Well I guess October is here, and that means it's time to write my quarterly report for the previous quarter (July-September). Well the format stays the same.
Top 3 Wins
- Travelled A Lot (A lot a lot)
These past 3 months were phenomenal in terms of travelling and learning for me. I competed a trip that lasted over a month. It was also one of the first times that I had travelled in a less structured format, planning every trip just 10 days ahead of schedule. I also stayed in a hotel/homestay for the first time alone, one of my biggest fears up until a few months ago. I think I visualised how life in other parts of the country are so different to my own, learnt a lot about history and obviously saw how breathtakingly beautiful this country is. So proud of myself for navigating and planning this excruciating travel expedition and emerging victorious :)
- Emotional Opened up?
I think these 3 months have probably opened my heart up the most it has ever in a shortest span of time. From being afraid of romantic love, because I thought this would mean somebody would have the power to hurt me, if they wanted to. Well, while this is true, I also realised opening my heart up to somebody also meant something unexplainably beautiful.
Top 3 Challenges & Learnings from them
- Job Hunt
I think the past month particularly has been quite hard on me in terms of job search - from rejections to ghosting, to being rejected by a company I loved in the last round. The job economy and the increased supply and low demand at the time of my job search didn't seem to particularly help my cause either. However, though at the time of writing this I haven't emerged from this challenge per se I think I've already picked up some lessons. Firstly to trust myself in the process, and that I have to stay at it. I remind myself that it's a test and that I will succeed eventually - because I'm cut out for this. I've also learnt to keep an open mind and if things don't all go my way, I always have the option to pivot to other things.
The stress of unemployment is another. I think it's not particularly related to the job hunt process that I pretty much started in October, but this issue persisted before that. Essentially, I find it hard to tell people that I'm taking a break to travel, I mostly just prefer to lie to people who won't particularly fact check. I just tell them I'm in my past role, and it's a work from home role. This is also because even from closer quarters of my home, people haven't been the most supportive about the job hunt process or my break, and it seems to kind-of add on to my anxiety. I'm not sure what the lesson from this challenge is yet, but I guess I have to be easier on myself with this, since I know that I'm not being useless or anything per se, as I self-perceive myself to be during this period.
- Procrastinating
I think one thing I've realised I've been doing a lot (more) of recently is procrastinating. Take this report for instance, I had promised myself I'd do it at the beginning of this month, but it's the 20th of October while I write this. Realised that this attitude towards things may seem like it's limited to one task, but trickles down into my entire daily routine, so it's essentially that I add structure to my routine. I've now inculcated better habits to avoid these practices, and it helps that I'm now back home for this.
- Staying in Touch
I feel like I've been particularly struggling to keep in touch with all my friends. Particularly amidst the travelling and other relationships, I've not been able to stay in touch with a bunch of my friends like I wanted to. While I'm trying to be more conscious of this, without exhausting myself too much. I've also needed to remind myself that these are two way streets, and other people are just as responsible as me to put in those efforts. I've also realised that if somebody repeatedly neglects your needs in a friendship, maybe it's not meant to be. Friendships and all other relationships are supposed to feel safe and heard, if they don't feel that way anymore repeatedly, maybe it's time to slowly let go.
Top 3 Aspirations for the next 3 months
+ biggest risk to them & how to mitigate that risk
- Get a Job
For the next 25 days I will be exclusively focusing on the job search process. If I have no success by then, I will pivot into a role that may have not been my initial preference or begin looking at roles that pay lesser than my initial salary expectations.
- Moving to a new city and building a community
I guess this ties into the previous but I guess it's something I'm really aspiring for myself for the next three months. No particular risks that I can mitigate, but I'm sure it's going to be a bumpyish ride.
- Getting into a routine
I think piggybacking tasks on one another is a great strategy I've seen to be working for me - this is what I'm going to approach it before I load my tasks fully on one another. but slowly that's the plan. I've already began waking up earlier, and getting some sunlight into my system :)