Wow...how fun that my typical blogging day - Sunday - is New Years Day! What sprang from unemployment, boredom, frustration and a lifelong passion for writing is now over two years strong - this September ol' fivenineteen here will be 3. THREE! This will likely be the most productive thing I do all day. Oh, and taking the Christmas tree down too. Thankfully it's a 4 foot artificial tree. Easy to pull apart and pack up until next time.
I remember as a kid I didn't really "believe" it was the New Year until I saw it in writing. Which meant seeing the new year in print on the newspaper the next morning. There still is a part of me that feels that way...although now it's the date readout on my cell phone, my home landline phone or even the little clock on the corner of the laptop screen here. Yep, it's Sunday January 1, 2012. Wow.
It's only natural to reflect back on the year that Was...2011 started off with a bang. Literally. My family said goodbye way too soon to a family member - my cousin's ex wife - at age 41. And a new relationship...intense, yes, which flamed out quickly. And, admittedly, took me awhile to process. Thanks to time and some newly-discovered wisdom shared with me by my dear friend T, it's all so clear to me now. And so great to just Let It All Go.
My health took a nosedive in late winter/early spring last year. Enough to where any plans to hit the gym and train for the year's 5Ks went out the window. We had Typhoid Mary run rampant in that team's cubicle farm. I coughed for two months straight. Here's a tall glass of water in a plastic tumbler toast to a MUCH healthier 2012...with 5Ks to boot! Hmmm, I might steer clear of the gym for a few weeks and try getting outside to exercise. Such a cliche...it's jam packed in January - too hard to get a free treadmill!
I'm optimistic and hopeful about the economy and my job. Save for a two-week break last year between engagements, I was employed all of 2011!! WHAT a relief after the mess of late 2009 and first half of 2010. We HAVE to pull out of this drudgery that is a recession/depression/whatever it is. It sucks and I have good friends still feeling the burn.
My confidence in my Silpada jewelry business only continues to grow and grow...every conversation, every party, every question about my jewelry and what I'm doing only fuels me that I can really DO this, have fun, and make a surprisingly great commission on the side! Just by "selling" a product I've loved for years! (I use "selling" in quotes because it does not really feel like selling at all in the traditional sense.) Just sharing info with people! I meet up regularly with other local reps and the friendships that have grown from them are simply fabulous. Incredible women.
And what a great crescendo on the last part of 2011 when the consulting work I did for free back in 2010 popped into some extra paying work for a couple of months in late 2011! That project is on hold right now, but there is a very strong chance we'll resume work again with the client later this year. Fascinating...and who knows where it could lead? I will be at my current full-time job through late June this year and I know it will go fast. And believe me, I know how to network. If I could stay on longer with this team through June I would leap at the opportunity. But since I do consulting engagements, that's not part of the deal usually. Budget cycles and all mean consultants come and go. Nothing personal.
I feel truly happy and blessed...big smiles as I welcome 2012 and look outside into the sunshine. Time to get outside for a walk!
When I read or hear those words in the title above I get childhood flashbacks. I can hear my first or second grade teacher tell this repeatedly to us in class as we worked on whatever assignment she gave us. Or my parents telling me the very same thing whether it was in ballet class, that paper mache project, Easter egg dyeing or learning to ride a bike without training wheels. Over and over.
But it's also the 4th agreement in Don Miguel Ruiz's book The Four Agreements. Ah. A few weeks back I made a commitment to read one chapter a week and blog about it. And I'm just a couple weeks behind given another book which distracted me profoundly and a quick mental vacay on my typical blogging day Sunday last week. But it's all good. Now I am realizing this is probably my last post of 2011. Where does the time go?
OK, focus. Ruiz sums up this chapter like this: "Your best is going to change from moment to moment; it will be different when you are healthy as opposed to sick. Under any circumstance, simply do your best, and you will avoid self-judgment, self-abuse and regret."
See what I mean about words that are so simple and so profound? I've probably made that comment ten million times in each post about these Agreements. Don't plan on this book being a quick read if you really want to get the most out of it. You'll want to re-read each chapter several times.
And the beauty of this chapter is that this 4th agreement points back to the other 3. Always Do Your Best to...1. Be Impeccable with your Word; 2. Don't Take Things Personally; and 3. Don't Make Assumptions.
