When the Wheels Come Off

What do you do when the wheels come off of your world?

A friend of mine lost a fifty thousand dollar contract recently. When you consider that is more money than most people throughout the world, including the United States, earn in a year, the significance is enormous. He had been working on this major project for over ten months and he was eager to deliver the finished product and collect his fee. Imagine his excitement when he called the company declaring that the work was completed a few weeks ahead of schedule and he was ready to present what he believed was an exceptional product. Bringing a major project in early as well as above and beyond the scope of the contract, feels exhilarating. He was prepared to coordinate schedules with all of the major executives with his schedule. Imagine his shock when he learned that the company was bankrupt and he would not only not be presenting the project but would not be paid.

A flood of emotions flow through your body like electric shock waves. Anger, shock, grief, confusion, and hurt rise and fall like tidal waves until your energy is depleted and you sit stunned and exhausted. A year’s income, a year’s work all evaporated before your eyes.

What do you do? You can scream, cry, pout or even throw things; however none of those do any good. You can go drink but that is never a solution either. Give yourself a few minutes to regain your composure and figure out what happens next. If the company truly is bankrupt and closing its doors, you are probably not the only broken contract and not the only impending lawsuit. Suing in this case would probably be pointless; the only one who usually wins in these situations is the attorney.

An attorney in Steamboat Springs had the picture of a cow on his wall. One person was pulling the head of the cow by the halter, the other pulling the tail of the cow and the attorney sitting there milking the cow. Both ends of the lawsuit lose and the attorney mils the situation. Alternative dispute resolution frequently benefits both parties in the lawsuit more than litigation. A lawsuit would not be recommended in this case.

Look at the work and determine what good could result from it. Could he write a book, teach a seminar, or sell it to another company. A full year’s work must be worth something to someone. Put your thinking cap on and go for it.

Life occasionally hands us a brutal slap in the financial face. Maybe yours was a job loss.

If you are like most people, you have been employed in more than one job throughout your life. Take a sheet of paper and draw a line down the center from the top of the paper to the bottom. Start making a list on the left side of the paper of everything you ever liked about any job you ever had. Start making a list on the right side of the paper of everything you ever disliked about any job you ever had. Take a fresh new sheet of paper and list everything which would be ideal for you in a new career. Note that I did not say new job; many people find this is the perfect time to start a business of their own.

After all, you can not possibly be terminated from a company you own without your consent. In a perfect world with zero limitations, what would you enjoy doing for a career? No, do not analyze or go negative, just think and write possibilities.
This technique is a variation of the Ben Franklin problem solving method.

This is exactly the advice given to my friend who lost the fifty thousand dollar contract fee. Look for all of the positives, the known negatives and the potential desirable outcomes. From this method will emerge a pattern; from the pattern will emerge a solution.

We always have a solution just around the corner; our responsibility is to look for it, find it and implement it.

If you lost you job, then determine all of the positives, negatives and desirable outcomes. Now when you go forward to seek a new career you have more experience in selecting the ideal position for you. That is a tremendous advantage to having a few years experience. We have the knowledge to know what we like and what we don’t like. As a professor of mine once said, you can have ten years experience or one year’s experience ten times. You have the benefit of ten years experience. Next time you will make an even better choice.

Maybe this is the perfect time to launch your own business and create the future you desire. Fulfill everything on your ideal career list. Work in your area of strength and passion. Creating your ideal future is far more fun than creating the future of someone else’s dreams.

If you would like assistance in determining your passion, your ideal future career, write me a note in the ‘contact Elaine’ section of www.Elaine4Success.com.