Goals and an update on my major announcement
First my update to the announcement…
Last week I announced that I was leaving my previous employer of 4+ years and taking a different position elsewhere. I wanted to give a brief update on the response to my farewell email and my observations of the new job so far. That job was my first one out of college and it was weird making the announcement and leaving the only office environment I have known. I did feel like I learned so much in the consulting industry and I am sure there are aspects of it that I will miss. I will definitely miss the people – hopefully they will still want to hang out from time to time. Time will only tell.
My observations are my new employer are pretty positive right now. I am trying to complete all of the required paperwork and get down to business in my current role. I’ve work with many of the people within the information security team, but not specifically with many of the people in the team that I am on. It is a little different and will take a little getting used to, but I think there’s a high chance of success. Things move a little slower in industry and I’m already seeing that now. For example, I’m still waiting access to some forms that are supposed to be “pushed” out to new hires. I do admit that I did start right after the holidays and I am sure there is a lot of backlog.
The one major thing I’ve noticed is the focus on work / life balance and the pace of the office. It is definitely expected to put in a solid 8 hours of work a day, but after that, and as long as you are getting your work done, you don’t need to sign in at home or stay late at the office. Sometimes it may be necessary, but it definitely is not expected. This leads me to a point about goals.
One of the reasons I decided that it was time to leave consulting was because I wanted to pursue personal goals. Due to the nature of consulting, you could be called upon at a moment’s notice to travel to a different city or respond to a client problem/incident. While this happened infrequently, I respected and understood this part of the profession. I didn’t feel right making a committment to an organization, class, or group and all of sudden not being able to give a 100% of my effort because I had to called away to my job.
I wanted to post these thoughts in order to provide some perspective on the first update of my 2009 goals. Shortly after the year began, I posted my goals which included learning a foreign language. As luck would have it, I found a Chinese language class about a 5 minute drive away from my house! It meets twice a week for 1 hour in the evening. I have had two classes so far and am enjoying it. Everyone told me that learning Chinese would be difficult. So far, I have to say I am having difficulties on a couple of the tones. The only way for me to improve is to practice it. I also a little bit of trouble with the “z” and “j” words. Other than that, I’m really glad I signed up for the class. I would like to continue the classes for the entire year if possible and as a long term goal become fluent in Chinese.
- Why I run and the benefits I have gained from running Up until 2005, for most of my adult life, I had always been a bigger, heavy set guy. Through out 5 years of college, I did not do a great job of staying fit and active. As I felt myself get heavier and heavier from 2000 - 2005, I always......
- The Forbidden City in Beijing Some interesting facts about the Forbidden City include: - 24 Chinese Emperors lived in the Forbidden City from 1416 - 1912 - 9,999 and 1/2 rooms - although I could not find that "1/2 room" - Referred to as "gu gong" in Chinese - Extremely large complex sitting on......
- The Idiots that run Delta I was talking with a friend today. He is headed over to Nairobi, Kenya and had his flights booked on Delta. Recently, Delta had to cancel their Atlanta to Nairobi flight because they were not granted permission by the U.S. government to operate it. This forced Delta to rebook passengers......
- On Debt and Making Choices Today is an important personal milestone. This day marks the final payment made to Wellsfargo on my remaining private student loans. With this payment I have no more private student loans to pay back and only a little over $15,000 in federal loans left. In July 2005, I made a committment......
- 2010 goals... Xin nian kuai le or happy new year! 2009 was an interesting year and I think I gained some perspective. I think this came having different experiences like traveling to China, learning Mandarin, jumping on the bicycle again, having a different job, and spending time with friends and family. All......
Related Websites
- Homewood Ski Area, Homewood, CA Homewood Ski Area is located in: Homewood, CA Phone: (530) 525-2992 Website: http://www.skihomewood.com/ About the Resort: This is an ideal place for families and for those that are interested in skiing, but are looking for a beginner friendly environment. Homewood has been ranked in the highest ski resorts in the......
- Consistent Weekly Weight Loss: 1 More Pound Lost Consistent weight loss is where it's at. For me at least. As long as I keep seeing that scale drop on a weekly basis, I am satisfied. Now, I only lost one pound which is 4 off of my 5 pound goal for the week, but I will take......
- Postpone College In Order to Pay For It With Cash? This article is by Adam from Money Relationship. Subscribe to his site to get free updates on his journey out of debt. One of my biggest financial regrets was taking out student loans for college. My wife and I currently have about $110,000 left to go on our loans and frankly,......
- Why Jon Bon Jovi, Edward Burns and Timothy Ferris Ruined Us They totally ruined it. They proved that indeed nothing is impossible if you have the soul, drive and guts. They are self-made and they all started from scratch. Read on to see how they got to where they are (I also explain who they are, so keep reading even if......
- Do What You Love And The Money Will Come. How many of you wake up in the morning and absolutely hate the job that you have? How many of you figure that this is just the way it is and that's that and suck it up? I am willing to bet that it is a lot of you, if......
