Like the mythical phoenix rising from the ashes of defeat, being fired can actually launch you into your destiny. Over 54,000 people lose their jobs daily due to firing and other terminations, according to FederalJobs.net.
Losing your job ranks in the top ten list of most stressful events in life. When you get fired, you not only lose a paycheck, but you can also lose your connections, self-respect, sense of purpose, self-confidence, and stability. No matter why you were terminated, you may feel like you failed.
It’s important to realize that not all firing decisions are necessarily wise ones. Consider these future celebrities fired for an apparent lack of talent. A newspaper fired Walt Disney because he was not creative enough; a television station told Oprah Winfrey she was not fit for television news; and a Grand Ole Opry manager told Elvis Presley he’d be better off driving trucks.
In his 2005 Stanford University commencement speech, Steve Jobs shared, “I didn’t see it then, but it turned out that getting fired from Apple was the best thing that could have happened to me. Sometimes life hits you in the head with a brick. Don’t lose faith. You’ve got to find what you love. Your work is going to fill a large part of your life, and the only way to be truly satisfied is to do what you believe is great work. And the only way to do great work is to love what you do. If you haven’t found it yet, keep looking.”
Here are seven initial steps to begin searching for your ideal position: