So I got FIRED yesterday...

[Vigilante]

Congrats. Allow yourself 24 hours to be stung, and then move on. Never forget what it feels like to have your destiny in the hands of someone who doesn't give a shit if you live or die. You will survive through this window and come out the other side stronger, and hopefully vow to never be in that vulnerable place again.

 

[MJ DeMarco]

@Coalission got fired. I think he will now report it was the best day of his life.

I got hired as a tech artist at a gaming company 10 months ago and for a while I thought I was on top of the world because I was making 55k a year.

It's easy to be swayed by comfort. $55K/year is probably great for comfort, but it does nothing for those seeking a Fastlane escape.

 

[ChrisGuthrie]

My question to you guys is, have you ever gotten fired? How did you get over it and how long did it take? Also, did you just ended up getting another gig or is that when you finally started your own biz?

Your forum thread is what prompted me to finally create a forum account so I could share my experience with getting fired nearly 5 years ago.

It was 4:50 PM on Tuesday October 13th, 2009. I remember the date because every single year since that date I've celebrated my fireversary (that despite my attempts to popularize the term has yet to be recognized as an official dictionary word).

My boss called me into his office "asking if I had a few moments" where he and the HR manager were sitting (Our HR manager was rarely seen outside her office). He said "Chris we're letting you go" and then went onto say other things I forget from the confusion and disorientation. Getting fired for me felt like being punched in the gut because I felt I was good at my job. I had won numerous awards. I was brought on stage in front of the entire company as the best person in the first 6 months for my new role for one of the awards and in general I was promoted quickly.

Questions immediately popped up into my head even while he was still speaking to me like:

"Why was he firing me?"
"Was it something I did?"
"I've won multiple awards why would they fire me?"
"I wonder if it's because my co-worker / counterpart knew that I had a side business that was doing well?"

I asked them to give me a reason for why I was being fired but I got an official sounding line about Washington being an "at will" state or something like that where basically they didn't have to tell me.

They asked for my keycard and gave me a set of documents that I could sign for some small severance pay along with a deadline of when I needed to sign.

I vividly remember getting the keycard out of my wallet and intending to toss it onto his desk but instead I must have put a little more muscle behind it because as soon as it came out of my hands I watched the key card fly across the desk and hit him in the chest (whoops - I may have even said sorry).

They then proceeded to escort me past all of my fellow co-workers who just stared at me because if you recall I mentioned it was 4:50 PM and everyone was starting to pack up to go. So first I was being fired without given a reason and then second I was being embarrassed by getting escorted out of the building like I was a criminal past my fellow co-workers and not allowed to grab my extra monitor (yah to be more efficient I brought in another monitor from home).

By the time I got home I was understandably still upset about being fired, but my wife reminded me that I had already been thinking about leaving my job to go into business for myself. They just moved up the plans a little.

Fortunately in my spare time (the time that most people are watching TV, complaining about what's on the news but not really doing anything about it etc) I had been quietly trying out various ways to earn money online. A few months prior to quitting I had already surpassed my day job income with earnings from the Amazon Associates affiliate program (I was building product review websites and ranking them in Google). In November 2009 I earned ~$10k from Amazon and then in December 2009 I earned ~$13k from Amazon and by January 2010 I was convinced I could make it work. Flash forward nearly 5 years and I've branched out into other areas and co-founded a WordPress company and we're doing pretty well.

If things go the way they are I should be able to exceed what my former CEO was being paid for running a 500+ employee company. (Granted it's a company that is based out of Canada so they aren't as crazy with their CEO pay as US companies but still a target I can shoot for).

Ultimately I've run into my boss at various times and I've never asked him why he fired me but I have thanked him as it was the greatest thing he could have done for me. I'm 99% certain at this point that I was fired because my sales counter part (the outside sales rep I worked with the most) knew I had a side business that was doing well enough to exceed my day job income and that I wasn't committed to the company.

Yet another reason why you should never tell your co-workers that you're doing stuff on the side. I've met so many people that have been fired because their bosses think they aren't committed to the company (or whatever)

TL;DR: Got fired nearly 5 years ago. In my first full year of self employment I tripled my day job income and every year since then I've been able to make more money than the last all while building internet businesses that let me work how and when I please. Don't tell anyone you work with that you're building a side business etc.

 

[chrischapman]

Congratulations!! I was fired from my job last month.

lol. i love how in the fastlane, people congratulate each other for getting sacked.

screw conventional wisdom, right?

