Tag: careerpivot

Baby steps…functional resume created…brainstorming more ideas:Taurus Full Moon in Review

07
Dec
2022

So the moon will be entering its last full moon stage for 2022 tonight—but we’re getting rain, so I won’t be able to view it. That means there are only 24 days left in 2022…That also means I need to look back over the goals I set for the Taurus full moon before looking ahead to the Gemini full moon.

The goals that I had set for the Taurus full moon included:

  1. Change up my breakfast routine–aiming to try to get more protein and fruits
  2. Work on the second blog–getting the about me and home pages written, in addition to hopefully at least one or two blog posts written and posted as well. I’d also like to start brainstorming ideas of communications pieces that can be added to the portfolio section of the website.
  3. Semi-continuation of the above goal–brainstorm ideas for communication pieces that could go in the ‘featured’ section of my LinkedIn profile
  4. Have a functional format of my resume ready to be optimized for job applications
  5. Work on fleshing out my definition of ‘success’ and creating a digital vision board to go with it

So how did I do with each of those goals?

Well—I managed to make progress on two of them:

I’m slowly switching up my breakfast routine to also include oatmeal with fruits and nuts, and waffles (not the healthiest choice—but a little better than just the blueberry muffin).

I have a functional format of my resume finally created—and have already used it for a potential job. I really detest trying to summarize twenty years of work into like two pages (currently its basically three pages). I have summarized (more or less) the past twenty years of my life (grad school to current) into three pages.

The other three goals I’m still working on—the second blog/website while it is technically ‘live’—I need to get the correct copy up on a couple of the pages (about me and the home pages), plus a blog post or two; I’m still working on fleshing out what my definition of ‘success’ is…mainly in terms of breaking it down to ‘success in x area of life’; and I’m still working on brainstorming ideas for different types of communication pieces that could go on both the blog and the featured section of my blog.

So—forty percent of hitting goals is better than zero. True, I could have done more work on trying to get the second blog up and running, and brainstorming ideas—but I’m also granting myself grace considering how totally hellish the past few months have been.

One of the tasks for the next few weeks—start fleshing out the goals for 2023 and beyond. Mainly start figuring out the long-term goals in regards to several of the level-10 life areas (personal development, spirituality, finances, career/professional development, hobbies/crafts, and health/fitness).

Though I’m also going to be trying to give myself the gift of self-acceptance especially when it comes to not getting everything done due to anxiety going sky-high or stress or any number of reasons why I decide to turn off the computer at night and work on the needlepoint projects.

Anxiety, stress, and depression aren’t going to be fading quickly—but I can really start trying to manage, control, and possibly even avoid prolong episodes of each—by protecting my time, and improving my self-care routine/schedule.

What are some of your favorite stress and/or anxiety relief methods/practices?

No Comments AstrologyfoodFull Moon GoalsHealthLifestyle ChallengesPersonal Developmentprofessional developmentReflections

Slow but steady progress on the personal/professional development plans

14
May
2022

So, the moon should be hitting its next full moon stage tomorrow night—and it should also be an lunar eclipse as well (I’m now debating on whether or not I’m going to stay up late enough to view it).

But before looking ahead to the Scorpio full moon, I should take a look back at the goals that I set for the Libra full moon and see how I did with each of them.

So what were my goals for the Libra full moon? They included:

  1. Finish ‘fleshing’ out my twelve-month plan that I started under the Aries new moon (focusing on career/professional development, health/wellness, personal development/finances/spirituality, and hobbies/crafts). Will be a continuation of expanding my focal points from last year (the main idea from the book ‘The Renaissance Soul: How to make your passions your life—a creative and practical guide’ by Margaret Lobensteine).
  2. Create the ‘May brain-dump’ page; basically try to get all ideas and thoughts for the month of May onto paper. This will allow me to see pages/posts that I would like to create and give some direction to the month (possibly also convert it into the start of an editorial calendar).
  3. Develop a rough draft of a personal/professional development plan (ties in with the finishing of my ‘twelve-month plan’).
  4. Get back into my evening meditations, and possibly start doing some light yoga as well.

So how did I do with each of them?

I’m still ‘fleshing’ out my twelve-month plan. I know that I want to head in a remote and/or freelance direction in terms of science/medical/health communications/copywriting. I’m actually starting to try to develop a portfolio that isn’t just my academic papers/posters, LinkedIn profile, or the pieces that I’ve written for Medical News Bulletin (though they’ll all be included of course). In terms of the other areas (health/wellness, personal development/finances/spirituality and hobbies/crafts), I’m still working on those directions.

Instead of generating a ‘May brain-dump’, I’ve actually created a 90-day content challenge spreadsheet (and considering the number of topics on the spreadsheet currently & the number of topics I may add)—I have enough ideas for a while.

The 90-day content challenge sprung from my latest review of my comfort diagram and wanting to really try to push the comfort/bounce zones. The overall goal is that at the end of the 90 days, I should have at least 90 days worth of content to polish and then publish over the following 90 days (or longer).

I’m also still working on the personal/professional development plan as well. Though I’ve realized a couple of my little ‘sticking points’ over the past two weeks: 1) I’m still afraid that I’ll get bored with a subject/niche—therefore I haven’t decided anything really more specific than either scientific/medical/health communications/copywriting or molecular, cellular, and cancer biology; 2) I can fall into the ‘rabbit-hole’ of the internet in terms of trying to do research and I have to remind myself that I’m not aiming to write a research paper; and finally 3) it’s perfectly okay to focus on a topic that isn’t science.

I’m still trying to extend the time on my evening meditation beyond a minute or two, and I really haven’t started doing any yoga.

So, I would say that I hit maybe twenty percent of my goals for the Libra full moon. This was in part too much in my head and letting my imposter syndrome/inner critic run the show. There has been progress—and it’s been small, but it is there. Therefore, I’m going to ‘shake’ off the judgmental feelings of ‘not doing enough’, and focus on what I can accomplish during the rest of the year.

As I’m remembering: ‘Progress over Perfection’.

How did you do with your Libra full moon goals?

No Comments AstrologycareerFull Moon GoalsPersonal Developmentprofessional development