I think as we move into the new year, we can make promises to ourselves, but does it matter? Does this new resolution mean commitment? Does it mean new habits?
I think it depends how serious you are. So often people promise themselves they will do something, only to be disappointed and beat themselves up.
Not only that, but we don’t know what the new year will hold for us. I’ve seen to many people get laid off in the past year and this year it may be worse. so many people are losing their jobs, maybe even me. I can’t worry about it because those decisions are out of my control.
Tough times are ahead, even with all the tough times behind us, we will see new problems ahead of us. Some may seem like old problems, but these are different times, and it will feel new again, especially the problems and hard knocks that life will hand us.
I often commit to a company like my life depended on it, I wish they would return the favor. The one thing I have learned is that if you’re not an owner in some way, it won’t matter. You’re going to be an asset or an expense. The company’s profitability and industry’s market help the manager decide which one you are. In other words, can they afford to keep you? That’s essentially up to the manager, who may also be laid off depending on how bad things get.
The good news is how you react and how you feel. If you can get sadness and anger out of your system, then move ahead with hope. I think we can do this, but to be honest, when it happened to me in the past, I had to let my anger out and feel bad for a day or two. Most people say just move on, but we all have families to take care of. Oh, so does your manager, and if they have to choose between you and them, 99.9% will choose you, even if you’re the closest of buddies. I do not hold that against them because I get it, I had to make the same shitty decisions int he past. Sad but true.
now that I’m older, I have become less desirable as a candidate to many companies. They all want younger and cheaper, I get it. I probably made that decision in the past as well.
I had a friend who worked for a big company and he survived several rounds of layoffs until he got a package for early retirement. He was 55 at the time. He had no desire to leave the company nor retire. He was bummed out but happy he got a package.
When he tried to get another job, almost everyone said to him that they could find someone cheaper and younger, maybe not out loud, but he knew it by looking at them. You know why? He was once the hiring manager and made the same decisions. It comes back to bite you sometimes, unless you’re a CEO or an NFL or NCAAF football coach, they always seem to have a golden parachute. Common folks like us rely on our savings and unemployment.
So have faith, if you have a mission outside of work, I recommend you keep with that. Remember that the Stoics were able to manage their emotions and actions, at least the well-known ones. Maybe you can provide inspiration to others around and then you will be remembered well.
Let me leave you with a Marcus Aurelius quote, book 9, #2, translated from Gregory Hayes book:
“Real good luck would be to abandon life without ever encountering dishonesty, or hypocrisy, or self-indulgence, or pride. But the “next best voyage” is to die when you’ve had enough. Or are you determined to lie down with evil? Hasn’t experience even taught you that – to avoid it like the plague? Because it is a plague – a mental cancer – worse than anything caused by tainted air or an unhealthy climate. Diseases like that can only threaten your life; this one attacks your humanity.”