 

[Testament]

Congratulations!! I was fired from my job last month. Had to be one of the best feelings I've ever had before! I was working 10-14 hour days, every day, sometimes 6 days a week! I don't have a car either, so transit took me an hour each way...and, if I was lucky, I had just enough time to get in a full 6 hours of sleep as soon as I got home. It was hell - literally nothing but waking up, going to work immediately, doing hard manual labor 10-14 hours, then go home and immediately go to sleep just to start it all up again...then I got fired.

You better believe I was skipping home singin' "I'm Walking On Sunshine" the whole way.

Now I'm working as a marketing intern for a start up, and every day I work I get to learn more about the art I've come to love, and also getting a bird's eye view into the way a start up is run. I'm learning at such a quick pace that the guy who took me on is now bringing me into other start ups to help with their marketing efforts. I never would've gotten the chance to do this if I were still trapped at my old job. Getting fired was probably the best "bad" thing to ever happen to me...certainly up there in my top 10.

I think you'll find in the coming days and weeks, that a huge burden has been lifted off your shoulders.

Were you able to save much money while you worked there, or are finances an issue at the moment? If they are, I'd look for a job in a field where you'll be able to practice a useful skill for your Fastlane. Then you'll be getting a paid education for your future business! And because you'll actually be interested in learning and perfecting your skill for that reason, work won't seem as work-y to you. Win-win!

Get excited man! Who knows what interesting opportunities lie just over the horizon...?

 

[Rcaraway1989]

I got fired in high school for telling my boss how to do her job better. And again after writing a letter to the owner on how she could create better team culture.

I learned I shouldn't be an employee early.

 

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[Cyberseraph]

My question to you guys is, have you ever gotten fired? How did you get over it and how long did it take? Also, did you just ended up getting another gig or is that when you finally started your own biz?

Are you kidding? I fired my boss. When I handed in my resignation letter, it was the best day of my life!
There are many examples of people who became entrepreneurs because they had been laid off or fired from a job and suddenly had to find a way to pay the bills.

 

[458]

55k per year and crashing down should not be in the same sentence...

 

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[csalvato]

I got hired as a tech artist at a gaming company 10 months ago and for a while I thought I was on top of the world because I was making 55k a year. However that all came crashing down yesterday when I returned from my family vacation and was told right before clocking out time that I was getting the pink slip. No warning, NOTHING.

I'll admit I was devastated and shocked for a few hours, but now I realize that I technically have all the free time in the world to get back to getting my life back on the fastlane. I got sidetracked by the slowlane for a while and forgot about what I really wanted in life. I decided that I was sick of making someone else rich. (I got to watch my CEO arrive to work every morning with his wife in a limo.)

My question to you guys is, have you ever gotten fired? How did you get over it and how long did it take? Also, did you just ended up getting another gig or is that when you finally started your own biz?

A few months back I was supplementing my income by doing consulting for a previous employer.

One day they called. Said that they couldn't pay me $2.5k/month anymore because their budget was tight, and I wasn't necessary. I truly wasn't necessary, so I understood.

Two weeks before that, my grandmother died. I spent 6 weeks helping to take take care of my family, and put business on hold. To me, that's what being an entrepreneur is about. But amidst that turmoil, I lost my most lucrative revenue stream. It sucked bad.

It forced me to step things up a notch. Those first few months were tough. It's still tough. I was flailing, and still am in some ways. I started throwing a lot of stuff at the wall and seeing what stuck. A lot of it didn't. I wasted a lot of cash. I even applied for new jobs.

But in the past 30 days, one of my small businesses scaled from $500 in July to on-target-revenues of $1500+ in August.

If I can continue this trend, I'll be financially independent by year's end. That's what I am going whole-hog on.

Being fired can be a blessing but it sure doesn't feel that way at the time. Your environment is going to change now, whether you like it or not. Make sure you fill your new one with winners.

Hope that helped.

 

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[Nadia]

Got fired 5 times. The last one, I walked out laughing out of the office and took a nice glass cold bottle of sparkling water and thanked the person for releasing me from slavery.

It's a badge of honour.

 

[Vigilante]

Hopefully ou have some saving to fall back on. First thing everyone should do is save 6 mos of income.

?
You've been reading Dave Ramsey, haven't you?

By the way, welcome to the forum. Take off your coat and stay a while.

