Tag Archives: Business

The Planner

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It was my birthday recently, something I seem to care about less and less each year since it seems to be forgotten by those who shouldn’t. Lowering your expectations is a good strategy at times. It’s ok to just spoil yourself, instead of ‘waiting’ for others to remember one particular day in a year. I suspected it would be the same this time so I’d decided to buy myself a gift which I found and bought online in the US.

I’d been looking for a tool to help organise my thoughts and ideas for some time now. I’ve been using a digital one but it never felt the same as a paper version for some reason, since I like to sketch or draw or add notes. A few weeks ago I found the perfect solution and decided to order it as a gift to myself. It was delivered on my birthday, a nice coincidence as I was home that day ‘awaiting’ the next assignment.

This means that whenever a suitable project comes up I have to apply for it. Till then I need to be available and on standby. Once a week I go to the head office and see or meet colleagues -mainly sales peeps- to introduce myself and hopefully they’ll remember me when the right assignment comes up. I either go there by train and bus which takes me over an hour and half -if I’m lucky- or I’ll go with a colleague by car.

I don’t have a car since I live right in the centre of town, the busiest and one of the oldest areas with narrow streets, lots of canals and too many tourists all year round. I have to apply for a permit with a five years waiting list which doesn’t guarantee a parking space. So what’s the point? My last assignment for the government was eighteen months of daily commuting, 1.5 hours to get there and another 1.5 to get home.

Truth is I’m kind of fed up… When I started working for this global company I’d promised myself to do this line of work for five years at the most. It will be five years this July… This recent assignment was supposed to be my last because I’d been thinking about starting a business doing what I really love to do: be creative and design… I took courses in jewellery making (precious metals) and started to design/make items.

I’ve received many compliments so far and I love doing this but it’s extremely time-consuming. I’ll continue to develop my skills as it has given me lots of new ideas and inspiration and I’m learning different techniques each time which is fun! It’s just not going to be my core business, that will be something completely different based on an idea I had six years ago. Something that I’m looking into again recently.

And this is what the planner is going to be used for, as a road map to where I want to be in a certain amount of time. It’s not a regular planner, it’s one that helps you set goals, draw mind maps, create tasks, track progress and give direction. One of my tasks is to write again, so every other week I’ll be updating this blog. Writing is a great way to structure thoughts, to focus on a goal and make things happen.

It’s also something that helps me clear my head and I’ve been neglecting it for too long. So here I am back on track, ready for a new quest… (I can now cross this off of ‘today’s focus’ hehe)

Bear Fruit

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‘According to trend watchers, defriending will be the trend. Large numbers of people will delete vague acquaintances from their networking sites, such as Facebook, and Linkedin, because they only want to keep quality contacts. It has to do with slowing down, the need for quality time, and perhaps some network site fatigue, according to all sorts of trend blogs, which seem to echo each other.’

I just read the above snippet in an online newspaper, it confirms my feeling about the whole networking issue. I’ve mentioned in a previous post that someone refuses to reply to a friendly email that I’d sent responding to the invitation that I received from the same person. In the meantime I’ve sent another email making her aware of her non-responsive manners. I told her that it’s okay if she doesn’t want to stay in touch but that I’d like to know where I stand. So far no reaction… I was assertive but friendly so obviously the next friendly thing to do is to defriend her from the network.

I’ve always seemed to look for excuses or reasons to justify other people’s behaviour but I’ve learnt over the last few weeks that the only way to find out what’s on a person’s mind is to be clear about things and be straightforward, in other words assertive. I’m not used to being assertive and I have put myself in situations that became utterly frustrating because of this. I take full responsibility and I can’t blame others for misreading my mixed signals. I’ve changed my ways, since it didn’t make me happy having to deal with the consequences and I’ve noticed that it started to bear fruit!

If I can get rid of clutter in boxes than I should definitely be able to get rid of the clutter in my social life. The other situation seems to be slightly improving as well although I’m reluctant to trust this person to keep her promise and pay me back my money. The good thing is that if there’s no progress soon that I’ve collected enough facts to see a solicitor over time and trust me, I will… the friendship is finished as far as I’m concerned. It hurts in a way, because I’ve know this person for a long time but she broke my trust many times over the last three year so it’s best for me to let go and move on.

I have some exciting news but it’s all depending on a few circumstances so I’m going to be a bit cautious. I’ve had to deal with so many disappointments that I’ve decided not to mention anything until there is some real results. That way I won’t have expectations and I won’t disappoint myself if things are canceled once again. One has to do with a possible job offer the other has to do with a new study that I’ll start and a future plan I’m working on that involves a partner in crime… I’ve teamed up with someone but it’s all still very fresh so we have to discuss the details and plan soon.

If all goes well, I will let go of the old career slowly while preparing for the new career. I’ll have a meeting on the 8th of June to see if the study is what I expect it to be. If so, than I’ll need to prepare a case to make sure that I’ll get the funding. I have a lot of work to do in the next couple of months but it feels good to be working on my future… it does! I already met some really nice people who offered help even when I didn’t ask, they just did… Those are the kind of people I’d like to surround myself with, people who appreciate you for who you are, quality contacts and possible friends…

It all starts to bear fruit!

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