Edition #8: Define Your Own Blue Line
In the world major marathons, a blue line shows the optimal route from start to finish. Apply this concept to thinking about your next job.
Reframe
Pop quiz.
What does a good job opportunity look like for you?
Imagine signing the offer letter for it.
Feeling a sense of excitement & relief as you exhale & smile.
Where is it?
What’s the salary?
What industry?
What problem will you solve?
What languages, frameworks, and techniques are you using?
How fast is the company growing?
What decisions will you get to make?
What would this next job set you up for?
How close are you to how the company makes money?
What would it allow you to do that you can’t do now, personally & professionally?
Also, think about what you don’t want too.
Knowing what you don’t want is as useful as knowing what you do want.
No company will be perfect. No job will be perfect.
Get clear on your non-negotiables and on why they are non-negotiables.
Writing this down makes it real.
And helps your brain work on how to make it happen, even when you’re not aware of it according to neuroplasticity.
With a fire hose of job opportunities available to look at 24/7, it’s not finding a job to apply to that is the problem. It’s filtering that is tricky.
This is why I guide people I work with to create their own filter to evaluate job opportunities against.
To get clear on what a good job opportunity looks like & why.
We start off with the questions above.
We check underlying assumptions.
And you come away with a clear sense of direction and your own custom filter.
I like to call this process Blue Line Search, after the blue line that the world major marathons put down on the pavement marking the most optimal way to get from the start line to the finish line. We’ll put together your own personal blue line for your next job.
Want to work on yours? Let’s get in done in real time together.
Book here
Things change fast as we see with the current layoff activity in tech.
Being clear on what you want & making new connections to help get you there increases your surface area for luck.
NYC
The marathon is the single best day in New York City every year.
People from all over the world come together all with the same goal, on the same day, on the same route from start to finish. Involving all 5 boroughs including Staten Island, Brooklyn, Queens, Bronx, & Manhattan. All given a blue line to show the optimal path to follow.
Young, old, fast, slow, professionals, amateurs, first timers, charity runners, people in costumes, people in wheelchairs, people running with prosthetic blades, blind.
Everyone represented. Everyone with their own reason why.
It’s inspirational to see their effort, especially with the warm racing conditions this year. To give context, I ran last year with the start at 42 degrees F. It was 66 degrees F at the start this year. Those extra degrees translate into minutes added per mile. More energy used, more water station stops needed.
We watched the race this year right past Engineers’ Gate, where the runners enter Central Park for the final few miles of the race.
I held a huge photo poster of our puggle JJ that our family lovingly made for our first marathon in Chicago in 2014 while my son clanked a cowbell.
The turn into the Park is a pivotal moment in the race. If you’ve got anything left in the tank, this is where you pick up the pace. Using some of the natural downhills & straightaways to your advantage.
Many people stop here to catch their breath until the crowd cheers so loud they feel obligated to move. If you ever find yourself running a marathon, put your name somewhere visible on your shirt. You’ll get specific encouragement from the crowd when you need it most.
Imagine hearing “You got this <insert your name>!” Instead of a generic “Let’s go runners!”
A few gentlemen standing next to us locked into 1 runner at a time & started chanting their names in unison so loud that the runners couldn’t help but acknowledge it with a smile & wave.
That’s the New York City I know & love.
Imagine if we had more reasons like this to come together to celebrate.
Running
Some weeks training doesn’t go as planned.
You read a book, you make a plan, and execute to the exact specifications called for.
Or you’re normal.
Adapting the information to your specific situation. Applying it through the lens of your own experience.
This was one of those life happens, off the plan type of weeks.
Saturday was fully booked. We packed Thanksgiving meals for fellow New Yorkers at a community service event in the morning when we typically run. Then friends we’ve known for 15 years got a rare child free day & ventured into the City last minute to spend time with us. Sunday the marathon closed off our normal running course in Central Park and we wanted to support our fellow runners.
It happens.
Everything doesn’t always go by the book or the way you think it should go.
What I’ve learned in training for 7 marathons is that your reaction to missing it is everything.
Are you beating yourself up about it? Using it as an excuse to treat yourself poorly? Or are you giving yourself space & grace?
We’re still early into training.
Through the years, I’ve learned that more running isn’t always the answer. In some cases, less is more.
Some people handle marathon training taking themselves to the very edge of being injured or making a certain time goal. Running 100+ miles per week.
I found that way doesn’t work for me. I’ve got other things to do and running is only part of it.
Run your own race.
Measure success in as many ways as you can.
We all miss at times. It’s how you handle it that matters.
Let’s all keep moving.
See you next Monday!
Jen
Have a thought to share or a question to ask?
Take the pressure off someone else who is wondering the same thing & leave a comment.
Oh I really like the blue line analogy. I got pulled in by your Twitter thread that introduced this idea. That was a great conversation starter