Thursday, April 18All That Matters

This speech from Conan has kept me going after a job loss. Hope this helps someone.

by slinkyklinky


This speech from Conan has kept me going after a job loss. Hope this helps someone.




View Reddit by slinkyklinky – View Source

49 Comments

  • baddayforsanity

    I got laid off in September. It was an amazing job and I loved my team to death. It was remote, it gave me the flexibility I needed to deal with life, family, moving, COVID, the works. It was in the mortgage industry, so it wasn’t a surprise when it happened, and we still squirreled money away in case of emergency, but it was still awful to get that phone call from HR.

    I updated my resume, spoke to a dozen recruiters, reached out to my contacts, but it’s still slow going. It’s really, really tough.

    I’m a versatile trainer and functional business analyst (that’s the actual term. I am a functional Functional BA), and it’s so hard not seeing that needle move, more than a month later.

    Every day is a struggle, but I get that I’m luckier than most. Money in the bank (not a lot) was better than my last stint between jobs, where I had to weigh selling my car just to make the mortgage.

    I love conan, he’s an inspiration and a genuinely nice human being from every angle I’ve ever seen him from. His humor and sincerity go a long way. Thanks for this.

    Reply
  • JeromesNiece

    The point about not being taken in by cynicism should be taken to heart by a lot of young redditors. This is one of the most cynical spaces on the internet. And I just know that someone is typing up a 1,000 word reply right now that will say “how can you not be cynical when x, y, and z are happening”. But cynicism is a road that leads to nowhere. Things can and do improve, it’s worth trying even if you fail, and things will probably turn out ok. The problems we face are neither insurmountable nor destined to lead us to ruin.

    Reply
  • 3Dartwork

    Since 2009 I have been laid off every job I have had except the one I currently have.

    That total was 4 in 14 yrs. All 4 laid me off. Learn to live with it but you wind up becoming paranoid in the back of your mind that never goes away.

    Reply
  • bluebirdgm

    During a period of unemployment, I had a dry erase board by my door that I could see every time I headed out. It said “Work hard, be kind, and amazing things will happen.”

    Reply
  • ItsTheExtreme

    The cynicism advice is so difficult to live by, but so important. It takes a special person not to feel slighted in almost any job loss situation. Especially what they did to Conan here. I know he gained a lot of respect after this aired.

    Reply
  • Cribsby_critter

    Giving the Tonight Show back to Leno was incredibly short sighted. Conan was never going to woo Leno’s audience, but that’s far from the point. He appealed to the younger generation, which by now would have been the only one that mattered for a while. I always found him way more genuine, decent, and *funnier*. Keeping him would have spared us Fallen, too.

    Reply
  • SomethingOriginal_01

    Conan’s advice of ‘work hard, be kind, and amazing things will happen’ is so very true. He said this in a commencement speech some years ago and it really is genuinely good advice.

    Reply
  • mogulina

    Conan is 100% right. In June of 2019 I was laid off from my job. For 2 years, I jumped from freelance gig to freelance gig. COVID made it seemingly impossible to lock down anything more secure. I rarely got paid what I was worth, but I kept doing it, kept showing gratitude for my opportunities, and just continued putting myself out there in as many ways I could.

    It wasn’t until May 2021 that I finally received an offer for a full time job again. I’m now about 18 months in at a great job where I feel valued and respected. Those two years were really hard. I moved back in with my parents. I got a lot of advice telling me to change my path. I refused and stayed persistent.

    Please, never give up. Never stop believing in yourself. No matter how hard things get, they will get better. Keep the ones that lift your spirits close. I believed in myself and I believe in you.

    Reply
  • partizan92

    This is my mantra with my 9 year old daughter. Cynicism gets you no where. Work hard and be kind and amazing things will happen.

    Reply
  • thelookoutbelow

    For anyone who wants to become sufficiently well balanced and not need a single obscure video to make it through life, buy my book coming out next month

    Reply
  • SteveMac

    While I get the irony of my comment being cynical, it sure is easy(easier) to not be cynical when you lose your job and get paid 32.5 million dollars as a severance (which Conan did when getting “fired” from The Tonight Show).

