Have you just lost your job?
Do you feel stuck? It is normal.
You can get out of that rut.
Daisy Nyanga reminds us, all of us, those who still have jobs and those who have lost jobs, that we can overcome.
The author is a former employee of Kenya Airways, she and 299 others were retrenched some 8 years ago.
The loss of job was swift and many of them didn’t know what to do, but she found wisdom and courage to write this book: Beyond 8 to 5 – Critical Lesson by a Retrenchee in which she shares valuable lessons in life.
It is a small book of 53 pages that begins with reminding all that the ’employer is not your parent’, and as one goes to work, they must know they are at the ‘workplace to work’.
The employer will not stand by you through thick and thin as your family does, so, one needs to do:
1/ Have a savings plan where in case of retrenchment, the money you’ve saved can sustain you for 6 months or more.
Ms Nyaga acknowledges that losing a job can be traumatizing, Therefore, we must also shun comfort zone.
And how does one know they are in a comfort zone?
Losing your job means that you will have to change your lifestyle soonest possible until a time when you are able to fill the income gap left by your salary – Daisy Nyaga, Author, Beyond 8 to 5: Critical Lessons by a Retrenchee
The book offers guidance with an exercise after or in every chapter for one to do to measure up to where they currently stand.
This book is highly recommended for those still at work; It is a good book, to be read several times over. As for those who have already been fired, I guess, Ms Nyaga speaks about some things we all learnt later after losing work.
Don’t wait to lose your job so that you can adjust your lifestyle and manage your finances better. But if one loses their job, then the faith to start over should be strong.
It is written in simple-to-understand English.
It is short and to the point. I finished it in a sitting.
The lessons are great, stretch yourself – test your elasticity, and maximise opportunities at the workplace, Change is a constant thing, we must, therefore, learn to adjust to it quickly, and above all, have faith to start all over again.
In the last parts, Ms Nyaga dives deep into religious quotations which I consider unnecessary because the book in itself had already created a positive and encouraging outlook in the reader. But this is perhaps so because she is Christian.
Nonetheless, the book can help people from any religious background as it is motivational, not preaching per se.
The point is, to have a goal, and never give up.
Live life with purpose.