So today is Halloween–a pagan holiday that marks the end of the harvest season and the start of the ‘dark’ half of the year–or winter. Though winter technically doesn’t ‘arrive’ until December 21st (give or take a day).
Usually we would have decorations out in the yard and the porch decorated for the holiday–we love Halloween in this house. Though due to the pandemic–we’re going to be turning off the lights, and not handing out any candy this year. Personally, I don’t think it is safe for trick-or-treating this year–mainly because 1) who knows if the person opening the door is either asymptomatic or not; and 2) I wouldn’t want to be touch anything that was handled by someone else this year.
Hopefully, by this time next year the world as a whole will have a better grasp on the pandemic and we can start to embrace a new normal–the ‘old normal’ needs to die off; as it is partially responsible for getting us into the predicament that we’re currently struggling with.
So if you are going to be going out and celebrating Halloween/Samhain—please be careful. Wear a mask, social distance, and remember to treat each other (and yourself) with grace this year.
I’m going to be curling up with my kindle, a mug of hot tea and reading the night away.
So I’m 100 days into this challenge, and there are sixty-six days left in 2020. We’re also just about a week away from the presidential election as well (fingers crossed it goes the way I’m hoping).
I decided a couple of weeks ago, that I should probably look at the list again, and see if there were any goals that I wanted to remove (for whatever reason), and possibly any goals I wanted to add—but also to see where I was in terms of the different goals.
There is still the pandemic going on—which means that the travel plans are still on hold, and I’m still sheltering in place. I will probably continue to shelter in place at least until March of 2021 (when hopefully a possible vaccine is available). I’m still working on trying to figure out what my ‘new normal’ is going to be looking like.
As I stated in a previous post, I’m also thinking of replacing the list on the odds and end bucket list with this list—so that change may be occurring soon as well.
So how are things progressing?
Professional development and career: On-going
1. Transition into an industry position (probably remote/online or freelancing at this point to start); there will be several posts on this goal
2. Learn a programming language (python or R—ties in with #6)—going to go with python to begin with.
3. Finish various e-courses that I’ve bought, but in particular:
4. Dream Job Hack Removed, currently going through the modules but trying to tailor to my needs (program is best for those wanting to get into high level manager type roles—not the greatest for someone switching from research to industry and who also hasn’t been in a manager type role).
5. Medical Writers Organization
6. Data Scientist Syndicate—Finished September 3rd 2020
7. Project Management Consortium
8. Management Consulting Firm
9. All other courses—see additional lists in the journal.
10. More interacting on Linkedin—Hard to score these, I’m doing the best with #11; though I have started doing my own posts—mainly photographs and quotes; need to start working more on the other 2 (especially the giving/asking for recommendations).
11. Sharing articles from various biotech pages, and other science pages
12. Commenting on posts
13. Giving/Asking for recommendations
14. Start writing my own posts
15. Creating monthly/weekly/daily calendars for above goals—trying to get better at the editorial or to-do-list calendars.
16. Renew professional memberships—Need to pick just one or two currently to renew; can’t do all at once.
Both Personal and Professional Development—still working on all of these
17. Become fluent in Spanish
18. Become fluent in German
19. Become proficient in French, Norwegian, or Swedish
20. Read at least 300 personal/professional development books; this will include books from my previous attempts at 1001-day challenges as well. I have over 300 books on the list, and I would like to get through at least 100 of them before I keep adding to the list.
21. Finish the books on scientific writing
22. Start building up a portfolio of work (writing/data analysis/plus other ideas)
23. Develop a daily writing habit (tied with several goals below)
24. Write a letter to my future self
Personal development and hobbies—started a few, but need to also start in on others as well
25. Paint and frame at least one original painting
26. More photography—Have been doing this; started a new challenge (though I haven’t been totally consistent with daily postings) and updating/adding pages
27. 365-Day Challenge (aim for 365 different pictures)
28. Update photography pages on blog
29. Make my own jewelry
30. Learn to cross-stitch
31. Get a new sewing machine—On hold; seems getting a sewing machine there is a 50/50 risk that the machine will have problems winding the bobbin
32. Make a new quilt (or this may wait until I move)
33. Make a set of drapes for the bedroom (for backdrop for any zoom calls)
34. Start a new afghan (write a post on finishing the other)—need to figure out how to patch the other afghans
35. Show case crafts on blog (possibly a weekly update?)
36. Start writing a book
37. Learn Photoshop
38. Write in journal daily (answer questions/prompts from journaling books and free thought)
39. Create my own coffee-table photography book
40. Learn basic sign language
41. Start a virtual book club
Finances—still working on these, since I’m taking time off there isn’t a steady paycheck coming in yet.
42. Create monthly budgets—currently this is just paying off the bills.
43. Credit card debts down and hopefully paid off monthly—some are high, but that is due to buying a couple of personal/professional development courses that were rather expensive.
44. Declutter the house (way of earning extra cash)
45. Savings account up another 20K (hopefully)—this will be tied in with #44, #46, and any other ways of trying to earn a little extra cash.
46. Talk with financial person about short-term investment possibilities
47. Continue doing the small surveys as a way of earning a little extra cash
48. Finish the various financial e-courses, and decide when/how to start investing
Fitness & Health—On going
49. Get into the best shape of my life
50. Multivitamin and supplements daily
51. Manage to make it through the following Beachbody workouts
52. Morning Meltdown 100 (will probably do this 2-3 times, as I’m currently doing this program right now—07/19/2020)—Finished my first round on 9/15/2020
53. Yoga Booty Ballet—Abs & Butt (should be done mid-Nov)
54. 10 Rounds—Will be starting this mid-Nov & done by Christmas.
55. Barre Blend
56. Insanity Max 30
57. LIIFT4 (have already done this program once); 2nd round will be done mid-Nov (combined this with Yoga Booty Ballet—Abs & Butt)
58. 22-Minute Hard Corps
59. T20
60. Insanity
61. Insanity: Asylum 1
62. Insanity: Asylum 2
63. 4 weeks of Prep
64. 6 weeks of the work
65. T25 (have already done this program once)
66. Brazil Butt Lift
67. 21-Day Fix (Already done this program once)
68. 21-Day Fix Extreme (Already done this program once)
69. Country Heat (already done this program once)
70. CIZE
71. Muscle Burns Fat
72. Muscle Burns Fat Advanced
73. 30-Day Breakaway (this is a maybe—it’s running based)
74. 9-week control freak
75. Shawn Week
76. 80-Day Obsession
77. Brazil Butt Lift: Carnivale
78. Shift Shop: Proving Grounds
79. P90
Plus any other possible Beachbody program that is coming out that I may want to add.
