Hot and Humble

Thank God we’ve made it into Summer!
Lovely to be walking around and worrying about sunburn, rather than worrying about wind chill.
I’ve realised this week that a lot of my work woes are based around the fact that I am still in the mindset of working for a supermarket chain. The weather improves and I instantly start thinking “Oh, Shit” because I know we’ll be inundated with people buying beer and barbecue goodies, and the garage will be busy with the extra traffic heading for the beach. But of course, I don’t have to think like that, because nothing in my workday today will be affected by the upturn in temperature. It takes time to adjust, I know, and it’s frustrating that I keep returning to the same topic – the fact that I have not yet mastered everything about my ‘new’ job. I keep having to remind myself that I need to go easy on myself and let myself learn as I go, rather than expecting myself to know everything and get everything right without even experiencing the reality of the job post-lockdown.

I have a feeling that last paragraph made no sense, but it helped get my head straight, so I’ll leave it as it is, and try and clarify my thoughts henceforth:

I am working this year in a completely new role in a completely new industry. The nature of that industry means I will not be able to learn all I need to learn to do the job efficiently until I have worked there for a full year and taken in all that the seasonal nature of it entails. In the meantime, I can just do my best with whatever I am confronted with, and draw on my work history from my previous positions to find habits and practices I can apply to current situations and therefore fulfil my duties despite being a relative newcomer. I have all the support and help I can need, countless people to call on if I’m confused, and a boss who headhunted me deliberately because he liked the way I managed the garages and who is putting no pressure on me and allowing me to take as long as I like to get the hang of things as I go. Certain things will remind me of my old job and bring up emotions connecting with those things and that job, but I don’t have to react to them with panic or insecurity because they are irrelevant to where I am now. So I can relax and learn as I go, not worry and be overwhelmed. It’ll all fall into place eventually, and I’ll feel more comfortable and confident as the days, weeks, months and years go by.

Well, that paragraph made much more sense….

RC 17-7-21