Mindful in 5 Podcast

The Layoff Survival Code

• Spiwe Jefferson • Season 5 • Episode 170

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Pre-order your copy of Phoenix Rising - Ignite Your Job Search

That stomach-tightening moment when a calendar notification appears - could this be the meeting that transforms decades of dedicated service into statistics? For too many professionals, career catastrophe arrives unexpectedly, challenging our very sense of identity and worth.

This Phoenix Career Chronicles episode delves into the psychological landscape of professional identity disruption through Jillian's story - a seasoned CMO whose 20-year career vanished in the shortest meeting she ever had with her boss. Her poignant realization that "loyalty is just a legacy code that doesn't compute anymore" captures the disillusionment many feel when discovering their dedication hasn't guaranteed stability.

When career shocks strike, leverage the innovative centering technique we explore in this episode to help you find your emotional anchor.

What makes the "Phoenix Rising" job search approach unique is its focus on whole-person renewal rather than just resume renovation. Your professional journey continues to be written with each mindful step, creating not just a path to your next position, but a more centered, resilient version of yourself. Career disruption becomes professional elevation when approached with strategic optimism and mindful intention.

Join our community of thriving leaders navigating complex work environments with clarity and purpose. 

Transform career setbacks into powerful comebacks with mindful strategies and AI tools that helped me land executive roles as shared in my upcoming book, 'Phoenix Rising - Ignite Your Job Search.' Secure your spot in our exclusive Early Bird community for pre-launch access and an intimate launch event by pre-ordering through the Phoenix Career Chronicles podcast show notes or at spiwejefferson.com today.



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Speaker 1:

Welcome to Mindful in 5, where busy professionals find your peaceful oasis to thrive in complex work environments. I am Spiwa Jefferson attorney, certified mindfulness practitioner and author of the Mindful in 5 book series. Here to guide you to a clearer, softer and more supported life. Join me and your fellow mindful ninjas as we explore science-backed mindfulness strategies for successful leaders that you can implement, starting with just five minutes a day. Elevate your work, empower your life, work higher, live stronger. Let's go. That sound your stomach tightens, your chest constricts, because somewhere in your neural pathways you know that innocent calendar notification could be the meeting, the one that transforms decades of dedicated service into statistics. You've seen it happen to others the carefully and these days not so carefully scripted corporate language, the avoided eye contact, the hollow promises to stay in touch. But you never thought it would be your story until it was. Welcome to the Phoenix Career Chronicles, where we unpack job search strategies to help you rise from the ashes of career catastrophe and soar into your next adventure.

Speaker 1:

Today we are illuminating the psychological landscape of professional identity disruption through the lens of Jillian, a seasoned chief marketing officer at an apparel company whose 20-year career evaporated in the shortest meeting she ever had with her boss. At least it was in person, I suppose At least it was in person. I suppose the hardest part she confided to her husband, gene, I realized my entire professional identity was built on an illusion. I thought loyalty was currency, but in today's economy loyalty is just a legacy code that doesn't compute anymore. Loyalty is just a legacy code that doesn't compute anymore. So this is Jillian's experience and that is her disappointment. Picture this she starts her Wednesday like any other. 20 years of dedicated service shape her professional identity. Then a short meeting rewrites her entire career story. Part of the disappointment she shares with her husband is that she thought if she worked hard, dedicated herself to the company, it would love her back and take care of her. That belief pattern may be dwindling these days, but it's one that many professionals have carried in their career expectation toolkit If I work hard, give 110%, I will be rewarded by the company taking care of me too. But today there are many, many people in the workforce who are learning. Not only that, that is not true, but some are being dismissed in the most casual, dismissive, demeaning and degrading ways, as if their life's work and dedication meant absolutely nothing. So today we are taking a step towards rewiring that narrative. We are exploring how career renewal through mindful transition strategies can activate your inherent capacity for transformation.

Speaker 1:

Let's explore what I call the alive centering technique, a neuropsychological approach to emotional anchoring when career shocks destabilize your professional identity. And, by the way, you can use this any time that this centering technique can help you, regardless of where you are in your career journey. To practice this technique, find a quiet place where you can sit uninterrupted. Sit in an ergonomically correct posture spine straight, legs at 90 degrees to your torso and calves and feet if you are in a chair, or you can do what I prefer, which is to sit cross-legged on the floor on a meditation pillow to support your spine.

