Tag: opportunity

Long-term

6:08pm, pacific standard time, apartment in Chandler, Arizona, USA, Tuesday evening, July 5, 2022. Dropped my daughter off at school this morning then did a second interview with the Rancho Cucamonga group before hitting the road. Both interviews with that group have gone extremely well. Hopefully we move forward together. I did not hear from the Riverside company nor the recruiter today. That is probably for the best. All weekend I dreaded the thought of taking that job. My next decision is important. I want to stay wherever I choose through my daughters high school years. The Riverside situation did not feel very long-term.

Bring back memories

4:10pm, pacific standard time, apartment in Chandler, Arizona, USA, Thursday afternoon, June 2, 2022. Three interviews today. The first was most interesting. It was for a job to support providers using a specific electronic medical record (EMR) product. The position requires operational knowledge I possess but, it isn’t what I have typically done in the past. I am going to continue to pursue it. The second call was about the San Diego opportunity. It seemed to go alright but, I am the process has been so slow I am not sure anything will come of it. They seem to change what they want/need every time we talk. The third and final call was for a senior leadership role in sales. Ironically, it was a position I held in the past for the same company ten years ago. I don’t expect to pursue it very aggressively but, it did bring back memories from long ago.

I remain open to anything

3:11pm, pacific standard time, parking lot, Phoenix, Arizona, USA, Thursday afternoon, May 26, 2022. The meeting about severance with the previous company went well. I will have the document reviewed just to be sure but, it does help bridge the gap. Also, the interview in Glendale was positive this afternoon. It is a fast growing start up company. The opportunity is excellent but, the position won’t be available until August. That is too far away to be an option for me. I have one more virtual meeting today at 5pm. From what I gather it is with a senior living company in Orange County, California starting their own hospice. It might be a bootstrap operation for a while. Not sure how it will go but, I remain open to anything.

Like any new habit

5:41am, Pacific Standard Time, at my computer, in the apartment in Chandler, Arizona, Tuesday morning, May 3, 2022. Today marks the of beginning a new task; I will glean posts from the last year and a half and compile them for publication. This is a very exciting endeavor for me; it allows a more focused frame for my writing and provides the opportunity to develop a new creative outlet. Now all I need is the motivation to get started. Like any new habit, I will begin slow and gradually increase effort. After my morning walk and workout, but before coffee and reading, I will turn on my computer and select one post a day. That volume will indubitably increase but, for now, consistency is the key.

Journey man redux

5:47am in the apartment. Took the dog for a long walk this morning. We are both tired. I know I mentioned before that my post chaplain career has felt like being a “journeyman” professional athlete. I bounce from team to team. I seldom stay for more than a season. I am never settled, never at home. I have a particular set of skills that are valuable to a team. I fill a needed position. I show up, work hard and get paid. After a while the team management decides to go in a different direction or try something new. I update my resume, look for a new opportunity, get a new job and the cycle repeats. It hasn’t been terrible. I get to travel. I make decent money. But it is tiring not having a permanent job. I miss stability. I miss having peace of mind. I want to wake up and not feel like I am about to be fired every single day I go to work. How long can I continue to do this? Will I miss it when it is over? And most importantly, what is the alternative? What will I do if I am not doing this?

Evolution

My first couple of jobs were rewarding. I liked the sense of identity, the purpose and lifestyle having a job afforded me.

When I was younger I liked being a student. I graduated from high school and went on to college, even grad school.

At some point I tired of being a student. I wanted to evolve and grow. That is when I got my first job.

After more than a decade of working jobs I strived to take the Next step and evolve again. But what is the next step? Being a student just happened. I was told to go, I liked it and continued. Getting a job took persistence but there were opportunities and I took them. Finding the next step is not so clear. Where do I go, how do I make money, support myself and my family?

Those questions and the answers you live with will be how you spend a majority of your years on this earth.

No promises

When I coach people I do everything in my power to give them the opportunity to experience to achieve their objective. I make no promises or guarantees. Failure is likely. It is a high risk situation. Only if people are willing to pay, to sacrifice, to risk can they possible grow. You have to be willing to do everything in your power to achieve your objective no matter how long it takes.

Score touchdowns

When a sale fell through I grew frustrated. I cursed the missed opportunity and fell into self pity.

I wondered how I could put so much passion into something and come up empty. The presupposition being I was giving maximum effort, doing everything right and just experiencing unwarranted bad luck. I even thought maybe my despondency might portend a lucky break on the horizon.

If my efforts are not producing results then it is up to me to change my approach. Blaming bad luck is no more acceptable than accepting failure.

In the end it is my job to score touchdowns, win enough games to make the playoffs, then win every playoff game through the championship. Bad luck, tough competition, blown calls, missed chances are nothing but excuses.

I cannot accept excuses in that scenario. I cannot accept excuses in any scenario.