SUMMARY POINTS
It wasn’t exactly unexpected but you still weren’t fully prepared for it either. It’s been a bit of an emotional roller coaster since you were officially demoted at work. Your mood cycles through different phases of anger, sadness, frustration, anxiety and depression. It’s a pretty shitty mix of emotions.
You’re trying your best to stay focused at work but the demotion has derailed your motivation and now shit is falling through the cracks at work and making things worse. You’re in a downward spiral.
During this initial phase, you must deal with the emotions of demotion immediately - that’s the first step you have to take. You have to process and work through all of your thoughts and feelings. You gotta “feel it to heal it” so that you can be in the right state of mind to begin your recovery.
Once you’ve released all the bad mojo from your system and have your head straight, you gotta transform your emotional state from one of being helpless and lost to one of being positive and laser-sharp focused on boosting your career and moving forward.
Right now, you don’t feel good. You feel like shit. And this is completely normal. After all, you got knocked down a level in the org and everyone knows about it. You got humiliated. You feel like you lost face and got disrespected.
It’s time to make plans to bounce back.
You’re trying your best to stay focused at work but the demotion has derailed your motivation and now shit is falling through the cracks at work and making things worse. You’re in a downward spiral.
During this initial phase, you must deal with the emotions of demotion immediately - that’s the first step you have to take. You have to process and work through all of your thoughts and feelings. You gotta “feel it to heal it” so that you can be in the right state of mind to begin your recovery.
Once you’ve released all the bad mojo from your system and have your head straight, you gotta transform your emotional state from one of being helpless and lost to one of being positive and laser-sharp focused on boosting your career and moving forward.
Right now, you don’t feel good. You feel like shit. And this is completely normal. After all, you got knocked down a level in the org and everyone knows about it. You got humiliated. You feel like you lost face and got disrespected.
It’s time to make plans to bounce back.
How To Bounce Back From A Demotion
The current state of mind and emotion that you’re in now isn’t ideal but it’s normal. You are human. You have feelings. What you’re feeling now is part of the healing process.
Fundamentally, the feelings that you’re going through now aren’t that much different from your dating relationships in the past. Think about the breakups. At first, you were shocked and crushed and it evolved into sadness and depression. Eventually, the pain faded and you got back to some level of normalcy and you bounced back.
It’s gonna be the same way here. You have to process and work through your emotions so that you not only get back on track but also move forward.
Fundamentally, the feelings that you’re going through now aren’t that much different from your dating relationships in the past. Think about the breakups. At first, you were shocked and crushed and it evolved into sadness and depression. Eventually, the pain faded and you got back to some level of normalcy and you bounced back.
It’s gonna be the same way here. You have to process and work through your emotions so that you not only get back on track but also move forward.
Get Your Emotions Out
Many people insist that you have to keep your shit together and not lose control emotionally. After all, you have a personal brand and reputation to uphold at work. This is true only to an extent.
When you’re at the office, you can’t go ballistic, start screaming and throw staplers across the room. That’ll kill your rep for sure. However, it’s not healthy to keep all of those emotions bottled up either. You gotta let the emotions out. This is an essential first step to bouncing back.
If you have a work BFF that you can confide in, then find some time to take a cofftea break with them so that you can vent at work and get some of those emotions out.
Then, when you’re at home, you gotta unload all the emotions racing around in your head and heart. Let it all out to your spouse, furry four-legged friends and BFFs. If you have to get physical, throw some balled-up socks against the wall or pound your fist down on the bed.
Do whatever you need to do so that you can get it all out of your system.
When you’re at the office, you can’t go ballistic, start screaming and throw staplers across the room. That’ll kill your rep for sure. However, it’s not healthy to keep all of those emotions bottled up either. You gotta let the emotions out. This is an essential first step to bouncing back.
If you have a work BFF that you can confide in, then find some time to take a cofftea break with them so that you can vent at work and get some of those emotions out.
Then, when you’re at home, you gotta unload all the emotions racing around in your head and heart. Let it all out to your spouse, furry four-legged friends and BFFs. If you have to get physical, throw some balled-up socks against the wall or pound your fist down on the bed.
Do whatever you need to do so that you can get it all out of your system.
Reframe Your Perspective
In your current state of mind, you see your life as being in the gutter. It feels like your life has turned upside down and things are only going to get worse with no chance of recovery. Believe it or not, this is the human mind’s default programming.
Back in the caveman days, humans survived by constantly being on the lookout for life-threatening situations like being eaten by a tiger or bitten by a poisonous snake. This fear-biased default programming was a survival mechanism and it carried over into modern times.
Now, our minds almost always seem to automatically jump to worst case scenarios. It isn’t just being demoted. It’s losing your job, becoming homeless and living on the streets. However, the reality is far from that.
You have to widen your perspective a lot to see and understand that you’re not in the kind of dire situation that your mind wants you to believe. You’ve gotta reframe things and train your mind to keep a positive attitude at work even when things are shitty.
Think about this - right now, as you’re reading this, there are millions of people on this planet who are barely surviving with little water or food. Or worse, some are being physically tortured. The only thing these people want is to live through the night to see tomorrow. That’s how bad they have it. They would do anything to trade places with you - absolutely anything.
