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Career Moves – Why I Got Promoted

Shoot, in my mind, I was already promoted! It was just a matter of me getting there!

If I did it, then so can you. I recently received the wonderful news of getting promoted after years of hard work, frustration and what I thought were set backs (they actually weren’t, but I’ll get to that later). As I’ve mentioned before, I have a full time job that I do in addition to my part-time freelance work. I want to share tid-bits of my journey to where I am today career-wise and hope it helps you out in some way.

Making a plan

As my readers know, I love to make lists. My career is no exception. When I’m ready to transition or push for a higher position, I usually start out by making a list. It visualizes everything for me, from what I need to do, whom I should talk to, reading I need to do and strategies I need to develop. That way, when I’m sitting before management making a case for myself I won’t look foolish. The confidence is there and I know what I’m talking about. My message is clear to them and they often admire that. Even if you just write down “get a new job” or “start consulting business” that’s a great start. The more you realize what you want, the better you can go about planning for it.

Rejection

I’d be a lying fool if I chose not to mention this part of my journey. It’s bound to happen at some point to everybody. We just have to choose how to deal with it. A couple of years ago I started applying for different jobs and got called for an interview. The organization was great, the location was excellent and the salary was out of this world. It was the perfect job for me. Out of 200 applicants, I made it to the final round of selection. When it was down to the final round, I went on a second interview and it went well. I just knew I had the job – I knew it was mine. Then it was silence, I never got the call that I’d been waiting for. After a couple of days, I called the manager that had interviewed me and asked if a selection had been made and he told me yes. They were impressed with my package but another candidate was chosen and it was a very difficult decision for them to make. I was crushed. I had to face my current supervisor and co-workers (some of them knew that I had gone on interviews – thanks to the supervisor) after that rejection. It took me a couple of days, but once I got myself together I made up my mind: that next time I come that close to getting a job, it’s because IT’S MINE! I didn’t care about circumstances, other candidates, or interviews. I was going to ace it next time and get the promotion. Sure, there were other applications I put in afterwards that weren’t accepted. I tried other avenues and looked at other careers in which I could advance. Nothing really happened for the next couple of years. But over that time I nurtured that one thought I had after the disappointment I faced with the dream job. I took the positive from the situation; the fact that I made that far out of 200 applicants spoke volumes. I interviewed well and I knew what I was talking about which meant I had pretty good market value. I just needed to keep trying and not stop until something happened. That’s what rejection does to you – if you handle it the right way. I didn’t let it consume me, I let it teach me (ha, I like that! (c) New3Creation Writing).

Preparation

After learning from the hurtful bout of rejection and making my mind up to never be in that situation again, I started making preparations to actually be in my new job. Did I have it yet? No, but I was doing my darnest to get there! I increased my exposure to various parts of my career field, I went to seminars, I read guidelines and regulations, I volunteered for projects that no one else wanted to touch and went to meetings no one cared about. I picked management’s brain about career moves and what I needed to work on in order to advance (annual performance reviews weren’t enough for me and I made sure they knew that). Were any of these tasks giving me promotions? No, but they were definitely increasing my knowledge and helping me ad more accomplishments to my resume.

After taking a break from applying and pushing for a new job, I mustered up the energy to start applying again. I went hard core, or as a friend of mine says, went into “beast mode”. All of the interviews I previously went on, suddenly served as fuel because I’d become familiar with questions and expectations of positions. All of my responses helped me regain confidence in the push I was making. Before I knew it there were SEVERAL OFFERS on my plate for me to choose from!

Setting sail

I star my new position in a couple of weeks and I am ecstatic about it. The faith and hard work has definitely paid off. I say all of this of course to apply to writing; I want to advance in this career as well. I’m learning that it’s a slow process (molasses!) but I’m enjoying every moment of it as it continues to grow for me.

Tell Folks about it!

It’s Not Enough to Just be Alive

Don’t just exist – live.

I don’t know if that saying comes from someone else, but I’m claiming it as my own quote! Copyright!

