Make the best use of my talents

At least for now, I feel like I get to use my many talents daily, in lots of different ways. And I’m at least 10 times more productive, as a result. The days of yawning boredom and doing very little are done with, and I’m happy about this.

If I find myself no longer meeting this standard any more, I’ll have to return to the personal strategic planning process. But for now – I’m marking this one as done.

It’s only week 2, but my job is so far proving to be very satisfying. I’m absorbed, involved, challenged, and having fun.

Lots I need to transfer to this website from my two-day Personal Strategic Planning workshop I attended Friday and Saturday. I also invited the attendees to participate here on 43things – we’ll see if any of them show up!

I want this to be a separate entry, because I may edit it, add things to it, refine it.

Edited after my Personal Strategic Planning workshop

I am working at my new job. It is now January 25, 2009. This is what is happening:

I am the successful leader of an inspirational team. We’ve just begun our work together, but we know where we’re going and how we’re going to get there.

My enthusiasm is unleashed. FIRED UP and ready to go!

I am learning something new every day. I am also teaching. I also am writing, and doing some public speaking, too. I am doing strategic problem solving – think of ways to approach problems that might not be seen by others. My analytical skills are put to work nearly every day. I can reflect upon what I am doing with pride and satisfaction.

My co-workers think I am fun and intelligent. They appreciate my quirky sense of humor. They also appreciate my expertise. They are grateful to have me lead their team. In turn, my team members are motivated and intelligent. They regard what they are doing as a cause for life. I am energized and inspired by them.

I can ride my bike to work every day. It is not too far, and I don’t have to have a car every day to function in my job.

I was able to achieve this success because I was able to articulate what I had to contribute to the world and because I was looking for this new opportunity. I was in this new job by September 1, 2008. By this time – January 25, 2009 – the foundation and groundwork is being laid for our work together for the coming year.

Then it was “Be the Sole Manager of WHEFA”, which then became, “Be an Executive Director” and then returned to “Be the Sole Manager of WHEFA”. Then it became “Get ‘Acting’ out of my job title”. Whatever it has been precisely titled, it’s been around for a while.

It isn’t that what I’ve done around here is so awful. I get paid a fair bit to do really very little, which I’m sure is someone else’s dream job. It is one of those things that I was willing to put up with for a long time because they were willing to employ me part-time with benefits while my kids were young. It also was a base of stability while my husband left Microsoft (twice), worked for other software companies (twice), and then chucked the whole software gig, went back to school, got a couple of new degrees, and embarked on a new career.

Well, I am no longer working part-time, and my kids are no longer young. My husband’s career situation appears to be stable for now. And I am so bored I could scream!

I am tired of feeling ineffectual. I am tired of being at waste. I can be much better than this.

“Make the Best Use of My Talents” will be my theme for 2008. My best efforts should stem from this. Goals I have adopted to keep me from getting depressed, like Practice Gratitude or learn something new everyday will be less important to practice, because I won’t be as depressed. I won’t feel as ineffectual. I will make a difference in the world.