80. Manage 5 push-ups on my toes
81. Manage 10 push-ups on my toes
82. Hold a two-minute forearm plank
83. Hold a 90 second plank
84. Meditate nightly
85. Start jogging (as another way to try to keep my mental health up)—may tie this in with #73
86. 60-80 oz of water a day
87. Stretch daily
88. Go one weekend a month with no social media (no scrolling through social media pages; may still post on the sites)
89. Get at least 10,010,000 steps (breaks down to 5K/day)—on my way; I’ve managed to hit all month goals (and surpass slightly).
Blog and Social Media–Ongoing
90. Finish YouTube for bosses course
91. Finish YouTube course creation for bosses course
92. Finish blog to biz course
93. Launch a YouTube channel
94. Launch an online course
95. Get blog traffic to 500+ views a day
96. Rebrand myself (?)
97. Get Instagram followers to constant 800+
98. Get pintrest followers to constant 400+
99. Get twitter followers to constant 1000+
100. Publish at least two blog series
101. Editorial calendars (monthly/weekly/daily)
102. Blog
103. Instagram
104. Facebook pages
105. Twitter
106. Pintrest
107. Get Fit with Jessi to 1000+ likes/follows
108. Get becomingJessi (or new name if I change) to 1000+ likes/follows
109. Various top 10 author lists
110. Various top 10 book series lists
111. Launch a podcast
Spirituality–Ongoing
112. Full/New Moon Goals
113. Create my own altar (wicca/pagan)
114. Weekly (or daily) tarot/oracle card readings
115. 15 minutes outdoors in the morning (coffee only) weather permitting; probably on hold now until spring—fall/winter mornings are usually somewhere between the 30s and 50s (if it’s closer to the higher end—maybe).
Others–ongoing
116. Keep at least 3 plants alive
117. Design a science based board game
118. Create and update digital vision board
119. Reorganize my storage unit
120. Put in at least one flower garden around the house (backyard, and/or front yard)
121. Help put up partial privacy fence in backyard
122. Start downsizing clothes and creating different “minimum” wardrobes (work/professional/casual; home/casual/working out)
123. Develop at least 10 different 100-day challenges
One challenge will be 100 days of iPhone Photography.
124. Start downsizing rest of my things./ as well—would like to probably be able to live comfortably in a smallish size apartment (or house) wherever I move for the next job.
TV shows to binge watch—Haven’t felt like sitting and watching anything lately
125. Hawaii 5-0 (latest remake)
126. Grimm
127. The Librarians
128. Once Upon A Time
129. Blacklist
130. Numbers
131. Agents of SHIELD
Goals on hold due to the global coronavirus (SARS-CoV-2) outbreak (either because they require traveling, going into a large store, and/or being around large groups of people):
132. Re-pierce my ears
133. Go to at least 1 scientific conference
134. Present at a scientific conference
135. Go to at least 2 professional networking events
136. Move to a new (or maybe not new) city for job
137. Visit at least 3 new countries
138. Visit at least one new national and/or state park
139. Visit at least one new national and/or state monument
140. Visit at least one new zoo
141. Visit at least one new aquarium
142. Fly out and/or land at 3 new (to me) airports
143. Visit at least one new city
144. Visit at least one new state
145. See the northern lights
146. Attend at least one blogging conference
147. Attend at least one author-reader conference
148. Swim with whale sharks
149. Parasailing
150. Run a 5K (connects back to goals #73 & #85)
Once I move:
151. Get fabric and foam and make new cushions for chairs
152. New couch & chair for living room
153. New dresser for bedroom
154. New mattress & box spring for bed and/or a new bed set
155. New TV & stand
156. New desk/craft workstation
So in terms of the goals:
So I’ve removed one goal (finish the Dream Job Hack program), though I’m still going to work through a little that I think is relevant to what I need to be doing. I did find the program helpful, but it is geared more towards people who have been (or are in) management type positions—while I would like to get there, I know that I probably need to start a step or two below.
I’m making some headway with others—I’ve finished the data science syndicate program from the Cheeky Scientist Association (will be writing a post on late shortly), and am looking forward to trying to learn python and then start building a data science portfolio.
I’m working my way through the medical writers organization (another advanced Cheeky Scientist program), and am hoping to have that finished by mid-November, and again start working on building up a writing portfolio.
Currently I’m thinking of going in the freelance/online/remote direction for work (namely because of the pandemic and not really wanting to figure out the whole headache of trying to move two animals, all of my stuff, and myself to a different state currently). So in that case, I’m also thinking of possibly rebranding the blog (I have a couple of different names bouncing around, a decision will be made probably early next year sometime).
I’m still working on developing an editorial calendar/to-be accomplished list hybrid that works for me. I’ve realized that I swing between two extremes: I get over-ambitious and try to cram way to stuff in everyday, or I don’t get anything really accomplished.
I’m trying to work on that by possibly going to larger bullet journals that I can paperclip in my to-be-accomplished lists (which would then be discarded once everything as accomplished) instead of having to write out the lists constantly.
I’m also working on a schedule that will let me bounce back and forth between different things. I just finished reading “ How to be everything: A guide for those who (still) don’t know what they want to be when they grow up” by Emilie Wapnick.
I will be posting a review on the book soon (hopefully this week)—but it was nice to see that I’m not the only one who has felt drawn in different directions and not having a clue how to handle things. I was pleased to find that I’m a mixed-style multipotentialite—someone who goes between having quite a few different projects going on at once to only having one or two projects going on at once.
So that has definitely been a major breakthrough during the last few weeks—now it is a matter of me fully embracing that aspect of myself and figuring how the best ways of working that way—without triggering massive anxiety attacks (stay tuned).
I also removed the “number” of workouts from my fitness goals—the main reason I was starting to get tired. Everyone needs a rest day, and I’ve shown myself that I can still push play on Monday morning even if I take the weekend off (as told by the workout schedule).
So I am slowly making progress on the first ~124 (or I guess 123) goals; the last twenty-odd goals still require the pandemic to be brought under control and for me then to be willing to slowly start leaving the house and going to places that will actually have other people present as well.
So we are coming up on October’s new moon (either last night, tonight, or maybe tomorrow—again depending on where you are in the world). For me, the new moon is tonight. We’re a little over halfway through October, and that means there are basically 66 days left in 2020; and only a little over 2 weeks until the elections.
So the moon is going to be moving through the Libra constellation over the next day or so (hence, this is the Libra new moon), and that means there are various things we can look at or work on over the next few weeks—such as:
Look at how you’re relating to other people (difficult to totally assess this year due to the pandemic and self-isolation, but should see if you’re helping more than asking).
Look into your partnerships (any issues that need addressing?)
Negotiate—try to bring things into balance if needed.
Look gorgeous—work on improving your self-image, and self-love.
Regain your identity—figure out how to resolve any unhealthy co-dependency issues if needed.
