Time Out

I started this process (writing the blog) for a number of reasons. I wanted to spend some time each week reflecting on my performance and drawing out some lessons. My hope was that the act of writing the blog posts would encourage the discipline and regularity I needed. I also wanted the writing practice to help me improve my written communication including some level of increased creativity. The ultimate goal was to develop a system that would help me maintain an ongoing process of self improvement.

I would also say that I hoped it would build into my week the strategic career time that I had lost over the last couple of years. When I was a contractor working freelance I had a simple overriding principle; maximise income. There was never much consideration given to career, only employment. As a strategy it is a simple contextualising question; if I have options, which one leads to maximum income. I would target personal training to help me get the next role and so my career progression was simple. Now I am a manager in permanent employment I find that I am so busy I don't ever think where do I wan't to be in ten years. In the tactical sense I recently got another job. I hadn't been looking, but something came up and there was an offer. This made me realise that I liked my job and didn't want to leave. But it also made me reflect that I didn't really have a plan.

Now I am on holiday for two weeks and so I am intending to have a good think and get a plan. It frightens me the thought that I could drift along without any clear goals and so I intend to rectify that. But the really positive thing is that having tested out resigning I know that I like where I am.