7-Day State of the Self

A 7-day diagnostic plan for laid-off, underemployed, or uncertain IT professionals.

This plan is not about building a product or launching a brand. It is about figuring out where you actually stand and what makes sense next, given your:

• job market reality
• financial runway
• temperament and personality
• skills and preferences

Think of this as your pre-flight check before you commit to a heavier plan like a 14-Day Reboot, a Platform Builder, or a Micro-SaaS launch.

Overview

• Duration: 7 days
• Time Required: ~1 hour per day (some days may take longer if you go deep)
• Goal: Gain a clear, realistic understanding of:
  • your local and remote job market
  • whether entrepreneurship is appropriate for you now
  • how much financial runway you truly have
  • what kind of work you want to do next
• Outcome: A written decision: “For the next 3–6 months, my primary path is: X (job search, entrepreneurship, hybrid, or stabilization).”

Daily Breakdown

Below is a breakdown of what you will do each day.

Day 1 - Decompress and Pause

Goal: Acknowledge what happened and lower emotional noise before making decisions.

Actions:

• Give yourself explicit permission to not solve everything today.
• Write a short timeline of events:
  • When the layoff happened.
  • What the severance (if any) looks like.
  • What you are currently doing day-to-day.
• Identify and write down the three most intrusive thoughts you keep cycling on:
  • “I’ll never get another job at this level.”
  • “My skills are obsolete.”
  • “I can’t afford to experiment.”
• For today, do only:
  • This writing exercise.
  • Something non-technical that helps you decompress (walk, book, gym, etc.).

Output for the day:
A one-page “What happened and where I am now” note.

Day 2 - Network and Reality Check

Goal: Get signal from the outside world instead of guessing in isolation.

Actions:

• Reach out to 3–5 trusted peers or former colleagues:
  • Ask how their job search has gone.
  • Ask what they are seeing in the market (comp ranges, roles, timelines).
  • Ask what has surprised them most in the last 6–12 months.
• Review job boards for your role(s):
  • Look at titles, requirements, and comp ranges (where disclosed).
  • Note whether there are:
    • Many roles but low pay,
    • Fewer roles but decent pay,
    • Very few roles at all.
• Capture observations, not emotions:
  • “Senior roles now ask for X + Y that I don’t have yet.”
  • “Compensation bands have dropped/increased by approximately N% compared to my last role.”
  • “Most roles are hybrid or on-site; fully remote seems rare/limited to certain companies.”

Output for the day:
A simple “Job Market Snapshot” with:

• Which titles match you now.
• Rough comp range.
• Difficulty and competition level (your subjective rating).

Day 3 - Personality and Temperament Check (Entrepreneur vs. Employee)

Goal: Honestly evaluate whether now is the right time to pursue entrepreneurship.

This is not about what sounds exciting in theory. It is about your risk tolerance, discipline, and current life constraints.

Actions:

• Answer the following questions in writing:
  • How do you respond to long stretches of uncertainty (months with no clear outcome)?
  • How comfortable are you with irregular income?
  • Do you get energy from self-directed projects or from working within a team and structure?
  • Do you prefer deep technical problems, or are you willing to also do sales, marketing, and admin when required?
• Score yourself (1–5) on each:
  • Self-discipline without external deadlines.
  • Tolerance for financial risk.
  • Ability to learn adjacent skills (sales, copywriting, marketing).
  • Desire for autonomy vs. desire for stability.
• Interpret the scores:
  • Mostly low (1–2): A pure entrepreneurial jump right now may be the wrong move. Consider focusing on job search first and using “build” time in a safer, smaller way.
  • Mixed (2–4): A hybrid approach may make sense (job search + structured side-building).
  • Mostly high (4–5): You likely have the temperament for a more aggressive entrepreneurial push, assuming your runway allows it.

Output for the day:
A short “Temperament Summary” that ends with a sentence:

“Given my current temperament and life situation, I am currently best suited for:

• primarily job search, or
• hybrid (job search + building), or
• primarily building and entrepreneurship.”

Day 4 - Skills, Preferences, and Enjoyment

Goal: Separate what you can do from what you actually want to do and what is monetizable.

