Cue the Music
Every superhero goes through training. In order to save time telling the story, writers commonly use a training montage to show the lengths these heroes push themselves to reach their goals. They do that in comics, tv shows, and movies all the time.
Nobody remembers every push-up, or applauds every practice session. Nobody cheers while the hero studies manuals or folds laundry.
But without those scenes…
…the hero isn’t ready when the adventure begins.
SuperMell is no different than any other hero. Apparently my training montage included more naps than Rocky’s.
This Mission Log is a little different.
It’s less of an essay and more of a journal.
I wanted to record this week exactly as it happened because someday I know I’ll forget how much preparation happened before the adventure officially began.
Sunday
I decided to read through the tentative offer letter for the job I will be starting… someday. After reading through the job description I realized there were some things I didn’t quite know how to do. It would also be helpful to figure out what to review from my Lean Six Sigma course. I decided to write down a list of these things, and, with the help of my trusty AI, came up with a game plan to learn these things.
I also did the rest of the cleaning chores I didn’t get to the day before. In order to be prepared, I wanted to start the week off as normal as a work week would be, so I scheduled the learning blocks per day. I also decided to change my wake-up time to 7:00 a.m., just an hour before my regular time. There was an assumption on this day I might be starting early August, which would happen on the next Tuesday due to the approaching long weekend.
The plan was to relax a bit. Learn some new skills. Get into a healthy daily routine.
It sure seemed simple enough. Could I do it? Time will tell, I suppose.
Sunday’s rating: A
Monday
I woke up at seven in the morning as planned. The first order of business was writing down a list of everything I wanted to accomplish that day. By this point, it had already become part of my morning routine. This has become part of the task-block system I wrote about in Momentum Is My Superpower, and it’s amazing how quickly it has become second nature.
One thing I realized after reading the job description was that I needed to become familiar with CorelDRAW. A quick YouTube comparison with Illustrator gave me confidence that the learning curve wouldn’t be nearly as steep as I’d imagined.
Then I checked my email and continued to monitor it for any news from the new job. I decided to clean out my fridge and throw out the trash. The next thing I did was get groceries. Then I took a break.
My next goal was to start using the LinkedIn Learning website to learn how to use QuickBooks, as this is the program the company uses and I had no prior knowledge about it. This course had five chapters to it. I did the first chapter today. This also seems simple to understand. Then I had a rest.
I continued to keep the place tidy, putting things away, or loading the dishes into the dishwasher, wiping down the counter, and so on.
Monday’s rating: B+.
Tuesday
Again, I woke up at seven as scheduled, though took a bit to get out of the bed. No worries.
Tuesday’s goals were even more simpler than Monday’s. I was to finish two chapters of the QuickBooks course, and continue to tidy. But first I felt compelled to write. So I wrote a blog post about an unexplored Emotional Cartography character: The Watcher. Then I took a break.
During this break I suddenly heard a loud crash. Another picture fell from the Command strips that don’t seem to hold. This time the frame broke. Last week I had a larger frame fall down that is heavy, but it didn’t break. I decided to take down the rest of the pictures as I had no confidence in these strips and will be using nails. While I was cleaning up the remnants of this frame, I discovered by accident that it was glass and not plastic. I cut my thumb a little on the tip. D’oh!
After my extended break was done, I started working on chapter two. It’s hard to take notes with a bandaged thumb on my writing hand. I wound up taking a break in-between the chapter two and three — and wound up falling asleep on the couch in the process. Again, no worries. I really needed the extra nap. After, I went on to chapter three.
The tidying at this point has become so routine it almost doesn’t need to be mentioned. I’ve gotten into the habit of putting the dishes away and wiping down the counter, putting the pop cans in the recycling bag, and so on.
I scooped some ice cream and started feeling some pain on the side of my thumb, which was bandaged. I assumed it was just the tightness of the bandages.
Tuesday’s rating: B-
Wednesday
I had some issues sleeping the night before and wound up sleeping in a while. My thumb still throbbed, so I felt it was fine to get the extra sleep. I took off the bandaid first thing, saw the cut on the tip of my thumb was very small, almost like a paper cut. But there was a noticeable swelling starting to show up on the side of my thumbnail. It looks like it might be paronychia… Great.
This day’s goals were the same as the day before. Finish up the QuickBooks Online Essentials course. Keep up with the tidying. Prepare myself for a mock interview with my job coach scheduled for Thursday. Seemed simple enough.
I continued to monitor my emails throughout the week. I got a response about a couple of questions I asked about the proposed job offer letter, and she let me know the person who currently has my job will be leaving mid-September, but will stay to help train me. However, no confirmed date or offer letter I needed to sign yet.
I finished the course this day with a couple of hours in-between the two chapters. Again, I took another nap. I think the instructor for the course needed to be a little more interesting because I was feeling the need to nap in-between chapters. I still completed the course, albeit a little late in the evening.
