Hey GenXer. Remember the dot com bust of 2001 when you discovered you were laid off because your badge didn’t work when you came back from lunch?
Six years later, you witnessed another economic crash. You survived both of those events through your resilience and ingenuity. You have evidence that you can navigate uncertainty.
This episode is your permission slip to start something even while the world feels uncertain. We’ll bust the myth of corporate stability, show how previous downturns sparked invention, and see how scarcity can boost creativity.
The Myth of Stability
Not long ago, the CEO of AT&T sent out a memo to employees saying they are “shifting away” from the old employment deal of rewarding people for loyalty and tenure. He said out loud what many have come to understand: big companies are not safe havens.
It’s kind of refreshing to hear this. I’ve long said that loyalty tends to flow one way only: from employee to employer.
But letting go of the flawed corporate covenant is no small thing. For years, you operated as if that loyalty was reciprocal, and for the most part, it worked out. Maybe you had great managers and solid teammates, and you believed in the product.
Now that you know these companies see you as a tool in a transaction, you have choices. You can internalize your rejection and stay bitter, or you start building a life that works not in spite of you, but for you.
Loyalty is a value, and you can choose where to direct it. What could happen if you direct it at yourself and your future?
Innovation Loves a Recession
We’re still starting from the present moment: a tight job market with companies that seem to love layoffs. Some economists predict that we’re headed for a few years of flat economic growth and unemployment, and others flag the risk of recession. But let’s be clear: we’ve been here before.
Recessions happen every 7 to 10 years. GenXers have lived through at least five of them already. You’ll likely see more.
And still, some of the boldest innovations emerge from the rubble of trashed economies. Economic uncertainty isn’t the time to freeze. It’s the time to build.
During downturns, people use what they have, repair what they can, and treat themselves to little luxuries. Companies that are now successful capitalized on this idea when they started. For example:
- Airbnb began in 2008 by a couple of guys who believed that a spare bedroom or an air mattress in someone’s apartment was a good option to an expensive hotel room.
- Julie Wainwright started luxury clothing consignment store The RealReal in 2011. She noticed that people still wanted to wear fancy clothes, but not pay so much for them. By the way, she was 53 at the time.
Downturns strip away the noise. What’s left is opportunity, if you’re paying attention. For great ideas to be seen, we first need to address the fear that’s blocking them.
Psychological Safety & Fear
Wedged between your current circumstance and your next venture could be a mix of rational and irrational fear. Maybe you don’t have the big idea yet, maybe you’re afraid of disappointing everyone you know. It’s easy to freeze in place. But standing still, while protective in the moment, just keeps you stuck.
Financial fear is an effective idea-stopper, and I see it preventing people from even researching the next thing. I asked Job Exit Strategist Tania P Brown how she responds to clients who have financial fears about quitting their jobs.
“The first thing I do is acknowledge their fears. I will never dismiss someone’s emotions. Afterwards, I will get them to walk me through their worst-case scenario. They don’t make any money. Well, can they still go back and get a job? Not ideal, but they’re not going to be homeless. All of the sudden, what felt like a dream becomes a doable reality.”
Imagining disaster is a great perspective-shifter. It is highly unlikely that you’ll put yourself or your family in danger. You’ve made it this far by being responsible, and you will continue to do so.
At the same time, what if being cornered is actually the source of innovation? Like MacGyver, using any available tool to diffuse the bomb. Uncertainty can focus your attention. You are in control of what you’ll do next, and you’re starting from a great place.
Identity Shifts in Midlife
There’s another tool you have at your disposal: your evolving identity. Midlife is a time of reckoning for many GenXers. You may finally stop caring what other people think of you or your work. Your patience with inept managers drops to an all-time low.
You start to feel more like yourself, which means that you notice the places in your life that feel out of alignment. And when something feels off, it won’t leave you alone. Those are your values calling for attention. Your capacity is greater than you realize.
One of my friends was a burned-out doctor with excellent leadership skills and a new hobby she just wanted to do all the time. In her 40s, she left medicine and opened a fitness studio.
Another friend has a great strategic mind that was not being flexed in her theater career. She pivoted to nonprofit consulting.
Both turned toward their curiosity and stretched their capacities to lead, learn, and grow.
And before you say you’re too old to start over, remember that this is your first time here: initiating a transition from a place of experience and wisdom.
What if you could overlap the giddiness and excitement of trying something new with the calm certainty of who you know yourself to be? Wouldn’t that be cool?
Cultural & Generational Contrast
And since we’re talking about trying new things, you can learn from your younger colleagues. They grew up in a work environment where short tenures are the norm, and instability is assumed.
Instead of judging them for taking all their vacation and starting side-hustles, get inspired. They already figured something out about the corporate world that we are just beginning to wake up to.
Don’t be a relic: experiment with AI, take your vacation days, and learn the tools you can while you’re still working. It will come in handy when you’re kicking off the next venture.
Reframing Scarcity as a Creative Constraint
Some of the products and services you use every day came from companies that started in uncertainty. Those founders didn’t wait for perfect conditions. They identified a problem, used what they had, and got started.
Notice the resource that feels scarce to you right now, whether that’s time, money, or energy. Make a list of the problems that break your heart. Let yourself get frustrated, and let that frustration fuel ideas to make your life better. Your solution will likely help other people in the same boat.
Our entire generation occupies a liminal space. We’re between two influential cohorts. In the midst of caring for both our kids and our parents. In perimenopause. At our intellectual prime, out of patience, but not ready to retire.
Let this messy in-between space give you license to try something completely different. You don’t have to wait for certainty. If the corporate world just showed you who they really are, believe them. And get started.
Burn the map. Build what fits.
Tania Brown has a great quiz on her website to test your financial readiness to leave corporate. Take the free quiz here.
Ready for the next step? Check out Episode 6: GenX and the Curiosity Comeback and Episode 9: GenXer, Stop Waiting For the Big Idea.