 

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[Coalission]

Yep, here's my story:

https://www.thefastlaneforum.com/co...-ged-no-college-i-am-doomed-to-failure.50777/

Like MJ said, it was the best day of my life to this point, but I didn't know it at the time. As much as you feel like shit right now, just realize that you were forced to take the first step towards a much better life. Keep that resignation letter in your wallet, or next to your computer, let it motivate you and push you. I haven't gotten mine framed, but I keep it sitting there as a reminder of how like you I used to think I was on top of the world making 60-80k/year or whatever it was in such a "stable" job for one of the big credit card companies. I felt cocky making close $300ish/day, now if I'm only up $300 by the time I wake up it's a bad day, and eventually when I get to where some of the big boys of this forum are, I'll look back and find it cute how successful I think I am now.

Point is, sorry about being forced to stop being an employee, welcome to your new life as a future employER. Time to strap in and get it done.

 

[Lauryn]

Got fired/laid off/let go/whatever July 31, 2014. Took 30 seconds to shed 2 tears, a few days to be angry and a little shellshock.
Mind you, I wasn't the only one to go. The entire company was pretty much fired.

I was fired from an extremely crappy $10/hr job only months before.

So I went from $0-$10/hr-$40k back to about $150 on my own (royalties plummeted).
Now I'm restructuring my beliefs and taking massive action to get sh*t done.

It's worth it, because I am at the point where I'll live out of my car before I jump on someone else's dream.

And like Vigilante said, "Never forget what it feels like to have your destiny in the hands of someone who doesn't give a shit if you live or die."

 

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[princephoenix]

I got hired as a tech artist at a gaming company 10 months ago and for a while I thought I was on top of the world because I was making 55k a year. However that all came crashing down yesterday when I returned from my family vacation and was told right before clocking out time that I was getting the pink slip. No warning, NOTHING.

I'll admit I was devastated and shocked for a few hours, but now I realize that I technically have all the free time in the world to get back to getting my life back on the fastlane. I got sidetracked by the slowlane for a while and forgot about what I really wanted in life. I decided that I was sick of making someone else rich. (I got to watch my CEO arrive to work every morning with his wife in a limo.)

My question to you guys is, have you ever gotten fired? How did you get over it and how long did it take? Also, did you just ended up getting another gig or is that when you finally started your own biz?

 

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[chrischapman]

never got fired but i know the feeling.

i remember i was 15 and I had one of my window cleaning clients (a business) tell me my work was crap and they said they didn't want me to clean their windows anymore. i remember thinking to myself "oh man, this feels like a kick in the guts. this is what it must feel like to get fired"

the beauty of having a business: the next weekend i went on a sales spree and landed another 3 new clients.

nonetheless, getting fired (or at least what i felt) feels bad, but for a wise person it is an opportunity. i hope you havent taken on a bunch of slowlane bills and consumer debt you have to pay for.

all the best mate.

 

[MJ DeMarco]

@ChrisGuthrie -- incredible story man, thanks for sharing it.

Fortunately in my spare time (the time that most people are watching TV, complaining about what's on the news but not really doing anything about it etc) I had been quietly trying out various ways to earn money online. A few months prior to quitting I had already surpassed my day job income with earnings from the Amazon Associates affiliate program (I was building product review websites and ranking them in Google). In November 2009 I earned ~$10k from Amazon and then in December 2009 I earned ~$13k from Amazon and by January 2010 I was convinced I could make it work. Flash forward nearly 5 years and I've branched out into other areas and co-founded a WordPress company and we're doing pretty well.

I hope this isn't overlooked. Too many people quit their jobs and have NOTHING on the back end. You worked your backend while at your job. It's often all too easy to say "I quit" (the event) but then realize you made a mistake because you come home to no business, no income, and no clue what you'll do.

 

[RHL]

Grab a beer to celebrate the best day of your life.

 

[jcaldwell85]

Love the story, this thread has me so motivated! Today I was not fired, but did receive an email from my CEO stating that she'd like to meet with me Friday to go over my books growth and progress which made termination cross my mind. Just the fact that she'd like to meet with me has me irritated even though I'm 99% sure that I am not getting fired. I'm an account manager in the worse industry (direct mail) and feel i'm in a position/industry where I can't control my destiny no matter how hard I try. I do enjoy the flexibility at my job because it allows me to work on my fastlane venture but I can work a hell of a lot harder. I'd rather fire my boss on my own terms and have 100% control of my future than have someone show me the door. The fire is under my a$$

Your forum thread is what prompted me to finally create a forum account so I could share my experience with getting fired nearly 5 years ago.

It was 4:50 PM on Tuesday October 13th, 2009. I remember the date because every single year since that date I've celebrated my fireversary (that despite my attempts to popularize the term has yet to be recognized as an official dictionary word).

