You may have got your current corporate job right out of college, or been there for 2 months or 10 years. It doesn’t matter. You are at risk and could lose your job any day. Rather than go through things you can do after you lose your job, when it could be too late, I decided to write about things that you can do now to ensure that you are in a better place when you do lose your job.

1. Make contacts and keep in touch

I have seen this many times before where people (including myself) add to their Linkedin contacts they met along the way. But with most people, the list of contacts go stale. Not a lunch, not a message, nothing, as in zilch. I’m not saying get in touch with everyone, even though that’s not a bad idea if you have time., but what you should definitely do is get in touch with those you know somewhat intimately, maybe through a project, training class, mutual colleagues, etc. In other words, prioritize that contact list! Do schedule a lunch with them. You should be going out to lunch with someone from a prior job or project at least once a month.

So do you shoot the shit at lunch time and talk about how many bangs you notched last month? NO. You ask what they do, what are their challenges, what is the career progression like, and what frustrates them about their current position. There’s a myriad of other questions you can ask too. Also, ask if they would leave that position if the right opportunity came. Remember, this is a chance for you to help them as well. The information gathered through a $20 lunch could be gold and can mean the difference between a shitty career and an amazing one.

2. Keep your options open

What do I mean by this? While I don’t mean mack girls on the internet, I do mean “pipeline.” My meaning of pipelining in this context is different and maybe unusual to some. If you followed step one above, that means you should be lining up interviews. “But Cobra, I haven’t left my job yet.” Fear not. Just because you interview does not mean you need to jump off a ship that’s underway and get your dick chomped off by sharks without knowing how to swim.

You are just testing the waters or throwing a net to gather good information. You can simply search the internet for jobs or you can take a day off to get face to face with a potential employer you can easily build a rapport with (for later use if necessary). Recruiters are available in a lot of professions to do your approaches for you. However, use your head and do not let them push you into any job even if you have the slightest discomfort. You’re doing this to assess your own value. It’s a game. Do you find one girl and once you get her, you get married, settle down and have kids? If you’re a manosphere reader, you know this is not the case with most of us. So why would it be any different with your job where you spend at least a third of your day? Enough said.

3. Don’t respect your boss or company too much

I’ve seen this many times and will see it again. Shit, even I can’t help it. What I’m saying is WATCH IT. A decision against your favor can be even more swift than the Quintus Curtius ban hammer on ROK and the RVF banhammer combined. If for example an acquisition of your company happens overnight, your job could be at risk. It is happening to me right now. That relationship that you have invested in so dearly with all that over time and extra work can remain meaningless even long after you get the termination axe. There are roles that exist straight up to middle management and even some at the top levels (e.g. Internal Audit) where this rings true.

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BUT, there exists another side of this spectrum where the axe is not so swift. Herein lies upper management. No matter what happens, these guys are generally safer than the lower end folk, with their bigger incentive bonuses, stock options or both. Also, the investments they made in relationships (higher net worth individuals they had access to) will provide them more value in the long run. If they do get the axe, it usually tends to be like a gentle virginal bang. They have earned that (supposedly). Remember, you are your own man. Figure out which end of the spectrum you’re on and act accordingly. If you don’t have access to upper management, do things to better yourself in other ways outside of work so you are the one getting the virginal bang.

4. Be social with your work mates

Maybe you know you aren’t going to have this job for long so you build this arrogance about you. “But Cobra I don’t have an arrogance, I just don’t give a fuck.” Okay, STOP. If you don’t give a fuck, it will show and this no fuck attitude will come to fuck you back doggystyle. This is not some club or the mall and you’re not running asshole game. So, do yourself a favor – be social with those around you. Ask about their life, lie about yours too. Build a goody-two-shoes reputation.

Is that beta? Maybe. But, is it going to provide you a higher chance to earn a longer stream of income? YES. In some jobs where skills are generally saturated, your ability to perform that job won’t mean shit. But, how people perceive your demeanor will. Beta is fine here. (Upper management jobs are different—you can be a bit of an asshole and get away with it.)

5. Figure out what you want

This is tough when everything around you screams this is where you’ll stay for a long time. Don’t let it fuck with your head. Develop your own thought process. Realize that the work place is not a microcosm of the world. Not at all. It is a world created for the man, by the man. This man dictates who takes the shit, who it rolls to and who deals with it.

Now associate what I just noted with a company’s organizational chart. It will now make sense as long as you remember that shit rolls downhill. The man who dictates will generally be so far removed from the shit. You have to decide if you want to be dictated to or be the one dictating. The latter is a difficult ladder to climb but more satisfying as many on the manosphere can attest. The former, however, can only be possible if you have been successfully doing #1 to #4. Set an outlook. Goals come from outlooks, because if your outlook is fucked, I can guarantee you that your goals will be totally fucked. This is coming from someone who had a shitty outlook for years along with consequently shitty goals.

Think about a time when you were on top of the world and felt like you could do anything. That mental image of yourself, is that what you see now? If that’s a yes, stop reading. If it’s a no, then ask yourself this: is your current job helping you get there? Be honest with yourself. If you’re in lower to middle management and don’t have access to upper management then the answer is no. Another way to think about this: did you ask if there are things that you can do right now that will provide better access to upper management? If the answer is some version of “Just do your job right now and we’ll let you know,” it’s time to think ahead for yourself.

Meditate about this every day for at least five minutes, because it will help you develop an action plan. Maybe that means looking at financing options. Maybe it means looking into what makes a small business successful. Maybe it means, you want to be a physician instead of a finance guy. Whatever it is, remember that this last step will not be taken overnight. It will likely be a combination of baby steps that will turn into stronger man steps if you keep to it.

Read More: 5 Things The Corporate World Taught Me