There's something crazy that happens during a big life event: uncertainty causes your mind to go into into some seriously dark places. Things like panic and anxiety can set in as our natural human tendancy to focus on the negative takes over.
But is there a different way to approach these situations? Can we override our default mode and move forward with purpose and dignity?
My layoff journey
It was a warm July morning and I had just finihed my early morning workout. After receiving a text message from a co-worker to go check my e-mail immediately, I realized this was no ordinary morning. I quickly read the e-mail from Intuit's CEO that stated our office was closing and I would soon be jobless.
Sitting there in my garage gym in stunned silence I began to process what I had just read. It occurred to me at that moment that I had a choice about how I responded to this news. I could certainly freak out and go into meltdown mode because my livelihood was just pulled out from under me. Or, on the other hand, I could make the conscious decision to not freak out; and instead look at the opportunity this would create in my life.
The Case for Mindset
This is what I mean when I talk about mindset.
We may not be able to control every single thing that happens in our lives. So we shouldn't dwell on those things that are out of our control. Instead, I would suggest that we focus on the things we can control. For starters, we can control our mindset and how we respond to things.
Don't get me wrong, I would never say there's anything easy about choosing mindset over matter. No way, it's the exact opposite. It's the more difficult path because it's unintuitive. Our default mode is to panic and focus on the negative, or to go into fight or flight mode.
It's worth striving for though. When you're in a tough situation that's out of your control, just try to at least remember "MINDSET OVER MATTER".
What did I do?
I decided that this layoff would be the greatest opportunity of my life. I'm not joking.
In that moment, there was so much uncertainty, and to be honest I wasn't sure if I was just being crazy or delirious - but I knew how powerful mindset really is. I have been reading and studying personal development for years, and one of the biggest things that has come up time and time again is the importance of mindset. So now it was my time to intentionally put it to use.
Ultimately I went to work on fining my next adventure. I had also decided that I was not going to go back to software engineering. Initially I went to work on my real estate business, hopeful that I would be able to get enough of an income from it to support my family. But the reality of that is that it takes a lot longer than the influencers will have you believe. Going from a comfortable senior-engineering salary with benefits to fully supporting a family of 4 through real estate investing is a big leap.
There was this recurring theme that kept coming up in my time as a software engineer about people mistaking me for someone in sales or leadership. I'm not even exaggerating when I say that there were several times people I didn't know assumed I was in sales. Not sure why, or what that means, but it started to feel like I was being beaten over the head by this. There had to be something to it.
Through my real estate investing journey I had taken several sales trainings and done numerous cold call roleplays. In addition to that, I had actually completed thousands of dials in my real estate wholesaling business. The truth is, I thought about it a lot, and I really did enjoy sales; I had actually considered making the pivot in my career a few times.
Then I went on a walk with my friend Ryan Reisert along the Boise River Greenbelt and he opened my eyes to how similar what I was doing in my real estate business was to what many are doing in tech sales - specifically SaaS (Software as a Service).
After that walk my mind was completely opened.
I decided it was finally time to dive head first into the sales career I'd been thinking about.
Conclusion
The journey to getting multiple offers and pivoting in my career from software engineer to sales started with a decision - a decision to focus completely on my mindset. I decided to not focus on the things outside of my control, or waste energy on unproductive emotions (like being upset or bitter). Instead I went all-in on my decision to make my pivot to sales and get started on my next chapter.
I read multiple sales books, completed sales trainings, and most importantly researched hundreds of companies and open SDR positions. Then instead of "spraying and praying" my resume all over town, I took a sniper approach and started targeting specific companies I liked.
I had heard top sales leaders on linkedin say "do the job to get the job", so I did exactly that. I began prospecting and list building for select companies I was interested in, and then I would do omni-channel outreach to key people at the company. In many cases I was able to get in touch with the hiring manager and get an interview scheduled. This was infinitely better when compared to the jobs that I applied to directly, only to get automated rejections letters shortly thereafter.
In total it took about 6 weeks from making that decision to accepting a job offer. I probably interviewed for around 3 of those weeks. And let me tell you, those 3-4 weeks were BUSY! But I had already made the decision to go hard and do the work, so it was just a matter of keeping the mindset strong and maintaining momentum.
At the end of all of this effort I credit one thing to my success: Mindset Over Matter.
It may not come easy, or natural, but being intentional about how you react to the situation can have incredible results.