Ruiz goes on to explain how much "doing our best" will vary. When we're relaxed and refreshed our best is going to be better than when we're tired. It will be different when we are happy as opposed to upset. And, as we continue to incorporate the 4 Agreements into our lives, our best will become better than it used to be.
If we do our best we won't judge ourselves. We won't punish ourselves. Ahhh...how freeing is this!! Especially someone like me who inherited a big ol' Perfectionism gene. If it couldn't be perfect - whatever it was - it (or rather, I) sucked. I beat myself up. Or I'd get so overwhelmed I'd procrastinate or even worse not do something at all. What an ugly downward spiral!
It's taken years for me to wrestle and fight off that unreasonable, unrealistic quirk that's so deep in my DNA. Probably a little over ten years ago when I first started seeing a therapist was this pointed out to me. HUH? Well, she was right.
My new, more modern, personal mantra? "Excellence, not perfection." And I guess that's similar to this 4th Agreement in a way. These words resonate deep in my bones whether I'm focusing on a work project, getting ready to hit the ice and play hockey or continue to grow my Silpada jewelry business. And every other area of my life too.
Ruiz explains more: "When you do your best, you take action. Doing your best is taking the action because you love it, not because you're expecting a reward." He goes on to explain the cliche of a worker. A worker who only works because he/she is expecting the reward - the paycheck. They work hard the whole week, suffering the actions. They have to work to pay the rent, to support their family...and when they do get their paycheck they are unhappy. There's only a couple days to rest (aka the weekend) and they then try to escape by getting drunk or what have you.
If we take action just for the sake of doing something without expecting a reward, we will enjoy every action we do. If we like what we do, if we always do our best, we are really, truly enjoying life. We have fun, we don't get bored and we don't have frustrations. Man, sign me up!
What about when life takes away something from us? Ruiz explains - "...let it go. When you surrender and let go of the past, you allow yourself to be fully alive in the moment...if you live in a past dream, you don't enjoy what is happening right now, because you will always wish it to be different than it is. There is no time to miss anyone or anything because you are alive. Not enjoying what is happening right now is living in the past and being only half alive. This leads to self-pity, suffering and tears."
Practice makes the master. Ruiz reminds us that we didn't learn to speak, read, write or ride a bike right out of the box. We had to practice, practice, practice! And not judge ourselves when we fall. If we break one of the Agreements, we tell ourselves OK, we'll start over again tomorrow and try again. It will be challenging at first, but as we practice we will get better and better at honoring all four. Stay in the moment and do not worry about the future.
See why this book is going to be a perma-fixture on my bedside table for awhile? It's powerful stuff. Life transforming.
After reading this book I now feel like I have a new, freshly-sharpened set of tools ready to make 2012 an even better year than this one was!
Today is December 26, 2011. It's the beginning of A New Dream.
Wow.
OK, I'm tired. I can't decide if this is a good tired or not, so I'm going with good...for now.
I got a lot of seeds planted over the past year and half. Seeds like job connections. Doing the pro bono work with my friend/colleague when I was unemployed. Representing Silpada. And it's funny how sometimes the seeds sprout up all at the same time!
I had one of those weeks where I barely had time to sneeze, starting with Tuesday. Oh yes, glorious hockey. Hockey is that regular rhythm that is such a delicious part of my lifestyle...a wacky outlet that continually surprises people when I tell them I play (yes, year 'round, co-ed). Normally we have games on Sunday nights, but this week we played on Tuesday night...a 9:30pm faceoff at a rink about a half hour drive from my house. We had a tough 4-1 loss, but on the other hand it was probably a good 'keep the ego in check' kind of game, because our previous two games were blowout wins.
Getting home at 11:30pm on a Tuesday night, knowing morning is just around the corner, is surreal. It's hard to wind down and immediately get to sleep, so the next day I am usually on adrenaline and crash early the next night.
Wednesday? After work I met with a former co-worker for a quick drink. He used to be my Director way back in the early 2000s, and we have kept in touch over the years as our career paths moved onward. Most recently he and I worked together on that pro bono project with another mutual colleague.
