Recently, like a few days ago, I decided quite suddenly that I want to put together a five-year plan for my life and career. I have never, ever, been a planner. I don’t think that my PFC is very good at the executive functions that comprise planning. And it’s hard – difficult – to plan. It takes a lot of thought and preparation. All areas at which I am pretty mediocre.
But there I was, holding a little baby (my partner the Missus watches her at our home), and I was thinking about how much I love this baby. Mind you, she is not related but her mum and now dad are like niece and nephew to us. So anyway, thinking how much I love this baby and how I really want to be involved in her life, her whole life, going forward. And something fell into place in my mind. I need to plan to be here, barring unforeseen events or accidents obviously, for this kiddo and for my grand kids.
Clarity like this for me is uplifting. It’s unusual for me to experience that kind of clarity.
At a very high level, I desire and plan to stay in my field (infosec) and I want to earn a Master’s degree in same. I’ve bandied this about before, but I think I would like to teach someday, and would need a minimum MS to do so at the level I have in mind. So that was goal #1.
There were several others, goals that is, and they came in a jumble – but my health is a very big and critical area for improvement. My nephew and I were talking on Christmas day, and in short, his message was this: If you really wanted to, I mean really, you would. About getting in shape, about learning grappling (this was his example). Message received, Mr. K, thank you for being gentle about it. I have to get past my mental block about exercise. I am scared of it, of the discomfort, of being out of breath on hills…Yes. Deal with it, right?
In the past year, as I’ve learned LogRhythm and how to sell and what it means to be part of a sales team, I’ve enjoyed a certain aspect of the job a lot more than the rest of it. The part I love is becoming the trusted adviser to my clients, and not just about LR (although that is central) – I spent 20 years in the trenches, similar ones anyway, and I get what their challenges are. I must not lose that perspective, and since I am not in the trenches any longer, I have to find other ways to remain aware of what is going on. Still thinking on this one.
Lastly, I am not happy in California any more. Or at least not a good part of the time. Missus and I are thinking of moving to Oregon, but this is not in the short term. This one is one that we have to visit and revisit and think about. We are both native to San Diego, and maybe this is a grass is greener thing…
How do I plot a plan? That is what is next for me…
Coolplexity 