often take out these policies, then forget they have them," says Mills. "Or you might want to take out a policy now to protect yourself and your family tomorrow." On a more simple level, Mills says that if you're employed, stop whingeing. "Managers will be under stress and want people who can help manage some of that, not people who whinge and moan -- it's tempting to make these people redundant. Also, whingers demotivate other staff." Catherine Roan, managing director of Careershifters , says you should go one step further and have fun. "You can't make a career decision from a depressed state -- which is where we can end up when we feel stuck in our work. So give attention to making your life fun, and let that spill over into your quest for career change." Action Points  Do everything you can to prepare for the worst, should it happen  Try to remain positive  Understand your legal entitlements What are your strengths? Working out what it is you have to "sell" is difficult. Dunnett says you could start by finding your original job description and jotting down everything on it that you perform, day to day. "Check whether you can realistically add everything on it to your list of current skills, and also add new achievements and skills," he says. Your list will benefit from being benchmarked against information you can gain from talking to business contacts, colleagues, suppliers, headhunters and agencies to find out what