Sunday Setup
A weekly newsletter to help get your mind set up for a positive workweek.
03.30.2025 — Pass the Diamonds ‘Pon the Backend Side*
Stainless Stool
A wise man once told me, if you want something bad enough, find a way to get it.
If you want that promotion, diligent execution of your current responsibilities coupled with a dogged determination to grow your knowledge and skills might do the trick. But what if you want to acquire something more tangible — say $770,000 diamond earrings — but your cashflow is shorter than Kevin Hart? Maybe try swallowing them as a Tiffany & Co. customer in Orlando, FL recently did.
The unnamed Florida man, who posed as a representative of a member of the Orlando Magic basketball team, was escorted to a VIP room where he could inspect the jewelry in private. After a few minutes of quiet review of said jewels — and presumably the in-store security — Captain Jack Sparrow grabbed the the ornate ornaments and forced his way out of the room with the brilliant booty.
Unfortunately for Jack, he was pulled over by police about 340 miles away from the scene of the crime for driving without rear lights, at which point he swallowed three diamond studs to avoid being caught with hot rocks. The police then patiently waited two full weeks to recover the brown jewels, filed first-degree grand theft charges, and locked him in the Orange County Jail, just a stone's throw away from the House of Mouse.
If Disney can weave a fairytale ending into Beauty and the Thief, maybe they can recover from the $327 million setback Snow White delivered at the box office last weekend, making Belle the fairest of them all.
Keep Your Head Up
November 6, 2024. That was the day that my life changed drastically, and it had nothing to do with the presidential election the night before. Or did it?
Anyway! As I hopped on what I expected to be a typical 1:1 with my manager, I was ambushed by HR and blindsided with the news that I was being laid off, effective immediately. Oof!
For the small minority that have never experienced this frustrating phenomenon, it's so shocking that you literally go through all five stages of grief — multiple times — during a short, 15-minute, impersonal conversation that seemingly lasts longer than all seven rounds of the NFL draft.
It's absolutely gut wrenching! Especially if you're quasi-financially stable and you've recently made decisions based on the assumption that your current income will continue to exist for the foreseeable future. The soul-crushing weight you feel as you tune out the HR rep and tune into your anxiety over the impending uncertainty short circuits your central nervous system, resulting in a rapid heart rate, shallow breathing, and an unfathomable urge to want to curl up and die, because that would literally be easier than acceptance.
But I knew that wasn't an option. As frightened as I was — and still am — about how the future might unfold, I knew I had to find a way to pick myself up off the mat after being sucker punched by corporate America, yet again. As my mind was being attacked by questions like a swarm of angry hornets — Why me? Why now? Now what? WTF? — I realized this was one of those bad parts of life we need to fully appreciate the good ones.
Just as we all have different strengths and weaknesses, so too do we also have different levels of resilience. Some of us bounce back from setbacks as quickly as a pickle ball jumps off a paddle, while others languish in lethargy indefinitely. I think I’m somewhere in the middle.
While I've managed to maintain a positive mindset over the past 4 months, even amidst a murky outlook of dim prospects and repeated rejections presumably caused by ageism, I'd be lying if I said I haven't had moments of overwhelming doubt that incite excruciating nightmares and a frenzy of frustration.
But life goes on. And so do we.
Through it all I’ve realized that setbacks are like tornadoes — you can't really predict when they'll hit or how strong they'll be when they do. All you can do is navigate their effects once they've arrived, then pick up the pieces and rebuild after they leave. When you experience a setback in your career, regardless of how severe, it helps to reframe it in a positive light by recognizing that everything happens for a reason, even if we don't fully understand why in the moment. And as cliche as it may sound, a setback is a setup for a comeback.
Keep your head up. And yes, I'm talking to myself too.
* The reference in this week's subject line was inspired by one of my favorite songs from the 1980's, Pass the Dutchie by Musical Youth. Yeah, I'm old.