...that project which is pro bono no more! Later that night I got home, got a 2nd (3rd?) wind and fired up the home laptop. Did I mention that the company did finally land some actual business with an actual client? And that while the gig was in progress the founder of this company (my friend/colleague who was actually doing the work himself because it wasn't enough to justify hiring someone) meanwhile also landed some full-time work of his own with a different company and moved to Baltimore? And asked me to help finish up the project? Yes, 'tis true. Whew, did those last few sentences make sense? It's all a big whoosh, just like it's been in my head trying to process it all. I'm flattered he asked me to take over the work to be done, and also am learning how much my brain needs to stretch to keep the mental "work" energy fresh and vibrant for an extra 10 hours or so a month. I got home Wednesday night after that drink with M, called A (who is on east coast time so it's super late for him), fired up the laptop here and worked for an hour on another version of a project schedule. Ah, the classic time and resource constraints. We now have a recommended schedule and a shortened, condensed version of the schedule, which we may have to resort to if our client's budget runs out end of calendar year. And we need a decision quick because time is ticking. Nope, the calendar is not our friend.
As I was working over the phone with A updating the spreadsheet, I was mentally multi-tasking, thinking ahead to the next morning - Thursday. We had a training session onsite with that client, and earlier this month I was a little worried on if I'd be able to take a half day off from my "real" full-time job to go to the client site. Thursdays are typically super busy. But the universe smiled, and it was easy to get my time off approved. Even better, the FTEs at my full-time job had an offsite event all day, so I didn't feel too guilty about being away either. None of the pro bono work I'm doing is in direct competition with my full-time job, but still it feels a little funny doing this side work...not in a bad way at all though.
The training Thursday morning was in downtown Seattle. Le Sigh, how suburban I have become. I was laughing to myself remembering how long it's been since I've worked downtown. 17 years. How I miss it...I lived and worked in Seattle for years after finishing college and just took the bus everywhere - it was fabulous. And I never lived in the suburbs while working in the city - the only time I ever did any regular commuting from the suburbs into Seattle was - gulp - in 1988 when I was taking some classes at the U of W for some extra college credit while home for the summer between my junior and senior year.
So that night I was wondering just how bad the traffic would be for the morning commute. And I had to get up about an hour and a half earlier than I usually do. It was almost dreamlike, busting out of my routine, heading over that bridge into Seattle. The bridge where they're still struggling to get the toll functionality to work properly - looks like they've pushed out to start in December now. I actually made great time and got to the building about a half hour early. Ahhh, perfect. Enough time to join the super long line at Starbucks. I needed a double tall nonfat latte something fierce! I reminisced, remembering how I worked in a building just across the street from where I was, high up enough to where we could look DOWN upon this building as it was under construction. Back in those days when I dressed up for work in skirts, pantyhose and pumps, and the only computer in our office was a huge 386 desktop for all 6 of us to share. We did most of our daily grind on state of the art (back then) typewriters and our essential fax machine. Ahhh, that morning it felt strange to be going to work without my laptop briefcase. Just my purse and a notebook tucked inside. How much things have changed in 20+ years!
After the client meetings that morning, I headed back to the 'burbs and my full-time job. And made the drastic mental shift from consulting to...printing. What's going on here? Well, at my full-time job some of the team are conducting a long series of workshops where they use large wall posters as visual aids to do some grounding on why the heck we're doing the work we're doing. We're a little tight on our supply budget, so I was asked to help out by doing some of the large poster printouts myself, using one of the huge plotter-style printers that are in various locations around our campus. Sounds easy enough, but it sure wasn't. Finding where they are, finding out if they're open for other groups to use (meaning, not private), finding out if they are actually working or not, getting the right printer drivers installed... UGH UGH UGH. Now I'm not one to bitch about work, but come on now. How much money are we really saving having me, a well-paid (and, ahem, well-billed) consultant doing all this legwork that we could just hand off to a professional printer and be done with it? Hmmm.
A 10 minute drive across campus and 3 hours later, I completed the printouts. Getting them rolled up and clipped and into my car - in the rain - was interesting to say the least. Paper is goddamn heavy! No joke! I'd hoped to get some other work done while these huge posters were printing but nope, no dice. I found out just how high maintenance these print jobs are. The paper does not capture well after it prints, so I had to hold it just so, so it wouldn't fold up or bend.