Alright, on a serious note, a lot of us have been taught to thank God for another day, or that it’s a miracle to be alive another day…if that isn’t a lie, then I don’t know what is. Furthermore if that’s what’s considered a miracle of God, then the standards of what God can do for one’s life is pretty pathetic. I will expound on that in a later post. Right now I want to focus on the fact that a lot of folks are just looking at survival. Very little thought is actually given towards living. I realized this for myself not too long ago and I’m still learning now.

Don’t wait for everything to be perfect

If that’s the case, you’ll stay waiting because things will never be perfect. You can go out on a limb today if you want to. Get out of the comfort zone and do something different. I used to be scared to go places by myself because I was worried about what people would say about me. Now, I could care less. That decision alone has brought new ideas and revelations for my betterment. All because I decided to step out and go walk by the harbor by myself.

Make a decision

You’ve probably read and heard many things about living successfully and making changes. Well, nothing is going to happen if you don’t make a decision. Once you make your mind that you want to live and not just exist, the first thing you have to tackle is your mindset. So many harmful things have been programmed in us – from our own doing and from others. You will actually have to let go of certain beliefs and fears in order to make progress. If not you’ll be stuck at square one with a lot of regrets.

Linda Tanner — Okay so you’ve got the survival skills down…start living so you won’t have that confused and dazed look on your face.

Are you afraid of living?

At some point, please ask yourself that question if you haven’t already. We get very comfortable in living paycheck to paycheck or by being reactive instead of proactive. When it comes to living a better life we’re afraid to step out because of the changes that come. Don’t let situations or emotional occurrences make the decision for you. They can serve as a guide up to a certain point, but use your mind and determine what direction is best for you to do more than just exist.

Many times when we overcome or survive a touch situation, we get stuck in survival mode. That’s when the victim mentality creeps in and takes over. Everything goes downhill from there. Victims can NEVER live. Once they decide to stop being victims, then they can live.

Tell Folks about it!

10 Things I Learned After Moving out of Mom’s House

I know I’ve already posted for today, but I came across the Daily Prompt after the fact and just couldn’t resist. 🙂

I love lists, I use them for just about everything, all the time. So when I saw the Daily Prompt’s assignment to make a list of something it made me dig a little deeper. As I’ve mentioned before, I’m trying to develop my personal voice in the world of blogging. So, here it goes!

1. How to show affection.

2. Relationships aren’t only defined by who does favors for you.

3. Hold your own.

4. Emergency funds!

5. It’s not “unchristian” to speak your mind.

6. God is a person, not some wizard or genie in a bottle.

7. Secrets can kill.

8. Cherish good people and their friendship.

9. Let shit go – it’s not that serious.

10. Be real – open your heart and let emotions flow. It’s not a weakness to do so.

Tell Folks about it!

The Here and Now

I was doing my usual channel flipping the other day and came across one of Oprah’s programs (I can’t remember the title). They were talking about “the here and now” and it basically sent my mind racing. It triggered various thoughts as the the words resonated with me.

I thought “hmmm, I think I get it…”

A lot of the times we worry about what’s going to happen, what we can do about it and how everything is going to play out. Because of worry and fear, we make a lot of bad decisions to gain insight into the unknown. Bad intentions also develop because of this type of fear. A person may work themselves nearly half to death just for the sake of having a safe cushion financially. This is fine but when do they actually take the time to enjoy the fruits of their labor? It’s pretty pointless to keep such a mindset if you never have peace of mind. How about if you’re trying to lose weight? You’re focusing so much on your target weight that you get frustrated in the process and just give up after a while.

The reality is, we can only control what we are doing today. Sure, it’s great to set goals and aspirations, but those are vastly different from trying to form and control the future. From my experience, we can only take one step at a time. Get rid of each bad habit and develop good ones….one day at a time.

Do what can be done TODAY.

This is where the self-discipline war comes into play and a lot of folks fail or just give up. The fact of the matter is you won’t be able to skate your way to anything good no matter how much you pray, how good of sweet talk you may be or how magnificent you are at plotting and scheming. Again, I’m speaking from experience. At some point you need to nurture the drive by strapping on your boots and getting to work. No one can help you with that. Its about what you can do in this moment. Over time, it just may set you up for tomorrow and things will be taken care of.

