So, I am an Anna Kendrick fan and will watch any random movie she is in. I will not spoil the plot for anyone who has not seen it; however, as its title suggests, the movie’s nucleus is table 19, the proverbial “rejects” table at any wedding. It is suggested in this movie that the people at this table are the unfortunate souls who were expected to send their regrets, but decided to make an appearance anyway. They are a Breakfast Club-style assortment, meant to be at odds with each other but fortunately, they are not. This is the main reason I wanted to reference the movie in today’s newsletter. Always remember that an unfortunate situation can have unexpected results, sometimes better than what you could have planned or even hoped for.
Last month, I had a few people close to me receive unexpected news in their professional lives. All cases were the result of poor leadership, either on a local level or a federal level, from an abuse of power to the removal of DEIB efforts to a mandate to return to their offices every day, and these strong, capable, amazing women in my circle were let down by their leaders. Similar to the lessons learned in Table 19, I have a chapter in my upcoming book that focuses on seeing the positive side of no longer being affiliated with an employer. I am still working on final edits, but here is a sneak-peak for your review.
“If you are reading this chapter, imagine it is a Sunday evening from your past, and you are unwinding from a fun weekend. How were you feeling about Monday morning? Were you excited, ready to get to the office to deliver a killer presentation for the new product launch that your team was overseeing? Or were you absolutely dreading the moment your alarm clock was going to sound because you knew that meant you had to drag yourself out of bed, to the shower, to your car, then to your office, where you would miserably spend the entire day? I know too many people who recount the latter scenario from their memory files, going so far as to state that they also would sit in the parking lot outside of their office building willing themselves to open the car door and walk inside. These feelings are very common for any person working in a toxic environment; whether they are no longer a fit for the position or company, or the purpose or practices of the company no longer align with the beliefs of the person, he/she is being paid to live in a nightmare every day.
Most people devote at least one-third of each day to working, either inside or outside of the home. It is easy to say that if you do what you love, you will never work a day in your life; however, let’s face facts, if work was that much fun, we would all happily show up each day and perform tasks for free. Unfortunately, when a person is unhappy at work, there are multiple internal and/or external factors that ultimately force him/her to remain in their current situation. However, once they are able to walk away from that employer, they have Sundays more like the first scenario I describe at the beginning of this chapter. This newfound sense of liberation often spills over into other aspects of life, transforming the entire week into a more enjoyable and fulfilling experience. It is like finally being able to savor the whole seven-course meal of life rather than just nibbling on a few unsatisfying scraps.”
As Table 19’s tagline states, “Don’t fit in? Take a number.” At least once in our lives, we have all been in a situation where we have been a square peg forcing ourselves to fit into a round hole. From my own experience, I can confirm that we are often too close to the surface to see that the lack of fit is really a blessing in disguise.