Downsizing – The Good, The Bad and The Hopeful.

“If you’re brave enough to say goodbye, life will reward you with a new hello” – Paulo Coehlo

We are in the midst of a downsizing process for our impending move.? Letting go of furniture, art, and stuff accumulated since we last downsized just three years ago. We will be selling most of our furniture and all the “art” I inherited from my parents – which I thought I had to take in tribute to them.? Turns out I don’t need to keep it.? I’m so excited to finally live in a house that isn’t what I call the land of dead furniture.?

But as I was in the process of letting go, I couldn’t help but think about the metaphors for downsizing happening on a macro level right now – but instead of stuff, it’s about people. With the announcement of massive layoffs at giants like Microsoft, Google, Amazon, and Goldman Sachs the workplace has shifted from the Great Resignation to Quiet Quitting, to OMG I Don’t Want to Lose My Job.?

I know how it feels to be on the end of that downsizing- and apparently, I’m not alone as my generation has figured out the ups and downs of business over the course of our careers.

In a recession a long time ago and far away my law firm went out of business.? I went from the partner track to clutching my stapler and my fancy briefcase and wailing at the ceiling wondering what I was going to do next – and more important, how would we pay the mortgage on our brand-new house we’d just upsized to.

When I picked myself up off the floor I decided to ride my unemployment insurance all the way into becoming a full-time working actor (the least secure profession of them all) and my life ultimately changed for the better.? I didn’t know it in the moment, but as I’ve counseled clients going through enormous change personally and professionally – the best mantra is,? “No matter what’s happening around me, I’m going to be all right.”?

Replacing your expectations with new dreams is just like trading out that old couch that fits your ass so perfectly. The next couch will adjust to you, and you’ll adjust to the next couch. You just have to envision, reframe, and get up off that “couch” and start all over again.?

Lessons I learned from professional change that happens to you, rather than change you sought or chose:

1. Embrace the change. Use the opportunity to reinvent yourself and your career.?
2. Make a list of what you accomplished and contributed. Outline the skills used and leadership lessons learned.? You’ll mine this list for stories that will lift you up personally and help you share who you are professionally.?
3. Be kind to yourself. Remember more often than not what’s happened to you is not a report card on your performance. So build up your confidence (see step #2), hold your head high, and rewrite that narrative in your head.?

And what about the downsizing of stuff? ? I’m learning to be ruthless (think of me as an Outlaw Marie Kondo). Here are my tips:?

1. LET IT GO. It’s not coming with you and no one else in your family wants it, especially your kids.?
2. Make a difference with your stuff. Donate to those places that want and need it. How to make a difference for an organization that doesn’t want or need stuff? We are doing an estate sale and sending proceeds to a youth shelter called the Center for Youth.
3. Don’t buy it in the first place. I wish I’d learn that lesson with clothing - buying that dress just because it’s on sale doesn’t mean you should wear it EVER…(I knew I had way too many shoes when the last time I did an estate sale a woman stopped me on the street to tell me with pride to tell me she was wearing “Pam Sherman’s shoes.” I actually thought about buying them back they were that cute).?

And remember downsizing (of all types) can be a good thing because it makes room… for new possibilities.

The OUTLAW ONE this month is my friend Meredith Moore’s Ted talk all about talking about money with your loved ones? - what has always been taboo is now necessary.

I look forward to the opportunity to work with you or your organization to grow your EDGE: Explore, Dream, Grow & Excite? and to stay connected through this newsletter and the content we select each month from the Outlaw Leadership? column and the Suburban Outlaw? column as first published by Gannett.

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