23
Success
Posted by Claudia Moser
on
9:51 AM
in
GBE 2
Success, another word for another week on the Group Blogging Experience 2 (GBE2). Somehow you wonder in anticipation, in respect to which word will Beth publish, and to be honest this one I did not expect. Nevertheless it made me think. You can approach this from so many perspectives.
Writing and watching around.
One family, dad, son, mom and small child. They are tired, but still able to smile at each other. The baby found peace in his mother’s arms and the son is talking with his dad and is pretty active for 6am. A happy family.
A mother with her daughter. The child is so happy, and touching and kissing her mom.
A couple, he reading a newspaper and his wife trying to stay awake.
Three guys already busy with their laptops (are they also writing for GBE2? I wonder), sipping tons of coffee.
Are they successful? Happy? Content? Am I successful? I decided to focus on three possible directions.
Blogging success
Am I successful blogger? Depends on the angle. At the beginning I did not have many followers, now I am grateful for all my 65. When I started I was publishing one, two articles a week, now for the last 2 months I had one article a day, an average hit count of 20 per day. But in the end do these figures make you successful? Again depends. I am happy to be able to blog, to still get ideas on a daily basis. After the May Challenge, I am not sure that I will be publishing daily some of my thoughts, since I need a bit of guidance in order to have a controlled approach on blogging. Some of my fellow bloggers on the May Challenge have suggested that we should continue the experience by choosing other topics, like one number a week, a color. I believe that these ideas are great; maybe I will even take a proactive stand and initiate this. I don’t know. But back to success in blogging. I do consider myself successful and simply because I am active, since I find all of this exciting and thrilling, that I do invest daily time in reading other people’s thought, as do they.
Career success
While writing this article I am standing at the Helsinki airport, where one colleague and I were stranded at midnight, a day before. Our connecting flight did not wait for 2 vital minutes and we lost it. We had a very brief sleepover in a hotel near to the airport, I do not know if I slept more than two and a half hours. We rushed back to the airport to ensure that we get the morning connection to Tallinn, since at 9am our meeting starts. I am travelling to Estonia, again (it’s kind of a leitmotiv of my life lately) even if actually I should have been on holiday. My mother and grandmother are with my husband in Germany, and I jet set around Europe. And all for what? Business success? I have made a lot of interesting choices in my professional life.
It all has started in my last year of university, when one of my professors asked us, his class, if someone would be interested in project management. We were two who answered positively. We were invited to an interview and I was chosen to work as a Project Coordinator within educational projects, mainly funded by European Union. I did that in parallel with my school for one year and after this year I knew I had the bud. I liked it immensely, I had so much fun and above all it matched my personality. I ended up doing it for almost 8 years and I had the chance of travelling all over Europe, meeting some great people, who now I call my friends. I learned a lot, I had a chance of continuously improving my languages. And then something happened! I will keep the suspance until the next point, but by this event I realized that I had to move on, my social period had to evolve into something else. I was active in the same line of business for too long, same vocational training type of events and projects. I knew that if I want to grow I will have to let it go.
And I did.
A headhunter found me and offered me a job as a Project Manager within a major electronic manufacturing service provider, which was and still is building electronic boards. I had a very dynamic account, a wonderful team (at one point more than 75 people), a hectic life (16 – 17 hours work for weeks at a time), international travel (from Shenzhen, Hong Kong, Guadalajara, Charlotte). I learned a lot, I had to. It was a very fast pace, changes on a daily basis (sometimes even on an hourly basis), but again it was project management, and I was so at home. I did reach quite an interesting level, somehow I felt fulfilled professional, but then again the same event as above made me change once more after 2 years of full adrenaline.
And I moved.
Germany, different society, different rules, completely different world. A new job, starting at another level, this time project purchasing, not really my domain, but still very creative and interesting. But after 2 years I realized that I miss project management, I did not feel at home somehow. And I managed to change departments, and guess what? I am back to my old love! And I know it is hard, you have to invest a lot of time and energy. You have to juggle with so many balls, but I am happy. Somehow I am like a rosebud which blossoms under the rays of projects. Sounds funny? I guess, but this is how I feel. I know that I found my line of work and somehow I know that I will not leave it.
But then again the same question. Am I successful in my career? Depends on whom you ask. Most will say yes, and in a way I also will answer positively. But still I have so much potential to grow, so much to learn. A long path lays ahead of me.
Personal success
And now to my private sphere. As I mentioned, I did travel quite a lot, at the beginning mainly in Europe and during one of these travels (as many times before) I ended up in Vienna airport. Tired, beat, desperate to be home and longing for a coffee (once an addict, always an addict even at 10pm)! Thus heading for Starbucks and hoping to get a cup. Another person was heading towards the counter as well, and the barista told us, hey! I’m closed and I’m only going to prepare one coffee only, so do decide who will get it. And we ended up sharing not only the coffee but also our life. This is how my husband came into my life, and he is the one who gave me the power to change my first job (which I was doing well, but was such a routine), he is the reason why I moved to Germany.
If I am successful in my personal life? Oh yes! I am happy, and I know that tonight my husband will wait for me, together with mom and granny, some berries will be on the table, and all the tiredness and bad moments from the day will fade away under the spell of his smile and touches.
