A "Proper" Job
15 October 2009
As you probably saw in my last blog post, I am now free to stay and my deportation woes are behind me. That's one less obstacle in my way.
A few of you avid followers have since asked me when TBA will be fully back underway. The answer is that I don't know. There is still one major obstacle in the way...let me rephrase that - there is something I am making a choice to pay attention to now that when dealt with will allow me to do what I need to do with the bare minimum of distractions. What am I speaking about? Money.
Contrary to popular belief, money DOES NOT make the world go around but it is the most popular transfer currency that I know of in our society. If we want some type of service or amenity, it can usually be bought. One way of getting the money to buy things is to provide one of these services or amenities ourself. I have no statistics to back up this opinion but I think that one of the most popular ways in which we provide service for financial reward is to become an employee.I want money to eat, to keep a roof over my head, to pay some basic bills and for a few other things. It previously came from money from work I had done pre-TBA and sporadic work I had done during it. The cash ran out around the same time as the deportation situation reared it's ugly head.After panicking about how I would get some more money to, firstly, live and secondly, resume actualising my dream I decided to take the advice of a friend against my better judgement (I'll explain why this was the case later) to GET A PROPER JOB.
Let me define what I believe my friend means by a PROPER job. This is a salaried job in which somebody works a set hour of hours per year. Pay doesn't tend to be performance related, working hours are quite predictable and your position in the company is looked upon as more stable than somebody who is, say, self-employed. Turn up when you're told to, do what you're told to without any disastrous results and you know how much you will be reimbursed for your time.
About 2 months back, I went and worked a trial week at a proper job. I chose not to work beyond the week as the job didn't satisfy my intentions for doing it. Around a month ago, I began a new proper job. The position I worked in was a new role at the company. Within 3 weeks, the company restructured and the role was disbanded. Since then, I have done some promo work to bring in some money that covers my essential bills (thanks JGW :) ) whilst applying for proper jobs. I sent CVs off to every graduate job I could find that I might be deemed qualified for. One of my other selection criteria was that the job paid enough for me to be able to live and pay bills whilst putting aside enough mula to resume TBA in 6-12 months. 6-12 MONTHS?! some of you are probably screaming in your head. Why so long? I've done the numbers and that is the short solution. I'll come back to this.
I write this blog post from the Apple shop on Regent St in London 20 mins before my first interview since CVing all graduate recruiters. I'm suited, I'm booted and ready to go without having told you the full story. I'll fill you in on the other side of the interview...
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6 Comments
Comment 1 - On 20 Nov 2009 Roger Campos said:
Dr. Grinder has described the value congruent self-application. A good measure of congruence is when one is provoked/stressed. It appears that you are handling this congruently!
Comment 2 - On 12 Nov 2009 Alex said:
Wow. Some long interview huh?
Comment 3 - On 06 Nov 2009 Brian said:
I take it this is the end then, you've given up?!
Comment 4 - On 28 Oct 2009 pt said:
gotta say I am mega disappointed at this blog. 6-12 months away from a project that was as close to impossible as you can get.
I know you studied and researched this project so you'll have probably heard the age old, and totally true saying, fitness is the hardest thing to get and the easiest thing to lose, in six months the work you have done now will be a distant memory to your body. Yes you may keep some base fitness and with a decent diet could maintain the physical effects of the work but at the level your talking about you will lose all the stuff that may have been putting you closer to your dream.
I loved the project and really wanted you to do well!!!!!!!! I am not a hater at all I loved the idea and believed it could be achieved, with total dedication of course!
I also assumed that you'd planned in advance for things like money, which obviously you were always going to need, but as for this full time job stuff and ''cramming training in'' that is just plain excuses. You may say it is not but then so do all the other people that don't make it. Rendall Monroe the European title holding Boxer works as a bin man because it fits his needs he manages to be at that level and ''cram in'' training, tiger woods found that he could rock his baby sam to sleep in his arms whilst doing a leg workout on his leg press machine to make more time in his day, he also sleeps for an average of four hours a day to make more time for business. and full time is forty hours a week right 9-5 or 12-9 or whatever combination but that still leaves time for intensive training and many many athletes the world over do that.
What I'm saying is the top is the top for a reason, its not easy to achieve it or it would not be so interesting and inspirational.
I loved the idea of this project in highlighting what it takes to reach the top. I still think you may have highlighted what it takes to reach the top but just not in the way you hoped.
The deportation thing must have been a horrible horrible process and I feel for you but now that is sorted the world has not stopped moving, what I mean is you say in six months you'll get back to it but trust me in six months something else will happen.
Please prove me wrong on this...in a years time?
