Things I Learned During My Year Long Unemployment

I just signed an offer letter for a small company looking to do big things here in Rochester. (In fact it is about 3 minutes from my house! Bye Bye Jefferson Road!) I had been out of work for a little over one year. That is a long time.

I had/have some immediate thoughts on what I/my family did to survive this past year. Yes...survive. I am deliberately using that word.

1. Get your finances under control. In a hurry. We went to Defcon 1 on day 2 of my unemployment. What does D1 look like? It looks like cutting all non-essential spending. Satellite bill cut down dramatically. (Come on...you need SOME tv.) Meal planning started. No dinners out. This let us keep Family Friday Pizza Night.


2. Don't let it affect your kids. Our goal was to not disrupt our daughter's life. We had to cut violin lessons. (I think she was happy about this actually). But I went the extra mile in ensuring she was living a balanced life.


3. Exercise. Every day. We joined the local YMCA and practically LIVED there. This was $90 a month WELL spent. Especially in the summer. We ROCKED that place. And continue to do so. We extracted more ROI out of that $90 than anyone. :)


4. Work your network. I say this with the assumption that you already have a network built. If you didn't have a network in place - an ACTIVE network by the end of 2008 - you are beyond screwed. I was volunteering at a place in the Summer. It didn't work out. I got a new job earlier this week. BOTH came through my EXISTING network. I battle with the networking gurus all the time on constantly expanding your network. I like to grow organically and farm, farm, farm my relationships.


5. Have an internet presence. This helps with number 4 but it also helps you CLOSE the deal. I could SEE the hits on my Linkedin page. I could see the traffic on this site jump after I talked to people. I can't tell you the number of times people have referenced my site, my linkedin, or my twitter (which I don't use all that much) during conversations. It works.


6. Volunteer - work with kids. It will humble you. I worked a lot with my daughter's second grade class. I worked with a non-profit that worked with kids teaching them entrepreneurial skills. I coached a group of 8 and 9 year olds in a flag football league. It gives you perspective. It will keep your head on straight.


7. Open yourself up. Possibly the hardest part. Under stress, I tend to hunker down and get inside myself. Fight that urge. Let people love you. Let people help you. And most importantly ASK for their help. So easy yet near impossible. Trust me. I know.


8. Learn. Every day. I had a teacher in highschool. Freshman year. All boys school. Priest. Taught Latin. (Now you have some insight about me. :) Only man I have ever really feared. But he said something profound. He told us to make sure we read something every day. Even if it is the comics. When you read - you learn. I made sure I was using my gray matter. I took on projects that FORCED me to learn.


9. Stay positive. As the great prophet Bob Marley used to say - "Everythings gonna be all right." You have to keep a positive mental attitude. Even when you are bruised and battered. You HAVE to get up. You have to put your helmet on. And you have to go attack that rock and keep pushing it up the hill. Because ONE DAY it will not roll back down on top of you.

I hope this helps someone. If you are in this place - talk to me. I get it. I can help. Give me some love on this post - add your own tips - crab at me about how wrong I am.