Springtime...I want to make changes!!

Spring is a time of year when I get energized.  I want to do stuff.  I want to make changes in my life. 

This time around I have a couple different things happening.  First, due to hormonal changes, I’m refocusing back on my stress management/spirituality.  The mood swing portion of menopause has finally hit.

Second, I have decided to work on my Plan B’s.  I was recently asked, “What are Plan B’s?”  Plan B’s are other options of what to do in life.  I was in a job where I felt trapped and fear kept me there.  Why was I afraid?  Because I didn’t feel I could leave my job.  Why?

I didn’t have confidence in myself and abilities.  I didn’t have job interview skills and with the stress in my life I felt beaten down.

1. I had no networks to tap into because my job and life events had kept me separated from society. 
2. I had no other options for work.  If I was let go from my job because of demand in that field, it would be difficult to find another job in that field. 
3. I had no savings built up.  When things at work got so bad I would have liked to walk off (which I do NOT like to do and have never done), I couldn’t because I had no money to support myself.

So Plan B’s are saving enough money to support myself, having other career options, and having a social network to tap into for networking.  Since I started at my new job (which I love and I still don’t know how I got it – and am eternally grateful I did), I have been enjoying it and not really focusing on Plan B’s.  However, even without focusing on it I have completed my Bachelor’s degree (YEA!!!  It only took me 28 years).  I now need to focus on implementing things in that field. 

 So what am I going to do now?

1)      Along with having a job I love, which is giving me opportunities to grow, earning my Bachelor’s degree has given me a confidence in myself that I didn’t have before.  Professors have been highly encouraging me to go for a Master’s and Ph.D.  I have decided to pursue my Master’s in Gerontology and I am contemplating the PhD.

2)       I am refocusing on stress management techniques to help manage the stress.

3)      I need to network.  I hate this one as it seems so contrived.  I like to meet people for the sake of meeting people, not for ulterior motives.  So I’m just going to have to get involved with activities I want to be involved with, and whoever I meet, I meet.

4)      I am working on other options.  With my Bachelor’s now earned, I have that field open to me.  As it is Journalism with an emphasis in PR, I am going to start doing freelancing work.  I would like to see if I can write magazine articles.  Writing this blog will give me hands-on writing experience.  Along with this, I am working on a Management/Marketing certificate/degree from the community college, as well as taking a class a semester at the university – hopefully for the Master’s program.

5)      I will be following a budget, making sure to put money aside each month.  I need to set mini-goals.

6)      Coworkers suggested I contract myself for various jobs involving the computer, such as PowerPoint presentations, formatting of documents, editing, etc.  I will be making up business cards to give out.

 There are plenty of others things I need to be doing, but I have to be careful as I tend to get so excited I take on too much at once.  Let’s see how this goes!