Advice to ‘dead man walking’: Stay true north

Your time is limited, so don’t waste it living someone else’s life. Don’t be trapped by dogma—which is living with the results of other people’s thinking. Don’t let the noise of others’ opinions drown out your own inner voice. And most important, have the courage to follow your heart and intuition. They somehow already know what you truly want to become. Everything else is secondary.
—From Steve Jobs’ commencement address at Stanford, delivered on June 12, 2005

Image credit: This Way… by 10ch*

A designer friend of mine recently survived a second layoff at his company, only to find himself with more work, less money, a hazy future and a mounting sense of dread. “I am,” he said, “a dead man walking.”

While waiting for the next axe to fall, many of his co-workers have turned on each other—jockeying for position, withholding information, talking trash and lashing out. “It’s every man for himself,” he told me, “fighting over scraps.” Convinced that his days are numbered, he’s feeling increasingly off-kilter and off course.

Unfortunately, my friend’s story is all too common. With unemployment at its highest rate in a generation, too many are out of work or overworked in environments resembling a Survivor episode. People in the latter situation, like my friend, may feel torn: grateful for even the most tenuous job but miserable in the aftermath. If you’re passionate about your work, it’s hard to do a job with little meaning and value beyond a paycheck. Worse still is feeling uncertain about the future and losing your way.

So, what can you do to rise above the work fray and maintain your true north? I’ll share what I told him—5 things I‘ve learned from people who have prevailed and from my own experiences:

• Remember: You always have choices. While you can’t control what others do, you can control what you do—and how you do it.
• Base your decisions on what’s best for you and people who depend on you. Don’t worry about what others expect or think.
• Take constructive action and lead the way forward. You’ll not only get things done, you’ll empower yourself and others to make things better.
• Life’s too short to waste on regret, so move on if things don’t work out. Learn from your mistakes and bad experiences. Use them to gain fresh perspective and to focus on what really matters to you.
• Always be true to yourself. Act on your values, and never let anyone or anything sway you from doing the right thing.

Any of us in situations like my friend’s can choose and chart our own path, rather than live, as Steve Jobs says, “with the results of other people’s thinking.” Each of us has an internal compass—a true north—based on what’s most important to us: values, principles, motivations and passions. If we just trust its guidance, we can find those opportunities that create a sense of purpose and satisfaction—both in work and in life.

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