6 Ways To Survive Being Laid Off

With the economy the way it is, many companies are downsizing. It’s not a news flash that we are in an economic crisis. If you suspect your job is in jeopardy, here are six tips to help you thrive in the event of a layoff. But even if a layoff is not in your future, though you many not know it, take the time to follow these simple steps to enhance your life!

1. Collect what is owed to you. File any outstanding expense reports, and collect any remaining vacation or overtime pay that’s owed to you. It’s important that you tie up any financial loose ends before your departure. Remember, you worked for these benefits and are therefore rightfully entitled to collect them.

2. Don’t take it personally. Unlike getting fired, a layoff is usually not related directly to poor performance but rather to lack of business, or even budget cuts. You may be quite proficient and an asset, but if you are the company’s most recent hire, or if your department is being cut out altogether, your position may be at risk. Keep in mind that you’re being laid off because your employer is having trouble in a tough economy, and not because you aren’t a great at what you do. 

3. Make job searching your full-time job. Create a project and set goals for yourself that’s built completely around job hunting. Schedule time for updating and sending out your resume, tailoring cover letters, scheduling information interviews, networking, and attending events hosted by trade organizations. This will help you to maintain the structure you need to propel you forward in finding a job and will give you a sense of accomplishment at the end of each day. 

4. Manage your finances wisely. Be frugal and plan for the worst case scenario. Try to stretch out your severance pay (if you received any) or your savings for as long as possible. Save money by cutting out nice-to-have but unnecessary expenses such as cable TV and dining out. And even if money is very tight, resist using your credit cards for purchases. If you have outstanding credit card debts, make it a priority to pay off as much of the monthly balance as possible by the due date. 

Warning! Don’t tap into your retirement funds unless you absolutely have to. Dipping into your RRSP savings (money which you’ve worked hard to save) can have serious financial consequences that include paying taxes and penalties of up to one-half of any withdrawal you make.

5. Start your own business. What do Wikipedia, Microsoft and MTV Networks all have in common? All three of these businesses were started during an economic slump. Perhaps you have an idea that you’ve been waiting to turn into a business. If you have the financing, tenacity and passion to start your own business, this may be the ideal time to do it. Many successful entrepreneurs attest to the fact that starting a business during a recession forces them to focus more and take a harder look at whether or not their ideas are feasible. If your business turns out to be profitable during a recession, once the economy bounces back you’re likely to be even more successful. Remember to take the opportunity to thrive and move forward when others are hiding under their shell.

6. Stay positive. In addition to putting your energy towards returning to gainful employment, it’s essential that you also make time to do the things that interest you and alleviate stress. Exercising, working on home projects and volunteering are all things that you can do to remain upbeat. Keep a healthy and positive attitude and you’ll be back in business in no time! Think about all the things you can get done that you couldn’t get done before…because you were working so much. Take this time to smell the roses, regroup, breathe and enjoy your family.

Time to move onward and upward and not wallow in your self-pity for this will keep you down and non productive! This too shall pass.

Nicole Gruendl
Life and Success Coach
Nicole@NicoleGruendl.com

Bullying and Your Personal Power

Being a coach, I have become more aware of people who forgo their personal power to avoid confrontation, search for peace, and have acceptance.

These situations come at a great expense to your personal being. You become quiet, lose your self esteem, become confused, often depressed and find that you not longer know who you are.
I have been involved in such situations and have now found my personal power and believe and trust my own personal judgment. My “gut” feeling.
Starting out as a coach in support for single parents and stay at home moms, I often saw such circumstances arise. Many had no self esteem, had no drive left, they were so committed to their family that they lost themselves. And then were put in a situation where they are told that it’s their JOB and that they have not amounted to anything because they don’t have a real job outside the home. All they do is take care of the kids. This is part of my own story.

That exchange of words was quite unsettling for me. I thought of myself as a powerful, intelligent and superb mother and wife. Instead of me standing in my power, I let myself be demeaned over and over again. I wanted stability, I didn’t want any sort of confrontation. I just wanted it all to go away. What happens with this type of scenario is that it strengthens the “bully” and sends the person on the receiving end into more of a downward spiral. This encounter led me to dive deeper into the curious cave of personal power and trust.

Bullying comes is presented in many different ways in life. Amazingly enough, children who bully throughout their younger years feel the need to continue throughout their adulthood. This is the reflection upon many abusive marriages and relationships. The need for control and self preservation is so high they do not care who it affects in their lives. Sadly, this has become such an issue in our society that we have Special days to Stop the abuse.

With reflection from those past moments, I wanted to work and empower women, single, married, stay at home or out in the work force. For may of us carry these burdens from one environment to the next. Owning your power is an integral part of personal happiness, fulfilling connections and achieving your potential. You give your power away when you make someone outside of you more important than what you hold inside of you.
Noticing this not only in your home environment but also in the work place is essential for the staff, the coworkers and the facility in general.
Working in the health care industry, the people that these negatives surroundings affects the most are the patients. What I saw was a conflict with the employees that was not at all what one would expect. They are all here to tend to their patients with love and caring and yet, they have difficulty even talking to their co-workers?
So keeping with your personal power, your essence, you become stronger, more confident and your self esteem will sky rocket. This is a process and it’s a transition that will begin when you say “ I LOVE MYSELF”, and believe it.

