New Adventures Await

It has been awhile since I posted on my blog and I intend to start posting my thoughts on here more often. The lapse of time for blog posts is due in some small part to changes going on in my life right now in my current job. That is the focus for this blog post.

A long time ago, I read this blog post by David Meerman Scott and it grabbed me in such a way that it seemed to speak to what I was experiencing in my current job. My love for all things Web and using social media tools to connect and share with people online has been a true passion of mine for quite some time. One main reason may be that I found out recently that my personality type is INFP (Introvert, Intuitive, Feeler, Perceiver).

INFPs have the following traits: Warmly interested in people, service-oriented ( usually putting the needs of others above their own), loyal and devoted to people and causes, future-oriented, creative and inspirational, want to be appreciated for who they are, etc. In addition, INFPs are curious about new ideas and tend to have insight and long-range vision. This would explain why I have always enjoyed looking down the road at potential opportunities that make sense in the work I do.

As David Meerman Scott's post about "Quit Your Job" caught my attention, it made me think about where I really want to take my career in the future. This statement in David's post was ground-breaking for me to read: "If your company wants to hold you back from implementing the ideas you know are right—after you’ve explained what you want to do and why, then maybe you need to find a new company that will appreciate your talents." And in a way, that is what I am doing now.

The company where I work gave me the golden opportunity to move on to something new when a voluntary separation package deal was offered to many employees. I consider this opportunity a God-send at the right time I needed it. I will admit that what I was doing in managing direct mail campaigns was not what I really enjoyed and in a way, I did not ask for this job role due to a relocation I took to the KC area 2 years ago. But, I made the best of it to see if there was potential for me to grow into this job change. But, my heart and passion for the Web always was there and I knew deep down, I wanted to go back to doing work on the Web.

I believe I have found my true strengths with social media tools and using them to connect and share with others. Unfortunately, my love for how these tools could be used in my company to reach out to our customers was blocked with comments that "I need to focus only on my main job responsibilities" and let others in the company "who have been designated owners of social media" to do this research into opportunities to use social media.

But, knowing that I am the curious type and had my mind set on exciting opportunities to better engage and interact with our customers, I could not simply let go. Due to my continued engagement with customers and sharing information with others in the company about social media, I was ridiculed and told I was "out of line." Give me a break is what I really wanted to say, but in the end, I knew it was getting time for me to move on to a new company that valued me for who I am and for what I could bring to them in my passion.

So, I am one of those "crazy types" who has elected to move on from my current job and jump into the unknown and find other new adventures that are out there for me to grasp. I am very confident in my decision and know I will find a new job that enables me to truly engage my passion and contribute to the company that takes me in.

I hold nothing against my current employeer for not giving me the opportunities to engage in what I truly love to do. I know everything that happened to me that I may have viewed as being wrong was for the best. I would not be who I am today without going through some of those difficulties and trials. I am a stronger, focused, person with determination to go out and find that job that allows me to take my career in the direction I want to take it. No longer stepping back and letting the company steer me in the direction they feel I should go, but taking back the steering wheel and turning on a new road.

As I end this post, I leave you with this visualization that I found on the Positively Present blog (highly recommended blog to read). It is called Walk Down A Different Street:

Stage 1:
I walk down the street. There is a deep hole in the sidewalk. I fall in. I am lost. I am helpless. It isn't my fault. It takes forever to find a way out.


Stage 2:
I walk down the same street. There is a deep hole in the sidewalk. I pretend I don't see it. I fall in again. I can't believe I am in this same place. But it isn't my fault. It still takes a long time to get out.


Stage 3:
I walk down the same street. There is a deep hole in the sidewalk. I see it is there. I fall in...it's a habit...but my eyes are open. I know where I am. It is my fault. I get out immediately.


Stage 4:
I walk down the same street. There is a deep hole in the sidewalk. I walk around it.


Stage 5:
I walk down a different street.


Join me on this journey as I continue to post my progress in the days ahead.