The Libra new moon is also moving through my 12th house—or my secret zone. This is the time/house when you really just want to retreat from the world and work things out for a while. In terms of self-care/self-love what are some of the things you could focus on during this time?
Practice yoga
Take a break from social media and/or numerous social obligations
Start a dream journal
Face one big fear
Trust your intuition
Buy a meditation CD & use it every day for a month
Write poetry from the heart
Share one of your secrets
So this new moon is actually urging me to find a balance between social obligations and self-care/self-love. In one way it is easy—I’m still self-isolating, and therefore any “meetings” that I would be attending are all virtual. I haven’t actually had a sit-down conversation with someone (outside of family) since March. Looking back at old entries—I’m still working on trying to achieve mental clarity/calmness. One thing I’ve noticed, is that I have a habit of having numerous ‘stories/conversations’ running through my head—and none of them really mean anything, but at times they all spike my anxiety into the zone of not wanting to do anything (giving myself an anxiety attack for no reason).
So what are my goals going to be for the Libra new moon?
Improve/work on my nightly meditations; I have nature CDs on my iPhone, that I use to listen to when I was meditating. Lately, I’ve just been doing an oracle card reading, interpreting the cards, reading, and then trying to meditate a little before going to sleep. I’m going to try to put the ‘meditation’ between reading and going to bed. Sometimes it’s works better sitting/laying on the floor then reclining on the bed.
Start trying to tune in more to my intuition/gut instinct. While I’ve spent quite a bit of time over the past ten months doing self-reflection, and trying to listen to my inner voice—it is still something that I need to work on daily. I’ve listened to it in terms of turning down potential job leads—most are in research and since I’m not absolutely certain that is the way I want to go, I’m turning things down (as I don’t want to go in a direction, simply because it is the only thing that I know).
Continue working on regaining my identity. Currently I think the only ‘unhealthy co-dependency issue’ I have is with sweets and I’m working on changing my mindset in terms of food. We’ve all been taught to treat food as ‘good’ versus ‘bad’—when it’s just food, energy for our body. Yes, some may be a little more nutritious than others, but there is no checkpoint in our body that stops calories and questions them on the food source they came from. I’m working on developing an identity that doesn’t revolve around higher education research—an identity that encompasses all of me (strengths, weaknesses, quirks, and faults) and allows me to go through each day feeling like I’m making a difference in the world.
And as I continue moving forward (no matter how small the steps seem) I’m going to be keeping the following phrases/quotes front and center:
“Progress over Perfection”, “You can’t start the next chapter of your life, if you keep re-reading the last one”, and “Not caring what other people think is the best choice you will ever make”.
We should be heading into October’s new moon tomorrow night (though depending on where you are in the world, the timing may be tonight instead). I’m trying to get better at posting on the blog—I’m slightly behind in the photography challenge, not that I don’t have pictures to post, but the stumbling block is actually trying to get something written about the picture (and hopefully with more than 100 words). Truthfully, before trying to blog I never really paid that much attention to how many words were in a particular writing assignment.
So before looking to the next new moon, I should look back at the goals that I set for the Virgo new moon, see how I did with each one of them, and where I can still work on improvements.
So what were my goals for the Virgo new moon?
Take inventory of various aspects of life and try to develop a working schedule that will allow me be both productive, but at the same time enjoying time outside as well.
Continue with daily workouts (currently it is a combo of Yoga Booty Ballet with LIIFT4).
In combination with #1—organize the schedule, possibly alternating days that certain things are done on (for example networking on Mondays & Wednesdays, but following up with people on Tuesdays & Fridays).
Continue with nightly oracle card readings and also try to spend at least two to three minutes meditating (either before or after the reading).
So how did I do with each goal?
In terms of taking an inventory of my life and developing/organizing a schedule—still working on it. I’ve realized that one of my major problems (and possibly the number one trigger of my anxiety) is that I try to put way to much stuff on the plate for any particular week or day.
I think that I have to work on all aspects of life constantly—for example I’m doing a daily workout (getting back into a fitness routine), trying to work through various e-courses, read, network, brainstorm ideas, spend time on crafts, and keep my sanity.
I think that the best thing will be developing the schedule and alternating days of doing things—make the small steps each day/week towards the goals but alternate what goal I’m working towards any particular day. I’m thinking of limiting it to no more than 2 to 3 goals a day, and no more than 4 to 6 goals a week. This way I’m focusing on 2 to 3 areas of life (fitness/nutrition and then personal and professional development).
In terms of continuing with the daily workout—I’m into week 4/5 of my combo calendar. It would be starting week 5 of Yoga Booty Ballet, but basically ending week 4 of LIIFT4. I should be done with this combo mid-November and then going on to 10 Rounds (which is another resistance/cardio combo program).
I’ve already touch a little on how I’m really going to try to break up tasks and try to focus on certain things on certain days (trying to hopefully keep the anxiety and nerves under a little more control).
In terms of nightly oracle card readings and meditations—I’ve only missed a couple of nights (usually running behind on everything else and I just want to turn off the lights and unwind for awhile before heading to bed). I’m really getting into one of the new sets of oracle cards I got recently and should hopefully be putting up a review of it on the blog in the coming weeks.
It’s nice to see that even when I don’t have a clear question for the universe, I’m still being shown that I am on the right path.
While there are many people who didn’t agree with my decision to quit my job in December to do some much needed soul-searching and reflection—I needed to do it for me, and no one else.
I’m coming closer to figuring out my path—I just have to remember that everyone feels like a fraud from time to time, everyone makes mistakes, and that no matter how small the steps are if I keep moving forward long enough, once I turn around to judge my journey I’ll be impressed with how far I’ve come.
But I am also going to be keeping the following quotes/phrases front and center as well:
“Progress over Perfection”, “You can’t start the next chapter of your life if you keep re-reading the last one”, and “Not caring what other people think is the best choice you will ever make”.
So I’m a little over a week into my fourth decade and still working on answering the question: which hobbies, passions, and interests will fall under the jack-of-all-trades umbrella, and which will fall under the specialist umbrella.
While for some this is probably a quick question to answer—I’m still slightly struggling with for two reasons: 1) imposter syndrome—since I’m wanting to transition out of academia and into industry, there are times when I feel like a ‘fraud’, even though I know everyone’s journey is their own and that no two paths are the same—also no one has the same history, likes/dislikes, strengths/weaknesses, and personality traits that I do. The second reason is that at times I’m still in an somewhat academic mindset, which has a somewhat “clear ladder” on how your job grows—you graduate with your PhD, you do a couple of postdocs, you then get an assistant professor position, and then work your way up the ladder to associate, full, regents, emeritus professor along with possibly going for department head, or positions as a dean.
