I’m less than a decade into the full time work force, but one thing I’ve learned is this:
 
At some point, you’re probably going to get fired. 
 
Getting fired comes in many different ways. Often times you get called into an office and walk out with no job. Other times your job is changed multiple times to try and force you to quit. Some call that coaching you out the door. There’s also the forced early retirement, lay off, and “change in job description but we’ll keep you around until you find something else” long break up. 
 
No matter the clothes it wears, it always ends up with you not having the job you used to have. 
 
The number of my friends who have been fired in the past few years is both amazing and sad. Some have deserved it. Others got screwed. In most cases, including my own, it turned out to be a really good thing. 
 
Getting fired can either be a pit you sink into or a springboard to jump off from into something new. Here are the three things you should do to keep from sinking:

Acknowledge your feelings. 

You’re going to be mad. And that’s okay! That’s natural. Don’t act like everything is okay and ignore your emotions. Acknowledge you’re pissed off. Admit to yourself that it hurts that the people you dedicated your time to turned on you. Don’t bury your emotions and ignore them. Bring them into the light so you can process them and begin to move forward. 

Don’t do anything based on emotion.

Your emotions will be running high. There’s a good chance you’ll want to do something brash and not thought out. Fight that urge. Your emotions will settle in soon and you’ll be able to think clearly again. Until then, keep processing through everything until you feel you have a grip on your feelings. 

Step forward.

Don’t sit and sulk. Do something to move yourself towards your next thing. It doesn’t have to be the next step in your career but it needs to be something. Drive for Uber. Work for UPS. Get a job at Home Depot. Sitting and sulking is the absolute worst thing you can do. Bridge jobs keep you busy and often open up doors or ideas to opportunities you never would’ve thought of otherwise. 
 
Those are my three tips. Have you ever been fired? What helped you move forward? Let us know in the comments below.