Boredom; and what to do with it

I’m bored. Most people’s response would be, “you work, you make good money, you can work whenever you’d like, you have the life!”…but not for me. I’ve gone from 7 years of working 80 + hours / week to working maybe 20 hours / week. While I understand this is ‘supposed’ to be something I’m appreciative of; the “American Dream”, right? Making more than enough money while doing what you love WHEN YOU want to do it. BUT, something is missing.

I don’t know if I’m missing structure; if I’m missing the “buzz” of hundreds of sales reps and marketing managers; the ‘team’ or social aspect of work; or it may even be the stimulation of being surrounded by highly intelligent people, but I’m bored. I’ve read books, read blogs all day (which has been a fantastic way to learn / broaden my horizons, etc), I start my Six Sigma course next week, but….I think I need to get something going. I need more of a long term goal.

So, I’ve defined my professional goals as follows:

1. Sign 6 month contract / consulting retainer with lead gen marketing company
2. Broker 2 new deals per month
3. Complete Six Sigma Course
4. Seek out new mentor

My personal goals:

1. Continue to work out daily, overall be healthy
2. Travel once / month
3. Seriously talk about getting PG
4. Make Mark happy

Ok, so I thought I would lay out these goals and it would give me something to do…NOPE. Any suggestions?

Over the Edge

I woke up this morning to read a great blog post that hit home for me.

Ty Unglebower, a writer, actor, radio host, movie lover, and recent ‘connection’ blogs about the difference in Passion and Obsession.

This leads to me ask the question, “how does one know they’ve gone over the edge?”. I ask that because I was there and I hope this posting helps others to STOP before they become obsessed. Being a natural extremist, working in a booming industry like higher education, and working in a revenue driving sales and marketing position sounds like a dream to anyone in sales who would like to make money. But, when does that ‘dream’ become your life?

People talk about addictions; drugs, alcohol, cigarettes, gambiling, sex…but i’ve never heard of a group called “workers anonymous”. I contend that people can become as addicted to their career as anything else. The science behind addiction says the reason people become addicted is because they feel a “high”; just as anyone in sales and marketing knows – right after closing a deal, you feel a “high” as well. We know that drugs and alcohol elicit 2-10 times more dopamine in the brain than normal (dopamine makes you happy); hence people getting addicted…gamblers, for example, have the same reaction when they win a bet; the dopamine takes over and they feel a ‘high’; working, especially in sales, can elicit the same response.

5 things I should have recognized but didn’t…and went over the edge.

1. Waking up in the middle of the night and immediately getting on the computer.
2. Refusing to take vacation time
3. Forgetting to eat or only eating at the office
4. Mood is always dependent on how work day went
5. Prioritizing work before family and friends

If you experience any of this, pull back now. I don’t regret my decisions in that I love the life I lead now, but I do wish I had been more aware at the time so I could have made a conscious decision how I wanted to live my life versus letting the business dictate how I would live my life.