My boss called me into his office "asking if I had a few moments" where he and the HR manager were sitting (Our HR manager was rarely seen outside her office). He said "Chris we're letting you go" and then went onto say other things I forget from the confusion and disorientation. Getting fired for me felt like being punched in the gut because I felt I was good at my job. I had won numerous awards. I was brought on stage in front of the entire company as the best person in the first 6 months for my new role for one of the awards and in general I was promoted quickly.

Questions immediately popped up into my head even while he was still speaking to me like:

"Why was he firing me?"
"Was it something I did?"
"I've won multiple awards why would they fire me?"
"I wonder if it's because my co-worker / counterpart knew that I had a side business that was doing well?"

I asked them to give me a reason for why I was being fired but I got an official sounding line about Washington being an "at will" state or something like that where basically they didn't have to tell me.

They asked for my keycard and gave me a set of documents that I could sign for some small severance pay along with a deadline of when I needed to sign.

I vividly remember getting the keycard out of my wallet and intending to toss it onto his desk but instead I must have put a little more muscle behind it because as soon as it came out of my hands I watched the key card fly across the desk and hit him in the chest (whoops - I may have even said sorry).

They then proceeded to escort me past all of my fellow co-workers who just stared at me because if you recall I mentioned it was 4:50 PM and everyone was starting to pack up to go. So first I was being fired without given a reason and then second I was being embarrassed by getting escorted out of the building like I was a criminal past my fellow co-workers and not allowed to grab my extra monitor (yah to be more efficient I brought in another monitor from home).

By the time I got home I was understandably still upset about being fired, but my wife reminded me that I had already been thinking about leaving my job to go into business for myself. They just moved up the plans a little.

Fortunately in my spare time (the time that most people are watching TV, complaining about what's on the news but not really doing anything about it etc) I had been quietly trying out various ways to earn money online. A few months prior to quitting I had already surpassed my day job income with earnings from the Amazon Associates affiliate program (I was building product review websites and ranking them in Google). In November 2009 I earned ~$10k from Amazon and then in December 2009 I earned ~$13k from Amazon and by January 2010 I was convinced I could make it work. Flash forward nearly 5 years and I've branched out into other areas and co-founded a WordPress company and we're doing pretty well.

If things go the way they are I should be able to exceed what my former CEO was being paid for running a 500+ employee company. (Granted it's a company that is based out of Canada so they aren't as crazy with their CEO pay as US companies but still a target I can shoot for).

Ultimately I've run into my boss at various times and I've never asked him why he fired me but I have thanked him as it was the greatest thing he could have done for me. I'm 99% certain at this point that I was fired because my sales counter part (the outside sales rep I worked with the most) knew I had a side business that was doing well enough to exceed my day job income and that I wasn't committed to the company.

Yet another reason why you should never tell your co-workers that you're doing stuff on the side. I've met so many people that have been fired because their bosses think they aren't committed to the company (or whatever)

TL;DR: Got fired nearly 5 years ago. In my first full year of self employment I tripled my day job income and every year since then I've been able to make more money than the last all while building internet businesses that let me work how and when I please. Don't tell anyone you work with that you're building a side business etc.

 

[AKN]

I spent 4 years in college, to be able to do 3 years in university, to take 1½ years to find a 6-figure career, and got fired in 3 months for combining employment with entrepreneurship. Said F*ck this, flew to China to decompress, came back with a renewed sense of purpose.

Made an absolute decision to focus all efforts on building a business, taught myself how to code, put together a team, and executed. Having the rug pulled out from out under you is the worst of times, and the best of times.

 

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[cliff]

I'll elaborate a bit on my earlier post. I turned down a contract with my last employer...I was a professor...good pay, job security, lots of autonomy, etc...but I wasn't happy.

I'd been listening to a lot of podcasts on entrepreneurship prior to this point, and had dabbled in seo a bit. Within two weeks, I'd already replaced my income as a prof...within 6 months I'd tripled it. Needless to say, turning down that new contract was the best business decision I'd ever made. I miss the students and my colleagues, but working from home, on my schedule, makes up for it.

When you have to succeed, you will begin to use your mind and try new things. When you're comfortable, you'll slack...so take some risks, make some cold calls, get off the Internet and set up some meetings...then work like crazy and you'll start getting referrals. Best of luck!

 

[GuestUser113]

 

[themaxx]

James has advice for you:
http://www.jamesaltucher.com/2011/03/10-things-you-need-to-do-if-you-were-fired-yesterday/

 

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[rcdlopez]

My question to you guys is, have you ever gotten fired? How did you get over it and how long did it take? Also, did you just ended up getting another gig or is that when you finally started your own biz?

