Lessons Learned from Being Made Redundant: Adventure bound, more ups than downs.

In the broadest sense, my plan is to Stop-Recharge-Re-engage-Restart – I intentionally wanted to take time out from work, as this is (hopefully) a once-in-a-lifetime opportunity.

I've been unemployed for five weeks; it started with some complete downtime, but with a big hole where my job used to be, I went through a funk (see article 1), and now I am Recharging (see update 2), let’s call it more ups than downs.

Job Updates

I’ve not applied for any roles or spoken to any recruiters that comes in the Re-engage phase, which I am fast approaching.

Of those roles that I applied the rocking chair test to…

1.??????I am waiting to hear back post-interview from one amazing opportunity with a cool crew.

2.??????I was turned down without being shortlisted for one possibly cool role.

3.??????I had a constructive feedback session with the physiological and acumen testing company that the first role I unsuccessfully applied for used to augment their interview.

Adventure bound: A stag party and being the part

When I was younger, for my stag party, my father (best man) organised a boy’s trip to tramp up Scafell Pike, the tallest mountain in England (shout out to any of my stags reading this). We had all sorts of stags, those that were experienced on the fells, those with all the gear, those with none, those that had never done anything like this before and were totally out of their comfort zone, and everything in between, oh and my dad.?I wore a stupid hat and carried a rugby ball.?The adventure was great as those less experienced were supported by those more. On the way back down, some ran, some talked, and others could barely walk.

When the tramp ended, there were many drinks, food and good company. Sadly, I don’t have any photos of my evening attire, which consisted of jeans and a black tee shirt with a yellow Australian/watch out for wallabies’ logo.?It had had the sleeves ripped off and was two sizes too small. I was so embarrassed, mainly because it was subtle enough for passers-by to believe I was a poorly dressed Australian tourist rather than a Kiwi dressed up for his stag do.

Anyway, my Dad. The week before the tramp, he’d walked the route to make sure he knew the way and any dangers etc. No one asked him to do that, and he didn’t tell anyone about it; just part of his process, I guess. He’s done a lot of walking/tramping/mountain/rock climbing in his time, but you would never know to look at him.

Amidst the blush of Gore-Tex and fuss of expensive technical lightweight clothing, he stood proud, with a pair of jeans, a check shirt, steal-toe cap work boots, and a plastic carrier bag of sandwiches – the polar opposite of the old saying ‘All the gear, but no idea’ ?he led us to the top, and back down again with cries of ‘just round the corner, or “over the next hill” (as is the job of many a father)

In a business context, it’s hard not to bias attention towards those well-dressed, forward-speaking people in our lives who may well be brilliant leaders.?But make sure you also seek out the introvert in gumboots and with their kid’s lunch box in a pack-and-save bag, who may actually be the leader that you need; remember, it’s easier to “look the part” rather than “be the part”.

Mount Hector

….we had a cloudy day; this is what it should have looked like.

On a misty wet day, I stood on the Akatarawa Saddle, with my adventure buddy Brandin Jansen van Vuuren . We were wearing all the gear. Carrying three days of food and technical clothing with a 50km tramp with 3,000 metres of elevation in front of us. ?That bag was heavy, and I wanted to know if, since I had all the gear, did I actually have any idea?

Time will tell.

However, I was grateful that I had done my practice walk, got some new boots, camped the night on Kapapanui and learned from both; I went over my kit list in my head – we checked the weather and set off. ?It’s important to take a humble approach to such adventures, as you may need to turn back, take a plan B or ask for help at any time; overconfidence is a killer in real situations. We felt well-prepared and ready.

I will remind myself of that moment in the business context when I have a challenge ahead or face extreme self-confidence or over-critical self-doubt. You really don’t want to get caught by the Dunning Kruger effect or its inverse, imposter syndrome.

The first day took us to Renata hut for lunch – by this time, we were soaked to the bone. Then up through some really difficult and steep forest to Elder hut, where we stayed for the night. During the 8 hours we were walking, we rarely got a glimpse of the sky; all was mysterious and misty, green and intertwined, swampy and boggy – I spent a while wondering if this was how Luke Skywalker found looking for Yoda on the planet Dagobah and testing out my force powers by whistling at the birds.

The journey was hard. My buddy Brandin is younger and fitter than me, yet he struggled on the first day. I was glad to be able to offer words of encouragement and care and forge ahead “just over the next hill!”?There is something about feeling responsible for others that gives me purpose and energy.

Day two took us up and out of the bush and onto the tops between our Hut and the summit of Mount Hector at 1526m, where there is a large cross to mark all the trampers lost to war. This time it was my turn to need support from my buddy.?I have vertigo, and when faced with a steep ridgeline with likely death and disaster on either side of a thin wet track, my mind goes to the worst-case scenario and plays them out in my mind on repeat. I start to lose my sure-footedness, and the constant repeating takes me away from the moment. If I am not worrying about my own fate; I obsess about those with me losing their footing.?On two occasions, I had to stop, breathe, give myself a talking to about my experience and skill, focus my vision and attention on the immediate path in front of me and keep my breathing under control, one foot in front of the other.

I saw a metaphor here for how I dealt with the path that Te Pūkenga sought to take its kaimahi on, and I don’t mean the boggy and perilous part. More that, I often found myself focusing on what could go wrong and being locked in worst-case repeat scenarios rather than trusting my skill, focusing on the next step, which I could control, and putting one foot in front of the other.?This would not have changed any outcomes, but I think it would have made my journey easier.

There were some absolutely amazing views and moments on this trip, like reaching the summit or times when the clouds cleared, and you could see forever; we live in a truly beautiful place.?There is a sense of achievement when you see the altimeter register a new height above sea level, ever closer to your goal. However, there were times when you drop back down, losing tens and even hundreds of metres as you move from ridgeline to ridgeline; at these times, it can be hard not to get disheartened or frustrated that you are losing some of those hard-fought gains knowing you’ve got to climb them again soon.

Day two ended at Kime hut, one of the coldest huts in the Tararua’s. We enjoyed warm food, a well-deserved drink and a game of cards between friends.

Day three was a long walk down to Otaki Forks. This time, after reaching the summit, we were glad to be losing altitude, the weather cleared, and the views were to die for. ?What was a cold start ended on a warm autumns’ day, and like any good adventure, it ended over a few beers. ?It was a tremendous experience overall.

I suppose that’s how I feel now, five weeks into my redundancy; there are some good days where the view is amazing, others where I’m down, perhaps overthinking things and worried about a challenge ahead, or I receive some hard-to-hear news, like not being shortlisted for a role, or reminded of my weaknesses.

There are others still where I daydream of walking through Dagobah, attempting to use the force to get the birds to whistle back to me.?One foot in front of the other, it’s only round the next corner, more ups than downs.

Some further photos from the trip

The next adventure is Mt Taranaki,??Ko Taranaki te maunga

Hopefully, the weather holds out to allow me the chance to tackle it again. The last time was 17 years ago...

Future Paul here! these are the links to the rest of the blogs I made on redundancy.

• The Post that started me writing about normalising redundancy..
• Article One: Overcoming a funk..
• Article Two: using Adventure to Recharge..
• Article Three: Adventure bound..
• Article Four: The Challenge Ahead..
• Article Five: you don't always get what you want..
• Article Six: sometimes you get something better..
• Article Seven: Life is full of OR's not And's..