Job Loss Rescue Plan
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Losing a job can be extremely overwhelming. Job loss changes multiple areas of your life, and creates many things that need to be addressed. When faced with a potentially overwhelming task, it is critically important to break the problem down and to set effective goals.
Step 1: Break Down the Problem
Identify the most difficult or troubling changes that you are experiencing in these areas:
| Economic | Example: Making mortgage payments, car payments. |
| Emotional | Example: I feel depressed and I'm worried about finding a job. |
| Social | Example: Telling others about loss; feeling of isolation. |
| Family | Example: Explaining job loss to children. |
| Personal Identity | Example: Finding purpose after a job loss. |
Step 2: Set Effective Goals
The way we formulate goals can significantly impact our ability to achieve them. Studies have found that goals are more likely to be achieved if they have the following qualities:
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They are desirable.
The goals we set should be ones that have a desirable outcome. If the outcome is not something you want, there is little chance you will put forth the effort to achieve the goal. -
They are specific.
When pursuing a goal, it is vitally important to be able to understand exactly what is expected of you. For example:- a vague goal is: “I will look for work every day.”
- a specific goal is: “I will look at two classified listings and make three follow-up job calls per day.“
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They are measurable.
It is equally important that you are able to assess your progress on achieving your goals. In the above example, the second goal is measurable as well as specific because it specifies exactly how many activities are involved.
Select one of the concerns that you identified above and identify an outcome that would address it. Try to formulate a goal that will achieve that outcome. Remember to make your goals desirable, specific and measurable.
| Economic | Example: I want to organize my monthly finances now that I have lost my job. |
| Emotional | Example: I want to be able to lessen the anxiety I feel about my situation. |
| Social | Example: I want to maintain contact with my friends and family. |
| Family | Example: I want to explain my job loss to my kids in a way they can understand. |
| Personal Identity | Example: I will acknowledge and express my feelings of loss about my job loss. |
Identify the actions you will need to take to achieve these goals.
| Economic | Example: I will make a list of my monthly income. I will make a list of my monthly expenses. I will review my expenses and determine which monthly costs can be reduced or eliminated. |
| Emotional | Example: I will review the tips in the Managing Your Mood section of this article. I will complete at least one of the steps from Managing Your Mood whenever I feel anxious. |
| Social | Example: I will make a list of my friends, family and business contacts. Each night before bed I will make a list of three people who I will see or contact the next day. I will spend at least 30 minutes a day with a friend or family member. |
| Family | Example: I will review the Family Survival Guide in this article. I will talk with my partner and plan a conversation to explain our situation to our kids. We will talk to our kids. I will check in weekly with my kids to see how they are doing and answer questions. |
| Personal Identity | Example: I will review the tips in the Job Loss and Grief section of this article. I will review the Grief Survival Tips and try at least 3 of them. |
