Jason E Mueller

I’ve learned an important lesson. If you don’t learn a lesson the first time you’ll somehow wind up in a similar situation where you have to try and learn it again!

I eluded in earlier writings that in college I changed my major from Chemistry to Religious Studies kind of late in the game. I pursued chemistry for a few reasons like I was good at it, there is a prestige tied to the sciences, I had family approval for choosing that route. But I really didn’t love it. It took me till my senior year to admit to myself that I hated going to labs and that I couldn’t envision my life after college doing that. I’d hate doing that! Not to say that it’s bad by any means but I just had no passion for it. I switched to Religious Studies because I truly loved studying different philosophies and faiths and paths. The lesson was do what you love, I even had a guy named TJ from San Diego teach me that (reference earlier post).

Now after college I didn’t do anything related to that, I went into retail management for a few years and then distribution operations for another four years. But inside, I still had this longing for something more. By year four of distribution operations I hit a wall. I didn’t love what I did, I didn’t operate in the same style as the organization did and I found I was living my life too far apart from what I really was. I unfortunately found myself lost an unsure of what to do. After seven years of not doing what I loved I felt like my internal compass was just spinning, not giving me clarity or direction.

Then I started doing some work with UWM School of Continuing Education about 3 months after I left my last position. I was involved in things I DID love doing and enjoyed learning. My experiences there have reminded me of what I do love and solidified the direction I needed to take my life in. Lesson again, do what you love.

Now since I kind of “fell asleep again” I wound up not living the lesson I learned years back. But life has a way of stacking the deck to give you the same lesson if you didn’t get it the first time. It would have been easier to continue on what I learned in college but oh well. I got it this time and along the way have found some amazing teachers and mentors to help guide me to the next steps.

Just remember, try and get it the first time so you don’t have to do a rerun!

Technology can be a wonderful thing but if used improperly it can be a real headache. I love the internet as a tool for finding things or executing things (shopping, etc) but I’ve found an interesting thing going on with me lately. I seem to be addicted to new information.

I’ve got a few different e-mails going which I use for different things. One for bills, one for blogs, one for some of my UWM and social things. I have an iPod Touch which can check all of them and give me an indicator for when new mails come up, this is nice so that I don’t lose track of them. I’m also on Facebook and I have a Myspace account which I really don’t use anymore. Grudgingly I have a Twitter account which I only have because so many people use it, although I don’t see the value in the concept and I don’t think Twitter will be much of anything in a year and a half. But it apparently helps my Google score.

So I have these things which can connect me to other people and businesses which is nice. But I recently found myself constantly checking for updates on these things. Now again, my iPod Touch is nice because there’s an app for pretty much all of this so I can have easy updates. But I’m constantly checking this thing. Then I’ll flip open the laptop and start doing Wikipedia searches and Googling information on actors and authors and other fun stuff. I unfortunately found myself doing way too much time on Mafia Wars, the Facebook game and then it kind of hit me how much time I’m spending looking for things.

I really spend a lot of time looking for things online. I know, it’s ironic that I’m blogging about it now and that’s adding time to my digital wasteland but I actually decided today to limit how much I was doing. No waking up and flipping on the laptop, do things later. No Mafia Wars today, no stupid videos on ebaumsworld.com or YouTube. I was just fine and actually got way more done today than I thought I would.

This makes me wonder, what is prompting my excessive time in cyberspace? This craving for information seems to draw me away from other things so maybe I’m stressed and this is an escape. I have had a lot going on lately with job interviews, volunteer efforts, new baby, and other projects on the horizon. I also haven’t had a lot of social time so maybe I’m lacking in the decompression.

Whatever it is I see it going on and recognize that there are many forms of escapism. Some people turn on the TV and watch the flickering images for a couple hours and don’t think about daily life. Others bury themselves in video games. This is a newer form of digital escapism, I just read an article on CNN.com the other day which found a correlation between depression and excessive video game usage. Well I think I may be using kilobytes as my escapism so this is a nice indicator that I probably need to slow down a bit and decompress.