Since I’m still not sure which direction I want to go in—therefore there is no “clear ladder”, and even once I decide on a direction or directions to go in—there is no guarantee of a “clear ladder” or straight job trajectory in today’s society. Therefore I’m on a mission to create a mix of things that not only fall under both categories (jack-of-all-trades and specialist), but also encompass all aspects of life.
Through self-reflection, I realize that the times I’m happiest and in the ‘flow’ are when I’m both learning and relaxing—in other words when there is a balance between things. This is something that I had lost over the past decade or so—actually, this was something I closed off when I thought I wanted to go down the academic route—I pushed aside enjoyment, relaxation, and balance while focusing on just one small area for ‘learning’.
I’m thinking that the best route will be something that allows me to both—work for a company, but also be an independent freelancer as well. This way I can juggle different hats (under the umbrellas of jack-of-all-trades and specialist), and hopefully never get bored.
Boredom for me is like the kiss of death for the job—and one thing I need to work on is asking for change in the job when I start feeling boredom sneak in—because if I don’t ask for a change, I know I will start to get a little laid back in things and let things start to slide—which is something that I want to avoid moving forward.
So that brings me back to the question: how am I going to divide up my hobbies, passions, and interests into the categories jack-of-all-trades and specialist?
One area can be quickly filed under jack-of-all-trades currently, and that is crafts. These include knitting, sewing/quilting, learning cross-stitching, making my own jewelry, doodling, and hopefully at some point painting. The time I spend on any of these varies—knitting is usually done only in the cooler months, I currently don’t have a sewing machine, and the others have had very little time spent on them.
Therefore until I start spending a good amount of time on any of them during the week, they will be a ‘jack-of-all-trades’ topic. These will be things that I write about maybe once a month or every couple of months on the blog. I have ideas on how to try monetizing some of them (knitting, jewelry, and cross-stitching), but haven’t spent any time trying to work up the plan or even a few showcase pieces.
There are other hobbies that I spend more time on: bird watching, photography, reading, and at times journaling/writing. These are areas of my personal life that I could slowly start working on more and move to what I would consider ‘expert’ level.
In terms of bird watching—seeing how many species in North America I can have identified by a certain age. This would then also allow me to include traveling, being outdoors, hiking, and photography as well.
In terms of photography—I can work on becoming a better nature photographer, and also start learning another form (say architecture or portrait photography). I would consider myself an expert if I then start selling my prints (either through my own site or another site, and/or have a small photography business on the side).
In terms of reading—start writing book reviews and posting them on both the blog and where I purchased the book, in addition to promoting books as well on my blog and social media sites. This way I could also then start possibly reviewing advance-reader-copies (ARCs), in addition to maybe working through affiliate programs—earning a little money, by referring people to buy different books.
In terms of writing—there is quite a bit I need to work on (and actually can be applied to all areas that I would like to become an ‘expert’ in) to get better at writing. The first thing is scheduling time every day to write/brainstorm/outline. Saying I want to become better at writing does nothing unless I also put in the work to become better at writing. So what are the things I need to work on?
Time management
Brainstorming, researching, writing, and editing—on a schedule
Publishing my writing (in more places than just the blog)
Asking others to read what I’ve written and give constructive criticism
Different types of writing
Creative/Fiction
Scientific
Non-fiction
Creating a portfolio to highlight my work
So in terms of my passions and interests—which should be jack-of-all-trades and which should be specialist?
If I look to my scientific background that has spanned a little over two decades I’ve noticed that I can focus on any of the following: recombinant cloning, recombinant protein expression and purification, sequencing, HPLC, MALDI-TOF, NMR, transcriptional and translational assays, small RNA biology, plant biology, cell culture, yeast, bacteria, fruit flies, the cell cycle, and bioinformatics.
If I had to chose areas for jack-of-all-trades those would include: bioinformatics (data science, programming, and data analysis), cell culture (basic mammalian and insect), sequencing, HPLC, MALDI-TOF, and NMR. These are the more technical things—though cell culture isn’t very technical, I just didn’t do that much of it through the years.
The areas I would chose for specialist would then include basically everything else: recombinant cloning, recombinant protein expression and purification, transcriptional and translational assays, small RNA biology, plant biology, yeast work, fruit flies, bacteria, cell cycle and almost anything that falls within these categories.
If I looked to other topics that I enjoyed during college—these were classes in social sciences and humanities (history, anthropology, sociology) that I got good grades in and never really stressed out over the exams (unlike all the other science classes).
So I would probably include some of those topics—medieval history, art history, anthropology, ancient North/South American history (prior to the arrival of the Europeans), archeology, and paleontology within both categories depending on the amount of time I could give to each area.
Other interests that could probably bounce between being jack-of-all-trades and specialist include spirituality, personal finances, and health/fitness.
These are areas that I’m interested in gaining more knowledge (finances—getting out of debt, saving more, retirement, multiple streams of income), becoming the best version of myself (health/fitness—completing programs, getting outdoors, and setting fitness goals to achieve and celebrate instead of spending money), and embracing (spirituality—I’ve come to the conclusion that I’m more spiritual than I am religious, therefore I want to become better at reading tarot/oracle cards and be able to meditate longer than say two to four minutes).
Therefore within the next five to ten years I would like to become a more well rounded person and scientist—this means over all balance, some days may be more science than crafts, more time at the computer than behind a camera—but also more days crafting, reading, and meditating. It is time for me to forge my own path forward that allows me to embrace all aspects of who I am, my strengths (learner, intellection, input, achiever, deliberative/ideation/arranger), while also working on my weaknesses.
The next step will be creating a plan that will allow me to slowly start moving in that direction.
All right, I realize that I haven’t posted a level-10 check-in since July of last year. I did do a level-10 check-in in December 2019, May 2020, and then this most recent one—beginning of September 2020; but two of those three were only in the journal.
So, just a quick reminder of what a Level-10 life check-in is:
There are 10 areas of life: family & friends, personal development, spirituality, finances, career (and I also include professional development here as well), social life, fun & recreation, giving & contribution, physical environment, and then finally health & fitness.
You then rank each area on a scale of 1-to-10, quickly and without thinking too hard on each one. Then you can compare your most recent Level-10 to the previous one and see how (or if) each area changed. Then depending on how you score them, and the change you can set up goals for each for the coming cycle.
Instead of doing three months, I stretched it into four months this year—because it’s 2020. Usually areas have been either staying constant, or just going up or down a little.
Though, with this check-in there were two areas that had slightly higher ups and downs.
Those two areas were finances, and the physical environment. My ‘happiness/appreciation’ of my finances went down 1.5—due largely to my impulsive e-book buying (and therefore a slightly larger than normal amazon bill). My ‘happiness/appreciation’ of my physical environment went up 1.5—due mainly to me keeping things better organized than I have in the past.
