I don't have many rules in life, except for some very high level ones. One of the things that is unique about me is that you are either "all in or all out". What I mean by this is that I'm not going to commit to something and then do a shoddy job. Don't get me wrong, I've definitely made mistakes and learned from them, but if I commit to something, you know I'm giving you 110%. This likely means I commit to less in totality than some others you may know, but you know when I do commit, you are going to get a good result.
This applies to almost everything in my life, including "work life balance" (whatever the heck that means). Because I work a "9-5" job, I pretty much dedicate myself to work during the weekdays and then take the weekend for my own. Put another way, "I'm all in" during the workday and "I'm all in" on the weekend.
Luckily, rules are meant to be broken and that's what happened today. I just "finalized" a big research study yesterday at around 2pm, and then sat back and congratulated myself. As I should have known, it's never over until it's over, and I received some pertinent information last night/this morning that impacted the study. SO here I am, Saturday morning cranking through some emails and reviewing survey questions.
The funny part is, I don't even mind! I guess it's possible to enjoy your job so much that a couple hours on a Saturday really isn't a big deal. The other thing I'm starting to realize is that if I really want to get to where I need to be, some of these extra weekend hours to organize and do some deeper thinking are very valuable. Maybe it's time for an adjustment to the rules?
Nah, the rules are good. I think maybe I'll just follow Peter's lead here!
But this really begs the question... Are you all in or are you just doing enough to not get fired?
Saturday, January 15, 2011
Saturday, January 8, 2011
Sometimes NOT Blogging Is A Good Thing
Here we are. The year of 2011. It's been a full 3 months since my last blog post, but luckily for me, I don't dwell on the past. The lack of blog posts actually speaks to some of the great things that have been going on in my life lately, both on the personal and professional side.
Here's the quick recap of the last 3 months!
Personal:
-I finished up my volunteer position with the Chris Tindal campaign. Unfortunately Chris didn't win but he had a strong showing against some season veterans in city politics.
-I wrote my GMAT and got a decent score. Of course I likely could have done better, but I'm satisfied with where I ended up
-On Nov. 1 I began a new lifestyle which involved working out regularly, eating as healthy as I can, and generally worshiping my body instead of treating it like something that is going to be young forever. I joined Crossfit Quantum in Toronto, and if you are looking for a fun, motivating environment to "get huge", I highly recommend them. The trainers are great and I'm after 3 months I'm in the best shape of my life.
-I spent a glorious two weeks with my little brother, who is making his family so proud. He is current in Halifax serving with the Canadian Navy Reserve and is on the adventure of a lifetime. As his older brother I am honoured to tell the people I know that my brother is serving is country and bettering himself at the same time.
Professional:
-As of October 1st I got a new manager and a new 1 up manager. Both of them have been great at both supporting me in my work and pushing me to always be better. For that I thank both of them.
-In the next few months they are going to be expanding my role to include more work on US research, which I'm very excited about. This is further going to drive my understanding of the North American market, which I think it a great skill set and experience to have.
So with that I look forward to the year ahead, and frankly, I think it's going to be a defining one in my life. When I talk to my mentors, they often look back on their lives and tell me stories about a defining moment or a defining decision that set them on a different path had they chose a different answer. With all of the things going on in my life, I truly feel like this year could be one of those, but I suppose only time can tell!
I'm not a big New Years resolution guy, but I am a goal setter and the new year is a great time to review your current goals, set new ones, and craft an action plan. I'll spare all of the process details since there are other blogs for that, and skip straight to the goals.
1-Accelerate the new found love for my body. I'm not perfect, I never will be. However the small changes in my life have made me feel infinitely better about myself, and others have noticed too. Not a week goes by where I don't get a compliment on how I am looking good, and there is still much work to do. Sometimes this attitude comes across as a "holier than thou" message, but I assure you this is not my intent. I just know where I was 3 months ago and know where I am now and I can't help but tell people how great of an experience it is! Along these lines, 2011 is when I can do a full set of real push-ups and a full set of real chin ups. Those are real challenges that I'm going to have to work hard for.
2-Live in another country. While this may not happen this year, it's one of the reasons I'm doing the work I do now. This is still a big goal of mine and everything I do in 2011 will be related to this somehow. More networking, more projects, and more results will hopefully get me there.
3-Help others more than they help me. I really enjoy helping others, but sometimes it's easy to fall into the trap of taking more than giving. My first couple of years out of school has put me in this position, mostly out of necessity. This year is going to be about giving back, both at work and my personal life.
