Navigating Redundancy: A Guide to Moving Forward

I’ve been made redundant. Now what? 

“This moment of redundancy ‘freefall’ could actually be the best thing that has ever happened to me.”

Larissa

Let’s go back to when Larissa was a highly successful architect with a young family. From the outside, she appeared to be winning at life. She was successful. She appeared to have it all together. She is highly qualified, with a great relationship, a nice home, a great career, beautiful children, lovely friends, and exciting hobbies. 

She was ticking all the boxes for ‘success’.   

Unexpected Redundancy:

But then, Larissa’s life was rocked when, unexpectedly, she was called into the director’s office and notified that she was being made redundant.   In four weeks, she would no longer have a job.

What?  They can’t do this. 

This isn’t happening?  

What am I supposed to do?

This can’t happen to me!  

This isn’t in my plan…

I’ve been made redundant; what do I do now? 

She described it as feeling like the trap door had just been opened under her. She was freefalling and had no idea where she was going to land.  

This was terrifying. It was a time of complete uncertainty. A time of feeling completely out of control. 

But this moment of redundancy ‘freefall’ is the best thing that has ever happened to Larissa. 

She later described it as being set free. The universe had bigger plans for her, but she did not know that yet.  

Do I need a coach? 

Around this time of freefall, she first contacted her creative mindset coach, Hayley Gibson (or me). 

We had our first chat and then got straight to work together.  

In the first session, we uncovered some startling truths. Larissa never wanted to be an architect; her parents pushed her into this career. She was persuaded to study architecture and then pursued a career as an architect because that is what you do when you study something for many years. It was a career her parents felt would give her career and life satisfaction. But they were wrong. 

She was ticking all the boxes for ‘success’.  Yet, on the inside, she was struggling to keep things afloat. She was experiencing this underlying disharmony that constantly challenged her. It made her doubt herself. She felt like an imposter. She felt trapped and overwhelmed. These feelings unsettled her. She felt like she was only just keeping things together. The sense that things would fall apart at any moment. 

She felt like she needed to be doing something to fix things. But didn’t know what she ‘should’ be doing. 

Have you ever had these thoughts and feelings? 

The architect:  

Larissa was unknowingly in a place that challenged her values and needs daily. Working as an architect, Larissa was constantly pulled to things that were not aligned with her values and that caused her to doubt herself, doubt her ability, doubt the work she was doing and the importance of what she was doing. 

It felt like a waste of time. She was constantly challenged to create designs that were not sustainable but were being marketed as sustainable. This was a massive conflict for her; she was working in an industry where she thought she could make real change but now was being forced to present things that were, in her view, untruths. The organisation required this for her employer’s ‘greater good’.   

She didn’t want to admit it, but was constantly questioning herself: 

What am I doing? 

Am I wasting my time?

Why don’t I believe in the work I am doing?

Is it too late for me to change my career?

Versions of this story are all too common –  

“I didn’t know what I wanted to do, so I just studied something. “

“I finished studying then didn’t know what else to do, so I got a job.” 

“I went into ………… career because it was what was expected of me.”

“I went into …………. career because it looks good on paper.” 

“I went into …………. career because it pays well.” 

“I went into ………….. career to make other people happy.” 

But then people get stuck and start asking themselves – 

• Why am I unhappy? 
• Why am I unsatisfied with my work? 
• Why do I long for something else? 
• Why do I feel like there is something else out there for me? 

Why do I feel like I Should be doing something else?

But we often try to convince ourselves that we’re fine. We tell ourselves. “It doesn’t matter. Just suck it up and keep going.” 

But what is the long-term effect of that? 

Living a life: 

• that is miserable 
• full of stress/anxiety 
• with health-related issues resulting from stress and anxiety 
• impacted personal relationships
• loss of purpose and meaning 
• lack of personal growth 
• with career stagnation 
• resentment and frustration 
• lower self-esteem 

According to Gallup’s research, the average person spends approximately one-third of their life at work, amounting to around 90,000 hours over a typical working lifetime. This underscores the critical need to focus on one’s well-being and engagement in one’s career and foster a fulfilled, productive, and healthy work environment, whether in one’s own business or within an organisation. 

This statistic may not be accurate for you, but it is clear that you need to be doing something meaningful with this time. And if you’re not, it’s time for a change! 

How do I improve my work or career satisfaction? 

