One Step at a Time
Career Recovery After a Layoff
Earlier this week, after falling off my gym routine for a couple of months, I finally decided to take the stairs instead of the elevator. Somewhere between my breath catching up and my legs waking up, I looked down and saw this sign:
“You’ve burnt 1 calorie.”
A few steps later, another one read:
“There is no elevator to success, you have to take the stairs.”
And just like that, a message meant for fitness hit me right in the middle of my thoughts about careers and life after layoffs.
Over the last year, I’ve had countless conversations with talented people—many recently impacted by layoffs, many more navigating uncertainty. Some were top performers. Some led large teams. And all of them, understandably, felt disoriented. When you're used to running marathons, taking 10,000+ steps a day in your career, it’s incredibly hard to feel proud of just one.
But here’s the truth: getting back into shape—whether it’s your body or your career—always starts with a single, uncomfortable step. You don’t get to the summit in one leap. You climb—one calorie at a time, one call at a time, one meeting at a time, one job application at a time.
There was a time in my life where I was sleeping on floors, picking up side jobs, and trying to make rent while working during the day as an engineer. I wasn’t anywhere near a “tech executive” back then. But I kept going. Not in leaps. Just in small, persistent steps.
In those moments, I wasn’t trying to be brilliant. I was just trying not to give up.
If you're reading this and feeling behind, remember: you don't have to recreate your peak overnight. Start by taking the metaphorical stairs. Maybe you only move forward one calorie at a time. But that step, however small, is progress.
And eventually, those steps compound. Before you know it, you're back to climbing at full stride.
No one talks about the days where you only burn one calorie.
But it’s those days that quietly carry you forward.
Keep going.
– Himanshu