So what are my goals for the last four months of 2020? These goals are going to encompass basically seven out of the ten areas—leaving out family/friends, giving/contributions & social life. Not that I don’t care about those two—but 1) we’re still currently in a pandemic, so if I want to socialize with people, it will have to be online (or a minimum of 12 feet apart); 2) I try to keep in semi-touch with family/friends via social media; 3) there may be things to be donated or given away—just not sure on that particular point.
1) Finish the following workout programs:
Morning Meltdown 100—I should be finishing my first round of the program on 9/15/2020
Yoga Booty Ballet & LIIFT4—I should finish this combo by 11/15/2020 (marking the first finish for Yoga Booty Ballet-Abs & Butt Makeover & the 2nd time through LIIFT4)
10 Rounds—I should then finish this program by Christmas (and it will be my first round of this program).
I will then start either Muscle Burns Fat & then Muscle Burns Fat Advance or another round of 21-Day Fix and 21-Day Fix Extreme (either of these will then carry me into 2021).
2) Finish the following professional development courses:
Data Science Syndicate (finish by the end of September; only 1 ½ modules left; actually finished this on 9/3/2020).
Medical Writers Organization (by the end of October)
Management Consultant Firm (by the end of November)
Project Management Consortium (by the end of December)
3) Start learning python (tied with #4 and #2)
4) Finish at least 6 other short e-courses
5) Read at least 8 personal/professional developments books and write short reviews
6) Daily mediation and tarot/oracle card readings (bi-weekly or monthly oracle card review on blog)
7) Learn a new hobby (try my hand at cross-stitching). Also get more yarn and start another afghan possibly.
8) Determine way(s) of earning extra money (or free-lancing options)
9) Start building up a varied portfolio for looking into free-lancing/remote/on-line job options.
10) Go to the storage unit and start repacking boxes that need it, plus maybe start seeing what I don’t need.
Well I realized that since we’re over half way through July—that means there are less than six months left in 2020. I’ve come to the conclusion that trying to complete the 101 goals in 1001 days wasn’t going to work. For me it is due to the fact that I will only open the word document every so often—which makes it difficult to figure out which goal(s) I’m doing well on and which ones I’m not doing so well on meeting. Therefore, I am thinking of stretching out the time frame for this project and increasing the total number of goals to 150-200. There are numerous goals that are on hold (traveling), and will be at the bottom of the list. There are two reasons why the traveling goals are going to be at the bottom of the list: 1) we’re still in the middle of the SARS-CoV2 pandemic. Cases aren’t going down really in the US (though there are some states, where they are decreasing—OK isn’t one of them) and 2) several countries (namely the EU) have banned travelers from the US—in other words if you try to fly into any EU country, you may be put right back on a plane for the US, since they’re flattening their curves—they don’t want potential virus carriers showing up and spiking cases.
So the world has been in the grasp of the SARS-CoV2 virus for seven months (probably a little longer than that for the countries that are neighboring China), and we’re still learning about the virus each day. While there are several vaccines that are being pushed into various clinical trial phases—a real contender may still not be ready for another 6 to 18 months. Vaccine development is a slow and tedious process that the world is currently rushing because everyone wants to get back to ‘normal’. Hate to break it to everyone but the ‘old normal’ needs to be left in the past and we all need to work together to develop a ‘new normal’.
Truthfully, even if there is a vaccine out by the end of the year—I will probably still continue to shelter in place and wait at least an additional 8 to 12 months before I’m willing to get the vaccine (just to see how efficient the vaccine(s) are). Though based on the current news, we could end up with needing seasonal shots, as it has been shown that with people who “recover” from SARS-CoV2 the antibodies against the virus slowly disappear over time.
So I’ve been self-reflecting over the past six months (though maybe not that much during April—I was too pissed at the world for how bad the pandemic was getting, and now that we’re into July, I can say I’m still pissed but trying to get back into a routine of doing other things that I can control the outcomes of)) and have decided a few things:
Try to organize the challenge list into categories
If needing to restart (and I am)—any day of the week can become day 1 again
Balance is needed
I want to balance using my strengths (learner, intellection, input, achiever, deliberative/ideation/arranger) with working on my weaknesses (communication, self-regulation, bravery, zest, love)
The only person I should be competing with is who I was yesterday
Always strive for progress over perfection
So below are my goals—but broken up into different categories (such as professional development/career, personal development, both personal/professional development, travel, health & fitness to name a few categories). I’m going to extend the time frame to 2002 days (which is not quite 5 ½ years—but considering 2020 has started the decade off with a global pandemic—this a good time frame).
I’ve also decided that since I’m basically restarting the challenge (instead of just extending it), that some of the things I’ve accomplished so far this year probably shouldn’t count towards it (such as reading 12 personal/professional development books, and the fact that I would be on day 42 of Morning Meltdown 100, tomorrow—the last 59 days of the workout would count towards my 2000 days of Beachbody workouts-just not the first 41 days).
More goals may be added over the years as I re-evaluate this list and see what may need to be removed, what has been finished, and where I think I could possibly push myself more.
Professional development and career:
1. Transition into an industry position (probably remote/online or freelancing at this point to start); there will be several posts on this goal
2. Learn a programming language (python or R—ties in with #6)
3. Finish various e-courses that I’ve bought, but in particular:
4. Dream Job Hack
5. Medical Writers Organization
6. Data Scientist Syndicate
7. Project Management Consortium
8. Management Consulting Firm
9. All other courses—see additional lists in the journal.
10. More interacting on Linkedin
11. Sharing articles from various biotech pages, and other science pages
12. Commenting on posts
13. Giving/Asking for recommendations
14. Start writing my own posts
15. Creating monthly/weekly/daily calendars for above goals
16. Renew professional memberships
Both Personal and Professional Development
17. Become fluent in Spanish
18. Become fluent in German
19. Become proficient in French, Norwegian, or Swedish
20. Read at least 300 personal/professional development books
21. Finish the books on scientific writing
22. Start building up a portfolio of work (writing/data analysis/plus other ideas)
23. Develop a daily writing habit (tied with several goals below)
24. Write a letter to my future self
Personal development and hobbies
25. Paint and frame at least one original painting
26. More photography
27. 365-Day Challenge (aim for 365 different pictures)
