Monday, September 29, 2014

Monthly goals

I made my two fitness goals this month: Cycle 100 km, and run 50 km. (Total, over the month).
Strava tells me I've biked 176 km, and run 51 so far. Hooray! Will see if I can keep up next month. I was pleased that the hardest part was making the time, not the fitness required. But it's going to be harder to make the time now that the weather is getting dodgier, bike commuting seems more questionable, and late night runs require more planning. But, it's nice to maintain a (comparatively) high level of fitness, so that when it is nice out, I can easily go for long hikes without killing myself.

One of my other goals for the month was job hunt related. It's definitely time in the process where I need to be putting out regular application, but I'm still... unsure what I'm looking for.

I made myself go to a networking meeting for people who are arguable in my instructional design field. And I hated it! We had nothing in common, I found them difficult to communicate with, and it was a nightmare to try and imagine myself as some self serving middle manager, fretting first and foremost over "personal branding" and leadership coaching. (Especially as it became clear that no one was in perfect agreement about what those things meant.) I might be too objective for this career path.

But, rather than write another "Woe is the perennial job hunter," I'm doing something about it. One of my coworkers used to work as a career coach, and currently supervises a team of people who help students find jobs. She agreed to work with me (for super cheap!) because she wants to do more career development stuff, and I need help! She is a very positive person, and because we work together, she has a better sense of my capabilities than if I tried to explain this to someone in a one hour session. Step one is describing some positive previous work experiences, and describing my dreams for my next job. It's amazing to me how little detail I have in the dream, but we are just starting the process. I've also been sending really nosy emails to people on campus, so hopefully I can rustle up some interesting opportunities for myself. Today I realized I have 14 weeks left in my contract, and will have 7 weeks of vacation/holiday/sick leave to expend, so now is a good time to get serious about What Next.

I know other family members are thinking about career moves, so I'll let you know how this coaching works out.

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