And at about 4:30pm, I mentally shut down. I'd gotten up early, got out of my routine going downtown for half a day, then spent the other half of the day back at work cranking out posters on a huge printer. Guess that hit my saturation point. I went home, exhausted.
Friday was a good day to catch up on work missed Thursday, and I topped it off meeting up with D for a drink at Brix, a wonderful wine bar not far from my house. D's the one I ran into at the Michael Kors store a few weeks ago (see my Two Surprising Ds post for that funny story!). I'm really enjoying getting to know her!
And Saturday? Keeping up with me here? I did a Silpada party for my good friend S, who was my neighbor here in the townhouse complex for many years. She and her boyfriend recently bought an absolutely beautiful home in Lake Tapps and it was time for housewarming and playing with jewelry! We had a blast. It's an hour drive each way to their house, but so incredibly worth it. I earned $300 commission from the party sales - not too shabby for just a few hours of "work" eh?
So it's not surprising that I slept in till nearly 11am today. Yikes, that even is late for me and borders on feeling wasteful of the day. But that was how tired I was!
No rest tonight either save for a short nap maybe later. Yep, Sunday night means hockey. And tonight's faceoff?
10:45pm. Awww yeahhhh.
Whew! The 3rd time IS a charm. After being too tired or too rained out for two other 5Ks this spring/summer, I finally got one under my belt this year!
OK, yeah...I didn't RUN it, but it still counts right?
This was my second time volunteering in the annual Alki Beach 5K Walk & Run, which benefits Northwest Hope and Healing. Northwest Hope and Healing is a non-profit organization which provides emergency financial assistance for women who are undergoing breast cancer treatment at Swedish Medical Center in Seattle. Assistance with basic living expenses like rent, childcare and groceries.
And wow that was a lot of hyperlinking in that last paragraph. But really good stuff - please check it out.
So, how do you volunteer at a 5K? Well, the way I did today was one of the easiest jobs ever - walk the course at the very end, to help let the police and others know that they could start re-opening the roads again. That's it!
There are a ton of both new and old memories woven into this event...starting with the neighborhood. Alki Beach is in West Seattle, and there's a ton of family history here on my Dad's side of the family. My grandfather grew up in West Seattle in the 1920s. He and my grandmother later raised my Dad and Uncle in this same neighborhood. I have enormously fond memories as a kid of the long drive from my house growing up in the suburbs over to West Seattle for Sunday dinner at Grandma and Grandpa's house. Countless, joyful times.
And the newer memories are from my dear friend P, who inspired me to start training to run 5Ks a couple of years ago. She and I used to work together and I'm so glad we still keep in touch despite super busy schedules. P's both run and volunteered in this 5K before, and I was so happy she asked me to join her again this year.
What can I say...this just FEELS good all around. And it's a nice change of pace getting out of the suburbs and into a wonderful, older neighborhood in the city, right on the salt water of Puget Sound.
OK, getting up super early on a Sunday morning is not my favorite thing to do, but once I got up, got dressed and on my way to meet P for our carpool, I was smiling. P showed up with S, an exchange student from Japan who is staying with a friend of P's while attending college here. S was a good sport - I wasn't sure if she knew entirely what this event was going to be all about but I admired her spunk and enthusiasm. And her English was pretty good too! Far better than my Japanese for sure, ha.
We arrived at Alki Beach around 8am. Damn, that fog was thick but thankfully it was not as chilly as it was last year. I remember borrowing knit running gloves from P at the last minute! And also having to put our t-shirts on over our jackets! This year it was not cold, but that fog didn't burn of AT ALL.
Yep, that's Yours Truly in this week's picture - that's a fivenineteen first, everyone. Had it not been so foggy there would have been a spectacular view of the Seattle skyline behind me. Believe me. P and I were so bummed because we really wanted S (the exchange student) to experience the view. But the darn fog never burned off.
The one challenging thing about walking at the tail end of a 5K is, well, keeping your pace just right. You don't want to 'hover' too close behind the last group of walkers. And, you want to make sure you start walking truly after everyone else has started. With about 1200 people participating we had to wait several minutes before we could take to the street and start.
