New Year
January 25, 2009Well, my renewed commitment to blog more frequently was short-lived to say the least. Work has gotten even more hectic in recent weeks, which basically means I am limited to writing in the evenings or on weekends. We’ll see how it goes, but moving from once-a-month to once-a-week probably won’t be happening anytime soon.
On Friday, a colleague that has been with the agency for nearly 20 years led a group discussion about the economy over lunch. I have never met someone else who seems to possess such an endless wealth of knowledge on such a broad range of topics. He can truly go on for hours about anything – from music to sports to the financial crisis. As we were all getting a crash course in ‘why our country is such a mess’ I began to understand just how long it is going to take for us to regain any semblance of normalcy. Companies will continue to hemorrhage money and more jobs will be lost before anything is fixed. That is reality in America during 2009 (potentially 2010 as well).
Ironically, coming to terms with just how bad things have gotten has helped me remain patient and appreciate my current situation. Despite work being as stressful as it has been since being hired two years ago, I’m confident that the company I work for is a good place to be. Our senior leadership has demonstrated time and again that they are invested in the well-being of their employees. The challenge is undoubtedly going to be retaining the positive outlook once the ‘tough business decisions’ begin.
My father, who has had a career chalked full of both positive and negative periods of employment and unemployment, once told me (paraphrasing here) that the only way to guarantee long-term success is to work hard and fervently protect your integrity. Jobs will come and go, but doing great work the right way will always serve you well. So that is what I’m trying to do – work hard and make decision that I can be proud of. There are no guarantees in business, but I’m going to do my best to take care of the things I can control.
I’m sure there will be plenty to report in the coming weeks and months. I’ll do my best to write about anything significant that happens.
blogster! you and i definitely are in a good spot right now. we don’t need to worry about much. plus, being wildly in love is more important than silly stuff like “job security” or “reliable sources of income.” whatever.