It's amazing to me how life's rituals we grow up with continue to last me through my life. August was the time I went back to school in the rural Nebraska town where I grew up. Twenty years after leaving traditional school, August still marks a fresh new beginning of the year that carries me to the end of the year. Just so you understand how important August has been for me, here's a quick timeline:
August 1990 - I started full-time for Neodata in a call center in Omaha, Nebraska. This would be the beginning of a seven year career in third-party contract work.
August 1994 - I transferred with Neodata to Bouder County, Colorado and moved to Denver. This woulld be the beginning of thirteen years in the Denver area.
August 1997 - I interviewed and was offered a job at U.S. Bank (although I didn't start until after Labor Day). This would start a nine-year banking career. This is where my technical writing experience started.
August 2000 - I interviewed and was offered a training position at U.S. Bank (again, I didn't start until mid-September). This is where my technical writing skills really got a nice workout!
August 2010- I start my new job returning to call center where I hopefully will be able to work more consistent hours and have more time and energy to devote to my writing.
It's my mom's birthday and my grandma's birthday this month as well.
What most of the these job and career changes have helped me do is re-energize to accomplish my goals through the end of the year. August is an exciting time for me to refocus my efforts to accomplish what I set out to do in January.
Quite a few years ago, I vented to a co-worker in late May or early June how I hated to have to work during those times. She reminded me it was because when we were younger we were out of school. My dad was a teacher, so I was used to him being around in the summer as well. That epiphany helped explain why August was a re-awakening for me...it is traditionally the beginning of the "school year."
So this August is yet again a new part of my career and renewed energies into my writing. What are you working on to get finished by the end of 2010?
Friday, July 30, 2010
Thursday, July 15, 2010
What a Whirlwind Month...
It's been a crazy month in my life! I got my first articles published on Suite101.com and I published the first four chapters of my novel, A Place to Call Their Own, on iWriteIt.com. More importantly this month, I refined my Vision for my writing career and found more focus in achieving that Vision.
It's been over a month since I updated this blog. The good thing is that I have a clear vision and goals I want to achieve. One of the goals I set for myself was finding another full time job with more regular hours so I can write every single day. I have accomplished that task as well.
Even though I haven't covered Setting Boundaries or Finding a Friend to complete your Journey, I wanted to revsit Vision because it's been a so much a part of my month. I recommend that you go back to your Vision and make sure it's always the direction you're heading.
This difference for me this month was getting accepted to do article writing for Suite101.com, finding iWriteIt.com, and all the time I spent surfing the web while I was on vacation from the "real job" Memorial Day week. I had planned to get much more writing done than I did. Part of the reason was because I got so involved in looking at all the writing blogs and advice column on the Internet as well as through Facebook. I also spent a great deal of time looking at all the freelance writing opportunities out there and sending some queries to get some work. But as for actually practicing my craft, I got very little accomplished. My real goal was to revisit my Boundaries, Goals, and Routines this week (and blog about it today) and move forward with writing.
Now that I have my Vision clearly in hand and a new full time job to make writing/freelancing jobs easier to maintain and handle, I can move forward with my goals of finishing A Place to Call Their Own by the end of the year. I have to make that happen. In my interview they asked me what my personal and professional goals were for the year and I told them to finish my novel.
It's been over a month since I updated this blog. The good thing is that I have a clear vision and goals I want to achieve. One of the goals I set for myself was finding another full time job with more regular hours so I can write every single day. I have accomplished that task as well.
Even though I haven't covered Setting Boundaries or Finding a Friend to complete your Journey, I wanted to revsit Vision because it's been a so much a part of my month. I recommend that you go back to your Vision and make sure it's always the direction you're heading.
This difference for me this month was getting accepted to do article writing for Suite101.com, finding iWriteIt.com, and all the time I spent surfing the web while I was on vacation from the "real job" Memorial Day week. I had planned to get much more writing done than I did. Part of the reason was because I got so involved in looking at all the writing blogs and advice column on the Internet as well as through Facebook. I also spent a great deal of time looking at all the freelance writing opportunities out there and sending some queries to get some work. But as for actually practicing my craft, I got very little accomplished. My real goal was to revisit my Boundaries, Goals, and Routines this week (and blog about it today) and move forward with writing.
Now that I have my Vision clearly in hand and a new full time job to make writing/freelancing jobs easier to maintain and handle, I can move forward with my goals of finishing A Place to Call Their Own by the end of the year. I have to make that happen. In my interview they asked me what my personal and professional goals were for the year and I told them to finish my novel.
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