How I Went From an Out-of-Work Loser to Boss Babe in Under a Week, and It’s Not What You Think

"Life has a funny way of sneaking up on you

When you think everything's okay and everything's going right

And life has a funny way of helping you out

When you think everything's gone wrong

And everything blows up in your face" ~ Alanis Morisette

Recently life snuck up on me just when I thought that everything was great and it couldn't possibly get any better. My career was thriving. I had landed my dream job where I made my own schedule, made more money than I had ever made before, and was respected for my work My son had just graduated college and was thriving in his new life and the best part of all, I was knee deep in planning my very first wedding #firsttime43yearoldbride to my best friend, partner in life, favorite person on earth and couldn't be happier.

And then I was dealt a huge blow when I was told that the startup that I was contracting with, no longer needed my services. My mind immediately told me that I was “let go”, “not good enough” and was now “out of work”. Never have I ever been fired, let go, laid off or left a company without having something else lined up so this was a major blow to my ego. To top it off, I was without my primary income and my career was on halt. I felt like everything was blowing up in my face and my world was crashing down. I held a huge pity party (much thanks to those of you that attended), started to sink into a deep, dark depression and engaged in some seriously harmful self talk.

But then something changed and I had a huge heart to heart with myself. You know the kind, when you decide to change your mindset and to build yourself up instead of tear yourself down over the thing you can't control. I had to point out the reality of what really happened, not the scenario that I had told myself. The reality is that the start-up I had been working with is running out of money and can no longer afford to keep me on board #startuplife Not only that, but I had started with a 6-month contract that expired over a year ago and went to “as needed” after that. That told me everything I needed to know about my capabilities to do the job. It wasn’t me, it was them!

Here’s where the real boss babe mentality came in though: I reminded myself that I have worked my whole life for this moment. That when I started this contract, I had decided to put 1/2 of my income into savings so that when this contract was done, I didn't have to panic. I would have time to find my next great "dream job" without stressing over finances. Add to it, I have multiple sources of income which means money is still coming in, and not just going out so I don't have to burn through my savings. #winning

That's when I finally said to myself, “You're not an out of work loser, you are a badass boss babe that has set your life up in a way that you can afford to take some time off” and that’s when everything changed. The dark curtain of depression had lifted. Instead of stressing over when my next contract will come, I decided to enjoy the time off and do some home improvement projects cause why the heck not.

Sometimes all the help that we need is to change our mindset. I've said it before, and I'll say it again, mindset is so important to our mental well being. Often times, our minds want to focus on the bad. We can have a hundred good things happen, but it's the one bad thing that we focus on and allow to bring ourselves down. In this case, it was that I was out of work, had been “let go” and come Monday, I wouldn’t have a job to do and my purpose was gone. Turns out, that thought process was absolutely ridiculous when what really happened was a far different story. It took a few days to see things clearly and stop the negative self talk but eventually, by deciding to change my mindset and see the good in life I was able to keep myself from spiraling into a deep dark depression.

I know it sounds corny but when life sneaks up on you, and you feel like everything is blowing up in your face, look for the silver lining. Make the conscience decision to change your mindset and your outlook on the situation. One of my favorite memes points out that the question shouldn’t be whether the glass is half empty or half full, but whether or not the glass is refillable. So for all of you glass half empty folks, what’s one thought that is weighing you down that you could turn into a positive?