You have clean water, food, shelter, a bed to sleep in and most of all, you’re life isn’t in danger. In the larger perspective of life, things aren’t as bad as you think. And this reframing helps to keep a positive attitude when life sucks.
Back in the caveman days, humans survived by constantly being on the lookout for life-threatening situations like being eaten by a tiger or bitten by a poisonous snake. This fear-biased default programming was a survival mechanism and it carried over into modern times.
Now, our minds almost always seem to automatically jump to worst case scenarios. It isn’t just being demoted. It’s losing your job, becoming homeless and living on the streets. However, the reality is far from that.
You have to widen your perspective a lot to see and understand that you’re not in the kind of dire situation that your mind wants you to believe. You’ve gotta reframe things and train your mind to keep a positive attitude at work even when things are shitty.
Think about this - right now, as you’re reading this, there are millions of people on this planet who are barely surviving with little water or food. Or worse, some are being physically tortured. The only thing these people want is to live through the night to see tomorrow. That’s how bad they have it. They would do anything to trade places with you - absolutely anything.
You have clean water, food, shelter, a bed to sleep in and most of all, you’re life isn’t in danger. In the larger perspective of life, things aren’t as bad as you think. And this reframing helps to keep a positive attitude when life sucks.
Stay On Track With Work
When you get demoted, there will be greater and constant scrutiny of you and the quality of your work. This is especially true if you have an asshole boss trying to fire you by looking for further evidence of any poor performance on your part.
So, it’s critical that you stay on track with your work and stop making up bullshit excuses for being late to work. Be on time and get your shit done. You don’t have to go above and beyond with everything but you gotta meet expectations. This is not the time to be quiet quitting on the job.
The reason you need to do this is because your boss may be trying to fire you. So, you have to prevent or minimize the chances of this happening. They were already successful in getting you demoted so they surely have the ability and the gumption to fire you too. So, don’t give your bitch boss any reason or opportunity to do so.
And, don’t expect HR to lend a helping hand here. You’d think that HR would step in and give extra care and support for you to get moved back up into your prior position, but that ain’t happening. This is why HR fucking sucks and won’t help you. You gotta do this on your own.
You need to keep your job so that you have a consistent paycheck coming in to support yourself and your family while you make plans to bounce back.
So, it’s critical that you stay on track with your work and stop making up bullshit excuses for being late to work. Be on time and get your shit done. You don’t have to go above and beyond with everything but you gotta meet expectations. This is not the time to be quiet quitting on the job.
The reason you need to do this is because your boss may be trying to fire you. So, you have to prevent or minimize the chances of this happening. They were already successful in getting you demoted so they surely have the ability and the gumption to fire you too. So, don’t give your bitch boss any reason or opportunity to do so.
And, don’t expect HR to lend a helping hand here. You’d think that HR would step in and give extra care and support for you to get moved back up into your prior position, but that ain’t happening. This is why HR fucking sucks and won’t help you. You gotta do this on your own.
You need to keep your job so that you have a consistent paycheck coming in to support yourself and your family while you make plans to bounce back.
Apply For New External Jobs
Don’t think for a minute that you can easily jump back into your former position or make an internal transfer with a few months of stellar performance. That ain’t happening. In fact, there is little chance that you’d be promoted back to your original position or another of equal level. Blame it on office politics and the gossip trap.
The best way to bounce back is to look for other opportunities outside of your company. At minimum, if you were to get another job outside of the company that is at the pre-demoted higher level, then you’ve effectively bounced back to your original position.
More ideally, you will want to seek and apply for new external job opportunities that are a step up from your prior higher position. This will in effect, give you a double bump up from your current demoted position.
There’s no way in hell that anybody would be able to make a two-level promotion after being demoted. It never happens. It’s a hard fucking truth of corporate life. But when you get another job elsewhere, it’s very feasible and even realistic.
You might think you’ve tanked your career and have no chance to recover. However, your career is way more successful than you think because you’re not seeing the bigger picture. You’re actually okay, really.
If you truly want to not only bounce back but also move up, then you gotta do the work. You have to devote one hour each night after work to seek out and apply for other opportunities. This doesn’t have to be an all-out full-throttle job search. You’re not preparing for layoffs. You’re not unemployed. You have a job.
You gotta do some career management even when you’re busy AF. So, carve out an hour every night to polish your resume, send networking emails, search for and apply for other jobs.
This is your chance to change jobs or industries and get into a better situation. Use this demotion as your motivator for a fresh start. You have the luxury to be selective and find the next opportunity because you currently have a job.
You’ve heard of the saying, “It’s easier to find a job when you have a job” and it’s totally true. It’s a bit of the abundance mindset at play here.
The best way to bounce back is to look for other opportunities outside of your company. At minimum, if you were to get another job outside of the company that is at the pre-demoted higher level, then you’ve effectively bounced back to your original position.
More ideally, you will want to seek and apply for new external job opportunities that are a step up from your prior higher position. This will in effect, give you a double bump up from your current demoted position.