This race goes up and down Alki Avenue - a very flat, fast course. At the halfway point the course does a 180 turn and heads back down the street, finishing at the same place we started. Even though I was walking at a very slow pace with P and S, I was looking forward to a quick gulp of water at the water stop. NOPE. No water stop at the turn around point this year! If I had been running this race I would have been extremely pissed. Yikes.
Other than a few late stragglers we had to corral (how in the hell do you show up over one hour late for a 5K? Baffling.) the three of us had a very nice, relaxing stroll. And we even finished in around 1 hour 15 minutes. MUCH faster than last year. Feels kinda cool walking over the finishing line and hearing the emcee announce, "...and our last walkers have just crossed the finish line...". Meanwhile we didn't even break a sweat.
So although the fog kept its iron-clad grip on the neighborhood (hence my 'cotton ball' post title today), we had a wonderful morning volunteering.
And on the drive back to the suburbs? Glorious sunshine. Even Mount Baker was out. Too funny how socked in Alki was.
Now it's time for a nap. Until next week, everyone!
Last week I wrote about the wave that washed over me, forcing me to sit in my chair here and finish updating my resume. I've learned to not question these super duper strong instincts when they hit - they mean it, dammit! It meant canceling on my hockey game rather last minute, and I don't like doing that at ALL, but the wave won out.
Good thing too: the resume got updated that night. And distributed.
And just a day or two later, guess what happened? Not one but THREE great job leads appeared from the consulting firm who found my current job. What a difference a year and a half makes! The job market is improving, and my phone and email are rumbling even harder back to life. I'm realizing how much more mentally prepared I will be going into my next job assignment, as it shouldn't be nearly as long between gigs as last time around...I hope. Last year I went from mental 0 to 100 literally overnight - an abrupt shock back after feeling like my brain was turning to mush with nothing going on for months and months. Now, while I feel a bit weary and ready for this current engagement to finish up, I feel more 'on'. That's hard to put into words, but it's how it came out.
My friend D's husband also forwarded my resume to a few of his connections, and I'll be meeting up with a Director at a consulting firm later this week for lunch. We had a great chat late on Friday afternoon! I'd prefer to have the firm who I'm currently affiliated with get me reassigned, but I've gotta look out for Numero Uno here. And who knows - new connections made now could sprout even further down the road for me or for another colleague.
In the meantime, I've got a job to do through the end of the month, and, well, I'm only human and it would be incredibly easy to flip the mental switch and stop caring. Sure I take pride in my work and will do whatever it takes for a strong finish. But for some stuff, frankly, I'll need to fake it. Before I knew I would be wrapping up this month, I got assigned some brand new stuff to do - and the milestones were plotted all the way into January. Why would I get assigned something new if I was going to be cut loose just a few weeks later? Anyway, the reasons don't matter, and I'm just chalking it up to even more opportunity to gain more experience in a very short timeframe. Plus, it's a small world out there and I might end up back with this team or something similar down the road.
How you finish is just as important as how you start. Don't burn bridges. Go for the Graceful Exit.
I had lunch with S, a friend I've known for years who I met through hockey. She and I really bonded a couple of years ago when I was first getting used to being unemployed. She has her own business as an aside from her full-time work, and I came with her to several events as a guest to learn more about it. It was great to get out of the house, meet new people and clean up/dress up on those days I had no interviews when the temptation was to just be a slob and mope. And I am dumbfounded that all started two years ago.
It was wonderful to reconnect over lunch again - how had it been a year or so since we last met up?
So, I'm just keeping busy and connected while preparing for whatever the next plunge might be. I'm excited, relieved, nervous, curious...the list goes on. Notice that 'angry' is not in that list of feelings. 'Cause I'm not in the slightest. This gig was designed to be purely consultative, not permanent. And while I don't like to call out specific details in here when it comes to jobs and companies, let me just say I'm perfectly happy with that arrangement. Great experience, but not anywhere to hang my hat right now.
T and I met up for dinner at Palomino last night...she is such an amazing friend. We've each gone through some bumps this year - my very brief relationship, and she and her boyfriend split up a couple of months ago...he had been living with her and so it was a rough ride with all of that and him moving out. We're both happy and strong women and always land on our feet, but we also appreciate the friendships and support out there too. So much to be grateful for.
