I knew it was coming; I could feel it in the air.  The vibe from the HR manager was frosty that final month. The end was coming.

The signs were evident in that period of time before I was laid off.  I had reinvented personally at least 3 times in that building over the years. As we were approaching endgame I was in the spot I should be. I was in my zone; blessed with a great staff, a clear mission but a vanishing budget. I had reinvented the staff a time or two during the final stretch, squeezing every possible molecule of creative effort out of an ever-dwindling headcount.

We did everything we could do, we tried everything we could try. The end of the chapter was inevitable.

The funny thing was, even thought I knew it was going to be over soon, the enormity of The End didn’t change my day to day behaviors (at least I hope it didn’t). I did my thing every day at that office, and had simply decided to wait it out, work to the very end, and figure it out post-layoff.

I got lucky. Reinvention was my destiny-continuing on in my industry doing the same work was not going to be the outcome. I needed it all to come to a crash, so I could look back, analyze, and then move forward.

There are often clear signs the end is coming. We want to ignore them, to look away, because to face the possibility is to face some very tough news, and some very brutal future decisions.

Alison Green in US News and World Report wrote a piece today that resonated with me, and I share it with you here. The 8 signs she discusses are the easy ones to spot. If you can identify 3-5 of these in your current work situation, it’s time to get ready; change may be coming your way.

It could be the best thing that ever happened to you.

This week I’ll tell you a story of a former doctor who witnessed incredible change in her life- the jewelry she designs was featured in the goodie bags at last night’s Academy Awards show.