About 8 years ago I quit my job at a great company to start a business. I had no idea what I was doing. About 2 years later, my co-founder had quit, I had not seen a drop of income from the business, I had burned through a good chunk of savings, and I felt like a failure. I was living in a studio apartment in san francisco, using my closet as an office (the desk fit in there, but I didn't when seated at it). I was so upset about the whole thing that I would wake up in the morning at 5AM, be nauseous, then be so miserable that I would go back to sleep. There was a 3-4 year period where I was working so hard, and then so ashamed, that I turned away dates because I didn't want to answer the 'what do you do' question. It was definitely the lowest point of my life.

I decided to apply to law school, and I had just missed the cycle, so it was going to be another year before I got a response. I kept working on the business because I couldn't think of anything else to do. In the next year, the business improved enough that I decided not to go to law school. It kept getting better and better. About 3.5 years in, I stopped telling people it was a failure. The truth was that by that time, it was a very good deal and I could no longer deny it.

My point is not that you should keep doing what you are doing (or that you should apply to law school). Its just that bad times get better. I think the number one thing you can do for yourself is keep moving forward. It doesn't have to be big, just a small step each day in a positive direction. One great thing you can do, in my opinion, is work out. Even if you are unemployed for the next year, at least you will be fit and trim at the end of it. You can jog for free.

Mostly, I wanted to communicate that things will get better, just keep moving forward...