In the end success is hard to define, who decides if yes or no?! I think that all of us are successful one way or another, we win a little, we lose a little, but we all try to be happy.
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Writing and watching around.
One family, dad, son, mom and small child. They are tired, but still able to smile at each other. The baby found peace in his mother’s arms and the son is talking with his dad and is pretty active for 6am. A happy family.
A mother with her daughter. The child is so happy, and touching and kissing her mom.
A couple, he reading a newspaper and his wife trying to stay awake.
Three guys already busy with their laptops (are they also writing for GBE2? I wonder), sipping tons of coffee.
Are they successful? Happy? Content? Am I successful? I decided to focus on three possible directions.
Blogging success
Am I successful blogger? Depends on the angle. At the beginning I did not have many followers, now I am grateful for all my 65. When I started I was publishing one, two articles a week, now for the last 2 months I had one article a day, an average hit count of 20 per day. But in the end do these figures make you successful? Again depends. I am happy to be able to blog, to still get ideas on a daily basis. After the May Challenge, I am not sure that I will be publishing daily some of my thoughts, since I need a bit of guidance in order to have a controlled approach on blogging. Some of my fellow bloggers on the May Challenge have suggested that we should continue the experience by choosing other topics, like one number a week, a color. I believe that these ideas are great; maybe I will even take a proactive stand and initiate this. I don’t know. But back to success in blogging. I do consider myself successful and simply because I am active, since I find all of this exciting and thrilling, that I do invest daily time in reading other people’s thought, as do they.
Career success
While writing this article I am standing at the Helsinki airport, where one colleague and I were stranded at midnight, a day before. Our connecting flight did not wait for 2 vital minutes and we lost it. We had a very brief sleepover in a hotel near to the airport, I do not know if I slept more than two and a half hours. We rushed back to the airport to ensure that we get the morning connection to Tallinn, since at 9am our meeting starts. I am travelling to Estonia, again (it’s kind of a leitmotiv of my life lately) even if actually I should have been on holiday. My mother and grandmother are with my husband in Germany, and I jet set around Europe. And all for what? Business success? I have made a lot of interesting choices in my professional life.
It all has started in my last year of university, when one of my professors asked us, his class, if someone would be interested in project management. We were two who answered positively. We were invited to an interview and I was chosen to work as a Project Coordinator within educational projects, mainly funded by European Union. I did that in parallel with my school for one year and after this year I knew I had the bud. I liked it immensely, I had so much fun and above all it matched my personality. I ended up doing it for almost 8 years and I had the chance of travelling all over Europe, meeting some great people, who now I call my friends. I learned a lot, I had a chance of continuously improving my languages. And then something happened! I will keep the suspance until the next point, but by this event I realized that I had to move on, my social period had to evolve into something else. I was active in the same line of business for too long, same vocational training type of events and projects. I knew that if I want to grow I will have to let it go.
And I did.
A headhunter found me and offered me a job as a Project Manager within a major electronic manufacturing service provider, which was and still is building electronic boards. I had a very dynamic account, a wonderful team (at one point more than 75 people), a hectic life (16 – 17 hours work for weeks at a time), international travel (from Shenzhen, Hong Kong, Guadalajara, Charlotte). I learned a lot, I had to. It was a very fast pace, changes on a daily basis (sometimes even on an hourly basis), but again it was project management, and I was so at home. I did reach quite an interesting level, somehow I felt fulfilled professional, but then again the same event as above made me change once more after 2 years of full adrenaline.
And I moved.
Germany, different society, different rules, completely different world. A new job, starting at another level, this time project purchasing, not really my domain, but still very creative and interesting. But after 2 years I realized that I miss project management, I did not feel at home somehow. And I managed to change departments, and guess what? I am back to my old love! And I know it is hard, you have to invest a lot of time and energy. You have to juggle with so many balls, but I am happy. Somehow I am like a rosebud which blossoms under the rays of projects. Sounds funny? I guess, but this is how I feel. I know that I found my line of work and somehow I know that I will not leave it.
But then again the same question. Am I successful in my career? Depends on whom you ask. Most will say yes, and in a way I also will answer positively. But still I have so much potential to grow, so much to learn. A long path lays ahead of me.
Personal success
And now to my private sphere. As I mentioned, I did travel quite a lot, at the beginning mainly in Europe and during one of these travels (as many times before) I ended up in Vienna airport. Tired, beat, desperate to be home and longing for a coffee (once an addict, always an addict even at 10pm)! Thus heading for Starbucks and hoping to get a cup. Another person was heading towards the counter as well, and the barista told us, hey! I’m closed and I’m only going to prepare one coffee only, so do decide who will get it. And we ended up sharing not only the coffee but also our life. This is how my husband came into my life, and he is the one who gave me the power to change my first job (which I was doing well, but was such a routine), he is the reason why I moved to Germany.
If I am successful in my personal life? Oh yes! I am happy, and I know that tonight my husband will wait for me, together with mom and granny, some berries will be on the table, and all the tiredness and bad moments from the day will fade away under the spell of his smile and touches.
In the end success is hard to define, who decides if yes or no?! I think that all of us are successful one way or another, we win a little, we lose a little, but we all try to be happy.
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