Actions:

• Make three lists:
  1. Things I can do at a high level (skills, domains, tools).
  2. Things I actually enjoy doing (be specific, not “computers”).
  3. Things people have historically paid me for or requested from me (inside or outside work).
• Mark each item as:
  • E = Energizing
  • N = Neutral
  • D = Draining
• Highlight intersections:
  • Skills that are high competency + energizing + clearly valued by others.
• Note any tensions:
  • “I’m very good at X but it drains me.”
  • “I love Y but have not yet been paid for it.”

Output for the day:
A “Skills and Preference Map” with three sections:

• Skills worth doubling down on.
• Skills to keep as supporting tools, not as core offers.
• Skills or tasks to minimize.

Day 5 - Financial Reality and Runway Calculation

Goal: Get a clear and honest picture of how much time you actually have.

Actions:

1. Calculate your monthly “nut”:
   • Rent/mortgage
   • Utilities
   • Groceries
   • Insurance
   • Transportation
   • Debt payments
   • Non-negotiable ongoing costs (family, medical, etc.)
2. List all subscriptions and discretionary expenses:
   • Streaming services, extra SaaS, hobby costs, etc.
   • Mark each as:
     • Keep (critical for health, productivity, or job search)
     • Cancel
     • Pause or downgrade
3. Inventory your liquid assets:
   • Severance remaining
   • Cash savings
   • Short-term accessible funds (not retirement accounts, unless absolutely necessary and fully understood).
4. Compute your runway:
   • Conservative monthly budget (after cuts).
   • Runway in months = (Liquid assets + guaranteed income expected) / monthly budget.

Output for the day:
A “Runway Report” that answers:

• How many months of conservative living you have.
• What changes (cuts or small income sources) could extend it.
• At what date (month/year) things become critical if nothing changes.

Day 6 - Decision Space and Strategy Options

Goal: Based on the job market, temperament, skills, and runway, define a realistic strategy space.

Actions:

• Combine your previous outputs:
  • Job Market Snapshot
  • Temperament Summary
  • Skills and Preference Map
  • Runway Report
• Create 2–3 concrete strategy options, for example:
  1. Job Search First:
     • Focus on full-time or contract roles.
     • Use building/publishing as a credibility booster, not main revenue.
  2. Hybrid:
     • Split weeks between targeted job search and building one productized service or digital product.
  3. Entrepreneurial Runway:
     • Commit to 3–6 months of focused building (SaaS, productized services, content), with a predefined review point to decide whether to continue or pivot back to job search.
• For each option, write:
  • Pros
  • Cons
  • Risks if it fails
  • What “success” looks like at 3–6 months

Output for the day:
A one-page “Strategy Options” document that clearly compares your realistic paths.

Day 7 - Commit to a Path and Define the Next Plan

Goal: Choose a primary path for the next 3–6 months and connect it to a concrete plan.

Actions:

• Re-read your notes from Days 1–6.
• Choose one of the following as your primary mode:
  • Job Search Focused (with light building on the side).
  • Hybrid (balanced job search and building).
  • Builder/Entrepreneur Focused (using your runway).
• Write a short commitment statement:

  “For the next 3–6 months, my primary path is: X.
  I will treat this as an experiment with a clear review date on: [date].”

• Pick the next appropriate plan:
  • If Job Search Focused: focus on strengthening your platform, portfolio, and credibility.
  • If Hybrid: start with the 14-Day Reboot and then move to Platform Builder or Digital Product.
  • If Builder/Entrepreneur: consider 14-Day Reboot followed by Micro-SaaS or Digital Product plan.
• Create a calendar reminder or note at your review date:
  • “Check: Is this path working? What needs to change?”

Output for the day:
A “State of the Self Summary” with:

• Chosen primary path.
• Why you chose it.
• What plan you are doing next.
• When you will review and possibly adjust course.

What This Plan Gives You

By the end of this 7-day “State of the Self” plan, you will have:

• A grounded understanding of your job market.
• An honest assessment of your entrepreneurial readiness.
• A clear picture of your financial runway and risk tolerance.
• A map of what you can do, what you enjoy, and what is monetizable.
• A deliberate choice of what you will focus on for the next 3–6 months.
• A concrete next plan (reboot, platform, product, SaaS, or consulting).

This is not about optimism or pessimism. It is about clarity.
Once you know where you stand and what you can afford - in time, money, and energy - you can move forward with intention, instead of reacting blindly.