Issue #1 — Maybe I Got the Order Wrong

Hey friend,

Last week, I laid out five things to do after getting laid off:

1. ✅ Know your rights

2. 💸 Get uncomfortably honest with your finances

3. 🧘‍♂️ Give yourself a damn minute

4. 🗣 Reclaim the narrative

5. 🔁 Rethink everything

That list still holds up. But if I’m being honest —
I think I got the order wrong.

I told you to start with paperwork and money.
And yeah, those matter. But if your heart is racing and your stomach's in a knot, it’s almost impossible to focus on them.

So this week, I want to talk about what should’ve come first:
👉 Give yourself a damn minute.

🧘‍♀️ Your Nervous System Deserves a Severance Package, Too

Let’s talk about what happens to your brain when your job disappears.

Job loss doesn’t just mess with your bank account — it scrambles your sense of safety, identity, and routine. According to the folks at Calm, the mental fog, panic, and exhaustion you may be feeling? That’s not weakness — it’s biology.

When your brain registers a loss this big, it flips into survival mode. That means:

• You might obsessively refresh job boards

• Or feel too paralyzed to open LinkedIn

• Or suddenly start waking up at 3am with your heart racing

Calm’s advice is this: before you rebuild your career, take time to stabilize your nervous system. Start with presence. Start with breath. Start where your feet are.

🧠 Why Meditation Helps (Even If You’re Not “Into That Stuff”)

Meditation isn’t about “clearing your mind.” It’s about noticing what’s going on inside and not judging it.

Post-layoff anxiety comes from spinning thoughts:

Meditation helps you observe those thoughts instead of drowning in them. Even 60 seconds of stillness tells your nervous system:

The Calm team recommends starting simple — sit quietly and focus on your breath for just one minute. Or use a guided meditation in their app designed specifically for layoff stress and job transition anxiety.

🛠 8 Tips from Calm to Deal With Layoff Anxiety

1. Acknowledge the loss.
   You didn’t just lose a paycheck — you lost community, structure, identity. Let that be real.

2. Practice self-compassion.
   Would you call your best friend “a failure” if they got laid off? No? Don’t talk to yourself that way either.

3. Create a daily routine.
   Wake up at the same time. Eat meals. Go for walks. You don’t need a full schedule — you need anchors.

4. Move your body.
   Stress lives in your muscles. Exercise helps move it out — no gym required. A walk around the block counts.

5. Try meditation or breathing exercises.
   Box breathing, 4-7-8 breath, or body scans help calm the part of your brain that thinks everything is an emergency.

6. Set boundaries around job searching.
   Job hunt in blocks. Don't let it consume every waking minute. You are more than your résumé.

7. Stay connected.
   Isolation feeds anxiety. Call a friend. Text someone else who's been through it. Ask for company, not answers.

8. Seek help if needed.
   Therapists, support groups, or even journaling communities can be lifelines. This is hard — and you don’t have to do it alone.

👉 Read the full article on Calm

💛 Before You Go

If this week felt heavy, you’re not alone.

You don’t need to “bounce back.” You don’t need a morning routine that wins awards.
You just need to know that this moment is valid — and it won’t last forever.

Letting yourself slow down isn’t laziness. It’s leadership.
You’re leading yourself through something hard, in a world that rarely gives you time to breathe.

So take a minute.
Take two.
And when you’re ready — just one small step forward.

That’s enough.

You’re doing better than you think.

🎯 THIS WEEK’S CHALLENGE

✅ Feel one thing
✅ Write one thing
✅ Say one true sentence out loud

That’s it. That’s forward.

🔥 FUEL FOR THE WEEK

🧰 RESOURCES

• 🧘‍♀️ Stoic App — journaling + daily emotion check-ins

• ✍️ Self-reflection worksheets — prompts to help you get honest

• 🧠 When Your Layoff Anxiety Won’t Go Away —Science-backed tools to challenge anxious thoughts, reset your perspective, and move through fear with self-compassion

🙋‍♀️ HIRING FROM THE COMMUNITY

Coming soon! We’ll be sharing job leads from trusted folks once they start rolling in.
👉 Submit a lead →

💬 COMMUNITY SPOTLIGHT

If you’ve recently been laid off and want visibility, we’d love to spotlight you.
👉 Fill out this short form →

📬 What’s Coming Next

In future issues, you’ll get:

• Layoff roundups

• Job leads from the community

• Templates + tools

• Survivor stories

• Mindset shifts

• Alternative income ideas

• And more quick wins like this one

This is just the beginning. We’re building something real here — together.

✌️ Until Next Week

Keep going.
Keep breathing.
You’ve got this.

— Win
Fellow layoff survivor, creator of Let Go Weekly