Speaker 1:

So, first, acknowledge your physical sensations. This isn't just mindfulness. It is pattern interruption for your nervous system. It is pattern interruption for your nervous system. Take 90 seconds to scan your body. Notice where career anxiety lives physically. Is it in your belly, in your shoulders, in your shoulders pulsating or pounding stress in your head? Acknowledge your physical sensations. Next, label emotions without judgment. Remember emotions are data, not directives.

Speaker 1:

Try this reframe. For example, this is panic seeking expression, not truth defining my worth. Let's pause right there and do this together. Ground yourself in the present moment with me. If you are stressed out about something at work, stop what you're doing and let's just be still together. Put your hand over your heart and take three deep breaths Inhale, exhale, inhale, exhale. Now repeat this phrase after me. This is panic-seeking expression, not truth defining my worth Again. This is panic-seeking expression, not truth defining my worth. One more time. This is panic seeking expression, not truth defining the I in alive is for inhale through your nose and out.

Speaker 1:

What you might have noticed is that when we did it together, it caused you to slow down. It is very hard to be fearful when your body is calm. Those two things don't exist in the same space together, and so if you are panicked this is why, when people are hyperventilating on planes, one of the things that they're given is a bag the I in alive is for inhale. One of the things you might have noticed is that when we did that breathing exercise together, your body probably slowed down. It calmed down, it slowed me down. I can feel the change in the energy even as I was leading us through that exercise. This is a deliberate parasympathetic activation calibrating your nervous system for greater calm and clarity. Sometimes we wait until we are calm to think clearly, but what this hopefully shows you is that you can actually do it the other way. You can gain clarity by essentially breathing your body into calmness and tricking your brain into being more calm, just by breathing.

Speaker 1:

The V in ALIVE is visualize your professional safe space. Sometimes, when we are anxious about something, it gets so big in our minds that you kind of feel like everything is this one problem. And being able to access a memory of a past achievement or a future vision that you're excited about can create new neural pathways of possibility and restore you to your optimistic, resilient self. The E in ALIVE is express one career gratitude. This can also facilitate strategic reframing and hopefully you can think of at least one thing to be grateful for related to your career journey or the job you have now.

Speaker 1:

I can list a whole bunch of things, why they pay me to work there. I love my boss. I think he is absolutely amazing. I really enjoy working with my senior leadership team. They are an awesome group of smart, capable, competent individuals. We challenge each other, we wrestle ideas to the ground always, always with the goal of coming up with the best solutions for our company. I am grateful to be in the company of the kind of people who are so focused and so well-intentioned, both towards one another as well as towards our organization. That is an amazing place to work. Those are just the career gratitude components that I have in my head, that I can come up with head that I can come up with when I think about my career.

Speaker 1:

Over the spectrum of my existence. It has not been predictable and yet it has landed me in the place where I wanted to get to. At times it felt like I was climbing a ladder. At times it felt a bit like an electrocardiograph Wildly unpredictable swings sometimes. And I am grateful for all the ups, the downs, all the plateaus, because all of them brought me here. And so expressing career gratitude doesn't require you to ignore the challenges. It isn't calling you to just see the things about your career that were easy or that you liked. It is embracing the entire journey, because every part of that journey brought you to the person that you are and to the point in your career where you are.

Speaker 1:

And so this is how you practice the ALIVE technique. Brief recap the ALIVE technique stands for acknowledge your physical sensations, label your emotions without judgment. Inhale slowly, visualize your professional safe space and then express one career gratitude. Express one career gratitude. These and more strategies can help you redefine your experience, from sitting in the ashes of despair to soaring to your next adventure. Finally, transform your career disruption into professional elevation, into professional elevation. Your professional journey is still being written and with each mindful step, you're not just seeking a new position, you are creating a more centered, resilient version of yourself. Thank you for joining me today on Mindful in 5. Stay present, stay purposeful and keep building your path forward with strategic optimism. Until next week, this is Be Weighed, saying be mindful and be well.

Speaker 2:

Thank you for listening to Mindful in 5. If you enjoyed it, share it with a friend, follow and rate it on your favorite podcast platform. Pick up your signed copy of the book and journal from spewayjeffersoncom, or unsigned copies from Amazon, barnes, noble or wherever you get your books. Visit spewayjeffersoncom to download sample chapters of the book, watch videos and become a mindful ninja. Join us on the LinkedIn Mindful in 5 group and share your thoughts. Until next time, be mindful and be well.