Releasing my inner geek

I've gone back to my roots this week. Not my accounting roots - god no !! I just mean my Accountant personality roots. Remember that organized, detail oriented person that likes to have a plan?  Those roots.  I think that's why was feeling so down last week.  I tried flying by the seat of my pants, but I didn't get very far. I didn't accomplish anything, and then started feeling guilty about that, then that made me feel depressed and unmotivated ... a very vicious circle indeed.

So this week I made a plan. At first I formulated it all in my head, and then I created a career to-do list. No really, I even detailed it all out on paper and called it my "career to-do list".  What a geek ;)  But hey, that's what works for me so what the hell.  

I won't go over all the boring details, but essentially it's the plan for my new future. Initially when I went through the list in my head, I planned on including a search for Finance jobs, but when I detailed my plan on paper, it didn't make the cut. I thought I would do some job searching online, get my resume out there, do some “networking” (man I hate that term) and register with a few finance search firms just in case … you know, as a back up. But I've decided I'm not going to do that. Instead I'm going to concentrate my efforts solely on my new career path - good thing or I'd have to change the name of my blog !!!

I've been doing a lot of thinking, and have come to the realization this is what I truly want to do in life. When I think about sitting at a desk again all day staring at spreadsheets and crunching numbers, I literally feel nauseous.  It turned me on for a while; I felt very fulfilled and challenged with the work I was doing for quite some time - but not anymore.  Truth be told, this will be my second venture out of the wonderful world of Finance.  About 15 years ago I had been plugging away at those spreadsheets for a number of years; I had gone to school for it, I was good at it, so I figured this was my career path in life.  Yes folks, I like math – I said I was a geek didn’t I ??  One of my former staff members used to call me a keener because I kept a calculator in my purse at all times ;-)  But a few years and several jobs later, I was bored to tears.  So out of the blue, I went back to school part-time and got my real estate license.  I talked to some friends and they encouraged me, said I would be good at it since I was so friendly and liked working with people, blah blah blah.  Turns out I sucked at it.  I did that for about 2 years before I realized I was failing miserably, and then I did a few other sales jobs that continued to suck the life out of me.  I found out that just because you’re friendly and like working with people, it does NOT mean you should go into sales. 

So, needing work but having no idea of what direction I wanted to take in life, I begrudgingly went back into accounting.  My sister knew a guy, so I passed on my resume, and I got the first job I applied for.  That job, my friends, was with the company that I just left this summer after 11 years of service.  I say I took the job reluctantly, but I quickly came to love it – perhaps because that nagging feeling of being a failure from my stint in sales had finally disappeared.  I felt I had found myself again, and I really poured my heart and soul into the job.  And it paid off … as I mentioned I got several promotions in my tenure there and for a long time I really did love my job.  But alas, we all know how that worked out don't we ??

So my first attempt to escape the monotony that had become my life was a dismal failure, and I crawled back into my comfort zone with my tail between my legs.  But I’m okay with that !!  I have read countless books on success and business, and every single one says the same thing … in your pursuit of your dreams you will likely fail, probably more than once, but you need to learn from those failures and keep plugging away regardless, and eventually you WILL realize your dreams.  And it’s not just books and articles on success where I’ve seen this advice.  I’ve heard very successful people, in every area of business out there, talk about how this was how they made it in the world.  My problem with my first attempt was I wasn’t following my dream.  I had no idea what my dream was back then, but it certainly wasn’t selling houses.  I just knew it wasn't Accounting.

Just last week, Mark Zuckerberg, who you know of course is the founder of Facebook and one of the richest and most successful young men in the world, appeared on Oprah and talked about his success – oh ya, and while he was there he also made a $100 million dollar grant donation.  He said there is a philosophy that is deeply ingrained at his billion dollar company, and I quote:

“Move fast, take risks.  It's okay to try big things.  You’re better off trying something and having it not work and then learning from that, than having not done anything at all.”

Every time I’ve read something or watched an interview with someone who became hugely successful from the ground up, they have quoted a philosophy very similar to this … and it’s not always someone who’s just trying to sell you something or one of those self-help gurus that travel the globe.  In my opinion most of those people get rich trying to teach others how to get rich.

Of course this is not earth shattering news, it’s rather simple advice actually.  But what separates the ones who actually make it from the ones that don’t ??  Well, fear for one.  Taking risks is scary for most people; the fear of the unknown, the fear of failure, the fear of loss.  Am I scared ??  Shitless.  But I won’t let me fearful feelings stop me, and I know they are going to try and do just that.  I’m guessing another difference is that it’s not easy; but like so many other things in life, if it were easy, everyone would be doing it.

So my geeky little career to-do list is made up of the steps that I now deem necessary to pursue a life in fitness and/or nutrition.  And some of these steps are BIG !!!  It won’t be easy that’s for sure, and I have a lot of work to do, although I have started some of the steps already :)  I’m not looking to tour the world or head a billion dollar empire, I just want to enjoy my life and wake up every morning excited to go to work and feel happy knowing that hopefully I can help others in the process.

Wayne Gretzky, one of the best hockey players ever to lace up a pair of skates, perhaps said it best …

“You miss 100% of the shots you never take.”