Feb 23rd - Thinking Hard

Today I mentioned to a co-worker from another department that I was seriously considering leaving our company.  She immediately started to talk me out of it, saying that I have so much experience, I am a wealth of knowledge and she calls me even when she knows that she should be calling someone else, because she knows I'll know the answer. Then she asked me why I didn't apply for the supervisor position when it became available last summer.  When I explained that the supervisor position required me to be licensed as a Compliance Officer, she immediately said to me, ok then, get yourself licensed, because you are too valuable to leave us.  I laughed and said that I was working on it, but recently I began to doubt whether this was the right direction that I should be taking.  She peshawed the idea, said you're almost there, just finish it! and then we discussed how my plan 18 months ago was to become a corporate branch manager.  Having spent years getting to know myself fairly well (haha), I realized a while back that my personality and experience in the finance industry would mean that I would likely be well-suited to a branch manager position. But can I make it through all the courses, and manage to continue to work in my current position, without losing my mind???  Or worse, my temper? LOL

Starting out

Well, I've jumped in head first, I've started a blog.  My sister gave me the inspiration, she started a blog a couple of months ago, and I thought it was a great way for me to start writing again (which I haven't done in ages), but an even better way to procrastinate studying for my securities course, lol.

It's the long weekend and the boys are at their dad's.  I had some friends over on Saturday, but it's been quiet today.  Too quiet, and I've been doing some thinking, despite my attempts to keep myself busy watching movies.  These past few weeks have been stressful at work, and it's got me wondering if I'm going down the right path in my career.  I changed positions within my company about 18 months ago, and at the time, I was certain that the move was right for me.  But with recent changes to the ownership of my firm, everyone seems to be even more stressed than usual, including me, and my frustration with "the system" is reaching an intolerable level.  My boss advised me to let it go, said I shouldn't let myself get stressed about it, and that I could be right or I could be happy, but not both.  I laughed when she said it, but then it made me wonder, is she right?  And is she talking just about work?  Or life in general?  Knowing myself fairly well, I realized that if my boss is correct, that I could be right or I could be happy, I am in serious trouble.  Because I have this insatiable need to be right, being right makes me happy.  So if I can't be both right and happy, where does that leave me?  That's what got me thinking that it is time for me to leave my company, to find another job elsewhere where things are more stable, and where my urge to be right leads me to do a fantastic job, which is in turn appreciated and applauded.  Starting at a new company after 7 years at my current firm will be hard, making major changes in life is always stressful, but in my case, I think staying would be even more stressful in the end.  Time to update my resume, I guess.  Wish me luck.