Improving your work satisfaction will require some growth and change on your part. For some people, the change does not need to be so drastic. It can often be improved with minor changes. Small tweaks in your actions, perspectives, beliefs, and goals can help shift you from a negative to a growth mindset. This will help you find a sense of purpose and meaning in your work. 

However, for others, more major changes could be needed: changing your role within your organisation, finding organisations that are more aligned with you and your values, or finding an organisation where you feel a sense of autonomy and ownership in your work.

Or maybe it is a complete career pivot. 

Or maybe it is starting a business that is totally aligned with you and the impact you wish to make in the world.  

Minor changes: 

• Change of your perspective 
• Tweaks in your mindset and beliefs in yourself 
• Develop your communication skills
• Develop your confidence 
• Begin to advocate for yourself and things that matter to you. 
• Truly understand your values and needs.
• Align your values, plans, actions and goals. 

Significant changes could be: 

• Change roles within the organisation.
• Change organisation 
• Change / pivot your career
• Start a business
• Go back to study

You don’t need to wait for things to fall apart to start making changes. If you’ve been feeling it, do it now. Get started! Speak to a coach and find the right path for you. Life is too short and precious to be wasted doing something you don’t get satisfaction from and that doesn’t fulfil some part of you.  Fulfil something more than just the financial reward.

Back to Larissa’s unexpected redundancy: 

With the help of a coach, she chose to take this as a positive. She chose to see this as an opportunity to make the changes she desperately wanted but hadn’t allowed herself to pursue. This wasn’t easy, but she did it anyway.

Psychologist Viktor Frankl’s quote about the freedom to choose is particularly relevant here;

“Everything can be taken from a man but one thing: the last of the human freedoms—to choose one’s attitude in any given set of circumstances, to choose one’s own way.”

Man’s Search for Meaning, Victor Frankl.

This underscores the idea that we always have the power to choose our response no matter the situation. This aligns perfectly with Larissa’s decision to view her circumstances positively and take proactive steps towards change, illustrating our mindset’s profound impact on our life’s direction. Again, I’m not saying this is easy, but it’s possible.

 You say, “Yes, but It’s too late for me.“

It’s too late…. It’s too late for me to change. I am stuck. I have studied it now, and I have dedicated many years to doing this. I have worked my way up the ladder. I am here to stay.

I can’t change now. It’s too late for me.

Maybe Larissa was fortunate enough to be made redundant. She was forced to reassess where she was and how she got there, to do a stocktake, and see if she was where she wanted to be in life.  

Other people aren’t as lucky as Larissa; they don’t get made redundant and are not forced to face their place in the world.  

Many people end up in unsatisfying careers, dedicating most of their adult lives to just ticking boxes instead of doing something meaningful and impactful with their time.  They might spend their lives feeling unfulfilled, unsatisfied, constantly lacking something, unhappy, unmotivated, not totally invested in their work, and without a sense of autonomy. 

Is that how you want to be spending a third of your life?

These people don’t have that moment of freefall that changes their lives for the better. 

Are you a person who could benefit from a moment of freefall? 

Stuck yet still trying to figure out what you really want in life?

Do you find yourself:

• Fearing you are not being good enough
• Second-guessing yourself
• Doubting your choices
• Ruminating
• Fearing judgement
• Experiencing Imposter Syndrome

Do you find yourself feeling some of these feelings?

• Overwhelmed
• Trapped
• Stuck
• Like you are on a spinning wheel
• Unmotivated
• the weight of the golden handcuffs
• Lost
• Disconnected
• Emotionally detached
• Disengaged
• Unsatisfied
• Longing for something
• Flat
• Empty
• Fear

It doesn’t have to be that way. 

Click here to Get in touch, and if we are a good fit to work together, maybe we can discover your true path together, just Like Larissa did.

Larissa Felt the Same – “It’s too late for me to change”

Under the guise of being a successful architect, she was not loving her life; she was doing it as a means to pay the bills, but that is it. 

She saw years of wasted study, years dedicated to a profession that wasn’t “what I wanted to do” This is tough for someone to fathom, tough for someone to admit to, tough for someone to take action to make a change.  

How can we reframe this?

We explored this idea in depth. Slowly, Larissa began to understand she had spent years working towards where she is now, to this moment where she has the choice to pursue what she is genuinely passionate about, make a meaningful impact, or return to the unfulfilling, unsatisfying career she had come from. 