House also still being maintained.
After all that, I was still wiped out, so I decided to do the mock interview prep in the morning.
Wednesday’s rating: B+
Thursday
Hmmm… Swelling is still there, and is almost looking purplish. It’s also sore. Should I be worried? Everything I read online suggests it goes away on its own, but to clean it a couple times a day by soaking it in warm water for 15 minutes. So I’ve been doing that.
After checking my email again, I reread the interview prep questions and answers document I had made for the new job. This time I decided not to overdo it because I know myself and how I handle these situations. Really, I was just shaken by the bad interview I had back in May. But I wasn’t as prepared for that as I am now.
Then I headed out to the job coach appointment. We decided not to do the mock interview as the job was essentially mine, and just went over a few things. I started thinking the day before I might require some new clothes as I don’t have much that I would consider business casual. I mentioned this to the job coach, and, long story short, they have a program for that! It may take a while before I can get in it due to the demand being fairly high, but we filled out the paperwork.
After that I had lunch and got a couple of groceries I wasn’t able to get on Monday — or completely forgot about. Then I came home and… yeah… I had another nap. For three hours this time.
As I finished the course the day before, today’s goal was to review some key concepts from the Lean Six Sigma course I took last year. Done and done.
Still no word on job start date… The waiting still feels very different than it did when I wrote The Future Just Knocked. Back then, hope had returned. This week, I was learning what to do with it. I’m still keeping up the place and ran the dishwasher as it was full.
Thursday’s rating: B
Friday (Today)
Swelling is still present. It kind of looks like a blister now. Still taking care of it as per internet’s suggestion. If it’s still here tomorrow morning, I might go and see a pharmacist to see if there’s anything that can remove it. It doesn’t hurt as much but looks like a purplish bruise/burn blister now. I think it might have happened when I scooped the ice cream and my thumb was bandaged up from the cut. I still love it though.
Today I reviewed the seven wastes and how to identify them in a process. These skills will come in handy.
Through advisement from my job coach, I sent her some examples of the style I’m looking for in the clothes, and she gave me a budget of the items must be under $50 each. I said I prefer shopping for clothes in person rather than online so these were just examples to see about the funding.
Then I found myself bored. All tasks for the day had been completed, and done early. So I decided to write this post. At the end of the day before the long weekend, I still don’t know when my start date is. If this keeps up, I’ll have to figure out what to do with myself until that start date is confirmed.
Friday’s rating: A+
The Montage Nobody Sees
The idea is that I start working — whenever that happens to be — feeling like I’ve done everything humanly possible to prepare myself for starting this new job.
I wanted to record for myself how I chose to spend this time so I remember. I’ve accomplished quite a lot in a short amount of time. There is still more to review from LSS and I will continue to do that in the next couple of days, off and on.
I’m sure when I look back in time in a year, I might think to myself that I didn’t do much to change before the job started. That’s how my brain works. A post like this one might seem boring to some, but it’s necessary for me. I want to remember that I did a lot to prepare myself for this new role — probably more than was required of me.
No one told me I had to do any of this. I elected to do it myself.
A few weeks ago I probably wouldn’t have believed I’d be voluntarily spending my waiting period learning new software and reviewing course material. That all began when I decided to start Going Anyway.
Besides, I needed something to do. I had to put in pin on the wall decorating, as I will need a stud finder. I don’t want any more sudden crashes — that I can’t blame on Diana.
Future Me,
If you’re reading this a year from now, don’t tell yourself you “just started the job.”
Remember this week.
Remember the courses.
Remember the notes.
Remember the routines.
Remember that you chose to become ready long before anyone asked you to.
If you’re reading this in the future, I hope you remember that none of this felt extraordinary while it was happening. That’s exactly why I wanted to write it down.
Diana’s Training
Diana wakes up at the first chirping from birds every day. She immediately gets a couple of nom-noms before beginning her morning patrol at the only window blind I keep open 24-7 in the creative studio. Every bird, squirrel, and passing neighbour is logged in her imaginary report before my alarm even sounds.
Once her supervisory duties are complete, she settles in for one of her legendary naps. If her human is doing something physical, like tidying, she immediately puts on her supervisor cap and follows me around. It’s great that she’s on top of things.
If her human looks a little frazzled, her duty to become a lap cat immediately kicks in. She reminds me I need to take breaks. A lot of them. I think I get my napping skills from her, actually.
She’s the purr-fect teacher.
Final Thought
My first day hasn’t arrived yet.
The cape is still hanging in the closet.
The mission briefing hasn’t started.
But somewhere between learning QuickBooks, reviewing Lean Six Sigma, keeping my apartment tidy, and imagining what this next chapter might become…
I realized something.
Maybe this wasn’t waiting after all.
Heroes don’t become heroes when the movie reaches the climax.
Maybe…
This was the training montage.
What’s your training montage?
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