Comment 5 - On 15 Oct 2009 nj said:
Hey, there, Arton, that's interesting, you know, finding a job in a bad economy is not that easy, so you might consider hanging onto what you get. Anyway, I have some thoughts for when you return to your modeling efforts. Over many years, I found it more difficult to "assimilate nlp patterns", that is, improve how I communicate and function, mainly because I held the trainers on a pedestal, and second-guessed myself a lot. It's all about the geniuses, the New Code,and the high performance states. It makes me insecure, as if I should "get a body wax and memorize an encyclopedia" before I even think of attending a New Code training. But I stepped into what it is like to plan without that baggage, and the nlp field became more accessible to me. There are some unexplained connections between modeling, learning, and making changes in myself that I find in my failures to do those things. I for one am not excited that I don't know what those connections are, I have some "why" questions unanswered. At some point, I just need answers because faith is too hard to rely on when my survival is at stake (the way yours was). A major weakness in this New Code field is that they make it hard to ask "why" before you're in it, but people need answers, too, so be sure you have your why questions answered, rather than surprise your helpers when you drop your interest in modeling soccer. When people mature, they relax because they answer their "why" questions, and they get a solid idea of what's true in the world, but then they drop what they used to be interested in. Don't let that happen to you, stay a little immature, play soccer anyway, use your make-believe, reach pro level before you reach pro level, you know? That's childlike, and worth keeping. Meanwhile, if you are going to be traveling, check your baggage for your return home. There are some people awaiting your arrival with more expectation than they have for mine, I would guess.
Comment 6 - On 15 Oct 2009 Jo said:
a suit and some boots more than the last job, glad you've got it covered this time;) x x
6 Comments
Comment 1 - On 20 Nov 2009 Roger Campos said:
Dr. Grinder has described the value congruent self-application. A good measure of congruence is when one is provoked/stressed. It appears that you are handling this congruently!
Comment 2 - On 12 Nov 2009 Alex said:
Wow. Some long interview huh?
Comment 3 - On 06 Nov 2009 Brian said:
I take it this is the end then, you've given up?!
Comment 4 - On 28 Oct 2009 pt said:
gotta say I am mega disappointed at this blog. 6-12 months away from a project that was as close to impossible as you can get. I know you studied and researched this project so you'll have probably heard the age old, and totally true saying, fitness is the hardest thing to get and the easiest thing to lose, in six months the work you have done now will be a distant memory to your body. Yes you may keep some base fitness and with a decent diet could maintain the physical effects of the work but at the level your talking about you will lose all the stuff that may have been putting you closer to your dream. I loved the project and really wanted you to do well!!!!!!!! I am not a hater at all I loved the idea and believed it could be achieved, with total dedication of course! I also assumed that you'd planned in advance for things like money, which obviously you were always going to need, but as for this full time job stuff and ''cramming training in'' that is just plain excuses. You may say it is not but then so do all the other people that don't make it. Rendall Monroe the European title holding Boxer works as a bin man because it fits his needs he manages to be at that level and ''cram in'' training, tiger woods found that he could rock his baby sam to sleep in his arms whilst doing a leg workout on his leg press machine to make more time in his day, he also sleeps for an average of four hours a day to make more time for business. and full time is forty hours a week right 9-5 or 12-9 or whatever combination but that still leaves time for intensive training and many many athletes the world over do that. What I'm saying is the top is the top for a reason, its not easy to achieve it or it would not be so interesting and inspirational. I loved the idea of this project in highlighting what it takes to reach the top. I still think you may have highlighted what it takes to reach the top but just not in the way you hoped. The deportation thing must have been a horrible horrible process and I feel for you but now that is sorted the world has not stopped moving, what I mean is you say in six months you'll get back to it but trust me in six months something else will happen. Please prove me wrong on this...in a years time?
Comment 5 - On 15 Oct 2009 nj said:
Hey, there, Arton, that's interesting, you know, finding a job in a bad economy is not that easy, so you might consider hanging onto what you get. Anyway, I have some thoughts for when you return to your modeling efforts. Over many years, I found it more difficult to "assimilate nlp patterns", that is, improve how I communicate and function, mainly because I held the trainers on a pedestal, and second-guessed myself a lot. It's all about the geniuses, the New Code,and the high performance states. It makes me insecure, as if I should "get a body wax and memorize an encyclopedia" before I even think of attending a New Code training. But I stepped into what it is like to plan without that baggage, and the nlp field became more accessible to me. There are some unexplained connections between modeling, learning, and making changes in myself that I find in my failures to do those things. I for one am not excited that I don't know what those connections are, I have some "why" questions unanswered. At some point, I just need answers because faith is too hard to rely on when my survival is at stake (the way yours was). A major weakness in this New Code field is that they make it hard to ask "why" before you're in it, but people need answers, too, so be sure you have your why questions answered, rather than surprise your helpers when you drop your interest in modeling soccer. When people mature, they relax because they answer their "why" questions, and they get a solid idea of what's true in the world, but then they drop what they used to be interested in. Don't let that happen to you, stay a little immature, play soccer anyway, use your make-believe, reach pro level before you reach pro level, you know? That's childlike, and worth keeping. Meanwhile, if you are going to be traveling, check your baggage for your return home. There are some people awaiting your arrival with more expectation than they have for mine, I would guess.
Comment 6 - On 15 Oct 2009 Jo said:
a suit and some boots more than the last job, glad you've got it covered this time;) x x