When you hit a rock

So you’ve had a professional disappointment. You hit a rock. You were fired, laid off, called on the carpet, cutback, smacked down, humiliated or worse. Your ego still stings as you walk out of the office or hang up the phone. First, there’s the temptation to make it personal. Your lip pokes out and you start to whine. “Nobody likes me. It’s fair! I’m no good!”

Yeah, right. That’s it. You suck.

Seriously, stop it. Stop it now!  Because no one, I mean no one, likes a pity party (except the person throwing it.)

No, when you do hit a professional rock, (and you will), step back and immediately start asking questions.

1. Am I OK?

2. Is my family OK?

Those two are the most immediate things you have to ascertain. If there is no immediate danger, you start asking more questions.

1. What caused this?

2. Could it have been prevented?

3. Was it because of poor planning?

4. Was it because of poor effort?

5. What can I do to keep this from occurring again?

6. What can I learn from this?

Be brutally honest with yourself. Take personal responsibility for your situation and don’t be a victim. As I like to say, it’s not what happens to you, it’s how you react to it. You’ve been given a gift — a chance to get out of your comfort zone, to learn and grow. I know. I know from personal experience. I’ve been fired and turned it into a great opportunity. But I had to get my ego out of the way first and start asking questions. Important questions. Because you’ll keep hitting the same rocks until you do.