Unemployed: What This Experience Taught Me About Life

Hello friends! I am going to ever so briefly apologize for my social absence during these past few months. I wrote about my job loss back in March and then quickly realized that I had a rare opportunity to fully embrace my "time off"... so that is precisely what I did. I unplugged, focused on family and friends, and moved all of my professional efforts and relationships to the back burner. If I'm being honest I'm not really sorry about it, but for what it's worth I wanted to share with you all, my incredible community, an explanation for my social absence.

So what exactly have I been up to since March?! Let me share with you some insights, if I may, from being unemployed and navigating that experience... here are some lessons learned:

First off, a people-first mentality isn't just for the professional world. I'll be the first to admit that during the week when I'm putting in 40-60 hours of work, it is quite difficult to balance a healthy work and home life. Not only that, but after a long week of work, it almost seems like I need to burn a Saturday not doing much of anything just to unwind. So after a week of flipping the balance to favor family time, I quickly learned that I needed to re-commit to putting my family first in ways that matter most. Sure, you can say you work five days a week to provide for your family, but if you are just putting a roof over their heads and otherwise absent in their lives beyond that, you're not really putting them first... makes sense? So I quickly learned that a people-first (or in this case a family-first) mentality needs to be used both at work AND at home.

Second, living life with integrity isn't just good idea, it's a way of life that gives back in dividends. We all have a moral compass to navigate us through tough decisions and mantras that help us persist through tough times, but I can't begin to describe how good it feels to be a part of this feedback loop of positivity you find yourself in when you choose to live every day with a high level of integrity. I know in my heart that I left my last job with my head held high, but I never could imagine the support I received from others - past co-workers, mentors, you all in my professional network - reassuring me that I did right by them and the communities I was a part of. And don't get me wrong, many of the decisions in life are not at all tough, or extreme, but there's a reason we compare hard rights to easy wrongs... and when you choose to make that hard right over the easy wrong over and over again, it begins to pay off in dividends that matter most in life. I've been fortunate to experience this over and over, especially in these last few months and I have learned that even if it takes awhile, good will come back to those that continue to do the right thing.

Lastly, being true to yourself is always better than compromising who you are to get ahead in life. Sometimes we make mistakes, and sometimes who we are doesn't always align with others, be it socially, professionally, or otherwise... but knowing thyself and being true to who you are will only ever impact your life in a positive way even if it doesn't seem like it right away. I learned a while ago that when it comes to building new relationships, friendships, and even networking connections, being yourself will set you up for stronger bonds with people who you can trust to lean on when times get tough. Not only that, but it also makes those tough times not so tough at all! And most importantly, it makes it much easier to identify people that don't have your best interests at heart. Trying to be someone you're not for the sake of getting the job or hoping someone will like you more only hurts you in the long run, so do yourself a favor and surround yourself with those that accept you for who you truly are.

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So now you may be saying, "That's all great Justin, but what does that have to do with being unemployed and finding the next job?" and my answer is this:

For better or worse, I decided that I would use these lessons and the strict criteria that may come with them as filters for my next job, my next opportunity to do something meaningful in life. I didn't filter by salary range, I didn't try to make up experiences to fit the job descriptions I was applying for, and I didn't submit 60 applications a week like I did the last time I was unemployed (which ended up being a complete waste of time in retrospect anyways.) I made a commitment to myself that I would look for something that 1) gave my life purpose, 2) would encourage me to invest in my own personal wellness and that of my family, and 3) would have an organizational culture that would allow me to be myself above all else.

It was NOT easy... and there were at least a few times where I questioned if this was just some pie-in-the-sky approach that I had to abandon for the sake of coming back to reality. But I charged the batteries and then some with the time I had to spend with family, and that combined with drive and perhaps a bit of hard-headedness allowed me to push past any doubts and stick to the plan: find an organization that would give me a true sense of belonging, that would have a mission I truly believed in to my core, and that would embrace my newfound appreciation of a work and home life balance. No matter what, if I could find these three things in an organization, I knew I could figure everything else out come what may.

And with that, I'm so excited to share with you all that I found an organization that I believe meets me at all of these incredible intersections of my professional experience, character, leadership approach, and family and self-investment needs. I start my new job tomorrow to continue the work that I have so passionately done these past 10 years, serving veterans and their families through academic advancement surrounded by a strong sense of mental health and wellness... and I cannot wait to tell you all more about it later this week! It has been an incredible four months investing in my own self, falling in love with family time all over again, and perhaps most crucially finally deciding to no longer compromise on who I am and the career I want because of a title, a bottom line focus, or a paycheck. My next job will give me purpose, alongside an incredibly passionate team, and allow me to continue to invest in a community that I believe is worth investing in: my fellow veterans and their families.

Stay tuned as I share more about the organization I'll be joining, and in the meantime, I hope my insights can help you fight past any barriers that may have been holding you back! Be well, and THANK YOU for all of the incredible support you all have given me these past few months... it meant more than words could express. Cheers.