These are ways how you give your personal power away :

–Searching for validation by over powering
–Wanting approval for every action
–Losing faith in yourself Forget that you know what you’re doing, and you are good at it.
–Any boundaries are lost
–Any self doubt
–Be intimidated by loud, obnoxious people
–Be a victim of emotional assaults
–Go against your personal beliefs
–Attempting to please everyone around you


But you can keep your personal power when you:

–Believe in yourself and trust your inner feelings.
–Ask for what you need and want.
–Believe the fact that you have earned the respect from others
–Be non judgmental. Do onto others as you would like done to you
–Spend time with like minded people
–Never stop being the loving and caring person you know yourself to be
–Learn to say “No” and mean it, no matter what the outcome

Owning your power means speaking your truth, honoring your sensitivity, and believing in yourself. Your life experience, education, personal relationships, and curiosity make you wise.  Always believe in yourself and if need be, tell the bullies to shove off!

“You yourself, as much as anybody in the entire universe, deserve your love and affection.” Buddha

Nicole Gruendl
Life Success Coach
E: Nicole@NicoleGruendl.com
W: www.NicoleGruendl.com

8 Ways to Change Your Negative Ways of Thinking

Sometimes life just happens. Everyone around you is saying when the going gets tough, the tough get going. Just forget it all happened. Yeah right. Pretty hard to do when things are going sideways. However, you can change your state of mind rather than dwelling on the negative aspects of it all. This is far from the rah rah articles that you read all the time, the “just think this way and your life will flourish.” This is REAL! It’s about changing your whole thought process.

Anything familiar in here?

1.‘My life sucks’ Way of Thinking – You are not happy with anything in your life. Everyone and everything that you associate with is bad. All the people have an agenda and it’s not positive. All is wrong in the world

2.‘Jumping to the wrong conclusions’ Way of Thinking– You jump ahead and making decisions without any substantial evidence. This is such a negative and destructive pattern that can effect you in all aspects of your life. Reality is so clouded that you create your own visions of events without thinking sensibly. You tend to make a lot of conclusions without any evidence to back up your conclusions.

3.‘Poor me syndrome’ Way of Thinking – Nothing good and worth while will ever happen to you. You’re not worthy. This is such a self destructive thought process and is stemming from a serious lack of self esteem.

4.‘Everyones’ negative thoughts ’ Way of Thinking – You think everyone around you is thinking negative thoughts about you and how you are. This leads to your own self depleting thought process and everything around you is bad.

5.‘I should have, could have but didn’t’ – Way of Thinking – You know exactly what it takes to succeed and move forward to change your life. You have all the tools and are quite capable. The only thing you are missing is the action to move things in the right direction. Stuck in the IF ONLY syndrome.

6.‘Losing control of your Emotions’ Way of Thinking – Everything you are thinking and doing is based on your emotions and the inability to focus on what is real. This links to your lack of self esteem and you not being worthy of success.

7.‘It’s all my fault’ Way of Thinking – You blame yourself for everything bad that is happening around you and your friends and family. You are the cause for every negative event that transpired in your life. Everything is your fault.

8.‘Nobody else is as capable as I am’ Way of Thinking – Nobody can do anything as you. You feel that everyone around you is incompetent and that you just do everything yourself so you don’t need to rely on anybody else.

I just revealed to you some of the most common ways of thinking that we all go through in our lives. I was very fond of the drama and the emotions way of thinking. In fact, I was a master of it. Then the poor me would kick in and we would all have a big party together! Wow what a productive and fun life that was! But I made a decision to change all that. I chose to become a coach and that action alone began my life changing process. Don’t get me wrong, I’m far from perfect but I am real and I am human. I am learning and growing all the time. I made the decision to make those changes and change my “state” once and for all. I love my life and I want you to be have the ability to change that thought process as well, once and for all.
This is how I did it!

Admitting there is a need for change – It’s called denial! I don’t have a problem, I don’t need to change. If you like the way you are and do not feel the need to change, then don’t. If you want this change then you have to see how you perceive your life. We are all different and everyone’s life and circumstances are different. This all comes down to how we think in our daily life. If you think that things are outstanding then they will be outstanding and you will manifest things as such.

How you use these destructive ways of thinking – We make the decision to think positively from a powerful place. Using different thought processes and patterns depending on the circumstances and events that occur. Recognizing when you use our negative thinking process supports you in changing the thought patterns and changing your state.

Changing your “state” – Your state is where you are in your thought process, your state of mind. How to change it is an exercise, that with practice will come you to you naturally. You can choose to do it slowly or use this thought process to speed up the results.

Get sad…and as soon as you get sad, get sadder, and sadder and then even more sad…almost weeping. The think of something that instantly makes you feel happy. Now repeat this process with quicker changes…make sense? Practice this exercise on an ongoing basis and when you start to think of anything that is less than happy, you know how to instantly change your state.

It’s all in the action and the desire to change, nothing else. If there is the want to then there is a way to. Always is!
The new Ways of Thinking
Now that you have been able to recognize some of the destructive thinking patterns that you have acquired throughout your life, you also have the a few ideas on how to change those patterns.
It’s a choice…you either want to be happy and live a fulfilling and joyful life or you don’t. It really is that simple.
In a short period of time you will notice on how you react to events and people in your life, and how they react to you.

Remember, do onto others….

You will also attract like minded people. Do this little test and see how it works out for you.
Smile at several different people throughout your day, say good morning or just say HI and see what reaction you get. Then do the opposite, be grumpy and ignorant and see what happens. Bet you like the first reactions more.

Just don’t think about wanting to be happy, make a powerful decision to change today.

Nicole Gruendl
Life Success Coach
E: Nicole@NicoleGruendl.com
W: www.NicoleGruendl.com

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