It’s amazing
how little you can get done when you’ve got very little to do. But I’ve never
been one of those people who are comfortable doing nothing. It’s just a bit
harder to do something when there is nothing much to do. So, rather than do a
blog on something deep, meaningful and intelligent, I thought I’d give a little
update of what I’m up to at the moment, or not up to, which the case may be.
Firstly, and
most importantly, I’ve gone on a bit of a 7-day detox. It’s not that extreme
really. I’m practicing yoga every day, drinking lots of water, and forgoing
coffee, alcohol and junk food. I thought that the yoga part would be the
hardest, but it’s actually the easiest. It’s where I feel most grounded and in
control of my life. It’s kind of my happy place. Coffee has been the hardest,
and I only have one cup a day. The first few days were a bit of a bitch – I
felt like someone had hit me with a pole. But now I’m not getting the afternoon
crash I normally do and am considering giving it up for good. I said
considering. Now alcohol has also been difficult to give up, but I think that’s
because when people upset me my outlet is to have a glass of wine (only one
glass, or two). It’s kind of a crutch to make myself feel better, when really I
should use more yogi principles and just let it pass me by – like the wind….
Woooo
Speaking of
things that are challenging – job hunting has to be up there. Not having found
my dream job aside, recruitment agents make me want to reach for that glass of
wine (or two, or three). Now, I know some really wonderful recruitment agents,
who are just awesome people as well as being fantastic at their jobs, so I’m
not throwing them all in the same basket. But I’ve come across some real
pearlers in the last few weeks. There was the one who asked me what other roles
I was interviewing for and, when I told her, she was really surprised that one
of them she had placed someone in a couple of months before. Who am I to tell
you if that person left shortly after they started? Isn’t that something you
should follow up? That was really uncomfortable. There was the also the one who
didn’t directly ask me whether I was married or planning on having kids but
instead asked, “what does your husband do for a living?” (bit of a sure gamble
because I had my wedding rings on) and “you’ll probably want to focus on your
career for the next few years, right?” (aka, you’re not having kids anytime
soon?). I'm not really bothered if people ask those questions if we've built a bit of rapport. However, I was a
bit offended about being called “soft-spoken” and the agent telling me that they wouldn’t want to put me
in somewhere where I might be eaten alive. Last I checked, I’ve been pretty
capable of holding my own under pressure.
And I am getting pretty tired of people putting me into the young, cute,
pushover basket. I’m older than I look, looks can be deceiving and I am NOT a
pushover!
On a very much
happier note, the research article I am writing with Peter Boxall on lean
manufacturing is almost good to go for publication. The Human Resources
Management Journal (HRMJ) gave us ‘revise and resubmit’ feedback saying “there
is strong potential in the paper to make a valuable contribution in the area”.
We have since revised and resubmitted and I must say it is simply an awesome
piece of writing. Much of this credit has to be given to Peter though – he does
have an ability to make things flow really nicely. Even after the umpteenth
time reading it, I’m still riveted. So watch this space people, we may be
published soon! I am also presenting at the HRINZ research forum in November –
so register for it! It will be really useful for you if you are thinking of
doing anything with lean, kaizen or continuous improvement.
So after this
week, what have I learnt? Well I have learnt that I place a lot of self worth in
the job that I hold. I need to put more self worth in just being me, and not
let someone else define how great I am. I have learnt more about how I react to
things that derail me, and how to respond in a way that has more positive
consequences for me. It’s still hard, and I’m still learning. But isn’t that
what it’s all about?
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