Everything that you have been working towards in your life has brought you to this point. 

We considered this question:

In 10 years, when you look back at this point in your life; what action, what change, and what attitude could make this the best thing that ever happened to you? 

Larissa considered this. She decided it was time to take control of her life and stop ‘wasting time’ in a career that was not aligned with her. 

She found a new path. 

We worked together to take care of her responsibilities. We arranged her: 

• Finances 
• Childcare 
• Her time 
• Her actions 
• Her goals 

We put things in place to support her and her family through this transitional phase.  

She is using the knowledge and skills she learned as an architect to build a future that is suited to her. She is pursuing a new career but has returned to study for now. Larissa didn’t think she would get into university, but she did, and now she loves it. She has a new sense of confidence, meaning and purpose in her life, and with this comes a new level of drive and motivation. 

She is studying and submitting work that aligns with her values and the impact she wishes to make in the world. She clearly sees where she wants to be in three years and knows exactly how she will get there. 

This vision of her life is totally in line with who she wishes to be. It aligns with what she wants to be known for and the example she wants to set for her children. She is doing it in a way that is meaningful and aligned with her. To her values, her needs, her family’s needs and the example she wishes to be. 

• She is an advocate for sustainability, culture, honesty, and integrity. 
• She is volunteering at the state library in Victoria.
• She is a fantastic example for her children, and she shapes the world around her. 
• Her values, actions and goals are all aligned. 
• She is an inspiration to those around her. 

She is fulfilled. She is satisfied. She is content.

The Lessons on Life satisfaction

True life satisfaction does not come from reaching your ever-increasing goals. It comes from having meaningful, aligned goals.

Satisfaction comes from working towards meaningful goals across the domains of your life. Goals that result from actions you love to take regularly. Goals that you love the consistent action needed to work towards them. These are goals that fulfil your values and needs while you work towards them. 

• If you want 6-pack abs but hate exercise. It’s never going to happen. 

• If you want to run a marathon but can’t get yourself out of bed early to hit the pavement before work. It’s never going to happen. 

• If you love writing for that quiet hour before your children wake up, you will write your blogs, articles or books. 

• If you love your deep connection with your clients and the difference it makes in people’s lives, you will continue to grow a business that gives you more opportunities to connect.

• If you’re passionate about your work and believe in what you do, you will continue to make the difference you make. You will continue to show up and keep doing what fulfils you.

It comes back to that old quote from Confucius.

“Choose a job you love, and you will never have to work a day in your life.”

Confucius

Ask yourself, Am I using your time wisely?  Am I the sort of person I want to be? 

If the answer is no, then maybe it’s time for growth or change. 

If the answer is no, it’s not time to criticise yourself and fill yourself with self-doubt or uncertainty. It’s not time to judge yourself for your past actions or for making the wrong choices. Everything you have done has led you to this point. 

It is time to look at your life and see what areas need your attention. Use the wheel of life. Give yourself a rating for each domain. What needs attention?

You are an amazing person who deserves to be satisfied. You deserve to lead a meaningful and impactful life.  

If this resonates with you and you want to explore how I could help you fast-track your transition, Click here and Let’s talk. 

Get in touch

“In the middle of a huge career change storm, Hayley was a beacon  for a safe journey through the thick of it. We worked together side by side and I am deeply grateful for her constancy in offering powerful tools, knowledge, insights and highly professional help. In more than one session I had a break through. For example, I realised that I have spent exactly half of my life into a career my heart has never truly been into. This includes years of studying, training and working. I had no idea of which career to jump onto, so with Hayley we worked on my main areas of interests, filtering and refining those into ideas and finally into concepts. At first it was scary, heartbreaking, disheartening and then it all flipped onto excitement, joy, grit, resilience and purpose. We had those talks about “I wish I could just wake up in the morning and don’t feel the drag of a life made  of chores”. I feel very lucky I can go through this and find my true path, more so that I could do it supported by Hayley. She is very flexible and very respectful. She knows how to listen and which questions to ask at the right time. She gave me very useful tools that I will continue to use after this work with her. Her passion for her job is contagious, she brings joy and she has always a smile to share. Hayley has certified training, a career change experience herself and keeps everything confidential. I strongly recommend her if you want to find the fire that keeps burning, the one from your passions and zest for life.” 

Larissa, 20 January, 2024