Today I attended a three hour session on inclusion, diversity and equality. In the lead up to this event I have had so may fantastic (literal meaning) thoughts about how I would justify my scepticism of the event should the need arise, most ending in me walking out. I'd read a series of articles and blog posts making it clear that such training is just a tick in a box for a company. The first few minutes of the session littered with disclaimers led me to expect the same. Wouldn't it be just typical that this event actually turned out to be good?
Well, it was. Three good actors, one facilitator, minimum cheese until right at the end, no preaching, no lecturing, just scenarios and group discussions. No pressure to participate at any point, which is oh so rare in this type of situation. If this type of "training" must happen in the workplace, this, for me, is the way to do it, although it must be made clear that it's not likely to challenge anyone's personal prejudices. I would however argue that an employer has no business doing this in any case. Trying to force beliefs on employees will immediately alienate and ultimately have little effect. This drama led workshop, if approached open mindedly, for me at least is the right way for an employer to approach the matter.
On with my show.
1. I will eat in moderation at all routine meals. The majority of my meals will be essentially healthy. When I snack or overindulge, I will specifically redress the balance later. I will also drink caffeine based drinks in moderation. At the end of a week, if I feel my intake has been too high, the goal has not been met, and I will state this.
Meals have continued to be largely healthy. My decision to not do either of two bad things only half landed - I still did one. I will see if I can roll my punishment over and do a week without either (although not this already can't be this week, as now i've done the other - only semantics save me from being pretty poor on this one). Caffeine drinks at work are a little too plentiful in general so I need to watch that, but not over the top. I need to refocus on the weekend. My non-eating before nights out is pretty uniformly leading to make-up unhealthy snacks at the tail end. I used to have perfect solutions to this and I need to rediscover them. Toast and marmite is coming back. Yes, it will be thick marmite, and no, there won't be any butter involved. DEAL WITH IT. I also baked some savoury scones on Sunday. They were square and rough, because I couldn't find a sieve for the flour or a cutter for the pastry. They actually taste pretty good. Next time i'll make more and put raisins in them like I should have done this time. This is to replace part of my main meal, and should save a little money, plus be a little less sugary than the Kiplings pies I was buying recently. Have done another Chilli cook, also on Sunday. Worked out that these give 5 meals. This is insanely good value eating at what I think is about £4 worth of ingredients. Enough on food.
2. I will not spent extended periods of time focussed on one form of entertainment. If one form of entertainment has consumed an evening or weekend then I have failed. I will vary it, and ensure that I don't neglect the mind expanding.
Balancing things quite nicely. Guitar factored in each day, working slowly through games, listening to Podcasts in the shower and car mostly. I am also keeping up with my semi-diverse feed reading. This is the reading I do, pretty much. I would like to read books but I've come to accept it's just not in my nature. For mind expanding, this is the current source.
I am seriously considering returning to postal DVD rental after a... 6 month? gap. Maybe a little longer. There's too much I still need to see, and plenty I need to see for the second time. I'm putting off subscribing at the moment because I know as soon as I do this I'm a slave to getting value from the service. Blockbuster served me quite well but it was a bad breakup. I must try their now main and I think perhaps only competitor, Lovefilm (some others are fronts for the same company). They sound more ruthless than Blockbuster by some accounts - the day a lost in post DVD costs me the price of DVD, the service is going. Blockbuster never even questioned a lost in post, not that I ever cheated them.
3. I will talk to people. People I know will not feel I am ignoring them. People I don't know will not forever be people I don't know. If they do, or they are, I have failed. Why all this? Because spending any extended period of time alone is a terrible idea, and the more you initiate, the less likely that is to happen.
I have been taking this to heart more and this is a good thing. I do feel a slightly better vibe surrounding me lately. Long may it continue.
4. I will apply myself to my work. Why? Because all career uncertainty aside, if I'm doing something, I must be doing it well, plus it's the only way I will continue to advance in my current career.
I'm having quite an engaging week or two right now. A day where I haven't spent any time reading feeds tells me i've been busy, and that's been happening more. The nature of my work unfortunately means built-in down time, but i'm trying more to use that for planning activities rather than using it as an opportunity to steal time for myself. To be very clear, i've never been particularly bad in this respect. My sense of guilt and shame overrides being a real piss-taker.
5. I will continue to rethink my career inside and outside my current role weekly. Why? Because I don't want to find myself realising I am on a career treadmill and nothing more. I must ensure what I do is meaningful to me, and ideally others. This doesn't inherently necessitate change, just frequent consideration.
I'm in one of my cycles right now, where I don't feel out of place doing what I do. This won't last forever, but as I like this part of the cycle, i'll happily ride it as long as it lasts. The relative clarity of the immediate future I now have is refreshing and i'm enjoying what i'm doing. Next week I regain my 5 hours and diesel money as mentioned previously. Right now this isn't a treadmill. I'm being exposed to plenty of new things and if the next step isn't necessarily clear, it doesn't feel as distant as it has at other times during this year. Once again, this is also partly fueled by my realisation that i'm very lucky to work where I do for this money right now. Perhaps I should give myself credit for not having quit back when I said I wanted to, but I think i'd feel conflicted about that.
6. I will find the time to manage a 3 times a week exercise schedule. Why? Much like the eating, it's about long term health gains and short term physical gain. Lose a little weight. Tone up a bit.
The one big failure of my current set of goals is exercise. I'm getting zero. There hasn't been a year in my life which didn't have a period like this - it's just another cycle that I have trouble breaking. Nonetheless, I really do want to get more, though this becomes increasingly hard as we enter the dark and wet times.
Today ended with snow. Good snow too. I like snow.
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