From Tech Layoff to Tech Payoff: How I turned Adversity into Abundance

Photo by Nick Fewings on Unsplash

I can still think back and remember each morning that grew with anxiety as the time got nearer to my scheduled 1:1 manager syncs. I was ridden with guilt because I was not performing at my usual pace or producing my usual quality.

I tried so many tactics to “shake it off” and to “get it together” but nothing worked. I tried rearranging my workspace to invoke more creativity. I picked up new projects in hopes to entice my fascination for problem solving. I attended more in-person company events to build more community with peers. In all of my pursuits, at the end of the day I still felt unhappy with the work I was doing at the company.

I felt like I should be doing more and should’ve been more ahead than where I was. After all my attempts to restore morale, I finally sat myself down to question why I was feeling unhappy, blocked, and stagnant at this company. Additionally, more importantly, I questioned why after all of that I was still so reluctant to leave.

You’ll know this is true for you too if somehow over the years you lost luster for your role. Every morning before you “clock in” turns grim. On the daily you find less and less excitement or desire to do more than the bare minimum. Though, you try to be positive and affirm yourself with sayings such as ‘luckily I’m employed’ or ‘thank goodness I have a job’. I get that it can be hard to let go of what is so familiar and “safe” too. Herein lies why I titled this article as such because I too lost interest at one of my former companies and subsequently got laid off from, and unbeknownst to me thankfully so.

With much introspective work I realized I had outgrown my position there and in turn overstayed my welcome. I needed to do the work to transmute my limiting fears and excuses of why I should stay and learn to be at peace knowing it was time to leave. Don’t get me wrong, my time there served such a valuable purpose and was a huge turning stone for me in my early career. However I could no longer allow that to constitute me pledging my allegiance to them based solely on the merits of me being loyal.

Know when to leave.

Once I surrendered to this, I started taking steps into a new direction. I doubled down on studying topics…