28. Update photography pages on blog
29. Make my own jewelry
30. Learn to cross-stitch
31. Get a new sewing machine
32. Make a new quilt (or this may wait until I move)
33. Make a set of drapes for the bedroom (for backdrop for any zoom calls)
34. Start a new afghan (write a post on finishing the other)
35. Show case crafts on blog (possibly a weekly update?)
36. Start writing a book
37. Learn Photoshop
38. Write in journal daily (answer questions/prompts from journaling books and free thought)
39. Create my own coffee-table photography book
40. Learn basic sign language
41. Start a virtual book club
Finances
42. Create monthly budgets
43. Credit card debts down and hopefully paid off monthly
44. Declutter the house (way of earning extra cash)
45. Savings account up another 20K (hopefully)
46. Talk with financial person about short-term investment possibilities
47. Continue doing the small surveys as a way of earning a little extra cash
48. Finish the various financial e-courses, and decide when/how to start investing
Fitness & Health
49. Get into the best shape of my life
50. Multivitamin and supplements daily
51. Manage at least 2000 days of Beachbody workouts
Finish the following programs (some will probably be more than 1 or 2 times)
52. Morning Meltdown 100 (will probably do this 2-3 times, as I’m currently doing this program right now—07/19/2020)
53. Yoga Booty Ballet—Abs & Butt
54. 10 Rounds
55. Barre Blend
56. Insanity Max 30
57. LIIFT4–all three phases (have already done this program once)
58. 22 Minute Hard Corps
59. T20
60. Insanity
61. Insanity: Asylum 1
62. Insanity: Asylum 2
63. 4 weeks of Prep
64. 6 weeks of the work
65. T25 (have already done this program once)
66. Brazil Butt Lift
67. 21-Day Fix (Already done this program once)
68. 21-Day Fix Extreme (Already done this program once)
69. Country Heat (already done this program once)
70. CIZE
71. Muscle Burns Fat
72. Muscle Burns Fat Advanced
73. 30-Day Breakaway (this is a maybe—it’s running based)
74. 9-week control freak
75. Shawn Week
Plus any other possible Beachbody program that is coming out that I may want to add.
76. Manage 5 push-ups on my toes
77. Manage 10 push-ups on my toes
78. Hold a two-minute forearm plank
79. Hold a 90 second plank
80. Meditate nightly
81. Start jogging (as another way to try to keep my mental health up)—may tie this in with #73
82. 60-80 oz of water a day
83. Stretch daily
84. Go one weekend a month with no social media (no scrolling through social media pages; may still post on the sites)
85. Get at least 10,010,000 steps (breaks down to 5K/day)
Blog and Social Media
86. Finish YouTube for bosses course
87. Finish YouTube course creation for bosses course
88. Finish blog to biz course
89. Launch a YouTube channel
90. Launch an online course
91. Get blog traffic to 500+ views a day
92. Rebrand myself (?)
93. Get Instagram followers to constant 800+
94. Get pintrest followers to constant 400+
95. Get twitter followers to constant 1000+
96. Publish at least two blog series
97. Editorial calendars (monthly/weekly/daily)
98. Blog
99. Instagram
100. Facebook pages
101. Twitter
102. Get Fit with Jessi to 1000+ likes/follows
103. Get becomingJessi (or new name if I change) to 1000+ likes/follows
104. Various top 10 author lists
105. Various top 10 book series lists
106. Launch a podcast
Spirituality
107. Full/New Moon Goals
108. Create my own altar (wicca/pagan)
109. Weekly (or daily) tarot/oracle card readings
110. 15 minutes outdoors in the morning (coffee only) weather permitting
Others
111. Keep at least 3 plants alive
112. Design a science based board game
113. Create and update digital vision board
114. Reorganize my storage unit
115. Put in at least one flower garden around the house (backyard, and/or front yard)
116. Help put up partial privacy fence in backyard
117. Start downsizing clothes and creating different “minimum” wardrobes (work/professional/casual; home/casual/working out)
118. Develop at least 10 different 100-day challenges
119. Start downsizing rest of my belongs as well—would like to probably be able to live comfortably in a smallish size apartment (or house) where ever I move for the next job.
TV shows to binge watch
120. Hawaii 5-0 (latest remake)
121. Grimm
122. The Librarians
123. Once Upon A Time
124. Blacklist
125. Numbers
Goals on hold due to the global coronavirus (SARS-CoV-2) outbreak (either because they require traveling, going into a large store, and/or being around large groups of people):
126. Re-pierce my ears
127. Go to at least 1 scientific conference
128. Present at a scientific conference
129. Go to at least 2 professional networking events
130. Move to a new (or maybe not new) city for job
131. Visit at least 3 new countries
132. Visit at least one new national and/or state park
133. Visit at least one new national and/or state monument
134. Visit at least one new zoo
135. Visit at least one new aquarium
136. Fly out and/or land at 3 new (to me) airports
137. Visit at least one new city
138. Visit at least one new state
139. See the northern lights
140. Attend at least one blogging conference
141. Attend at least one author-reader conference
142. Swim with whale sharks
143. Parasailing
144. Run a 5K (connects back to goals #73 & #81)
Once I move:
145. Get fabric and foam and make new cushions for chairs
146. New couch & chair for living room
147. New dresser for bedroom
148. New mattress & box spring for bed and/or a new bed set
149. New TV & stand
150. New desk/craft workstation
So I now have roughly 150 goals to accomplish in 2002 days. Some of the goals may be accomplished well before the 2002 days are up—others may be up to the end (namely the fitness workouts and steps). So how will I accomplish these 150 goals??? Well, there are 25 goals that are “on-hold” until the virus is under control (goals #126-150)—so these may not be looked at for the first 500+ days (though I will probably be checking the stats on the pandemic more often).
In terms of the other 125 goals—I already have some ‘habits’ in place—I have set up monthly calendar/check-ins for my steps, daily workouts, and spending, plus I do a monthly money check-in when I set up payments for various bills. So what I’m going to be doing is adding in additional trackers (e-courses, photography, tarot/oracle card readings) and seeing tracking that ways helps me move through things better. Also in terms of the e-courses, I’m going to be trying to take better notes so that I can post little recaps on the blog as well (all of this will also help me possibly finally design and keep up with editorial calendars as well).
But above else, I need to remember the following phrases: Aim for progress and not perfection, work hard in silence, let your success by your noise, and make it happen, shock everyone.
So I’m a few days late in posting—but over the weekend the
moon moved through it’s second new moon transition for the year and it was
through the Pisces constellation. I’ve realized one thing so far on my reboot
break—I’m falling into the old habit of concentrating on one thing to the
determent of everything else. While I did need to decompress after my job
ended—I barely did anything else. I know that I need to start listening to my
inner voice—but I’m truthfully finding that more difficult than I thought. This
is due in part to letting all the other voices (you know the ones—your parents,
family, teachers, bosses, even close friends) have more of a say in your life
than you do.
So what does that have to do with the Pisces new moon and
making goals? Pisces is about-facing both your dreams and your fears—and this
is something that truthfully I haven’t been good at in recent years (facing
either of them). It is hard to try to rewrite a dream, when you realize that
the one you’ve held on to for years isn’t going to come about (say becoming a
professor and having a marine biology/molecular biology/developmental biology
research project going), and having to figure out what else you can do with
your life.
