ is not fixed as we once thought.
5. How can you leverage who you are, and recalibrate your skills, to find the best work solution for you? Rather than gaze into the rearview mirror – it’s time to look ahead and dream about “where to from here?” Downsizing is bad for business and bad for the brain only when emotional baggage and mental limitations hand us disastrous financial consequences. Your brain is wired for regular renewal … but it takes action on your part to make it ripple.
Would you agree … it’s time to strike back with the parts of your brain that you already possess to reduce stress damage? Remember the time to move your brain into action is now – before you really are too old or in poor health. Know any people who made a comeback that landed them firmly back on their feet in a better place, after downsizing?
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Tracked on: July 19, 2007 9:11 AM | Permalink to Trackback