«

[arete]

I thought you guys might find this interesting... This was submitted to our magazine. The frightening part was that they accepted it...

It has been said that you don't grow in your comfort zone. The current economic turmoil has pushed millions of people around the globe out of the comfort zone. Being sent on early retirement 2, 3 or four years early, or being retrenched, not only pushes people out of their comfort zones these events are included in the list of the most stressful things we can experience in life.

For some, however, this could be a blessing in disguise. I have lost count of the number of people who have said to me that being retrenched was the best thing that could happen to them. This may seem like an insensitive thing to say to someone who has just lost their job and hardly has enough money to make it to the end of the month, so how could this be a blessing in disguise?

Necessity is the mother of invention, the hardest times in the history of mankind have brought about some of the most innovative and useful inventions in the history of mankind. The same can be true in the history of a family, and in the history of an individual's life.

Typically, the blessing in disguise comment came from people who were retrenched and then followed their dream which they otherwise would not have had the courage to do because they were living in the comfort and safety of a monthly salary. Now they were forced to dig deep, to dust off the cobwebs in their minds, and to pull out those ideas which had been shelved years before.

Yes, some of their new businesses have been affected by the current economic turmoil, but as an entrepreneur with new skills which they have developed since being retrenched they are able to adapt and maneuver far more easily than they could in the days when their finances were only as secure as the job.

An organization called the Gallup Foundation has surveyed over 10 million people over the last 40 years to find out whether people tend to focus on what they do best in their careers. Of the more than 10 million people that they surveyed approximately 7 million did not spend their time doing what they do best at work.

In the book "Strengths Finder 2.0" the author Tom Rath said that when you're not able to use your strengths at work chances are that you:
• dread going to work
• have more negative than positive interactions with your colleagues
• treat your customers poorly
• tell your friends what a miserable company you work for
• achieve less on a daily basis
• have fewer positive and creative moments.

Those who said that retrenchment was a blessing in disguise took this challenge and turned it into the opportunity to re-evaluate the careers. In the process they were able to change from jobs that they hated to focusing on careers in their " strengths zone ".

When you spend most of your time in your "strengths zone" you are a very different person. Studies show that you were six times more likely to be engaged in your job. It also improves your confidence, direction, hope, and kindness toward others.

Studies have shown that when people are happier in the work they are also more successful. If you were recently retrenched perhaps it's an opportunity to do what you always wanted and were designed to do.