Photo by Robert S. Donovan
Sometimes we make decisions for what seems to be well-thought out reasons but we failed to factor in everything. In the end, our good reasons may really be very bad ones.
As my regular readers know, I spent a good part of my career as a career professional diverting and diluting my energy from the career industry to several non-profits.
I don’t doubt that I gained from the experiences with connections, friendships, alliances, and knowledge I wouldn’t have had if I had gone solo in the career industry from the start. But there were side effects to that decision that sabotaged me on multiple fronts.
Energy Zapping
I diluted my energy because I was needed so many places with the non-profits (at one point there were 4 of them) — meetings, events, fundraisers, community functions, board meetings, and planning meetings. I had prep time for everything and paperwork for everything that stole time from even my own house and yard chores. The larger effect was that I had no energy left to focus on my business, Design Resumes, and the non-profit projects were actually always subcontracts of my business. I stifled it and chained it almost into non-existence.
Today though I still tend to over-plan and over-schedule, I am feeling so much better energy-wise. I am happier and healthier too!
Opportunity Zapping
At the same time, I found that I had no time to learn. I picked up things here and there but I can testify that since December, despite the massive changes in my whole business structure, I have been learning and growing at an incredible rate. Why? I changed the focus from everyone else’s need to only what I need to succeed.
Fiscally Zapping
The biggest damage point was financially because I allowed other people to influence my financial choices. One of the largest loss leaders was my choice to allow a member of one of the organizations to influence my purchase of office equipment. I understood the investment into high end equipment but was convinced by this sales person, who I trusted to understand my best interests, that it would pay back. My high-end cutting-edge technology copiers and printers rivaled those of large schools or corporations.
When I finally did the math, I figured out that during a 17 year period, I paid the office equipment supplier the equivalent of $60,000+ which equaled my contract payments for one of my non-profits in the same 17 years. Yikes! Too late I realized that outsourcing the printing saved me time and money. I did learn though and every financial decision I make today is studied, deliberated, and I do the math and let someone I trust also run the numbers.
Life Lessons
If you see yourself in any of my life lessons, you might be sabotaging yourself too. Sometimes it is hard to let go of things because it is the way we have always done things, or someone told us it was the right way, or someone really sold us on a project, product, or service. But if we get to the point where we are tired, feeling stuck, or being fiscally damaged, it is time to change.
This can happen as a business owner but it can happen as an employee too. If we sell ourselves short and fail to value ourselves, people will take advantage of us. If you need a change in your career because your energy is being zapped, your opportunities for growth are being zapped or your finances are being zapped, reassess what you are doing and take the first step.
I clearly understand the time commitments that you had as well as the investments that you made in working for non-profits such as Kiwanis, and the Kayak Corporation. I have kind of backed off on some of the sports photography that I have been doing such as the Kayak Races and the Gus Macker (89Q) Not so much because of processing costs as they have gone way down with the use of a DSLR as opposed to a film camera. The real reason is that I kind of need a more professional grade camera with a much more durable shutter system.
I have memories of forking out $250.00 or more for repairs to my N8008s simply because the shutter and the auto-focus systems were wearing out. Like the N8008s, the D-80 that I use has a shutter that is only good for 50,000 cycles.
A professional SLR camera has a shutter system that is good for 150,000 cycles or better. So I got to take it easy and work on marketing the skills that I have.
[...] they selected Design Resumes is because I am very passionate about everything I do. Like everyone, I have bad days too but I am basically a [...]