I should probably clarify, I have stress in my life but it’s not actually negative things. A new baby is a great thing, my volunteer efforts are opening doors faster than I can see, and the job searching and interviewing is teaching me so many things about my career path. I’m very happy all these opportunities are presenting themselves, I just need to remember that I have limited energy and can’t do everything. So maybe I need to kill a bit of the data intake and work on some energy restoration. I have an great book I’m halfway through, I should finish that. I should work on my QiQong breathing more as well as try more of the Tai Chi workouts on my DVD. There are things which would bring me far more benefit than knowing more about Frank Welker’s voice over career.

So I guess I put this out there to say that I just had an Ah-Ha moment where I realized I had way too much data time and that maybe I need to focus my time/energy on some other things. I’m glad I recognized it when I did. Now I challenge you, are you doing anything that is escapist? Is there anything that may be pulling you away from something important going on? It’s kind of strange how it creeps up on you. How many trees have buds on them right now? There’s a Zen exercise for you 🙂

I wanted to take time to write a brief story about my career transition and the value in it. I can tell many people are in a position where they either want to do something else with their professional life or don’t know what to do with it and I want people to know that there are answers. I’ve been exploring this area for about 9 months now and need to share some of my experience.

Let me go back to my college days because a pattern started here. When I started as a freshman in college I was a commuter student at the UW-Center in Waukesha county. As a totally mature 18 year old I felt that upon graduating high school meant that the fun times were over and it was time to buckle down and get my education and job on track. This was me being very idealistic because I had so many lessons to learn if I would pay attention!! My first semester I felt like I wanted to explore Sociology, Psychology or Chemistry. I was strong in those areas in high school and knew I had potential. I did well in all of those my first year but was particularly strong in Chemistry. I was asked to be a group study leader for intro Chemistry because of my understanding and ability to communicate. I became a chemistry major by my second year and then transferred to Carroll College in Waukesha for my third year of college. Although when I got there, things seemed to change for me.

First off, things were taught very differently at an independent liberal arts college verses a state university. I didn’t like how they did labs and how the curriculum was delivered. I didn’t feel the need to tutor or desire to help out in the department because I wasn’t happy with current situation(indicator 1). As part of my general educational requirements I needed to take a philosophy class or religion class so I took my first religious studies class. Surprisingly I liked it and excelled. I had avoided that subject but when I tried it out it really lit the fires of passion to study. There’s far more to this story but I’ll summarize by saying that I then became a double major in Chemistry and Religious Studies and then later dropped the Chemistry major all together because I wasn’t going to use it and wanted to put more time into a degree I felt passionate about. (indicator 2)

Upon graduation I needed a break from academia and decided to go into retail management for the company I worked for. I ran a Starbucks for a few years while I took time to figure out where to take my studies. Unfortunately I was beginning to get lost in the corporate environment and a new career goal of climbing the ladder began to emerge. I showed promise in my leadership ability and then took a position at Target corp. in their distribution area. With more money and promises of professional development I let go of my passion for study and tried to offer my ability and style to the corporate world. The more I did this the more lost I felt (indicator 3) and unfortunately unclear I became about what to do for the future. I knew I had to make a change but had no clue how.

After about 3 years of distribution operations I found myself at the end of my driveway with this feeling of change. I felt a necessary message come to me that said “you can change now if you want to” and after sitting in silence (nothing happens in my subdivision at 4AM mind you) I said “Alright God/universe, I’m ready for a change. I don’t know how or what it’s going to look like and I know it’s going to be painful but I’m ready, bring it on!”

6 months later I started some counseling which really helped break loose some of my inner self and then 3 months after that I did some career coaching. The career coaching consisted of self assessments (MBTI, skills and values inventories, 360 feedback profiles), research and self reflection. In all of this professional help I decided to seek out I was able to break through the veils I put on myself of what my career should look like. I was able to look at myself more authentically and understand that I was trying to fit myself into something that I wasn’t. I made the decision to leave my position with Target to pursue my career path. I had savings built up to help cushion this transition and decided to take the leap.