Fears have been a little easier to acknowledge—at least my
two biggest ones (and actually those are anxiety based issues than actual
fears)—one is talking, both in front of large groups of people, and then just
one-on-one with someone new. Why do I have the fear/anxiety issue—I’m “afraid”
that they (if it is one-on-one) or someone in the audience is going to correct
either my sentence structure or the pronunciation of the word(s)—and this stems
from childhood. When I was just starting kindergarten, we moved from
Massachusetts to Oklahoma, where I was enrolled in a new kindergarten class.
Then the following issues arose—my speech (I learned to talk out in
Massachusetts, and had a northeastern accent—where I didn’t pronounce my “r”.
Now this would have taken care of itself over the years as I settled into
things and the school—but the teachers and others thought it would be better if
I was put in speech therapy to speed up the process. So I spent most of my
elementary school career having to have speech therapy two to three days a week
just to learn how to pronounce a single letter of the alphabet. On top of that,
my kindergarten teacher would always correct my speech, to a point that I
didn’t feel comfortable talking. I thought was the point if someone was going
to just repeat it anyway—so I started just writing out what I wanted to say,
and it was either passed around to everyone or the teacher would read it out
loud.
So needless
to say—I don’t have that many fond memories of being in public schools (from
speech therapy to being bullied and ridiculed—I was very happy to graduate),
and while I managed to work on the issue a little through college, it is still
something that crops up from time to time as something I don’t like to do, but
I know that I need to—so I’m going to be looking in finding different ways of coping
with stress and anxiety of talking to others.
The other fear/anxiety that I have is actually being behind
the wheel of a car—aka driving. I don’t mind being a passenger, for the most
part I’ve gotten over the severe carsickness that I had as a child—it is now
just a mild to moderate problem. Where did the anxiety of being behind the
wheel come from? The answer simple answer is childhood—the more complex answer
is an older sibling who decided it would be “cute” that when picking me up from
the movies and driving home to remove their hands from the steering wheel and
telling me either to steer the car, or that we’d swerve into the oncoming
traffic. Looking back, I can see how they thought it would be “cute” and
possibly instill wanting to be my own chaperone/driver in me, so that I would
jump at the chance for signing up for drivers’ education, get my license, and
never bug other people for a ride. But that isn’t what happened—instead it
instilled a deep anxiety in me, that possibly someone is going to grab the
wheel, or something will happen and I have no control over it. I’ve tried over
the years to take lessons—but the fear is deep, and not something that one gets
over quickly. So for now, I am more than willing to rely on public
transportation, my bike, my feet, and occasionally asking someone for a ride
somewhere. Also with the way the world is going—who knows how long vehicles are
going to be around anyway.
So other than focus on your dreams and fears, what else can
one focus on during the Pisces new moon?
Following
your hunches/intuition—now this is something that I need to work on, as I’ve
ignored my own gut instincts too often over the past several years.
Heal—focus
on working though emotional or spiritual issues.
“Surrender”—practice
yoga, meditation—and open yourself to the possibilities of the universe.
In addition, Pisces is also moving through my 5th
house—or my fun zone. So this is the area that is triggered by creativity,
children, and romance. Now I’m good with the creativity portion—I don’t have
kids (and I’m not around them all that much), and truthfully right now I’m not
in the market for romance (especially since I’m still trying to figure out my
life and where I want to be working/living within the next year).
So there are several different things that one can do during
this sums up the 5th house (or fun zone):
Taking up
belly dancing.
Making a
toy for a child.
Starting to
date
Going on a
trip with your significant other
Doing
something creative (writing, painting, so forth)
Do
something that typifies your idea of fun
Throw a
party
So there are few things on the list that I can basically
scratch off as not doing—starting to date, going on a trip with your
significant other, making a toy for a child, and throwing a party. These are
only crossed off the list because 1) I’m again not looking for a relationship,
2) I’d rather meet up with people for lunch or an afternoon walk than throw a
party; and 3) I don’t have the accessories to make a toy for a child (as I
would be leaning towards making stuff animals for children).
I’ve tried to belly dance in the past (had actually bought
some workout DVDs), and I may actually try to find a free program to follow
on-line. I found it fun and challenging (especially since I currently don’t have
the coordination for it—not that I had the coordination in the past either).
So if I were to make goals for the next few weeks, they
would be the following:
Get back
into a meditation routine—preferably at night, but may try morning as well.
Start
doodling again, and possibly turn one of the doodles into a cross-stitch
pattern (and teach myself how to cross-stitch).
Daily
workout (Beachbody or possibly see if I can find a free online belly dancing
workout)
So in one of my many self reflection periods this past
month, I realized that I hadn’t been looking at my 101 goal list and seeing how
close I was to any of the goals (with the exception of my step goal). I also
realized looking at the list, it was all jumbled together and that made it hard
to see which goals could “feed” off of each other in terms of the
daily/weekly/monthly goals that I should be setting to reach them.
Therefore, I took the time and rewrote my list—this time
grouping things into different categories. I’m going to be hitting restart on
the time, to where if I start on November 2, 2019—I should then be finishing up
around July 29, 2022.
So below are my goals—but broken up into different
categories (such as professional development/career, personal development, both
personal/professional development, travel, health & fitness to name a few
categories).
Professional development and career:
1.
Transition into an industry position (tied to latest self reflections post);
there will be several posts on this goal
2. Learn a
programming language
3. Finish
various e-courses that I’ve bought, but in particular:
4.
Dream Job Hack
5.
Medical Writers Organization
6. More
interacting on Linkedin
7.
Sharing articles from various biotech pages, and other science pages
8.
Commenting on posts
9.
Giving/Asking for recommendations
10.
Creating monthly/weekly/daily calendars for above goals
11. Go to
at least 1 scientific conference
12.
Present at a scientific conference
13. Go to
at least 2 professional networking events
14. Renew
professional memberships
15. Move to
a new (or maybe not new) city for job
Both Personal and Professional Development
16. Become
fluent in Spanish
17. Become
fluent in German (or maybe French)
18. Read at
least 100 personal/professional development books
19. Finish
the books on scientific writing
Personal development and hobbies
20. Paint
and frame at least one original painting
21. More
photography
22.
365-Day Challenge (aim for 365 different pictures)
23.
Update photography pages on blog
24. Make my
own jewelry
25. Learn
to cross-stitch
26. Finish
my latest afghan
27. Show
case crafts on blog (possibly a weekly update?)
28. Start
writing a book
29. Learn
Photoshop
30. Write
in journal daily (answer questions/prompts from journaling books and free
thought)
31. Create
my own coffee-table photography book
32. Learn
basic sign language
Finances
33. Create
monthly budgets
34. Credit
card debts down and hopefully paid off monthly
35.
