Pockets of Time
Now that the calendar has flipped to the New Year, I’ve had a flurry of job interviews and there’s been lots of activity. This is good of course, but I still find I have pockets of time. To help offset the restlessness associated with not having a full-time job, I’ve found that three things tend to happen:
– I try to help out around the house and do more with the kids
– I’ve caught up on a lot of shows on Netflix
– I try to teach and educate myself
One question that surprisingly hasn’t come up in the myriad interviews I’ve had is the traditional “what are your weaknesses” question. I mean, it’s gotta come at some point, right? In fact, at one point I even volunteered them.
This didn’t happen to me.
Let’s get back to the Netflix thing for a second, though. One show I’ve just started watching is season one of “Louie,” with Louie C.K. and it’s great. Little 20-minute nuggets of Louie’s hilarity and discomfort!
Yesterday I was watching an episode where Louie had a stand-up show in Birmingham, AL and ended up having a gun pulled on him in the parking lot of some run-down restaurant. An older police officer ended up knocking the gunman senseless and giving Louie a ride back to his hotel, but not before asking Louie for a kiss on the lips. It was awkward TV at its finest.
Louie goes in to thank the cop.
Louie felt like he owed the policeman something for how he helped him and didn’t expect THAT ask from the cop, but he got out of his comfort zone and accommodated him.
My point? Get out of your comfort zone! I’ve never been interested in much of anything related to IT, networks, servers, coding and such. However, the world of Marketing has evolved to the point where Marketers can’t just do Marketing anymore. You need to be well-versed in many of the different elements within a company that touch Marketing, namely….everything. I learned this first-hand at my last position, where some of this knowledge could have come in real handy.
So here’s a weakness. And I have time, so I’ve started to address it.
Thanks to my longtime friend Dan Cederholm for recommending Treehouse, an online resource where you learn about UX, coding and just about anything else about computers going back to the 1950’s. I’m earning badges and learning stuff I never thought I’d care about. I’ve had a lot of those moments where I say “so THAT’s what that means” and dare I say, I’m enjoying learning more about IT and coding and it will undoubtedly help me at some point in my next role (oh, did I mention I’m looking?)
So yes, I’m watching some Netflix here and there and taking some breathers, but I’m also adding tools to my toolbelt. Moral of the story – once again – don’t ever be satisfied with what you know. Find out more. DO more.