We split a wonderful bottle of wine (the name escapes me now but trust me, a mighty fine white something), while T chose the Seafood Louie - a beautiful salad - and I the fusilli picatta, a delicious combo of marinated chicken, shallots, capers and a few chili flakes for kick in a white wine sauce.
And when you're steps away from fabulous shopping at Bellevue Square, of COURSE you gotta hop over there too. T picked out a gorgeous pair of black Tod's loafers, and I, knowing I am soon to be on a budget again, merely drooled over shoes.
T and I are brainstorming ideas for a meetup group we're planning to launch later this summer. We're super excited!
And I think "excited" is the right way to describe things for me right now. One door is slowly closing, and something new, unknown, magical is going to pop and set me on an entirely new journey this summer and beyond.
Let's just hope it's sooner than later!
And, frankly, some of the most important work I have to do - take care of myself...look out for Numero Uno. Selfish? Nope - essential.
I love, love, love to write. And yet the writing I do at work, while I'm proud of it and I think I've got a good style, doesn't really feed my soul. Hence, this blog and other outlets.
It's Sunday and the air is full of sunshine, warmth and delicious smells. Cut grass. Barbecues. Does sunshine have a smell? If so, it smells great outside. I even heard the ice cream truck's clankety music earlier today.
A long, soggy and cold spring it has been...maybe, just maybe we've gotten past most of that, but on the other hand most of us know that summer doesn't officially start until after the 4th of July around here. We'll take these warm days meanwhile.
So what's the work today? Polishing up my resume. And networking. How time flies. Yes, it's time for me to get back out there and network again, as my current job assignment wraps up at the end of June. Am I surprised? Nope. The writing was on the wall in tons of ways two months ago, plus the end of June is end of fiscal year at this particular client, so it's definitely nothing personal; I am one of many who will be finishing up here in the next few weeks. This engagement - 13 months - has actually been my longest ever since I pulled the plug on longterm employment and began doing consulting gigs.
I'm definitely feeling a lot more confident this time around. Hell, it's not 2009 anymore. The job market is improving, and it seems overall there's a happier vibe out there - not sure how to pinpoint it. Perhaps some of that is ME being happier too. Choose your attitude, right??
And what a fun kickoff to the weekend...tiptoed out of the office a tad early to head over to my friend M's new law offices for a housewarming - and a jewelry show too! We had a fabulous combo of a sunny late afternoon - her conference room has a deck right off of it, a wonderful wine and munchies spread from M, and time playing with jewelry! I made about $200 in commission too - not too shabby getting paid to party, frankly!
I had a glorious sunny Saturday with my dear friend J, who treated me to a belated birthday lunch at Purple, a wonderful wine bar not far from our famous wineries in the deep Seattle suburbs. And they have fantastic food too. We then hit the Burke Gilman trail for a walk in the sunshine - yay that I remembered to plop on some sunscreen ahead of time. She and I chat on IM quite a bit so it's always fun to reconnect in person!
I woke up today - Sunday - knowing it was time to get to work. Time to get that resume up to date and circulated. So I spent a few hours today here in the home office doing that plus getting on the phone and calling a bunch of colleagues/friends to let them know my status and availability.
And then I got 'gripped' down in my office chair here. STAY AND WORK. Wha??? I had a hockey game tonight, but something deep within me said DON'T GO, you NEED to stay here and network. Call me crazy, but I do realize these instincts deep in my core need my full attention. So I opted not to skate tonight. Why would my instincts tell me not to skate tonight when I'm feeling perfectly healthy and ready to work off some muscle soreness from walking by...well...playing hockey? One of my favorite outlets ever?
I don't know. And I have learned to not question these strong pulls, as crazy as they sound written in words here. Maybe in some dark, warped way I wasn't supposed to be driving to that rink tonight because there would have been some horrible accident. I know, I know, that's a little 'out there.'
I do know that everything happens as it's supposed to. We don't always know it at the time, but it's so incredibly true.
And now I must get back to my contact spreadsheet updating - going on nearly 20 outreaches tonight and I'm just getting started!
