Wednesday, November 18, 2009

Pouring, not raining

A couple of months ago I was moaning to a friend that I don't know what I was going to do with myself when the boys finished their "schooling". During that time I was also looking for some part time work so help pad out our budget. The whole process was a slow one and I was feeling very disheartened.

After applying for about 10 jobs without success I saw an ad for a " Home Sustainability Assessor" training course with the federal government. I was very excited and even though the course was expensive and I was trying to make money not spend it, I decided to go put it on the credit card with the knowledge that I would re-coup the money.

That was two months ago and this week I started my first batch of home assessments. (Hooray!) Government departments being true to form, it has been a long process with a lot of red tape, and a considerable amount of stress over the visa balance, as I am not used to living in debt.

While I was waiting for my paperwork to be finalised for the HSA I was invited to a teen life coaching talk. A group of homeschooling families were considering organising a group life coaching workshop for their kids so I went along to see if it might suit Jordan and Luke. As the Coach was speaking to the group, he mentioned that he was looking for extra life coaches as they are rolling out the group coaching sessions in the schools next year and are low on coaches.

It all sounded so wonderful and while I was a little nervous, I decided that this was an opportunity to good to miss.

So again I produced my credit card for the training fee, and blocked out another chunk of time from my diary.

Then last week as I was stressing about how I was going to fit all of this in with homeschooling excursions, camps, tennis 4 times a week, music and maths tuition etc, I got a call from 2 agencies that I had previously applied for jobs with, offering me a job.

Still living in hock (I haven't earned any money as yet), I was very tempted to take one of the jobs for the short term, but the first job was too few hours to travel ratio and the second had training to be held in Melbourne on the dates that I am in Sydney helping my mum move house. I declined both jobs and then in a sudden rush of uncertainty I called David to see if I made the right decision

I commented to him that there is something very comforting about just going to work and getting a paycheck at the end of the week, and the second job could offer me that. (Both Home Assessor role and the TeenLife Coach roles are essentially my own small businesses, and while some work is thrown my way, and next year in particular there will be TLC work in the schools, I need to generate most of my clients myself).

Once I calmed down and realised that I would have to work 20 hours a week in a regular job to get the same amount as I would earn with the HA or TLC roles in approx 2 hours, I knew I had made the right decision; albeit a more stressful one in the short term.

As a result my life has become a blur of appointments in the last few weeks. I have not read a book or watched any television and I have hardly seen David.

I really need a maid and a chef and a secretary to make all the phone calls I make each day! The boys have been great, picking up some of the slack.

This week I have did 5 home assessments and had 2 training sessions with the Life Coaching team.

Aside from being exhausting it is quite invigorating. I know what lies ahead for me and it is a wonderful path. I was so fearful that I would just end up in some office job. This is so much more fulfilling. The life coaching is really confronting and Im looking forward to the personal growth that it will naturally bring as I progress.