I'm going to talk about a few topics that happened in July and wrap it all up in my personal monthly review. This is the first.
In June, my car was destroyed by a tree. I don't want to go over it again, but it sets up the first topic. In the times I talked about that incident, I mentioned the need to move away from people who were negative and toxic.
Most of the negativity came from the tutoring gig I had at the time. It was likely that I was oblivious to it at first, because I saw the tutoring as a monetary baseline that helped me stay level (and sane) when no major gigs were coming through.
Once the car got destroyed, everything came to light. The little things were enhanced. I realized I needed to move as fast as possible out of tutoring.
As it turned out, a month after the car's tragic end, my hours were cut significantly (which I found out while making a 2-hour train/bus ride to the tutoring headquarters for a meeting that did not happen). Instead of 20 hours a week with the possibility of 10 more, it was down to 5 hours a week, with the possibility of 5 more.
With no car, I was trading too many hours for not enough dollars (90-minute train ride for 1 or 2 hours of tutoring, 90-minute train ride home). Weighing everything going on, I resigned just after the Independence Day weekend.
If you want to know how synced I am with family, I called my mom the day before I quit just to chat about life and let her know my hours were reduced to almost nothing. She did not ask me if I was going to quit. Instead, we were talking about getting the next gig and what that would look like.
The last time I straight quit without warning was just after I turned 18. I was hired as a server at a TGI Friday's in Monterey and given the full server orientation.
On the first day of work there, I wasn't serving any tables or shadowing servers. Instead, I spent 8 hours cutting tomatoes and lettuce heads with a slicer that was blunt in the middle. For salad. Eight hours. You go to TGI Friday's for salad that we have to spend 8 hours doing it?
Some of the tomatoes were slanted or squished. At the end of the 8 hours, the managers said I would be doing the same stuff the next day.
What about being a server? They said it would come eventually, maybe in a couple of months.
The next day, I handed in my apron and notepads to the managers and resigned.
At the time, those around me thought I was crazy for not holding on, because that TGI Friday's was in a prime tourist spot (it only lasted a few more years).
But my goal then was to become a server, and I believed something would come through if I looked. Being lied to in that situation felt like a gut punch. Eventually I found a server job at a restaurant not far from my house. It was there I got a chance to level up and get the server skills I wanted.
That came to mind as I resigned from the tutoring job. I said to myself I'm doing this because I believe it's best for me and that I know something better will come of it, even though the upcoming weeks were going to be very hairy and uncertain.
There were good people in this tutoring gig, people who helped me and were understanding of what I was going through. But there were also really bad people, and unfortunately in this situation, the negative pushed down too hard on the positive.
With no gig lined up, it was time to find something.
This was where family and friends really came through, because in the first week, I was worried nothing would come through, and they helped me stay sane.
Another flashback: When I got laid off of my analyst job in March 2010, I barely tried to find a new job. Part of it was hoping that my competitive gaming news website would somehow take off despite my (billions of epic) failings. But a lot of it was the resignation I wasn't cut for the big city life of L.A., that I was its latest victim, and it was only a matter of time (it happened four painful months later).
That flashback came to mind in the first week post resignation from the tutoring center. Hell no I was not going to have a repeat of 2010.
After a few days to reflect, I began sending out resumes in bunches. Asked friends of friends. Had craigslist searches bookmarked and updated. Attended job fairs. Posted on bulletin boards. I was going to get something.
My dad used to say all the time to me and my brothers, "Don't ever tell me you can't get a job, because I taught you how to use a broom and dustpan."
If he were here today, he would have told me the same thing. Now, I wasn't looking for a custodian job, but if it came to it, then I'm somewhere sweeping floors.
I refused to give in this time.
At the end of the month, I received a couple of offers, and I landed a gig.
This is where the whole "universe is speaking to you" deal comes in. I'm doing excel, online retail and keyword search work. It's like ... everything I've been doing since I moved in November all wrapped up into one spot.
When it comes to Excel, the new gig is definitely pushing me to the limits in a good way. Kid you not I'm doing things that are for sure going to be on the Microsoft Office Specialist certification exam. It's like the ultimate pretest that I'm getting paid to do.
There were some lessons learned in this near-monthlong search for a new gig.
1. It's all about how badly you want something.
I could have given up like I did in 2010 and returned home. I could have barely cared. I could have signed up for free money. But how would that have looked? So what if 100 companies said no? I got about 3 rejection letters a day, and fuck it, I was going to fight as much as possible to get something.
On a spreadsheet, I had 50 downtown LB companies with email and phone information added in, and I was just starting to email all of them about doing freelance data entry. Then I got the call that led to the pre-interview that led to the interview that, yeah.
2. Steve Jobs was right, you just have to trust the dots will line up.
I believe, in a way, you can set the dots up. In November, I learned ebay selling and marketing because I needed to start a stream of income. In January, I got my typing speed up because I was learning how to code and needed an outlet of proof. This past spring and currently, I'm working on becoming an excel pro. It all lined up, and I got this current gig.
Having gone through this, here are a couple of tips I can offer for those trying to get through a similar situation.
1. Don't give up.
It is scary, but you have to believe you can get it done. In 2010, I barely believed, and that wasn't enough to get me out of the pit. Since I lost my car, I believed I could do better, and I busted my ass to make it happen.
Each day where something doesn't happen, you're likely to lose the belief that anything will happen. You can't give up.
2. Do something every day to get you closer to the goal.
The days I got scared were the days I didn't do anything. That's why the first week post resignation was scary, because I sending some feelers but not a lot. On the days I sent out multiple resumes or pitches to companies, I got a boost of confidence because I knew the goal was within striking distance.
"I'll do it tomorrow," is the worst thing you can do when you have nothing. "I'll do it tomorrow" compounds very quickly and you'll never get anything done. That's what happened to me in 2010.
3. Learn/harness a skill
On the surface, this sounds like "Go back to school," but it's not.
I did not go back to school and spend $1000 or so to get Excel certification. There were dozens of courses on Udemy on preparing for the certification tests. Since Udemy has a $10 sale constantly, I went there and leveled up. Subscribed to Excel for $6.99. The exam is $110. Total: $126.99. And that helped me get a gig.
I also did not go back to school to level up in typing. I tied in learning Javascript with my want to get faster in typing, and out came a game that helped me get better.
So, you don't necessarily have to go (back) to school to learn a skill. For me, it was about looking inward. Now, I will say I am blessed to have several skills I could draw upon: Excel, typing, interviewing, journalism writing, ghost writing, serving tables, custodial work, podcasting.
I took two of my skills that were my current focus -- Excel and typing -- and built them up to where someone was going to be wowed. Several companies were wowed, one thankfully took a chance on me.
The two things companies who contacted me asked me about were the two questions I expected:
a) "How much Excel do you really know?" This is where a lot of people say "I mess around with it." or "I'm kind of good." I wanted to be more than good. It was a goal to be epic.
b) "Can you really type 100 words a minute?" The average typing speed is 40 words per minute. For someone to be in the 1 percentile is hard to believe unless you see it in person. I wanted to be at a point where someone looks at a typing race I'm in and is floored.
4. When these motivational speakers talk about being all in, they mean it. Every. Day. Taking one day off can set you back for a while.
I say to myself, "Everyday" as a reminder to do something that pushes me toward a goal. It could be studying, or running to improve time, or cycling to log more miles, or, in the case of this month, sending out resumes and pitches.
Again, "I'll do it tomorrow" is the worst thing you can tell yourself when you have nothing. You have to do something everyday.
If you're feeling down because you haven't found something, hopefully these tips help you out. It helped me out when I took a risk on leaving the tutoring center.