“What Losing My Job in 2025 Taught Me About Worth”

In January of 2025, I lost a job I once believed defined me.

It was the kind of cold Monday that bites through your coat. I’d barely finished my first sip of coffee when the message from HR popped up: "Please join us for a quick call." Ten minutes later, I was unemployed. Just like that. My position, I was told, had been “eliminated due to restructuring.”

I'd worked at the company for almost seven years. Seven years of strategy meetings, late-night deadlines, over-delivering, and sacrificing weekends—gone with a ten-minute video call.

At first, I felt nothing. Then, everything.

The Identity Crisis

That first week was a blur.

I cleaned out my desk, boxed up my identity, and returned my access badge—like I was handing over a piece of my soul. I kept wondering: If I’m not the job title in my email signature, who am I? My inbox had gone silent. My calendar—once overcrowded—was now empty. The loss wasn’t just financial. It was personal. I wasn’t mourning a paycheck. I was grieving a version of myself I thought was irreplaceable.

I remember staring into the bathroom mirror, not brushing my teeth, just... staring. The silence of the apartment, once a luxury, felt like a weight.

That’s when the fear kicked in.

What if I wasn’t valuable anymore?

Everyone Has an Opinion

Friends tried to help, though most advice came wrapped in platitudes:

“Everything happens for a reason.”

“You’ll bounce back.”

“Use this time to find yourself.”

As comforting as they meant to be, it all felt hollow. I didn’t want silver linings. I wanted answers. Tangible solutions. Rent was still due. Bills didn’t pause for reflection.

My parents, well-meaning but practical, asked daily if I had sent out more résumés. My partner reassured me constantly, but I could sense their unspoken worry. That stung more than the firing.

The Rebuild Begins

Weeks passed. I applied for dozens of roles—some I wanted, some I didn’t. I rewrote my résumé so many times it started to feel like fiction.

But something strange began to happen: the less I chased my old title, the more I started rediscovering other parts of me.

I picked up my guitar again—dusty from years of neglect.

I started journaling—not just lists or goals, but real feelings.

I went for long walks without a destination. Sometimes I even left my phone at home.

In the quiet, I began to hear myself again. Not the "employee version" of me. Not the polished, LinkedIn-ready professional. But the actual, messy, curious, creative version.

What I Learned About Worth

Losing that job taught me something I couldn’t have understood otherwise:

My worth was never in my job title.

I had confused performance with purpose. Praise with value. My calendar had been full, but my soul had been starving.

Here’s what I discovered:

You Are Not Your Productivity:

For years, I measured my days in output. If I wasn’t producing, I wasn’t worth anything. That’s a lie our culture feeds us. Rest isn’t laziness. Thinking isn’t wasting time. Being still is not being stuck.

Being Let Go Doesn’t Mean You’re Not Needed:

It felt like rejection, but in hindsight, it was redirection. That job had reached its expiration date. It didn’t mean I had.

Success Without Self-Awareness is Emptiness:

I had been on autopilot—climbing a ladder I never stopped to examine. What was I really chasing? Titles? Paychecks? Approval?

People Value You Beyond Your Work:

True friends showed up not for what I could offer, but who I was. That was humbling. Beautiful. Rare.

Clarity Often Comes Through Crisis:

Stripped of distractions, I could finally ask the real questions: What do I want? What do I love? What matters to me?

The Unexpected Pivot

By May, something surprising happened.

A friend from a writing community I’d joined asked if I’d help edit a few blog pieces. Then someone else asked if I’d coach them on their resume. Little things, unpaid at first. But they lit me up.

So I started freelancing. Slowly. Hesitantly.

Then I launched a small site offering career coaching for people in transition. My story became my pitch. I wasn’t some high-level executive. I was someone who got it—who had been there and made it through.

Business grew. Not wildly, but steadily. And more importantly, I felt alive again. I wasn’t just earning—I was helping.

A New Definition of Worth

Now, eight months after losing that job, I no longer introduce myself by what I do.

I introduce myself by what I care about.

I learned that your worth isn’t in your resume. It’s in your resilience.

It’s in how you show up when the world stops clapping.

Yes, I lost a job in 2025.

But I gained something much greater: a sense of self-worth that no one can fire me from.

To Anyone Facing the Same Loss…

Let me speak directly to you.

If you’ve just lost your job—or your identity feels like it’s crumbling—take heart. You are still whole. Still valuable. Still capable of rebuilding something beautiful.

Let yourself grieve.

Let yourself rest.

Then, when you’re ready, ask yourself:

What is my worth, outside of what I do?

Your answer might just change everything.