I was brought into the office of the head of the company and he said, “your contract is up and we won’t be needing you anymore.” I asked. “Can I stay a few days more to just finish what I was working on?” And he said, “No. You need to leave today”. He had thick blonde hair, blue eyes, a square jaw, was about fifty and looked a little bit like Robert Redford. He smiled at me then. Thats the last thing I remembered. His smile almost blinded me. I hate him. I was barely put together. I felt like the worst loser. I couldn’t understand. I thought I had been doing good work. But suddenly I was damaged goods. Another time I was…And another time I did…And another and another and another. I’ve been fired so many times I can’t list them all. I can’t possibly make you cry over my sorrows because we all have them. I would pace at three in the morning. “I’m going to lose this house. My kids are going to switch schools. I have three months to live. I’m going to lose this house. I’m going to this and that and this/that.” The chatter doesn’t stop and its nightmarish at three in the morning. And at four, and at five, and it doesn’t stop when the kids wake up and they don’t know anything is different but I cry then because everything is different. Because the house is a prison. Because my head is a mental asylum. No advice helps. You can’t meditate. You can’t exercise. You can’t eat healthy. You can’t shave. Or bathe. You can’t even take deep breaths. They feel like bullshit breaths. Shit breathes in and shit breathes out. You can’t pray or read spiritual texts. None of that stuff helps, you think. None of that immediately deposits money in the bank. None of that brings back your self-esteem which was so randomly stolen from you by faceless bureaucrats living on the outskirts of cubicles. So here’s advice that helps. I hope you follow it because I know it worked for me: Do just one thing today. And then do one thing tomorrow. And the next. That’s all. Just one thing a day. If you do your thing, then feel good. You did it. Tomorrow you do the next thing. THAT’S ALL YOU NEED TO DO.

1. 10 THINGSYOU NEED TO DO IF
YOU WERE FIREDYESTERDAY
by James Altucher

2. Lunch.
Schedule a lunch with someone
you haven’t seen in three years.
Could be anyone. But it has to be
someone you haven’t seen in at
least three years. This injects new
blood into the system. You need a
total transfusion to get rid of the
infected old blood.

3. Lunch, part II.
Have lunch with one person in
your industry. Have your ideas
ready for that person. Have him
critique your ideas. Learn.

4. Resentment.
You are going to feel like the
people at your old job wronged
you. But they are just trying to
survive also. Make a list of all the
good qualities that person has
and send them an email why you
think they are good at what they
do. Thank them.

5. Gratitude.
Make a list of the people you’ve
worked with over the past ten
years that you are grateful you
worked with. Email them and tell
them why you were grateful you
worked with them. Ask them
sincerely how they are doing. This
is one of the most important
things on this list.

6. Loveyourself.
Wake up early, exercise, take a
shower, wear a suit, go into the
city, and walk around. Smell that
freshness on you. It makes you
feel as if you are ready for
anything. And you are. That’s all
you need to do that day. Heck, go
to a museum. You won’t have this
opportunity for freedom forever.

7. Slash.
Make a list of all expenses you can
slash. Make your runway as long as
possible. There are plenty of sites to
advise how to do this. Picture your
worst-worst case scenario. Its never
as bad as you think. Write it down.
Write down the plan for the worst-
case scenario. Then take a nap. You
just had a hard day. You need to rest.

8. Reconnect.
Contact other people who used to
work at your old company. Maybe
they even worked there ten years
ago. Reconnect. Come up with
ideas for them.

9. Ideas.
Make a list of places or people
you might want to work with. Then
come up with a list of 10 ideas for
each that can make them money.
This way you keep your idea
muscle intact. Then pitch your
ideas to each. If you can’t, move
o n t o t h e n e x t o n e . T H I S
TECHNIQUE WORKS.

10. Write.
Write a book in the next three
days. You can write a 30 page book
called “100 things to do the day
after you are fired”. Make it funny.
Time to dominate the publishing
industry while you are unemployed!
Make a list of all the possible 30
page books you can do. Then
tomorrow start one of the books.

11. Brainstorm.
Go completely in a different direction.
What other industry can you work in?
What other location can you live in?
Make up the wildest fantasies about
what you can do. Keep going until
there is one possible direction you
can execute on today. Brainstorm for
an hour and some little slice of reality
might peak through.

12. For More writings from james,
go to jamesaltucher.com