by Nathan Stout (of AccordingToWhim.com)
In Part 1, I gave you all some pep talk about how great it is to be alive and all that stuff along with my 2020 goals. In this part I will break down my goals in a way that makes them do-able. In 2019 I obtained a Project Management certification called Scrum Master. Scrum is a dev ops project management methodology. It helps you break down large projects into smaller tasks with an emphasis on producing a usable product or outcome immediately then building on it.
Goal
I’d like for my kids to remain healthy overall and have little illness.
There is no total answer for this goal. There is only so much you can do to prevent illness. Hopefully serious illness (like diseases) won’t happen but general sickness can be avoided as much as possible with a few precautions like hand sanitizer after going places/visiting people. Having kids wash their hands after using the rest room and before eating, etc. Being selective on child care where illness can run rampant.
Goal
I’d like for me and my wife to remain healthy (have little illness).
This is the same as the one above.
Goal
I’d like to get healthier. aka, get off some of the meds I am on.
I am actually already rolling forward on this plan. I am on a new medicine that is really making a difference. When I say ‘some of the meds’, I am falling into the trap of not being specific. I will now clarify this and say: I will get off 2 of my maintenance meds in 2020. This goal will require some will power on my part. It basically means exercise. I used to do alot better when I worked closer to the gym but now we are 12 miles out so I need to find something to do at home. My meds are for high blood pressure, triglycerides, and sugar. Exercise and eating less meat will help with at least 2 of these. The new med I am for sugar is doing great. My docs say 20 minutes of excersie a day, so that is the goal. Eating less meat is a little more vague but I can do small things (like get smaller burgers, steaks, etc). This goal is pretty easy when you compare it to some others.
Goal
Get a new job.
Today’s blog will be ending on this goal since it will be the more lengthy discussion here. I’ve been at my current employer for 13 years. It is a good paying job and I am comfortable. It pays the bills and allows me certain freedom. What’s not to like? There is a large amount of stress but more importantly I have no satisfaction that I am doing anything more than being a cog in the machine of a business. I am looking for something new where I can have genuine job satisfaction and sense of accomplishment with my life. Let’s face it, our jobs are our lives. We spend the majority of our waking hours at work and at the end of a 30 year career, what will it have brought us (other than the ability to pay bills and buy stuff)? I don’t know if I am heading towards mid-life crisis or what, but I think more and more of having a job where I feel like I am actually contributing to something more than keeping a business making money. One of the prime examples of feeling this discontent comes from watching the Imagineering Story on Disney+. I have been a fan of imagineering since I was in middle school back in the 80’s and I find this series to be enthralling. Anyway, at the end of the season they talk to all these people who work on various things for the company and a reoccurring theme is that they all start getting weepy about their jobs. There is such an intense personal satisfaction for what they do. Have you ever felt weepy about what you do?
For those of you who know me I am a big Disney parks fan. I also enjoy our local Six Flags park (based on Disneyland). I am too long in the tooth and not qualified for the kind of job that Imagineering entails. I am a mid level manager for technology and nowhere near qualified for the kinds of jobs that company has. In my searches of their jobs (and they always have a lot open) I see similar jobs to mine but I don’t feel I have the wunderkind skills they can demand. Bringing my expectations down I see Six Flags as a option. It’s local and I could probably fit in there (skill wise). At this point it is unlikely to pay as much as I need it to pay. I need to figure out what is more important to me, the pay or the work. It is not such a clean cut answer when you are the only working head of household.
I could take a lower paying job if I can get my other 2020 goal accomplished of having a serious secondary source of income. You can read about that in the next post or two.
So what am I looking for in a new job? Here are some of the ‘wants’:
1.) A satisfying work life.
2.) A pension. I think this is something EVERYONE should peruse. Everyone I know who has retired from an organization with a pension has done SO MUCH BETTER than everyone else.
3.) Freedom of work. I don’t want to be stuck in an environment where I can’t just get up and leave for a while. I guess being the level of management I am at now, that is a normal thing. It’s still important to me. You can read my blog posts about being able to ‘Living Life at Work‘ from back in 2011.
In the coming year I will continue to look for a job I feel I would get satisfaction from. I have 50+ job sites of companies I wouldn’t mind working for on my bookmarks that I check semi-regularly so I will continue to do that. Its funny how in this time of life I am looking for quality/satisfaction over money. Money is just an hindrance. I need to live by Chris McGinty’s money rules of life I guess. I will also continue to peruse certifications and education opportunities to make me a more palatable employee.
What if I can’t find that dream job? It’s not a life breaker. Like I said before I have a good job and I could just suck it up and find other outlets to get life satisfaction. I think that’s alot of what Chris and I do, we try artistic type things that create satisfaction. Maybe we just need more of that.