In addition to tips on staying employed for life, Mike Zimmerman’s article Income for Life — Guaranteed! in the October 2009 issue of  Men’s Health also covers what to do if you find yourself downsized.

Strategy 1:  Reassess what “important” means to you.
“Your time, energy, and money always go to what's important to you, no matter what you say is important,” says Larry Winget, author of It's Called Work For A Reason. “Part of your preparation is to know what's really important.” In your plan, ask yourself: “Do I want it, or do I need it? Can I live without it?”

Winget says, “You have to know in advance what you can't live without. I once had an unemployed guy tell me, ‘I can't disconnect my cable -- the final episode of The Sopranos is in 2 weeks.’ I said, ‘You're an idiot.’” Knowing now what you truly can’t live without will make all your choices easier on the day you actually have to enter that mode.

The October 2009 issue of Men's Health includes Mike Zimmerman’s article Income for Life — Guaranteed! Schools have fire drills, and New York and other big cities have emergency responder drills — by the same token, according to Zimmerman, in these tight economic times the rest of us should “blueprint...a God-forbid plan for your most important asset other than your health — your income.” You’ll have a better chance of keeping your job in these days of downsizing if you follow the strategies suggested by Zimmerman and the experts he consulted:

Strategy 1: Lose the high-school-cafeteria approach to work.
Funny, cool, and popular aren’t job skills. The only way to become a more visible and dynamic presence at your current job is to get results. Become the person who can be given Job X and fully execute it without hesitation or attitude, as well as making yourself more valuable by becoming a source of execution and strategy.