Tag Archives: Career

My Pillow is Evil

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Let’s get real here for a minute. Working from home is hard. The flexibility is great. Not having to commute to work is great. Not having to fill up the gas tank in the truck more than once a month is great. But actually getting work done is hard.

Transitioning from a traditional job to working for myself out of my home has been interesting. Admittedly it has only been a few weeks, but I expected the transition to be smoother.

Until last week I didn’t have a set schedule that worked for me. I may still have the one I’ll settle on, but starting last Monday I began a new plan of action.

My original plan was to work on my writing and speaking business in the morning for a few hours, and then every afternoon would be dedicated to the voice over business.

Plans are great, but plans change.

As much as I tried to stick to the original plan, it wasn’t working for me.

Two things kept the plan from working. One could be overcome, but the other caused a bigger problem.

The first thing keeping me from following through on the plan was my pillow. It wouldn’t let go of me in the morning. More accurately, it would call out to me and lure me back to it after I had already left the bedroom.

I’d get up for a couple of hours to make sure the rest of the family was moving and leaving the house on time, and then my pillow would call me back for a while. Not good. Not good at all.

The second problem I encountered with the original plan was more of a flow and rhythm issue.

Working on my writing, it usually takes me a bit to get “in the groove”. I was finding that by the time I really got the rhythm going, it was all of a sudden time to quit and work on voice over tasks. This meant I either stopped writing mid-thought and process, or I kept writing and ignored the voice over tasks for the day.

Neither of these “solutions” was good.

To rectify the problem I spent some time looking at each day of the week, what was on the schedule for that particular day (business and family), and determined I need to spend each day focused on one task.

Working from home also means working around my family being home. My wife is in grad school full-time. She also works two or three days a week. My oldest son is in college. He has class Monday through Wednesday. (Tough life.) My youngest son is a high school sophomore. He’s gone from 8-3 Monday through Friday.

What I decided to try is a schedule where I do voice over work the two days my wife is at work (quieter house). Tuesday and Thursday are now fully dedicated to voice over.

The speaking part of the business is really the third area of focus for me, so I decided to dedicate one day, Wednesday, to speaker training.

Monday and Friday are now set aside for writing. What this does is gives me Friday through Monday to keep my brain focused on writing.

I’ve committed to not working on the weekend (after 18 years of working on Saturday), but at least I’ll be able to keep the ideas flowing over the course of four straight days instead of breaking in with other work.

We’ll see how it goes. The new plan of action began last week Monday. So far so good with the daily focus. The pillow was an issue again this morning, but I will not let it win!

The Start of 2016 and A HUGE Leap for Me!!

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You may have noticed my absence over the last few weeks. Then again, you may not have noticed. Anyway, I’m, “Back and better than ever!!!” (Thanks Mike Greenberg.)

2016 is off to a HUGE start.

First off, I am now self-employed. Yep. You read that right. I’m working for myself.

After 18+ years in auto sales and management, I took the big step on January 4. As a few of my friends say, I’m now FUNemployed. (Add that to my tab Shaver.)

This new adventure was prompted by many things. Over the next few weeks I’ll share the process and discussion leading up to the final decision.

Today though, I’d like to share what the immediate future looks like for #TeamTheule.

I’ll be working on creating a business with three specific areas of focus.

The first area, the one that will be bringing in money first, is a Voice Over career. I’m going to begin auditioning and soliciting for work on February 1st. I’ve been working on this for a couple of months. I’m excited about the opportunity. The training I’ve received has been first class.

The second area of focus will be my writing. I’ve been looking forward to more time in my schedule to finish my first book. It’s getting close! I have a target date for publishing, but I’m keeping it hush-hush for a bit longer. The title of the book is “Looking for Joy” and will be about my journey over the last 20 years dealing with depression. I look forward to sharing my story and encouraging others in their own journey.

The blog will see a significant increase in as well. Every Wednesday will see a regular post, and there will be one or two additional posts on random days. I look forward to increasing the level of conversation we’ve had here over the last few years.

The third area I’ll be working on is a speaking career. With the help of a few outstanding friends, I’ll be developing a speaking career around multiple topics including my depression story.

Thanks so much for continuing on this journey with me. Please subscribe to receive these posts in your inbox. Also join the conversation with me on Twitter, Instagram, and Facebook!

Have a great day! Keep hustling!

Doing What I Want

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The other day, Alli Worthington posted this tweet:

 

It got me thinking. Why wouldn’t I try to be the person I want to be? How did we ever get to the point of trying to meet the expectations of others?

 

So often in our lives we try to conform to expectations others have for us. Parents, teachers, pastors, friends, spouses, etc. Even if the expectations aren’t verbalized, somehow our fallen minds end up internalizing expectations we believe others have of us.

As a parent of two teenagers, I have to ask myself if I’m telling them what they “should” be. My oldest son is a senior in high school. He’s looking at college next year and majoring in physics. Did I tell him he should be go into physics? I’m pretty the answer is “NO”.

But, have I encouraged him to investigate other interests?

When he was younger, he was a prolific artist. And, quite good. He doesn’t draw anymore. Why? I’m pretty sure his mom and I haven’t discouraged him from it. Did someone else? Did society tell him he shouldn’t look to art as a career?

Don’t get me wrong. I love that he has a passion for math and science. He’s excited about physics! This is good. What if he changes his mind after the first year? I’m sure the dollar signs in my head would tell me to be upset, but hopefully the loving parent in me would encourage him to pursue his passion, whatever it may turn to.

The world tells us we should be many things.

I’ve been a salesman for over 17 years. Am I stuck with this identity? I hope not.

As I attempt to change this identity, I do find at times I’m being told to stay where I am. Why change?

This past weekend I was away from home at a retreat. I was introduced to a few people. One person asked me what I do? Of course the obvious came out of my mouth, “I’m a car salesman.” But!!! I hesitated. I ALMOST said something else.

“I’m a writer.”

Those are the words I wish I had the courage to say. Those are the words I SHOULD say.

Society tells me I “should” be a salesman. I’m ready to change my identity. Are you?

What are you told you “should” be? 
I’d love to hear from you in the comments!