Now I did this in September of ’09 which is significant. First off it is the worst economy in a couple decades. Second, I had a little one on the way. Third I had no job lined up. But there was something very powerful within myself that told me to “strike” and I knew I needed to take control of my life and make a change. Since then I’ve done some work at UWM School of Continuing Education and been able to gain experience as an Intake Coordinator. I’ve met some amazing individuals who have done their own businesses and made changes of their own. I learned what a difference a work environment can make and that I am better suited in some environments rather than others. I’ve also learned I have potential in areas that I never thought about. By listening to the intuitive part of me that knew what was right, I was able to move forward to a better place in my career as well as life.

Currently I’m researching grad school possibilities which will open more doors in organizations that I would like to join. I have many opportunities unfolding that I hadn’t realized I could do, but it’s all because I took a chance to make things happen. There is a very scary part of this whole process and believe me, I went into some dark places along the way but the change is well worth it. Just to know I don’t have to be tied down in a job or company that I hate and that I can do things that make me happier and find fulfilling is enough motivation to keep trying. It also gives me trust that when I do what I am more suited to that I will be taken care of. The more you trust life, the more it takes care of you.

Here are some lessons I learned from some of my indicators:

Lesson 1. From my indicator 1 I learned that if something doesn’t feel right or makes me frustrated there is probably a reason for this. Rather than trying to just go with the flow it is much more important for me to look at this and deal with the feeling of why something isn’t right. Otherwise you just bulldoze further ahead into a problem that isn’t going to solve itself.

Lesson 2. When I’m passionate about something I will do better. In a previous blog I shared a lesson that TJ in San Diego taught me. He said, “Jason you need to do what you are passionate about because you will do well with it and people will pay you for it because you are good.” I’ve learned I have far more energy to put into something I’m excited or passionate about than forcing myself to go through burnout tasks or situations.

Lesson 3. When you are lost, you need to regain your anchor or reference. It’s easy to get lost, when I didn’t stay true to the lessons I learned in college I drifted further away from myself and had to ‘reawaken’. But if you are lost you can always come back. There will be a light house for you in the form of a mentor, teacher, helper, friend or something that comes into your life to lend a hand. Find your lighthouse when you get lost!

This is obviously a gallon into a shot glass of how my career transition has gone over the last 9 months and have a nice list of teachers and mentors that have given me an assist. If you have any questions about the details or names I’d be happy to chat and share more. But for now, please listen to yourself and know that with courage you can make the change. Life is vast and certainly not limited to a box or narrow list of options. As Lt. Worf from Star Trek TNG always says, “There are always options.”

Thanks for reading and as the Japanese say, “Ganbatte!!!”

An interesting thing happened when I was getting dressed the other morning. I had an interview later in the day, after my volunteering so I wanted to dress for it early so I wouldn’t have to come back home to change. I had everything ready to go except for socks…I looked in my dresser drawers, in the hampers of laundry that needed to be put away, but still couldn’t find the dress socks I needed. As I was looking I started getting stressed and found myself mumbling over and over, “And I can’t find the socks, And I can’t find the socks.” When I caught myself doing this I realized that it was a pretty negative thing to keep repeating so I started saying aloud, “And then I found the socks, And then I found the socks.”

Kind of a strange thing to do, I know but when I did this and focused on the feeling of finding one, I was inspired to look in Jenny’s drawer and sure enough I found the missing black sock I needed for my day. Maybe I was inspired by a positive “mantra” but it makes me wonder, how many other negative things do I have playing in my head and how could I counteract that with a constructive, positive intent?

I was reading an article on Edmunds.com this evening which compared a 2010 Civic Si to a 1998 Acura Integra Type R. They tested everything from the handling to the track times and general feel for the cars. I test drove a 2007 Civic Si Sedan and it was nice. I’d consider one if I were in the market.