Declutter the house (way of earning extra cash)
36. Savings
account up another 20K (hopefully)
37. Talk
with financial person about short-term investment possibilities
Travel
38. Visit
at least 3 new countries
39. Visit
at least one new national and/or state park
40. Visit
at least one new national and/or state monument
41. Visit
at least one new zoo
42. Visit
at least one new aquarium
43. Fly out
and/or land at 3 new (to me) airports
44. Visit
at least one new city
45. Visit
at least one new state
46. See the
northern lights
47. Attend
at least one blogging conference
48. Attend
at least one author-reader conference
49. Attend Beachbody
Coach Summit 2020
Fitness & Health
50. Get
into the best shape of my life
51.
Multivitamin and supplements daily
52. Manage
at least 250 days of Beachbody workouts
53. Manage
5 push-ups on my toes
54. Manage
10 push-ups on my toes
55. Hold a two-minute forearm plank
56. Hold a 90 second plank
57. Meditate nightly
58. 30-day Zumba challenge
59. 60-80 oz of water a day
60. Stretch daily
61. Go one
weekend a month with no social media (no scrolling through social media pages;
may still post on the sites)
62. Get at
least 14,014,000 steps (breaks down to 14K/day)
Blog and Social Media
63. Finish YouTube for bosses course
64. Finish YouTube course creation for bosses
course
65. Finish blog to biz course
66. Launch a YouTube channel
67. Launch
an online course
68. Get
blog traffic to 500+ views a day
69. Rebrand
myself (?)
70. Get
Instagram followers to constant 800+
71. Get
pintrest followers to constant 400+
72. Get
twitter followers to constant 1000+
73. Publish
at least two blog series
74. Editorial calendars (monthly/weekly/daily)
75.
Blog
76.
Instagram
77.
Facebook pages
78. Get Fit
with Jessi to 1000+ likes/follows
79. Get
becomingJessi (or new name if I change) to 1000+ likes/follows
80. Various
top 10 author lists
81. Various
top 10 book series lists
Spirituality
82.
Full/New Moon Goals
83. Create my own altar (wicca/pagan)
84. Weekly
tarot/oracle card readings
Others
85. Keep at
least 3 plants alive
86. Design
a science based board game
87. Create and update a digital vision board
88. Re-pierce
my ears
89. Reorganize
my storage unit
Once I move:
90. Get a
new sewing machine
91.
Make a new quilt
92.
Get fabric and foam and make new cushions for chairs
93. New
couch & chair for living room
94. New
dresser for bedroom
95. New
mattress & box spring for bed
96. New TV
& stand
TV shows to binge watch
97. Hawaii
5-0 (latest remake)
98. Grimm
99. The
Librarians
100. Once
Upon A Time
101.
Blacklist
So that is my update and “organized” 101 goals in 1001 days.
This time I’m trying to balance things out—personal and professional
development, career and then just odds and ends. Hopefully with it being
organized, I will be better at tracking how close I am to completing certain
items and which items when completed will flow into another one being started.
So the moon has transitioned into its full moon stage
(either last night or the night before last—depending on where you live in the
world). This means that we’re half way through August, and pretty soon we’re
going to be entering the last few months of the year. I’ll be happy when the
temperatures cool down—I’m getting tired of the triple digits combined with the
high humidity.
So the moon has transitioned into Aquarius, and there are
questions that one can ask themselves during this time (again, all questions
come from “Moonology: Working with the magic of lunar cycles by Yasmin Boland).
Have I been pragmatic to the point of losing the romance of
life?
Have I been living too much in my head and not enough in my
heart?
Have I been trying to do things my way, just for the sake of
it?
Have I been trying too hard to befriend people, and for the
wrong reasons?
Have I allowed myself to move forwards this month?
So if I were to number the above questions 1-5, I think that
my answers would be as follows:
Have
I been too down to earth or rational lately? It depends on what one is talking
about—how I see the world? Yes, I’m way to pragmatic in seeing that the world
is going to hell in a hand basket right now. I’m sure that there are people who
say that I’m not being rational in how I’m handling my career transition
(taking a reboot break), especially since there are signs that a recession
could be coming. But I’ve always been a rational person, who likes to have an
idea of any and all outcomes before deciding on doing something (hence why I’m
still at home and working at my alma mater—I overthink and become paralyzed and
stuck).
This
is a toss up—I’m usually over cautious (being in my head), but at the same time
I’m trying to do more things that I enjoy (and that currently don’t pay the
bills—photography, reading, being outdoors).
This
depends again on context—what are we talking about. With my job—I do things as
written in the protocols. With my life—everything is up in the air, and it’s
hard to do something a certain way if you have no idea of what you’re doing.
I’m
not someone who makes friends quickly, so I can safely say that I haven’t been
trying to befriend people for any reason lately. I know that networking is an
important part of job searching and career advancement. While I have an
extensive network, I know that I need to actually start putting the work into
those relationships—and this something that I’m going to focus on during my
reboot break (though I will start doing a little more daily beforehand).
I
am slowly making progress on planning my reboot break, and am proud that I’m
sticking firm with stating that I’m not signing an extension contract for my
current position. I know that there is something more out there, I just have to
be willing to move forward to find it—and the best way to move forward is to
intentionally “close” a door—that way you have no choice but to move forward.
The Aquarius full moon is a time to find balance between
having a few real relationships and being the super person of the month. It is
also the time to reflect on things, and figure out how to let go of the things
that are no longer helpful or nurturing.
In addition to being within Aquarius, it is also important
to see what house the moon is passing through as well. Currently it is moving
though my sixth house, or my daily work and health zone. Again, it will be time
to reflect on things and figure out how to strike a balance that will bring
some peace to one’s life.
Things that one can contemplate during this time:
Giving up
bad habits.
Restarting
an exercise routine.
Going slow
and steady at work.
Fix the
habits/routines that are no longer working for you.
Start
meditating.
Take up
yoga.
So it is fitting that I’m passing through the daily work and
health zone—I know that I’ve let my fitness and health routine fall short a lot
(I know I’m eating way to many sweets), and I know that there are a million other
things I need to be working on as well. If I were to make a small list of goals
for the Aquarius full moon they would include:
Evening
meditations—I’ve been good at managing at least two to three minutes. I’d like
to work back up to doing five to ten minutes. Also I should try to figure out a
way of meditating during the day (instead of going for a walk to buy chocolate,
I should try to find a quiet spot to just sit and be for awhile).
Getting
back into a workout routine. While I may not be able to manage a daily
workout—I’ll aim for trying to workout two or three days a week, and work up to
doing a daily workout.
Work on my
reboot break and transition plans—journal any and all ideas. I have to remember
that this is my path to walk, and what may seem strange to others may just work
out perfectly for me.
