| "The life which is unexamined is not worth | | | | intensely practical advice. |
| living." | | | | |
| | | | In our career-obsessed age, hard blows can |
| --Plato | | | | come from either being passed over for a |
| | | | promotion or losing your job. Few will be |
| Irresistible forces affect your personal life | | | | immune from these events over the course of a |
| as well as the lives of your family's members | | | | working life. Even entrepreneurs who start |
| and, indeed, the lives of everyone with whom | | | | their own businesses may face the equivalent |
| you come in contact. As examples to spur your | | | | challenges to their role in the company. |
| thinking, consider the following things that | | | | |
| are especially apt to be influenced by | | | | Rather than living optimistically in the |
| irresistible forces: | | | | vague hope that neither negative job event |
| | | | will happen to you, you should always be |
| -Sources of frustration and anger | | | | prepared to see the events for what they are, |
| | | | opportunities for you to flourish. If you are |
| -Time wasters | | | | passed over for promotion, take it as an |
| | | | indication that you have some improving to do |
| -Joyless tasks | | | | to make yourself the most appealing candidate |
| | | | and then do something positive along those |
| -Continuing disagreements with others | | | | lines. |
| | | | |
| -Health problems | | | | You can choose to nurse your wounds or you |
| | | | can choose to find out how you need to |
| -Loss of loved ones | | | | improve. The latter action will help you a |
| | | | lot more than the former. |
| -Loss of job | | | | |
| | | | How about losing a job? How can that have a |
| -Limited effectiveness | | | | silver lining? That occurrence is one of the |
| | | | most severe emotional wounds that many people |
| -Financial problems. | | | | experience in their lives, right up there |
| | | | with the death of loved ones and divorce. |
| If you are struggling against personal | | | | However, losing that job can provide you with |
| irresistible forces rather than using them to | | | | the impetus to reconsider how well your work |
| your and your family's advantage, you'll be | | | | really fit you. |
| draining lots of energy from your life and | | | | |
| feeling a fair amount of frustration. By | | | | Now that you have to look around for |
| consciously thinking about how to turn these | | | | something else, you may be able to find a |
| irresistible forces to your advantage, you'll | | | | better job fit. Or you may be able to learn |
| overcome personal stalls and create | | | | what you need to do differently to avoid |
| breakthrough solutions where they will be the | | | | being at risk in losing another job. |
| most satisfying to you and those you care | | | | |
| most about. | | | | Then you can use those lessons to be more |
| | | | successful in the next job. We all learn a |
| Be Practical and Look for the Silver Lining | | | | lot faster from things that don't work out as |
| | | | we had hoped than we do from our successes. |
| One of the lessons of irresistible force | | | | |
| management is that all irresistible forces | | | | In addition, there may be irresistible forces |
| can be used to your benefit. Thus, when life | | | | at work that were affecting your last |
| seems to have hit you with a hard blow, that | | | | employer that you need to adapt to in future |
| same lesson can help you to see that there is | | | | employment. That realization, too, can be a |
| also a potential benefit that can be used to | | | | very valuable lesson. |
| make your life much better. | | | | |
| | | | Finally, you may find a new job that has more |
| But you have to take the time to look for the | | | | free time associated with it so you can |
| silver lining. Rather than seeing this idea | | | | pursue more time with your family and your |
| as part of some mantra to always think | | | | personal interests. Now, that can be really |
| positively, think of this instead as | | | | great! |