All this reading about fun cars brings me back to when I’d take my 2001 Celica GT through the Kettle Moraine area. Wonderfully twisty roads and some areas that are 55mph make these back roads a nice, fun ride. I loved having the windows down and the sunroof open on a warm sunny summer day. To me that was better than a convertible. Still protected but open enough to hear the wind in the leaves of the trees. There is also something enjoyable about shifting through the gears on the car, not to the limit but close to it. I really miss the summer drives…

Maybe I’ll buy a project car one of these days and be able to have a high revving four cylinder to wind through the twisties. If you’ve never heard the sound of a 2ZZ Toyota or a Honda K20 engine at 6000 RPM, there is something invigorating about it. They both have a wonderful tone and (making sure you don’t have a lousy exhaust) don’t sound like a bumblebee on an acid trip.

For now I’ll imagine and dream of what it will be like to do that again. Maybe this winter phase is making me long for summer…

My recent employment history is making me think of a Zen story, let me share that first:

A man goes up the mountain, looking for the Master. After 6 months of looking he’s about to give up. He sees an old man coming down the hill, carrying a bundle of firewood on his back. He asks the old man if he is the Master.
The old man nods.
The seeker says, “What is Enlightenment?”
The old man drops the wood and says “Ahhh!”
The seeker is instantly enlightened.
Then he asks, “What comes after Enlightenment?”
The old Master bends, picks up the wood bundle, and continues down the hill.

I’ve been thinking about being out of work and I couldn’t be happier. I made a decision to leave a position I was not happy in and chose to make a new life for myself. I utilized the services of a career counselor to help draw out what I needed and find a bit more direction. I’ve been searching and applying and had to face the challenges of rejection.

For anyone who has not gone through a long term job search, I have to share there is a piece to it that I underestimated, the emotional piece. With facing rejection from employers one begins to face the depths of their self doubt. It is not pretty and let me advise, if you do face this head on, make sure you have some good support with friends, family, or professionals to lend you a hand when the going gets rough. I will share that the results are very fulfilling, once you face the dragon so to speak.

I’ve learned a lot over the last several months, about myself, about the working world, and about facing uncertainty. In a way, life is a school and the everyday is the arena in which it takes place. I’ve learned so many psychological and spiritual lessons that I am so thankful for what I’m going through. Yes, I am thanking life for putting me through this. Actually, I have to admit I did choose to bring some of this on myself.

I chose to listen to myself that I wasn’t happy. I chose to leave my position and take a chance at finding something more fulfilling. I chose to go explore these ups and downs. And I chose to draw out the gold from these experiences. And gold it is.

One thing I’ve gained is a bit more accurate intuition. And my intuition is telling me that it’s time to come down from the mountain. Ok, now let’s get a bit symbolic. My unemployment is kind of like a retreat from the world. I’ve been retreated from the world of work and learning life lessons. I’m feeling I learned what I needed to learn and it’s about time I re-enter the working world. I have a feeling I’m going to get hired on with a company soon and this is where the real challenge begins.

The lesson in the above Zen story is that one must take the wisdom that they gain and re-enter the world at some point. So I’ve learned many valuable things to help me on my life journey and the next life lesson is to apply those in daily life.

Maybe I needed that retreat, that time to learn without being numb in a job I don’t like. Maybe that’s how I had to learn these things. But I can say with certainty that I’ve gained my clarity and am ready to go in my direction. I’m so thankful of the support I have from family, friends and of course the wonderful loving help of my guardian angels. The only thing I can do is pay it forward, which is part of my goal in the coming years. Let the living begin!

Below was a piece I wrote about two years ago. I found this in the archives and wanted to share. I like the title because it really reflects the philosophy of Richard Branson, an economic genius in my book who really gets success by a similar approach I had taken in some of my jobs. Although he is a bit more successful than I have been so far…Anyway, read on and enjoy.

There’s got to be a better way to do this!

There have been times in my life where I find myself buying something and doing hours of consumer research to find the best bang for the buck. I try to balance cost with quality and get something that’s going to fit the bill but also have a decent level of quality. Part of me thinks I should have written for Consumer Reports but that’s a different story.

