by Kristi Willis
I am participating in my first full sprint triathlon in three years on Sunday and I have pre-race jitters. I felt them for the first time this morning when I was doing my last big workout before the race. As I was riding my bike around the neighborhood, the thought “you haven’t prepared enough” ran through my mind. Ugh!
When I did the Danskin triathlon in 2005, the race spokeswoman told us that this would happen while we were training and even during the race. She said monkeys would jump on our backs and try to weigh us down from being successful. And she was right. Smack dab in the middle of my quiet street, I had a monkey on the back of my bicycle.
I was able to silence it long enough to have a good workout, but then I heard it again while I was getting ready for work. And then it popped up again while I was driving into the office. Clearly, trying to ignore the monkey wasn’t going to make it go away.
I decided that the best way to silence the monkey was to look back over all the things I have done in the last six weeks to get ready. On my flight to Arizona today, I opened up Outlook and went through my calendar starting with the Danskin relay that I did in June.
Despite a busy travel schedule, vacation and taking care of my niece and nephew for several days, I have managed to exercise at least 5 days each week for at least an hour or more. I even swam a mile and a half the day I moved. I’ve trained on my hybrid and my road bike, practiced using my new bike clip pedals and have all my equipment lined up.
Sure, I could have worked out more. I could be in better shape, have eaten better, slept more, but I have done enough. I am ready. And after looking through the list of what I’ve been up to for the last six weeks, I feel pretty good about it. I’m not trying to win; I just want to finish injury free. And I will – without the monkey on my back!
Do you have a monkey on your back? What are you going to do to get rid of it?
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I can relate significantly to the "monkey on my back" syndrome. Only my situation applies to the necessary task of finding technology work in an upside down, employment environment. Following a seven year career with IBM, the pink slip finally arrived on my desk, along with others in my department. You cannot imagine the differences I soon discovered in seeking a high tech position now versus during the height of the dotcom era! Between offerings of lower wages with more responsibilities and having to nationally diversify my job search, the effort becomes exasperating. Several hiring managers have told me they get between 30-40 applicants PER DAY for each job posted.
As the impending job horizon became clearer in its initial stage, it only aroused a greater sense of survival of the fittest. After my first four or five interviews and no ffers of employment, I found myself struggling with all the what if's: What if I had been more prepared? What if I had worn a skirt instead of slacks? What if I had made that last change to verbiage in my resume? What if I had presented my resume on expensive, watermark paper with a gold wax stamp of my initials? What if I had related a different example of my weaknesses?
And then I hear the monkey on my back making a mockery of all my efforts and preparation.
So, I looked back over the past few months of job hunting and listed all the positive activities I completed to be successful: Created my own website that features my resume, career goals and samples of my work. I also fine-tuned my resume by using different combination of keywords until I began to get the desired response. Oh yes! The colors and design of my website coordinate with my new business card, complete with the same photo as portrayed on the website. In the past two weeks, the number of contacts have doubled and I can verify hit stats on my website if I need confirmation.
And on top of all that, I have been able to work on and complete small landscaping and renovation projects around the home and kept Goodwill supplied with plenty of resale items from major reductions in personal possessions!
As my Mom and Dad have told me throughout my life, do the best you can and help someone else along the way--and don't forget to stop and smell the roses.
I have now sent Curious George off to find another roosting place far, far away from my shoulder. Before I forget, Curious George left with his own words of wisdom: This, too, shall pass.
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