    When some needle dick mutli-billionaire fires you, a normal working plebe, for spite because he bought the company that made him mad … well .. a little cynicism is warranted.

    Reply
  • itsfish20

    I feel this…I was laid off last Tuesday from a job I loved due to slow business and not being able to afford to pay a few of us…i’m 35 and have a kid now and although my wife works it’s going to suck in a few weeks when severance pays out…this made me feel hopeful for the future and finding a new job

    Reply
  • yaosio

    If you think working hard and being nice causes amazing things to happen then you’re a follower of the prosperity gospel. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Prosperity_theology This is the belief that good things happen to good people and bad things happen to bad people.

    People say this is true but refuse to prove it. I’m expected to just take it as fact and I’m an evil person for daring to question the prosperity gospel. It’s an absolutely horrifying way to think because every time you see somebody that’s poor you’ll think they did something to deserve it, that they deserve to be hurting.

    Here’s a way to disprove the prosperity gospel. A baby can be porn poor, and a baby can be born rich. Before birth a baby does nothing. The rich baby did nothing to be rich, the poor baby did nothing to be poor. According to the prosperity gospel they should both be perfectly equal, yet they are not, disproving the prosperity gospel.

    Reply
  • NbAlIvEr100

    I dont think being kind helps anymore. I havent gone places in a long while and have constantly been fucked (not literally…..ugh even that hurts.)

    Reply
  • ediks

    I turned 40 the other day and it marked a 3 month time span of no work. I was at my last job for 10 and a half years – my entire professional career. Starting over has been super hard and this video was nice to see right now. Thank you

    Reply
  • xRememberTheCant

    In a weird way, Conan’s firing probably was the best thing that ever happened to him in hindsight.

    It really helped him grow a brand and he wound up being on TBS for several years where he was encouraged to be himself and given the freedom to do the show he wanted and now he has really top notch podcast where he legitimately sounds like he’s having the time of his life.

    Conan rocks

    Edit: just goes to show OP sometimes setbacks are just part of the journey to a better place

    Reply
  • adam_demamps_wingman

    All those people in that pic got to buy houses, cars, send their kids to school, and live decent lives. Conan helped those people achieve.

    Reply
  • pepesilvia_esq

    I feel the same. I was out of school and unemployed while this was happening.

    Yeah we knew he’d be fine with all his money but he represented exactly what we were going through. The young ones finally getting their shot only to be told to fuck off by the boss because they decided to bring back those retirees to work our jobs for half the pay.

    He mobilized our frustrations and was a symbol of that fight many of us had at that time. We couldn’t find jobs, kept losing out to some senior who would do it for cheaper.

    Conan was all of us at that time.

    Reply
  • MiSsiLeR81

    i stopped expecting too much to be honest. Now, the only thing i want is the strength to hustle, pay off my bills and make myself cozy and peaceful for others.

    Reply
  • jimdandy19

    I wish I could get fired from a job I love and make millions doing and still basically get to keep doing it after getting fired.

    Reply
  • doctor_zaius

    I remember watching this when it aired and all these years later, it still makes me tear up. Conan handled the whole Tonight Show thing with such grace and optimism. Love that dude

    Reply
  • serendippitydoo

    I’ll never forget when Jay Leno said “He would do the same thing in my shoes”

    No, Jay he wouldn’t. Because he didn’t. He didn’t force himself back into his old slot that had already been handed to the next host.

    He left, with dignity. Something Leno was incapable of doing.

    Reply
  • Eindacor_DS

    In case anyone else needs to hear this: losing your job, even getting fired, isn’t the end of the world. I’ve been furloughed, laid off, and terminated from decent jobs before, every time it seemed like the world was ending, every time I scraped by and things worked out. Just try your best to keep it together and figure something out.

    Reply
  • Daisaii

    “After two weeks of negotiations, NBC announced that they had paid $45 million to buy out[3] O’Brien’s contract”

    If i would be paid 45 million after being fired i would also not feel so bad.

    Reply

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