I haven’t blogged for ages. Do people still blog? Will anyone read this? I felt the time was right to write something, mainly for myself to remember later on down the track as I often do. It’s funny reading the opinions I had, how they might have changed over time.
I’m 45 now and hopefully wiser. Still a designer and enjoying the challenge of being that and a sort of design consultant. Part of me wishes I had done this a lot sooner and bothered to talk to people more but I often shied away from it but over the last year, I’ve really enjoyed getting to know people and learning about their business and the challenges they face and also helping them achieve their goals and address their issues.
As I’ve got older, I appreciate more the interactions that we have and value the time I spend with people. Don’t get me wrong, I’m still a hermit but I am starting to feel that things are changing in my personality to want to engage with people more. You know, I spend a lot of time talking to people at work so it’s important to build that rapport and get to know the real person as i think it gets better results and breaks down barriers that might stop you achieving what you need to. I’ve mellowed a lot and enjoy the time away from the laptop and feel more at ease not thinking about work but the career is still as important as ever. I want to achieve so much still and the desire to better myself and those around me remains.
But as I get older, I find myself with less patience than I had. I find myself worrying that I am wasting time waiting for things to happen and not being able to force change myself means it can lead to frustration.
Watching the kids grow up is fun. 16 and 14 now. We talk a lot about the future, what they will do. What they need to do to achieve. I tell them hard work, put the effort in and surround yourself with good leaders and don’t be afraid to be that leader. They don’t really get it yet but they will.
I see great work from “the youth”. They inspire me at times and their care free attitude can rub off sometimes and allow me to leave my comfort zones which is fun although I’ve never quite mastered skinny jeans and no socks.
I think the important thing for me is building relationships and getting the best out of people which in turn probably gets the best out of me. I hope in years to come when I gone, people will say that they knew I cared about them and what they did and maybe I helped them achieve something.