So what are you going to do? Are you going to stay comfortable in your habits, which include worrying about the future, or are you going to tackle it a day at a time?

Tell Folks about it!

Don’t Just Talk About it, BE About it!

There’s nothing more annoying than people who just talk about doing something all the time but never get around to doing it. Either they can’t (or won’t) make up their mind or they just want to blow steam…or maybe they just like hearing themselves talk.

Do something already!

On a personal note, I’m currently going through career changes for the better. For almost two years I’ve been dissatisfied with my work situation for different reasons. Simply put, I was not happy and was exploring what options were out there for me. I would vent to friends and co-workers about it, but they would just dismiss it as me whining or complaining. Nonetheless, I took the steps I needed to take to change things. Now that those changes are taking place, I’m moving on in my career and they’re floored and frankly, I don’t understand why. I wasn’t just running my mouth when I expressed what I wanted; I was also working on it. I guess they didn’t connect the two. They got the message now!

My whole point is, if you have a vision action needs to be taken at some point. When I decided to start writing/blogging, it came after a fair amount of debating and thinking. I stalled for a little bit but I eventually jumped on my laptop and got to work. It’s actually been a relief for me now that I’ve finally started writing again.

Have you been debating or struggling to initiate something that you’ve been meaning to work on? Please don’t let the time continue to pass. The moment you start being about it, there will be relief and you will feel good about yourself.

Tell Folks about it!

Are You Your Own Writer?

At some point, every blogger, editor, author and novelist should ask themselves this question. For those who are more advanced in the writing realm, their work may speak for itself. But for those starting out (such as me) it might be helpful to see how your writing can be defined. The world of writers has grown immensely over the past few years. Thanks to the avenue of blogging, many aspiring writers have used it as a platform to express their ideas, passions and talents. According to WordPress.com, thousands upon thousands of new sites are created each day its site alone, not to mention the millions of posts that are produced worldwide. Oh and that 44.5 million posts by WordPress users to be exact. It’s safe to assume not everyone posting is being original. They probably figured it would be easier to copy someone’s way of writing to get more traffic or just post for the sake of blogging. So where (or how) do you stand out? What type of voice are you using? Some writers write from an advice perspective, whether it’s on life issues or on writing itself. Some use blogging as a journal of themselves and have established pretty decent audiences. At the end of the day they have a unique voice that causes them to stand out. It’s great to visit other blogs and become familiar with people’s way of writing; it definitely helps you for your own building purposes. But going through the changes, making new decision and knowing your own train of thought is what forms your craft and unique style. I’m learning it’s not an overnight journey, but I am well on my way.

Tell Folks about it!

On the road again…taking in the sights…

I recently read a great post about cross-country traveling that gave insight on the beauty of the United States. It’s true – if you’re not too excited about flying from continent to continent, you can get a lot of scenic indulgence in the U.S. There’s a lot to see and a lot to be inspired from. I had my own experience with cross-country when I relocated from New Mexico to Maryland. A friend of mine accompanied me at the time (I was nervous about driving by myself). I remember driving through Colorado, Kansas, Missouri, Illinois, and Indiana. Each state had its own “feel” to it. Their own sights and sounds.

I kick myself now for not doing a better job at keeping a journal because there were so many inspiring scenes to write about. Not even the tourists’ sights, just the windy roadways, the valleys and hills of Pennsylvania, and the run down streets of St. Louis. Other sights were just plain and scary. Completely abandoned gas stations that reminded me of scenes from horror stories, and stretches of roads so plain and quiet the only action they had was tumbleweed blowing across them. When it wasn’t my turn to drive, I could’ve busied myself with pen and paper. Instead, I opted to take a nap. Oh well. I know there will be many other opportunities and sources of inspirations to use in my writing journey. One day I would love to drive from coast to coast and write about the folks I meet, the scenes I witness and the overall experience of a journey.

Have you taken a road trip? What was your experience like?

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Poem: I Can Laugh Now

https://www.flickr.com/photos/timstewart/

There were times that hurt, times that caused pain.

I thought to myself “ugh”, I’m walking away with nothing to gain.

Broken heart and a mind filled with fear.

Starting to feel like I need to get away from here.

But after a while time does heal.

