The quiet space before the best part of your story

For anyone who just lost their job or feels it slipping away.

A year and a half ago, I lost my job.

I remember the feeling exactly. The floor disappearing. The quiet panic of not knowing what comes next. And underneath it all, a question I didn’t dare say out loud: what if this is it?

It wasn’t. It was the beginning.

But lately, that feeling has been finding its way back to me not through my own life this time, but through people I care about. Friends in Germany. In the US. In Romania. Good, talented people, suddenly without work. The pressure is real, and I won’t pretend it isn’t.

So this week’s episode is different. No guest. Just me, talking to one person in particular. If that person is you, this letter is yours too.

What I wish someone had told me

The first thing, and the most important: desperation will not help you. I know how that sounds when the bills are real and the inbox is silent. But when you panic, you spiral. One negative thought pulls in the next, and before long you can’t think clearly at all and you make your worst decisions from that place.

So I’ll say the counterintuitive thing. Step away from the news for a while. Let yourself enjoy the summer. You don’t need to travel anywhere. Stay on top of your expenses, keep that steady but within that, give yourself permission to actually rest before deciding what comes next. Meet a friend. Read the books you never had time for. Cook your favourite meals slowly. Sit in the sun, even when it’s too warm, which it seems to be everywhere these days.

And here is one I love: spend time around children if you can. Yours, or borrow a friend’s little one for an afternoon. Children have a way of pulling you straight back into joy. For a few moments, they take you into their world and your mind goes quiet.

That’s the part that matters most. When your mind goes quiet, it opens.

My reflections

In that stressful, busy job, running from task to task, you didn’t have space for a single new idea. There was no room. Your best thinking had nowhere to land.

But when you rest, when you free your mind, that is exactly when the idea for your next chapter arrives. The one you could never have reached while drowning in someone else’s deadlines.

That’s not me being poetic. That’s how it worked for me. Losing my job gave me the space to finally hear what I actually wanted. The book. This podcast. This letter you’re reading right now. None of it would exist if that door hadn’t closed.

And it’s what every guest on the show keeps telling me in their own words: the opportunities are still out there. You’ll see them when you slow down enough to notice and when you know yourself well enough to recognise the right one.

This is not the end of your story. It might be the quiet space right before the best part of it.

A question for you

If you suddenly had a few free weeks — no meetings, no deadlines — what is the one thing your mind has been too busy to hear?

Sit with that one. Hit reply and tell me if you like.

And if you know someone who lost their job recently, forward them this letter. It might arrive at exactly the right moment.

It does not cost you anything to share. And sharing is caring!

See you in the next one,
Cris

P.S. If you are really struggling right now, please don’t carry it alone. Reach out to someone you trust, or a support line where you are. You matter far more than any job.