All Quiet on the Pacific Northwestern Front

In December I decided to make a professional pivot after having been on the job market for about four months at that point. Now, while I'm still on the job market and continuing to figure out what's next I have put an emphasis on retaining the energy I have and being more purposeful with the energy I spend. I got that focus from a few places, not the least of which was this clip circulating the socials.

I have been enjoying life, spending time with friends on and offline, playing games I find engaging, producing more art (albiet at a slow pace), taking on some home rennovation tasks (more on that to come), and putting an emphasis on my family: fur babies, and partner.

I got laid off having spent nearly half of my life spending all of my energy on the companies I work for leaving very little left after hours. My 9-5 left me with an empty 5-9, to borrow a modern phrase. This was the way I learned, like a lot of people my age—work hard and be loyal and you'll get everything you ever wanted. This, however, came from a time and place when things were affordable, nothing happened online, and the world we lived in was far more understandable than it is now.

Now, I'm not saying that I don't or won't work hard. The opposite. I'm busting my butt to take care of my family and myself both emotionally and financially. What I'm doing different is chosing my areas of focus. I'm chosing to spend my time and energy, like a currency, wisely. I'm looking, now, for a return on investment. I don't plan to change that outlook and methodology when looking for my next career move.

In interviews I'm just as much interviewing as being interviewed. Often little things, good or bad, can give you great insight into how a company works, how they think about the work that they do, and what they value most. More importantly, how they use their energy and expect others to user theirs.

I'll keep you posted, but once I make that next move, I'll know that I'll be doing it with the idea that I'll be contributing to a good cause, working to improve myself and the people around me, and most importantly, spending my energy wisely. My professional pivot was to a personal focus. That shouldn't change because I've obtained a 9-5.