#28 How to Recover after Hitting Rock Bottom w/ Natalie Kashani
Have you ever hit rock bottom before? You know, that feeling of hopelessness you get when something big happens in your life that brings you to a level so low, you can’t get any lower. I’ve been there too.
I remember my first time I recall hitting rock bottom: It was during the big recession of 2008, I was 24 years old and had gotten laid off from my corporate job. Fresh out of college, I only had a few years of professional experience under my belt. And there were a ton of highly qualified people with decades of experience struggling to find work. I had no chance of finding a job with so much competition around.
Panic and anxiety set in. And the catastrophizing thoughts consumed my mind. I wasn’t able to think about anything else except for all the bad things that could possibly happen. Like having to eat ramen noodles for the rest of my life, or sleep on a friend’s couch because I’d never be able to get back on my feet. I thought about all the years I wasted overachieving and working my tail off during college, trying to get ahead and ending up in a low place anyway. It was pretty intense.
Sad, unemployed and with way too much time on my hands, I let myself play the victim role for about a week or so. And then I washed my face, rolled up my sleeves and got to work - and I remembered who the f*ck I was.
I knew how to get a job. I was a recruiter for years, I used to get people jobs for a living. So I reached out to my network, started applying for roles like a madwoman. And in my first interview with Adobe, I came out of it with a job offer on the spot. And I ended up working there for over 5 years. I grew, learned a lot and met so many people who impacted my life in beautiful ways. Working there was a blessing. And if it wasn’t for me getting laid off, I would have never gotten this experience.
Hitting rock bottom is never pleasant or fun. Events like these can be painful, full of grief, confusion and a ton of discomfort. Sometimes we can never fully recover from it. But on the bright side, studies show that it can also be a huge catalyst for some of the most amazing things in our lives to happen.
In my conversation with Natalie Kashani, she shares her personal story about hitting rock bottom. She lost everything: her marriage, her business, her ability to be present with her children, her friends and her sobriety. She fell into behavioral and substance addiction to numb and avoid the pain and circumstances of hitting rock bottom, and she was forced to go to rehab.
Through healing and doing the necessary work, she was able to recover, rebuild her life, and come back stronger than ever. She shares that she is the most confident, grounded and peaceful she’s ever been.
Natalie now has a thriving business and beautiful relationships with her family, partner and friends. Through her journey of adversity and after years of studying, she created a program for women to help them overcome addictions and self heal.
Listen to Episode 28 now
Is rock bottom something you’ve gone through too? What was the biggest lesson that came from it?