There’s no way in hell that anybody would be able to make a two-level promotion after being demoted. It never happens. It’s a hard fucking truth of corporate life. But when you get another job elsewhere, it’s very feasible and even realistic.
You might think you’ve tanked your career and have no chance to recover. However, your career is way more successful than you think because you’re not seeing the bigger picture. You’re actually okay, really.
If you truly want to not only bounce back but also move up, then you gotta do the work. You have to devote one hour each night after work to seek out and apply for other opportunities. This doesn’t have to be an all-out full-throttle job search. You’re not preparing for layoffs. You’re not unemployed. You have a job.
You gotta do some career management even when you’re busy AF. So, carve out an hour every night to polish your resume, send networking emails, search for and apply for other jobs.
This is your chance to change jobs or industries and get into a better situation. Use this demotion as your motivator for a fresh start. You have the luxury to be selective and find the next opportunity because you currently have a job.
You’ve heard of the saying, “It’s easier to find a job when you have a job” and it’s totally true. It’s a bit of the abundance mindset at play here.
Practice Self-Care To Stay Sharp
When you’re feeling down in the dumps, it’s easy to neglect yourself and even beat yourself up about what happened. This isn’t the way to bounce back. This is the time to pay attention to yourself - meaning, you gotta take care of yourself.
During bouts of anxiety, sadness, anger or depression, it’s easy to succumb to temporary mental escapes through alcohol, drugs, overeating, pointless shopping, superficial flings, etc. These are all temporary and do not last. What you need is true core healing that will strengthen you and make you more durable.
This is accomplished with some minor tweaks to your lifestyle. You’ve heard of all these before. It’s not rocket science.
To heal your mind and body, all you need to do is follow these simple rules:
Simplify your life and cut out all unnecessary bullshit.
Sleep more because it’s the main way that your mind and body heal.
Laugh daily as it’s the best medicine to cure emotional ailments.
Move your body and do some light low-sweat exercise every day.
Cut back on junk food and mix in more of the healthy stuff.
Try meditating at work to manage work stress and keep sane.
Now, you don’t have to jump in and do all of these things at once. Do what you can realistically stick to consistently before adding other improvements. One thing at a time. This will ensure that you stay on track.
The aim here is to practice self-care for your mind and body so that you can take on the challenge of bouncing back and even moving up higher. It’s important to press pause on life and have “me-time” each week. Treat it like a weekly appointment that you can’t change.
During bouts of anxiety, sadness, anger or depression, it’s easy to succumb to temporary mental escapes through alcohol, drugs, overeating, pointless shopping, superficial flings, etc. These are all temporary and do not last. What you need is true core healing that will strengthen you and make you more durable.
This is accomplished with some minor tweaks to your lifestyle. You’ve heard of all these before. It’s not rocket science.
To heal your mind and body, all you need to do is follow these simple rules:
Simplify your life and cut out all unnecessary bullshit.
Sleep more because it’s the main way that your mind and body heal.
Laugh daily as it’s the best medicine to cure emotional ailments.
Move your body and do some light low-sweat exercise every day.
Cut back on junk food and mix in more of the healthy stuff.
Try meditating at work to manage work stress and keep sane.
Now, you don’t have to jump in and do all of these things at once. Do what you can realistically stick to consistently before adding other improvements. One thing at a time. This will ensure that you stay on track.
The aim here is to practice self-care for your mind and body so that you can take on the challenge of bouncing back and even moving up higher. It’s important to press pause on life and have “me-time” each week. Treat it like a weekly appointment that you can’t change.
Onward To New & Better Things, Baby!
Don’t let this demotion keep you down. This is only temporary. You can and you will climb out of this.
Get to work on time. Get your grunt work done. At the end of the day, disconnect from work and leave all the bullshit behind so that you can relax, recharge and recover. Then, commit one hour each night to applying to other job opportunities.
Don’t mope around and sit on your ass. Make it happen.
It’s hard to believe now but this demotion can be just what you need to reset yourself. It may just be the motivator you need to spark the change you want in your life.
When you look back at this moment years from now, you’ll see that this demotion wasn’t a big deal and that in fact, it was exactly the motivation you needed. It was a fire lit under your ass so that you got to a better place.
When you follow through on things (you know you will), you’ll likely find yourself in a much higher and better position. It could take a few months, maybe even a couple of years but it will happen.
And when it does, guess what?
You got the payback you deserved.
Feel Better,
[Cubicle|Therapy]
Get to work on time. Get your grunt work done. At the end of the day, disconnect from work and leave all the bullshit behind so that you can relax, recharge and recover. Then, commit one hour each night to applying to other job opportunities.
Don’t mope around and sit on your ass. Make it happen.
It’s hard to believe now but this demotion can be just what you need to reset yourself. It may just be the motivator you need to spark the change you want in your life.
When you look back at this moment years from now, you’ll see that this demotion wasn’t a big deal and that in fact, it was exactly the motivation you needed. It was a fire lit under your ass so that you got to a better place.
When you follow through on things (you know you will), you’ll likely find yourself in a much higher and better position. It could take a few months, maybe even a couple of years but it will happen.
And when it does, guess what?
You got the payback you deserved.
Feel Better,
[Cubicle|Therapy]