Ouch

[greenstorm]

I'd forgotten how hard it is to work on this whole subject -- like swimming through molasses. But! I dug out my employment history (hah!) and the most recent resume I've got, and will take them in Friday to consult with TOW on them. I did some calling and found a job center in Vancouver where I can go to look for work in a not-in-the-home place to keep motivated.

I'm going to run through the nurseries first, even though it's the crappiest time of year to be looking for something like that. Having no Vancouver phone book, I can either use the internet or wait till I'm at TOH to compile a list. Procrastination is so easy. I'll open another window now and see what yellowpages.ca turns up.

Okay. It gives me lots of fodder, I think -- I'll need to weed out the numerous Maple Ridge, Abbotsford, etc entries. So that's there, a resource I've got from home -- I'll go through, check for internet info on each one, and then it goes in The Book. That will be for either Monday or Tuesday.

This weekend, my goals are: get a nursery-resume done up. Find home-rental resources (any help on this?). Make 'a significant number' of calls and possibly get in some viewings before heading home. Get a bus pass. I may stay in-town at Mom's this week (or a night or two at Esty's, should talk to her when things begin shaping up more) if the rental thing gathers momentum.

I -will- use livejournal as a record-keeping forum, and I will post whether I meet my goals or not up here. Iet's see if keeping this public can keep me motivated. Anyone got any positive motivators lying around? Not the, if I don't do this I'm a lazy loser who sucks kind, but the, if I do this then this and that are good kind? Please?

Greenstorm, off to rental sites.

Comments

Self-actualization! Had enough of my Rogerian nonsense yet? ;-)

[darthmaus.livejournal.com]

Not the, if I don't do this I'm a lazy loser who sucks kind, but the, if I do this then this and that are good kind? Please?

Hey, I'm good at that too. Unconditional Positive Regard! It must be all the foofy Rogerian humanist stuff I've been reading. Which also contributes to my obviously inflated self-efficacy ;-)

Seriously, though -- you're doing a brave thing, and it *will* yield fruit if you're patient with it. You're not a lazy loser who sucks; you're tackling something that's gotten really big over time, and that's damned scary. It's a momentum thing -- it's a boulder that you're rolling, and the first push to get it going is a bitch. I honestly admire people who make the effort to change things when circumstances are less than ideal, and that's what you're doing.

I'm going grocery shopping today (no, really, this time I am, I mean it) so I'll pick up a couple of those rental listings papers for ya. The best resource for rental listings, though, is still the classifieds in the big Vancouver daily newspapers.

[estrellada.livejournal.com]

For me lessening of anxiety an guilt works. But that's me. ;)

If you're not me, try this, which is also fun:

Set a concrete, *realistic* daily goal of how much you will get done, for example: I will contact N amount of potential employers, and contact Y amount of potenital landlord every day.

Then set a table of rewards, some self-rewarding, some negotiated by others. Like if you accomplish one day's goal, have an extra-nice meal. If you accomplish a whole week's goal, someone nice gives you an extra-special back-rub. Save up rewards. Have tea parties. Whateva.

When you get the job and/or living space, you get to pick the restaurant (oohhh inflicting "weird food" on loved ones!!!), have a celebration, and people treat you to dinner. Oh whatever big splurge you like.

(Penny Restaurant on Hastings is a fave for me for celebrations, it's *the best* chinese food, ever. _locke will barely eat there.)

Rewards are fun. I usually like being the rewarder, but sometimes I like demanding my due, too :)

[saxifrage00.livejournal.com]

Okay then! Greenstorm, I'll take you out to a restaurant of your choice (within budget, alas -- Bridges would be nice but cost a fortune) when you find a job or a place to rent, whichever comes first.