I was M.I.A

I know I was M.I.A but hey I’ve been busy living outside the spreadsheet and it gets busy.  Heck, I even wrote this blog post last week but have been traveling both for work and for pleasure.  I completely forgot to post it.  Anyway, busy, outside the spreadsheet and maybe even a little of the rails.  At least that’s what if felt like anyway. Since I haven’t blogged in a couple months, I also feel a little scatter brained on what my next couple blog posts will be like but it’s all good.  I have a bunch of ideas so we’ll get through it.

A week before my mini experiment in August, a few folks from my team along with myself took a class.  As it was a class geared towards a certification, we all agreed that we would all take the test in the future and become certified.

I was also dealing with some drama.  Yes, drama. I despise it.  I keep my circle tight and make conscious decisions to stay clear from it.  It turns out one of my previous best friends and their business was wrapped up in some scandal.  I purchased a couple things from them and also lent them some money.  Needless to say, I didn’t get the services I purchased.  I didn’t get paid back the money I lent to them.  It was on the news in more than one state it was crazy.  I’m no longer friends with this person and family.  Done. Cut off. It’s not even about the money.  I hope there’s jail time in the future.

Ok, on to bigger and brighter news. The week after I returned from my mini-experiment I continued my training for a half marathon in Kauai. It was my first time to Kauai and it was beautiful. I completed the half marathon and I want to go back. I purchased a couple books to complete some research for my return. I only stayed and explored one very small piece of the island.

When I returned from Kauai, I was in full on study mode for the test. Since I was sitting down a lot in front of my computer at work and at home, I made a point to get my 10k step goal in at the very least. It was all I could really commit too while I go all in for this certification test.

The nerve racking part was at the very end of the test.  When it was all completed.  There was no prompt or anything on the screen giving me my results.  It just ended.  There was print out in the other room at the front desk.  I had to check in/out with the test administrators and then head to the front desk for my results.  When I got to the front desk, there was a sheet of paper and they handed it to me facing down. No congrats or anything.  The lady at the front had a straight face.  It was nerve racking.

I had to read the paper handout to see my results and I PASSED!   Man, I was so focused on taking this test.  The pressure was on since 3 of 4 of my coworkers had already taken it and passed.  There are 5 of us that took the class for the certification and I will be the 4th person taking the test.

So, one other interesting tid bit about myself.  I always wanted to become fluent in another language. So, I’ve been studying Japanese for the past 4 years. I kept my weekly lessons going because I didn’t want to forget anything. Consistency is key as it is in many things. I didn’t learn a lot of new things since I was cramming for the test. So my lessons were easy going conversational practice for a couple months leading up to my test.  I even tried a little mini experiment and took and intro to Korean session.  It was new and exciting so maybe I’ll come back to it.

What else? Oh yeah. I’m a big fan of James Clear and his Atomic Habits book. I had finished reading it for the second time and decided to sign up for his Habits Academy online. As much as I’m a fan, I’m not sure it was worth the money that is charged for the course. A lot, if not all, of the material is based on atomic habits.

Reflecting back over the last couple months.  Professionally, I’ve got a great thing going.  The chances that I’ll be in a similar situation in the future are slim to none.  I don’t work crazy hours.  I have a lot of flexibility.  I get paid well.  I have opportunities to take training and learn new things.  However, the greatest thing about my team also presents some challenges.  The number of little wins and satisfactions in the day to day at work are dwindling over time.  I’d like to be in this situation as long as I can however sometimes I can’t help but think if I’m putting my life on hold.