I got fired the same way from my first job too... actually I've been fired that way from ALL my jobs. At my first job things were going well, at least in my own head, and then they called me up and said "We are gonna have to let you go". When I asked "Now why the F*ck so!" (not literally but in my head at least) they said "We need someone with a different skill set."

My response was "Different skill set? WTF does that mean? Are you trying to say I suck? Just tell me straight out I suck, brah!" (Again, didn't actually say that, just thought about saying it).

Then I went home all bummed out cuz they thought I sucked and also because I had just financed a new car 2 days before I got fired, that's God's sense of humor. Anyways, after that I was always prepared to be fired at any point. I realized how easy it was too fall into the rat race. Getting fired helped set me straight and reminded me that a job will ONLY be a means to an end and not a goal.

 

[Drive2Riches]

Just had my first layoff anniversary.
Laid off the same day I was recognized for reaching and exceeding all my objectives.
Laid off the same day I was given "critical tasks" to complete ASAP.
Laid off the same day I was awarded for having satisfied an important FAA audit.

Today is my FIREVERSARY... eight years ago was the last day I had one of those premium-salaried jobs with benefits and two weeks vacay. I knew I wasn't cut out for being a corporate lemming. (Owning a corp... that's different.) It's been super rough since then, and I've been riding the entrepreneur's typical roller coaster -- ups and downs.

But the only things I'd change would be to tell myself to have more confidence and don't be so angry about it.

 

[D11FYY]

Are you kidding? I fired my boss. When I handed in my resignation letter, it was the best day of my life!
There are many examples of people who became entrepreneurs because they had been laid off or fired from a job and suddenly had to find a way to pay the bills.

Prime example is in the first chapter of the $100 startup.. Guy gets fired and ends up selling mattress's to pay the bills.

 

[RBefort]

I turned in my 2 weeks and last day is Friday, I made 40-45k a year. Huge weight off shoulders, and a little worried on what is next, but F it. I am free for time being and need to put in serious work on myself. Only reason I am leaving my job is because gf transferred job to where we wnt to college, closer to friends and family (could be bad). I took it as opportunity and an excuse to leave my comfy job. I knew I would never quit if I didnt move with her.

There's just no control whatsoever with jobs. One of reasons we moved was because she had supervisor position lined up in social work...had almost 100% chance to get it....couple days before interview they call her in and say funding for program is no longer available and was cancelled. Now, she is stuck in old position that she dislikes. World is dumb...go and create your own opportunities. Tech artist should have some skills to create on your own through freelance work? Best of luck.

 

[biggeemac]

See this thread.......

https://www.thefastlaneforum.com/community/threads/fired.47194/#post-289664

 

[Coalission]

@princephoenix You'll do just fine. Let it motivate you, get some work done

@Coalission, I can't view the link (probably because my INSIDERS has run out...), may I ask if you run a product based business now or are you involved in digital marketing? I can't remember.

Digital/Affiliate marketing

 

[Guest3722A]

I am pretty darn unemployable! And the last job I had, I figured I'd get it because I've been in this endless spiral of cashflow issues! It seems like I had one really solid business idea that really had excellent potential, and then bam, I lost it! I've never been able to really recover because there has always been this shadow that has followed me around! So, I'm thinking I'd get a decent paying job and save up some cash to enable my next business idea but THEN I was in a work accident where a steel hose exploded on one end, and broke a bunch of bones in my body as it flailed around beating me up, thus causing surgeries, and now I have MORE surgeries to look forward to. And the kicker is that I wrote up this hose several times over a period of time and their attitude was "get the job done".

And its true that these companies don't care if you live or die, or if they make sure you get the proper treatment that's supposed to be law. AND, then sometimes you get to waste more time by having to go further into the system where you need to involve the courts to get what's required to get back to where you were beforehand.

My experience with jobs is a whole lot of time consuming wheel spinning.

Currently, I'm fortunate enough to have friends who are willing to take a chance on me, and through their jobs that they hate, and work countless hours at, they partner with me where I come up with ideas that are agreed upon, and they spend the money and I do the majority of the work. Right now I've got two partnered ebay businesses, for cashflow, and the development of two really great ideas. (Ain't nothin' gonna hold me down!)

In my opinion, you're better off - as long as you don't have a bunch of bills built up. Then that's a different story all together.

 

[carlolacson]

Funny thing is as I quit my job they also planning to fire me on the same day.lol

 

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