I was laid off at 50. Instead of looking for another corporate job, I decided to pursue what scared me most.

Edgar Tang, 50, lives successful Singapore and was laid disconnected from his occupation arsenic a video editor astatine Netflix successful March. Rather than instantly looking for different firm role, he began creating contented astir rebuilding life aft 50. The pursuing has been edited for brevity and clarity.

When I was laid disconnected astatine 50, I realized I had been preparing for that infinitesimal for astir 2 decades.

The point that helped maine respond to the business started years earlier, erstwhile I was diagnosed pinch cancer.

At 32, I was moving abroad, and abruptly I was diagnosed pinch shape 3 Hodgkin's lymphoma. That reset what I thought were life's guarantees. There was trauma from getting crab astatine specified a young age, and besides survivor's guilt that came from seeing my peers not survive.

I returned location to Singapore to get treatment. After that, I was soul-searching, and ironically, I really sewage depressed erstwhile my oncologist told me, "I deliberation you are successful the clear aft 3 years of testing."

Usually, group would get excited, but until that point, I thought, "I could get crab again, truthful I'm going to unrecorded my life to the fullest." And now the expert tells you you person a batch of time. So erstwhile I realized I had specified a agelong runway, I felt moreover much lost.

After that, I had a friend who struggled aft moving to a caller metropolis and ended his life. That really frightened me. I decided 2 things: One was that if I americium directionless, I'm going to study something. Two, if I'm frightened astir something, I should return incremental steps toward it.

I besides feared loneliness, but past I moved to New York, and it was the astir astonishing point I've ever done for myself — conscionable learning and immersing myself, getting to cognize truthful galore caller people. That gave maine the assurance to past move to LA. There are incremental increases successful your assurance level erstwhile you put yourself person to your fears.

Later, I realized I had to return to Singapore to attraction for my aged parents. That meant I had to rebuild again.

The champion occupation I ever had

The layoff wasn't a immense astonishment because leaders had fixed america a heads-up that restructuring was coming. On the time it happened, it was still alternatively affectional because I could mentally hole for losing a job, but I wasn't prepared to suffer the opportunity to activity pinch group I really enjoyed moving with.

That was the champion occupation I ever had. It was the champion civilization fit, group fit, and merchandise fit. I learned that erstwhile you person each these things lined up, you don't second-guess yourself. You don't effort to creation astir egos. You want to do your best, and the group astir you will thief you elevate.

I had the opportunity to opportunity goodbye to group because I had a runway aft the layoff news to adjacent the loop connected projects. After the tears had tally dry, I decided to effort contented creation.

A leap of faith

Content creation came to mind because friends had been telling maine complete the years that I had a very absorbing lived experience. It needed 2 ingredients for it to work: One was a nudge, which came arsenic a layoff. The 2nd was the leap of faith, because this benignant of connection is astir putting yourself successful a nationalist space. You tin suffer your privacy. You tin clang and burn. You tin look vitriol. You tin embarrass yourself.

There was a clip erstwhile I thought I could do faceless content, creating things that are anonymous but still insightful. Then I realized that being the look of it would beryllium the astir authentic and susceptible measurement of sharing pinch people.

Now, I show my ain story

About a period later, I signed up for a content-creator course. By making videos, I'm really seeking support arsenic overmuch arsenic I americium trying to springiness support to group successful the aforesaid situation.

What I did earlier was show stories for a corporation's products. Now, I show my ain story.

When you look astatine really disruption has been happening successful almost each industry, you recognize that nary existent firm occupation is safe. So I started reasoning astir what I could really own, and what I could ain was my lived experience, which nary algorithm tin return complete — astatine slightest for now.

When you spell done thing for illustration a layoff, arsenic overmuch arsenic the institution tin explicate that it was not based connected capacity — that it was based connected changes successful business strategy — you internalize it, arsenic if to say, "If I were valuable aliases applicable enough, I would person shifted pinch the changing business needs."

Your sound is thing you own. I'm going to ain it by sharing it and seeing really it tin beryllium some valuable and viable, versus jumping to the adjacent firm job.

Recovering from cancer, moving to caller cities, and being a caregiver were disparate experiences that led maine to wherever I americium today. Now, pinch the layoff, it was the beingness erstwhile again telling maine not to overstay.

Do you person a communicative to stock astir your career? Contact this newsman astatine [email protected].