The pain the agony I no longer feel

I look back and laugh

I know there is hope, things to look forward to

Not all my days are so gloomy and blue

I know for a fact what the future holds.

They ask how do you know? Well, I’ve become that bold.

The thoughts emotions and vision become one

Looking back? No!

There’s more laughter to come.

Tell Folks about it!

My plan

A lot of my blogging first started on Hub Pages a couple of months ago. I had an ultimate plan in mind in terms of what I wanted to write and share, and those included my life’s experiences in starting over. There have been significant events in my life over the past couple of years that helped re-shape my mind and perspective on life. One of the biggest steps I took after starting over was buy a new home. At the time it didn’t seem feasible, it was a little over the top and buying the home didn’t provide much outlook into the future for me. Sure I had a steady job, but I didn’t know how I would fare as a homeowner as time went on. Again, me dealing with fear of the unknown.

When I first thought about buying a home, I was bored. I was doing my day to day job, paying my bills and being a law-abiding citizen. I wanted to do something that involved me investing in my future, something that I could call my own. When I would go for my daily jobs in the evening, I would admire the beautiful houses in my neighborhood and wonder what it would be like to live in one of them. That’s when the idea was planted in my thoughts and wouldn’t leave me alone. I started writing down plans, budgets and avenues I could take towards buying a house. I pulled my credit report, started researching and developed a time frame as to when I would like to be in my new home. The journey was incredible. It was filled with excited twists, setbacks, disappointments and endless changes. Although I had an original plan in place, things definitely changed along the way. There was an ideal location, design of the house, and budget ideas – all in place. Those things changed and evolved as the journey went along up to the day I settled on my house of choice. There were a few homes I loved so much and wanted, but couldn’t get because another offer was accepted over mine. When a seller finally accepted my offer, I was ready to move in the next day, but there were still more twists and turns to go thru before finally getting those keys.

At the end of the day, I’m glad of the choice I made and I’m reaping the benefits of owning my home. No, things did not go as planned to the t, but at the end of the day I was satisfied. There’s nothing wrong with planning, just know that things may not always go as planned. If there is peace within and patience, things will work out just fine. There’s a reason why life happens the way it does and we don’t always have the answers.

So why stress ourselves trying to figure everything out? I’m learning that for myself not just in day to day life, but in my journey as a writer. The original plan has been developed, redeveloped, switched, and retraced over and over again. It’s not going to stop anytime soon. The many changes are development and evolvement. It makes the journey that much more interesting and gives me that much more to write about.

Tell Folks about it!

Back track…

So I’ve been blogging for about a month now, and I’m still learning the ropes of the blogosphere. I know there’s a lot more to learn, which is why I decided to enroll in WordPress’s Zero to Hero class. Our first assignment is to write a “who am I and why am I here” type post. I figured since I haven’t formally introduced myself, I’d use this assignment to do so.

Blogging is not my primary line of work, I’m fully employed with a large organization and it consists of writing everyday, from email posts, to letters, correspondences…all the good stuff. But that is not what inspires me to write. Growing up, all I did was read and write. I loved the Nancy Drew series and comic books. I would be away in my room for hours just reading. As I got older, I don’t know what happened, but I really fell off from my writing. My school teachers used to tell me that I should get into journalism because my writing was that good, but instead I pursued the medical field. I didn’t get as far as planned, but I did enjoy my time in public health – I may get back into it. Who knows? My whole point is for years I’ve been doing technical and academic writing that I’ve sort of lost my “personal” voice in writing. That’s one of the reasons why I’m here, to develop my personal voice and connect with people. Exactly how far do I plan on going with it? At this point, I’m not sure. I do know that I want to convey certain messages to folks, such as starting over in life or recreating yourself with a new beginning. I plan on sharing my journey in those areas as a witness that it is possible to make a comeback after delays and mistakes. With that being said I’m trying to develop this voice by running more than one blog at the same time…we’ll just have to see how that goes!

So there you have it, I’m a part time blogger with big dreams and a plan to reach out to folks who’ve decided to take the bold step of starting over. Even if it means cutting old ties, even if it means looking weird to your family…I know it may be difficult, but it is possible.

Tell Folks about it!