This installment is a departure from my usual blog posts on best practices. Recently I finally received an offer to work with one of the Big Four consulting firms after a six-month job layoff hiatus. During this involuntary sabbatical I did a lot of introspection and uncovered some motivational routines that enabled me to sustain my edification, productivity and creativity.

I was laid off from my job six months ago amid company-wide restructuring. This was not the first time in my career to...