4-Be more disciplined with my finances. Although I am a great planner and have the best of intentions, when it comes to shopping I have low will power. I am also a very social person so I almost can never say no to a social situation, regardless of cost. The discipline comes in two forms; One is sticking to the monthly budget I've set out, and the other is when I do decide to go to a social interaction, to be very thoughtful of what I really need to spend money on and what is just my innate desire to blow cash.
They are broad, they are big, but these are the goals I'm working towards. I can assure you that I have an action plan against each of these, and I'm hoping I'm be able to share progession with you as they start to come to fruition.
So 3 months of not blogging and I feel better than ever. I guess now I have something to blog about!
With that, I leave you with a quote and a video that exemplifies my feeling right at this moment.
"We've come a long long way together, through the hard times and the good..." -Fatboy Slim
PS: My favourite part is around 3:07. Only people who truly enjoy their work could pull that kind of awesome off!
Here's the quick recap of the last 3 months!
Personal:
-I finished up my volunteer position with the Chris Tindal campaign. Unfortunately Chris didn't win but he had a strong showing against some season veterans in city politics.
-I wrote my GMAT and got a decent score. Of course I likely could have done better, but I'm satisfied with where I ended up
-On Nov. 1 I began a new lifestyle which involved working out regularly, eating as healthy as I can, and generally worshiping my body instead of treating it like something that is going to be young forever. I joined Crossfit Quantum in Toronto, and if you are looking for a fun, motivating environment to "get huge", I highly recommend them. The trainers are great and I'm after 3 months I'm in the best shape of my life.
-I spent a glorious two weeks with my little brother, who is making his family so proud. He is current in Halifax serving with the Canadian Navy Reserve and is on the adventure of a lifetime. As his older brother I am honoured to tell the people I know that my brother is serving is country and bettering himself at the same time.
Professional:
-As of October 1st I got a new manager and a new 1 up manager. Both of them have been great at both supporting me in my work and pushing me to always be better. For that I thank both of them.
-In the next few months they are going to be expanding my role to include more work on US research, which I'm very excited about. This is further going to drive my understanding of the North American market, which I think it a great skill set and experience to have.
So with that I look forward to the year ahead, and frankly, I think it's going to be a defining one in my life. When I talk to my mentors, they often look back on their lives and tell me stories about a defining moment or a defining decision that set them on a different path had they chose a different answer. With all of the things going on in my life, I truly feel like this year could be one of those, but I suppose only time can tell!
I'm not a big New Years resolution guy, but I am a goal setter and the new year is a great time to review your current goals, set new ones, and craft an action plan. I'll spare all of the process details since there are other blogs for that, and skip straight to the goals.
1-Accelerate the new found love for my body. I'm not perfect, I never will be. However the small changes in my life have made me feel infinitely better about myself, and others have noticed too. Not a week goes by where I don't get a compliment on how I am looking good, and there is still much work to do. Sometimes this attitude comes across as a "holier than thou" message, but I assure you this is not my intent. I just know where I was 3 months ago and know where I am now and I can't help but tell people how great of an experience it is! Along these lines, 2011 is when I can do a full set of real push-ups and a full set of real chin ups. Those are real challenges that I'm going to have to work hard for.
2-Live in another country. While this may not happen this year, it's one of the reasons I'm doing the work I do now. This is still a big goal of mine and everything I do in 2011 will be related to this somehow. More networking, more projects, and more results will hopefully get me there.
3-Help others more than they help me. I really enjoy helping others, but sometimes it's easy to fall into the trap of taking more than giving. My first couple of years out of school has put me in this position, mostly out of necessity. This year is going to be about giving back, both at work and my personal life.
4-Be more disciplined with my finances. Although I am a great planner and have the best of intentions, when it comes to shopping I have low will power. I am also a very social person so I almost can never say no to a social situation, regardless of cost. The discipline comes in two forms; One is sticking to the monthly budget I've set out, and the other is when I do decide to go to a social interaction, to be very thoughtful of what I really need to spend money on and what is just my innate desire to blow cash.
They are broad, they are big, but these are the goals I'm working towards. I can assure you that I have an action plan against each of these, and I'm hoping I'm be able to share progession with you as they start to come to fruition.
So 3 months of not blogging and I feel better than ever. I guess now I have something to blog about!
With that, I leave you with a quote and a video that exemplifies my feeling right at this moment.
"We've come a long long way together, through the hard times and the good..." -Fatboy Slim
PS: My favourite part is around 3:07. Only people who truly enjoy their work could pull that kind of awesome off!
Subscribe to:
Posts (Atom)