Nothing new to me, as my best friend George has noted. This was my fourth lay off in my twenty-year executive career. George was a bit jealous, since he had only been laid off three times, but now I’ve broken our tie and have bragging rights. However, this was one contest that neither George nor I truly wanted to win.

George and I are part of a growing group of African Americans—particularly professional African American males—that were disproportionally laid off during the “Great Recession” (2007 – 2009).

What made this fourth time so ironic is that just five months prior, I’d published the book, Time to get Hired! Strategies for your Job Search, Job Transition and Finding Green Jobs.

Now the teacher becomes the pupil. How would I counsel and coach myself? As I reflected on the wisdom and advice from my book and my recent career fair presentations, one nugget of truth rang out: absorb and understand the moment. Allow yourself the time and capacity to curse, scream, cry, jump up and down, feel sorry for yourself and decry the injustice of it all. And for the next sixty minutes—but no more—allow yourself and spirit a fulsome and unmitigated self pity party. That’s it, get it all out!

Alright, time’s up. Now is the time to get over it, and move forward! And begin to develop your game plan for the future.

First, go negotiate the best severance package you can leave with and begin to manage your future like the winner you are. It’s their loss and as your faith has counseled you countless times before: as one door closes, many new doors of opportunity for your talents and skills will open.  Now let’s rebuild your confidence, spirit, and essence...your CORE.  Your CORE for moving forward and taking the necessary steps to build your tomorrow. The CORE steps are:

C – Connect with the things that are important

O – Organize and plan for the future

R – Revitalize your body and spirit

E - Energize your intentions and take action now

Connect with the things that are important to you

I’ve traveled extensively for the past three years with my job and needed to reconnect with my family, especially my wife and teenage daughter. What were the next steps for our family? Also, what would be my next “meaningful” career move? After thinking about my ambition to help people and leveraging the talents and experiences from a successful twenty year executive career, I decided that his time I wanted to pursue a “Life Purpose” instead of money. I wanted to create a lifestyle where my mind, spirit and family would be whole again.

Organize and plan for the future.

Now was the time to develop my game plan and blueprint for the future.  I asked myself some of the tough questions that consistently checking my Blackberry or running to catch the next plane tended to keep silent and dormant most of the times. What do I truly want to be when I grow up? Did I choose my career or did it choose me? Will I still be able to achieve my family financial goals?  How will I manage my financial responsibilities going forward? Life provided me with a “time out” to answer these tough questions. I must force myself to embrace this new moment.

Revitalize your body and spirit

I strove to quiet my mind and relax my body during this period of job transition. This was a key positive step for me to be able to make rational decisions and manage the stress during these challenging and demanding moments. Below are a few strategies that I have used and found helpful in the past to provide calmness to my mind, body, and spirit:

• Prayer and reflection
• Daily meditation techniques
• Deep breathing and relaxation exercises
• Aerobic and body strengthening exercises
• Yoga
• Massage therapy

I used these relaxation strategies to assuage and stop me from focusing on the stressors of the moment: my job search, financial challenges, and other internal situations that create tension and negative noise in my mind, body and spirit. I needed to focus my mind in order to take the next steps of my journey.

Energize your intentions and take action now

It’s time to take action...now. I may not feel like it, but I must commit to act now before apathy or bad habits take over. I feel so vulnerable and uncertain. But I’ve been here before and I know taking the next step and moving forward will add clarity to my journey and efforts. So, I must and will begin taking action now.

This was my game plan for rebuilding my CORE and reclaiming my career and life. I often reflect upon the opening line from the insightful book The Road Less Travelled; it begins, “Life is Difficult.” And I knew finding a job in today’s challenge job market would be difficult. But I began my journey today feeling strong and encouraged.

Yusuf Wilson is President and Senior Consultant of Wilson Consulting and Training Systems, LLC. And author of the national hot selling book, “Time to Get Hired!”  He has been interviewed on ABC, CBS, Foxand over 300 radio stations across the country. He's been a Corporate Executive for over 20 years and has been laid off three times in his career. After every job disruption, he's gotten a higher paying job with greater managerial responsibility. For more information visit YusufWilson.com.