This was the first weekend in several that I completely unplugged. While I enjoyed spending time just listening to the wind in the trees, I really missed the interaction with a number of people.
Hope everyone had a great weekend, and that your upcoming week is a good one as well! Here’s to you!
Wow for a long post title eh?
While this was a follow-up for a question Jeff had on Wednesday, it really started me thinking…
First the question:
If you’re NOT an entrepreneur, if YOU work for a corporation and have spent your career as an employee, why have YOU made that choice?
I suspect that many people either are unaware of their true capabilities, or are comforted by the “feeling of security” a corporation can offer.
Personally, I have chosen to take the other path – for good or bad. It’s hard to work without a net, but at the same time I CAN SEE the opportunities that did not seem obvious before.
So, I can’t answer Jeff’s question – I simply want to follow the more interesting drummer.
Via: The Jeff Pulver Blog – Today’s Question of the Day: If you are NOT an Entrepreneur and if you work for a Corporation, why did YOU choose this career path?
You know, I’ve found that being too focused on your employer’s goals can distract you from you own. That’s not to say that your goals and your employer’s can’t be similar or overlap. Nor am I suggesting that your employer (large or small) is controlling your future, however, you do need to make sure that you are attending to your own agenda to ensure your own growth.
Too Involved
Being deeply involved in your job can be very rewarding to many. I for one really liked being an important team member in my department – I was able to recommend or bring solutions to the table for difficult problems. The more successful you are at your job, it sometimes leads to overworking yourself and keeping you away from family, friends and, generally, life itself.
Time Out!
This is where I want to suggest that you take a minute (hour?) and think about what your goals are in your life. Go ahead, I’ll wait…
Ok, now that you’ve thought a bit – have you ever written these ideas down? Have you ever sat down with a notepad or journal and created even an abbreviated overview of your life & career goals? If you’re married, have you and your spouse sat down and outlined a plan? While not a requirement, it can help alleviate some unknowns or uncertainties and can foster conversations on finding those dreams and wishes for the future.
Planning
Every successful business, organization, or project starts with a planning session. The more intricate, expensive, or critical, the more a plan is important in it’s success. The same is true of your life & career, without some kind of plan you’re likely going to wander through life without as much enjoyment as might be possible.
Having an overall plan can help keep focus of what your next step should or might be. There are so many things that come up in life that you can’t plan for, but you should always be able to see that you’re off track, or that your views and goals are changing. Being able to refer back to a plan from time to time can help in motivating oneself as well.
Map It Out
One way to start could be to simply draw a map. Think about how you plan a road trip with start/end points, rest stops, points of interest, etc… Starting with today as your starting point and pick something that you wish or dream for as an end point. Next you could start identifying points along way that you need to get to your dream, roadblocks that could keep it from happening, and detours to get around them.
Change Is Good
Don’t be afraid to change those goals either. It’s important to really allow for growth and maturity that changes one’s opinions and possibly one’s goals. You may be satisfied as a single professional, but what if that one special person turns up next week? Life is a never ending series of events to be experienced. Plan that things will change. Hey, the best part here is that you don’t have to negotiate a “Change Request” for your project – regardless of the budget. 
All this is just an exercise in planning and contingency management. My whole point is to get you thinking of your agenda (family, kids, college, retirement, recreation, etc…), as much as you think about your employer’s agenda. It’s great to be the go-to person for an organization, but remember that it’s your future that you’re really working for. Enjoy the trip, don’t let it sneak up on you!
Well, Amy and I have made the decision to move further out from the city. It’s been a discussion point for a long time and there have been so many things that we’ve changed and done different this year that we decided it is time.
We’re currently in Monticello, MN a “bedroom” community of Minneapolis and we’re moving back to Wisconsin. We plan to use ShortNoticeMovers.net so it won’t be an issue. We both grew up in a rural environment and just can shake how much we love getting back to our roots. We’ve got a short time before school starts for the kids and we’ve got a lot of work to do in the next month.
So, I apologize for a shortage of posts and not being online the last week – we just spent a lot of time running around, talking with people, looking at places and just taking time to talk it all through.
We’re off on a new adventure in life and who knows where this will lead. When I left corporate in April, we had no idea that we’d ultimately be making such big changes. Part of it is unsettling – I feel like there is too much change, but I’m looking forward to things that I haven’t really had a chance to do in 20 years.
The first part of this week will be very busy as well and I’m trying to get some writing done this weekend to make up for being offline for a few more days. I’ll post on this as things come about, along with some pictures and hopefully get back to having time and space to do some video. Still haven’t tried out my DV camera import tools!
Change, the one inexorable force that both disrupts and encourages. Change to one’s perception, to one’s abilities, and one’s fortunes is always tied to one’s future.
I am an agent of change, yet I abhor it.
I create change, but end up enduring it.
I am forced to change, and I accept it.
Where will change deposit me this time?
@MAC_Arms Pay taxes when you make your money, pay taxes when you spend your money, pay taxes when you successfully invest your money, pay taxes when you save enough taxed money to afford a house, pay taxes to live in your house, pay taxes when you sell the house that you paid taxes on to
Yup, taxes are criminal and we need serious reforms. I've always said that if you want to see a tax revolt, make withholdings illegal and have Americans write a tax check every payday. They'll revolt for sure. You don't miss what you never had.
I think it’s safe to say that @GovEvers should stop blocking audits in Wisconsin and open the books…
“Only AMERICAN citizens should vote.”
Sen. @berniemoreno says voter ID and proof of citizenship are simply common sense.
“We’re talking about a very low threshold — identify who you are and prove you’re a U.S. citizen when you register to vote. I think we’re getting closer to
Wrong. Democrats are solely responsible for hours-long airport lines.
They voted to defund TSA three times and won’t even entertain a conversation about reopening it. Why?
They’re using it as leverage to stop enforcing immigration laws.
