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Feb 4
General Andy Warhol, change, quote No Comments
They always say that time changes things, but you actually have to change them yourself.
–Andy Warhol
Blue Beanie Day ‘09
Feb 4
Today was Blue Beanie Day 2009. You can read more about it here. Did you get your blue beanie on?
Landing On Your Feet
Feb 4
Discussion, General No Comments
During the hard times, when you’re just about ready to call it and give up, just remember these words I found in a quote some time ago when I was facing some severe doubts about myself and my future regarding whether or not I’d work in the web development field ever again.
The first law of success … is concentration: to bend all the energies to one point, and to go directly to that point, looking neither to the right nor the left. – William Matthews
I’ve been through some seriously difficult times the past 4 years. A funk I thought I would never come out of. It had it’s spots where it seemed good and things were getting better, but then I just got thrown back in the hole I crawled out of sooner than expected. I then realized, it wasn’t others that had to drag me out of the hole, it was myself.
If you’re out of work, out of luck, out of whatever, just remember that quote. Bear down, like I did, and focus your energy on getting that job, in that field, in that area you love to do. No matter what area it is in. I did it. I’m back in the game. I do what I do because of the love I have for the web development field. Creating, experimenting. I love web development.
Things may be difficult, near impossible in your mind to overcome. I thought the same way until I saw that quote and read it. it hit home, it struck a nerve. It gave me that epiphany so many of us struggle to find. Something clicked and for all the times I threw in the towel or was ready to throw it in, I read that quote and climbed back on my feet. If I got knocked down, I got back up. I sent out over 2,000 resumes the past couple years, with only a handful of responses.
Sure, I got my chances with a few places, but for some reason or another, they did not pan out. I’ve been lucky to have gotten a contractor job with a firm in Portland, Maine. I work from home, an ideal situation, and the work is fun. The people are great, and they are located over one of my favorite restaurants in Portland, Fuji Restaurant.
I’ve also found the fortune of getting a contracting gig freelance, working for a forum-ite I know. A small project that I just wrapped up awhile ago. It’s good to be back on my feet, I landed on them before, and landed hard, or landed and fell again. This time, I’m not letting anything knock me out again. For those of you struggling like I, just remember these words. Don’t give up.
You can piss & moan about life and point the finger at others and everything else. At the end of the day though, you have to reflect at what you accomplished. Others are not responsible for things you need to accomplish. Stop pointing the finger like I did, stop looking a the world through a half-empty glass, take a good look in the mirror every morning and say to yourself, “what am I going to do about this. Something needs to be done , and it needs to be done now.”
Landing on your feet takes time sometimes. It may take repeated attempts, it may take one time. Whatever the case, with whatever you do, don’t stop focusing on what you want to accomplish. Don’t stop focusing on what you need to accomplish, the steps you’re going to take, your plan, your tenacity not to give up, focusing on the ahead, and not the behind, the left or the right. You can also tell me I am full of shit and that I’m doing one of those pep talks that doesn’t amount to spit… but you know what? My determination not to fail pushed me, it pushed me to become better and to achieve a few goals.
I did just that. I landed on my feet again.
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