May already?? Wow.
Well, it was quite a week. And how could we not recap a week without a big nod to the Royal Wedding - ? C'mon, even the most anti out there saw a few clips of it or at least the pictures? And maybe even cracked a smile? It was breathtaking. Not so breathtaking for me to feel like getting up at 3am to watch it live, but I do know of a few ladies who did get up early and have a pajama party - with their best HATS on. Love it! And pass the tea and scones, please, darling.
So, changes. Changes are good - good to refresh, re-analyze and re-group. My work assignment is getting a brief extension at least into the summer - possibly into the fall - but that still has not hashed out. Good Lord have I been back at work nearly a year? Yes indeed. All of that stress and anguish I went through prior to landing this gig won't soon be forgotten. So nice to have it far in the rear view mirror. But with a few scars...and that's OK.
Two of my closest co-workers wrapped up their assignments this week and are moving on. One won't be going too far it turns out, as she'll be joining kind of a 'cousin' team of ours, but I'll miss her 'partner in crime' that she's been this past year. Another is required to take about 3 months off - that's the rules with some kinds of contingent workers - and she is hoping to return and pick up where she left off.
I'm happy for them both but admittedly a little sad. But moreso I have a shitload of hilarious memories. Things that may have sucked before but are now funny.
I capped off the workweek with a wonderful dinner with my dear friend L at Brix, a wine bar a short drive from my house. She's a part of that circle of friends I get together with a few times a year - we're all about the same age and went to elementary school together. Unwinding over a nice pinot gris and to die for risotto was heavenly. L and I can just smile at eachother and 'know' what we're each thinking. Oodles of memories over some 35 years.
And the silver, silver, silver flows and flows. I'm taking a few extra steps in my Silpada business by doing a sort of correspondence course with a coach at the corporate offices. She sends me 'homework' each week for 4 weeks and I send it back at the end of the week. She sends me feedback, the next week's 'homework,' and we also chat on the phone during the week too.
Ugh. I know myself pretty well and am realizing where I'm doing well in promoting my business and where I suck monkey butt. I have a party next weekend that I'm SUPER excited about. And one night I met up with a good friend I hadn't seen in quite awhile for dinner and half priced bottles of wine. She asked about the jewelry I was wearing, I let her road test a few pieces during dinner, and voila - that evening I had a very nice order from her! So I feel comfortable when people approach me with questions or compliments. I've been complimented on my jewelry from random strangers in the grocery store to the cashier in one of our work cafeterias. You can bet I never go anywhere without my jewelry on and a handful of business cards. Yes, I'm learning the nuts and bolts of direct selling. It's all about connections, people! The woman who is hosting my party next week noticed my jewelry at work and it just flowed from there. You never know!
But I hate picking up the damn phone. It's no problem for me when I'm doing follow up calls to make sure people are happy with their jewelry and to answer any other questions, but just making outbound calls to people I know to talk about what I'm doing and to ask if they'd like to host parties. Well, ew. I am so not a sales person, and frankly, when I get home from work I am tired and the last thing I feel like doing is picking up the phone. I feel like I'm intruding on people's dinner time or other quality time with family. And you know I don't mean to be whiney in here because I DO love what I'm doing as a side business, but that's the area I need to really work on.
And it suddenly dawned on me why.
Email! Texting! Facebook! So much of my immediate circle communication is through non-phone, social media methods! Aha! Is that something unique to me? Or to this part of the country? I have beautiful snail mail postcards in my supplies which are used to send out reminders about parties. I don't know about any of you, but around here we stick with Evite. Is it because it's 'green'? Or technological? It's SO much easier to set up parties and have reminders sent automatically via email.
So these are some fun self-discovery things...part of the reason I chose to start this business was to get out of my comfort zone and do something I'd never done before. Same as my plunge into hockey back in 2003.
I'll be speaking during part of our monthly team meeting this week and I'm really honored to be asked. It's very informal - just sharing the tips I've learned from this 4-week course I'm doing on my own - but I really appreciate the chance to participate more in our meetings. 'Cause they're super fun!!
And now it's time to head to the bank and run other fun errands. Got a shiny new Silpada license plate frame on my car - let's see what happens!
