Adventures in Lifestyle Design, Part 1
It's official - I am now free of the clutches of TSA. The main goal now is to figure out how life should look for me now. This is important because if I don't plan out my goals and desired endgame, I'll probably just fall into something that I'm not particularly crazy about just to pay the bills - the end result (i.e. letting life go on autopilot) will probably not make me happier than I was at TSA - and that's the whole reason why I got out of TSA, right?
Some questions for me to ponder over the next month or so (i.e. when I'm in Asia starting next week):
Some questions for me to ponder over the next month or so (i.e. when I'm in Asia starting next week):
- Do I work for myself or for someone else? I think either route has its advantages. The difference is what I focus on over these next few months. Do I work on my resume, interview strategies, and job skills? Or do I focus on figuring out my marketable skills and start getting myself out there?
- What am I passionate about? Ideally, I need to work in something that I actually care about - it'll be better for me and for my impact on society in the long run.
- What skills do I have that others don't? I shouldn't make the job hunt hard on myself - I have to figure out what I'm already good at that people will pay for.
- What are my priorities in life? How can I make a life that supports my priorities? I think my main complaint against TSA is that it didn't represent me or my priorities very well - it was shitty work at shitty times of the day for pretty okay pay. The work-life balance was never very good, and I need to address that before I jump into anything new.
- Finishing my degree. Specifically, researching for and working on my thesis. I'm so close to getting my Master's - I just need to get my ass in gear.
- Self improvement. I need to work on my job skills and on my soft skills. I have been seriously considering learning SQL (a database/programming language) to complement my statistics skills so that I could potentially freelance as a statistician in the future. I've been devouring blogs and articles on how to sustainably live a more authentic, unconventional lifestyle. Stuff like that.
- Finding a new job, whether this means job searching and sending out my resume, or working on implementing business ideas.
- Making money. At some point, I'll be getting all the clutter out of my life and eBaying/craigslisting/yard selling all the stuff I have that I don't use/need/want. I'm not beyond doing some side jobs either.
- Cleaning the post-hurricane-esque horror that is my house. It's amazing how messy a two year old can make things. My own neglect doesn't help.
- Attempting to be a better dad. Mira watches a shit-ton of TV right now.
- Reconnecting with hobbies. I have a bass part to record for a friend, for example.
- Fixing my bike and riding it more. Also, driving less and phasing out my gym membership.
- Connecting better with friends and family. My natural tendency is to be a hermit and shut myself in - this is probably not a good thing, especially now that I'm not going to be around a couple dozen coworkers on a daily basis anymore.