Going for it and understanding what I really want

Last week I was mentioning my increased efforts to discover what types of activities provide and drain my energy. As expected, I haven't yet figured everything out...however I have taken some small baby steps. For the first time this winter, I made it through the entire week without feeling tired, worn down or lethargic. I know it's mostly mental, and wish I would be able to "flip a switch" which would provide myself an unending stream of energy. Unfortunately, that can't happen and I need to continue to monitor the types of activities keep me happy as well as the common ruts I get myself into.

As most of you already know, I am an introverted personality type. For sake of this conversation, it simply means that I require "alone time" to gain energy, or "recharge my batteries". This was one of the more significant discoveries I learned myself in the past year. I always used to fear I was somewhat anti-social for not wanting to go out with friends on every possible occasion -- and that belief in itself drained energy. Aside from said alone time, I also seem to gain energy from being involved in one-on-one conversation. Larger groups tend to sap my energy faster than anything else. For example, I tend not to attend large parties or go to bars. There are several exceptions, the biggest involves any activity which I am deeply interested in. This is why Wednesday Trivia, MENSA gatherings (even though I have attended very few), basketball/gym nights, and my own house parties work...and others such as random game at the bar (where the focus is usually on conversation rather on the game itself), bowling, and group dinners don't excite me. I believe I have won my friends' acceptance of this fact which I'm very grateful for. In the past, I always felt a lot of internal pressure to resist/give in to any sales job my friends gave me to get me to do something.

So moving on to the types of activities that interest me. They jump around a lot. Most of them have a significant physical or intellectual element to them. Watching TV doesn't interest me (unless it's something very educational/informative). Movies don't interest me (unless I have some other intellectual impetus such as character profiling or historical significance or anything else I can convince myself of). Computer games have always been a little iffy. Most of them have very little physical interaction and this is why Rock Band struck me in a very special way. I've found that seasonal activities work better than non-seasonal. Sports such as basketball and softball work well since there's a natural "on again, off again" cycle. Gardening, driving, dog park extraveganzas, computer gaming (to an extent), all were successful due to the fact I didn't have to sustain effort for more than a couple months at a time. This is one of the reasons I dropped off the competitive Magic the Gathering train -- it required full effort on a continuous level in order to reach higher and higher levels of play. Computer fixing is almost the same way, as there are really no opportunities for "extensive periods of time off". Appropriately enough, this may be one of the main reasons I enjoyed working at the skating rink and stayed there so long -- I got a couple months off during the summer and was fully rejuvenated to come back and work in the fall.

At the present time, one of my biggest goals is to find the habits and practices that give me energy in the workplace. My current job often involves sitting at my desk most of the day, waiting for a customer to call in a service request. I can often deviate from this practice by taking a proactive approach by walking around the building and visiting my customers periodically to see if they need anything. I also have the freedom to travel to different locations to meet with other support staff, pick up equipment or grab some lunch. "Moving around more" and looking for more "hands-on opportunities" seem to be at the top of my priority list. I'm still trying to find ways to enjoy adequate "alone time" at work. I share my office with 2 others (and this number may grow to 4 in the future) and therefore I could benefit greatly from having options if I simply need quiet time to concentrate. I've found that staying exceptionally late offers that opportunity but it's not really a viable option. I'm also susceptible to having outrageously busy days where I feel like I'm being pulled from every which direction. These are the "tough" days and they are few and far between enough that I have learned to accept the fact. I've also found that being a little more emotional around customers often solicits their empathy and understanding.

Eventually I still need to pinpoint what will motivate me to get up in the morning. As long as I get adequate sleep, everything else is mental. Everything. I found myself jump up out of bed without hesitation yesterday morning when my home phone rang. I wasn't tired -- I didn't think about anything else except the fact that I had a mission to accomplish. In some ways, I always need a mission or else I get complacent and even worse, apathetic. This is one of the reasons why I believe it is in my best interest to involve myself in more such "missions". I also need to take more risks, especially ones that force me to act or face the penalty of loss. One of the reasons I wanted to buy a new house a couple years ago was to challenge myself, and face the daunting task of having to sell my current home. In the end, I decided to step away from the challenge. It may have ultimately been a very smart decision on paper, but I still question the decision because I believe it would have been a great opportunity for significant personal growth and experience. As such, I feel like I may be taking many more risks -- and simply "going for it" in the future.

Quick update and assessment of my writing for this month. This will be my 11th blog entry of the month of February which exceeds my goal of 10. This post is already over 1,000 words and my average has steadily increased. My "virtual world" post broke new ground because I finally felt like I was streaming together several ideas into one coherent post. Also, it focused less on my personal life (a goal of my futurist blog) and more on my ultimate goal of futuristic ideas and concepts. Next month I want to do much of the same -- more content regarding my futuristic ideas as well as the current state of technology. Level up!