During my junior year of college I found myself needing a new computer. I had a chemistry class at the time which required me to do complicated reports and my current computer was unable to handle the requirements of the programs. When I did my search for computers (this was in 2001 mind you) I hit the retailers, did some price comparisons online and even talked to one of my friends who worked for a computer company at the time. I knew what I wanted to spend but I found myself fearing that systems I was going to purchase would be horribly outdated within the next year (18 months is usually the standard but my budget didn’t allow me to plan ahead for that).

I knew what I wanted in my system (processor, motherboard capability, graphics) but couldn’t afford it. Not in the stores anyway. I decided to look online for the individual components and price out the total cost of what I wanted. Sure enough I was able to get more than what I wanted (which allowed for upgrades in the future) if I were to build my own system. The kicker is I’d have to put all the chips, drives and cables together myself. By trade I was not a PC builder and had never designed a system before. But my maven attributes kept burning underneath my skin and I found the motivation to learn this myself. With a bit of research I was able to find out how to get this all together and then install an Operating system (I got Windows 98 off of ebay). After about a month of work (full time classes only allowed me to play around with this for a little bit each day and there are always technical issues!) I had my system up and running. I think I only spent around $630.00 at the time and that was far cheaper than any of the mid-grade computers on the market. Even better was the fact that I used that system for a good 5 years before my needs outgrew the system capabilities. With a little planning and motivation I was able to get a good product and save myself quite a bit of money doing it!

The good thing about the internet is the fact that there is a lot of information available by people that are very passionate about what they do. Many of the forums set up are by enthusiasts involved in a particular hobby, product, or lifestyle. There is no way that this magnitude of information would be available by some corporation or company taking the time and resources to do so. Passion doesn’t require an expense justification.

In all honesty I’m a car guy. I love cars. I can probably tell you statistics about many of the cars on the road today that only most salesmen and mechanics would be able to pull off the top of their head. Some people memorize batting averages while I memorize engine displacement and horsepower ratings. I find cars to be amazing machines with so much potential to be both fun and practical. One of my favorite cars I’ve ever owned was a 2001 Celica GT. My wife and I had no kids at the time when I owned that car, and it seemed to be the perfect commuter car to meet my needs. It didn’t have trouble merging onto freeway traffic, had razor sharp handling and I could fit a ridiculous amount of weekend gear in the back with the seats folded down. It even got good fuel economy too! When I bought it used (3 yrs old and only 33k on it) I was getting 28mpg with combined city and freeway driving. This seemed to be the best of all worlds.

I did some reading on a couple of web forums dedicated to the Toyota Celica and discovered the world of modding cars. There were countless members who installed upgraded exhausts, air intakes, turbo and nitrous kits and many other projects to make their cars “theirs.” I discovered by doing basic air intake and exhaust system upgrades that my GT wasn’t going to gain much power. I was telling this to a Corvette owner and he encouraged me to try it anyway because many of these upgrades would produce fuel economy gains (provided you didn’t have a heavy foot).

Within an 18 month period I upgraded the exhaust header, air intake and muffler. With each upgrade I noticed the engine ran smoother and gained a little bit of efficiency. By the time I was done upgrading, my back road commute to work was yielding me 40mpg! By contrast the Toyota Prius of today averages 44. I was so satisfied that I was able to take a product I was already happy with and make it better. I’m still convinced that if I were to retune the engine management I’d be able to squeak out another couple MPG on that car. I had neither the time nor resources to do that before I traded in the car. That was the most difficult time turning over a set of keys I’ve ever had, due to the time and effort I put under the hood. It became an outlet for my passion of cars. You can’t buy that level of enthusiasm.

I guess my point is that there is always room for improvement and if you see something that can be done better, don’t be afraid to challenge it. This is how innovation works and really is only fueled by a passion for excellence. Don’t settle, don’t be afraid, just try it out. You never know what you might get.