reinvent my career

Since that “primal scream” (in typewritten form, anyway) of a year ago… I’ve done very little to “reinvent my career.”

I have some important paperwork around here somewhere that I need to fill out and try to get my boss to sign, which will provide me with a valuable credential which will help tremendously with job security.

However, my boss doesn’t like to provide job security.

I gotta keep thinking positive about this, and keep on her good side, and get that d@mned form signed and submitted.

THEN I’ll have some breathing room, and maybe I can clear my head from day-to-day stress enough to make some positive strides in a new, better direction.

Blah blah blah… no progress for a year.

My current career provides well for my family. I do it well, and the demand hasn’t lessened any.

But it doesn’t really fulfill me; instead, it has sort of a negative energy about it. I’d rather find ways to help people move ahead in something more meaningful.

I’m not sure where I’m going. I finish this evening program in about a month and feel like what I’ve learned has made me outgrow my current position. I’m not sure how to evolve my current position, or whether that is even possible… and if possible, if what I really want is to continue working on what I am now (even if in another facet). It’s good to keep resumes and things up to date just in case, but how do you taylor a resume if you’re not sure what you want to market yourself as now?

I think I might really need a mentor.

But this goal is a little too vague and general. Will soon post other career goals to replace this one.

And then stay there for years and years.

My goal now is to stay fluid: even if I don’t like what I’m doing, or parts of it, I need to keep the ideas moving, keep looking for new opportunities, keep networking, keep looking for ways to acquire new skills and make myself more marketable. It’s not so much staying in the same job that’s the problem; it’s getting into that mental stuck place. Continuing to work this job may limit the time I have, but it does provide me with certain advantages (like not having to worry about money) and there’s no reason it should shackle my imagination!

Today I found two new jobs to apply for, and made a note to talk to my supervisor tomorrow about my company paying for me to join a professional association and get some more training. Even if I just want a different job in the same company, getting an idea of what other jobs are out there should be useful to me.

My job is safe, but this is a reminder that I need to keep reinventing my career while I have the resources to do so (since I might not always have them).

Gaaaaahhhh!!!!

I could write a rant right now… but I have to go attend to my “clean out the clutter” goal. Suffice it to say: I SO NEED TO DO THIS!!!!!

I already posted about fear. Fear and sloth (laziness) keep me mired in despair. Does fear contribute to the laziness, or is laziness the root of the fear, creating fear as an excuse to do nothing?

I was going to edit this goal title, changing “reinvent my career” to “reinvent my life.” After a moment of consideration, however, I decided to stay with the former. The latter is too broad. Since at the present time I need a career in order to survive at a reasonable level of comfort, reinventing my career is essentially synonymous with reinventing my life.

Indecision is a major roadblock in for me in this endeavor, as is lack of ambition. These are exacerbated by a paralyzing lack of self-confidence. All these elements are fueled, I suspect, by fear.

Fear of economic loss, of course, is a fairly legitimate concern. While that fear is significant, I do not believe it to be the only fear element in play. What are the other causes of fear, and to what extent are those fears grounded in reality?

I found a fairly recent (2003) version of What Color Is Your Parachute at the library book sale last month for 75-cents.

I should prob’ly read it now, huh?