WTF Am I Doing?
So, today I woke up and realized that I had one day before my “revised resume” was due. To whom you ask? To my career counselor, Andrea. She is the calm, secure, purposeful voice I hear on the other end of the phone when I feel like my brain is about to explode. Andrea is also the one who gave me an extra forty-five days to pull my head out of the dark place it was at and get my shit together. That poor resume hasn’t been updated since 2007.
It’s been five months since I agreed to a severance package from the company that I was employed by for 29 years. I knew it was coming, because my organization was bringing their employees who worked from home back onsite. I had three options: 1) relocate to the only site close by (2 hours away to be exact); 2) find another job in a different organization; or 3) take severance.
For the last fifteen years, I have been studying Mediumship and Psychic development along with a host of other methodologies under the umbrella of Metaphysics. I’m also the author of two books. So, when this opportunity presented itself, I thought, “Awesome, I can finally start my own business.” Yes, I was sad to leave the company. And yes, I was NOT ready to go and would have happily stayed another ten years. But this was the circumstance and I was going to make it work. But the truth is, it’s been a difficult adjustment.
The battle cry of the 80's was, “Do what you love and the money will follow.” I remember it well since 1984 was the year I graduated from high school. But let’s be real, it is not that easy. In today’s market, the first thing you have to do is brand yourself (whatever the hell that means), then become social media savvy, and regardless of how you really feel inside, be the most fabulous extrovert you have ever met. It is a dog eat dog world of social media gurus out there, and I’m just coming out of my twenty-nine-year-comfort-zone coma.
I’m inundated daily by posts from the same people. From where I sit, it appears to be a part-time job just to manufacture these things and get them out to the various sites. When do they have time to actually do their job? I wonder, as I struggle to find something meaningful to share once a week. The truth is I too will have to adjust and plunge myself into this media stream of what appears to be unnecessary content if I want to be successful. We are our business, and social media is our storefront.
So, if you are like me, and just getting started, hang in there. It feels weird, I know. Like we love ourselves way too much, and are the annoying braggers that we knew in high school. But if we are going to make it, we are going to have to find a way to engage that feels authentic — maybe a little braggie, but mostly authentic.
With that said, I’m still going to finish updating my resume just in case. It never hurts to have a fall back plan — the bills still have to get paid. Besides, it has helped me see all of the success I’ve had over the last three decades, and the skill sets that will provide extremely useful in running my own business. That alone has provided the self-esteem to keep moving forward, keep stepping out of my comfort zone, and keep the faith. It has also given me the self-confidence to say loud and proud in my resume and on social media, “I’m fucking awesome!” Not in those exact words, but you know what I mean. <wink wink>
Huge Hugs!
Rena
