fronx.github.io    //   also @fronx, @fronxer

Decisions and self-assessment

14 Jul 2013

I decided to quit my job without knowing what exactly I should do afterwards. Two months to go before I will be unemployed! What this means is that I've essentially set myself a deadline for coming up with a plan for what to do next. It's the first time I'm doing this and it's quite an interesting experience.

What I didn't really predict was how critical I would become with my skills. In the process of assessing what I could be useful for, I found myself being more aware of certain areas I don't see myself as an expert in. If there is one thing I've learned in the past three years, it's how many things there are that I don't know enough about or that I don't have much experience with. I started buying books and learning about a few topics that seemed especially interesting to me. But you can only learn so much from books. If you don't use something daily, working towards some goal, it's unlikely that you will become an expert at it, if at the same time you're also trying to do a good job at your regular work.

So there is some negativity coming from that direction, realizing that I can't easily get good at all of the things I would like to be good at. But there are also positive feelings. I have some confidence that I am actually not so bad at making decisions, and usually things are better after than before. There is also excitement about learning whatever is needed to get a job that challenges me and expands the scope of what I can do.