This is Raymond Mar. It's been a long time since I blogged a self-interview on myself. I was inspired after hearing an interview with an owner on the current state of his business on the radio. I pretend 60 Minutes' correspondent Bob Simon is interviewing me. I know Simon is an international correspondent. I like his voice.
The blog entry is unedited for grammar and content. 60 Minutes is represented by "60M" and I'm represented by "RM".
Introduction
60M: We are interviewing Raymond Mar, a gentlemen who's living life one day at a time. He has been searching for a job. While doing that, he continues to get better, get stronger, get smarter, and improve his life. Life without a job is okay he said. He's ready to make his own choices. There's so much he wants to do. He's waiting for a little luck and timing in his favor. We sit down with Mr. Mar to tell us the state of Raymond Mar.
Interview
60M: You wanted to interview in Oct.
RM: Yeah, I did. Oct. was a bad month. I felt gloomy and almost depressed. Then I felt happier in late Oct. Then I started to feel terrible and I got sick in mid Nov. I feel better now. The optimism and friendly attitude are back.
60M: How did you make yourself feel better?
RM: I went back to my basics. I remembered I was a human being. I read my daily rules for living. I read my top 30 blogs; in particular, remembering to appreciate people close to you. Christmas is coming so good timing to give gifts. I'm unemployed, yet I find a few bucks to buy gifts.
And getting sick helped, too, because I was able to reset my life. It was like taking a vacation from job searching. Refocus and regroup.
I even made some daily changes now and for the rest of the year.
60M: What are the changes?
RM: One change, and it's a big change, is to focus on job searching, taking care of the house including cooking, and going to the gym on weekdays. On weekends, I enjoy life with pleasure. It's like I'm working full time at a job. Business Mon to Fri and pleasure Sat and Sun. My goal is a consistent life schedule. Not routine. Consistent.
Another change piggy backs the business and pleasure lifestyle which is sleeping earlier so I can wake up early in the morning the next day. I prepare myself just in case I find a job soon.
Another change is keeping in touch with all the people in my life. I'm not a Facebook fan for the reason of some people posting spam updates. I want to find more time to check my Facebook to see how everyone I know is doing. I check Twitter daily. I should check Facebook more often.
I'm also changing my email address. I created a gmail account. I inform everyone on my address book my new email address soon. Likewise for my job searching. I created another gmail account to communicate with everyone I send resumes and cover letters.
60M: How's the job search going?
RM: Frustrating and optimistic. I know I find a job soon. I rewrote my cover letter and made minor updates to my resume in July. Since then, I interviewed at five companies. At the beginning of the year, I interviewed just twice. I must be doing something right for the higher success rate.
The economy continues to be slow. Companies want to hire someone with background experience and recent job experience. There are millions of workers like myself who need a chance. Give us a chance and we're going to do a good job.
60M: Your last job interview you experienced a key moment in your life. What was it?
RM: I experienced another grown up moment. The employees were loose, joking around, having fun, smiling, yet they were mature. They were shaking hands and patting each other on the backs. Everyone began in a friendly way in conversations. I tell you that workplace is a dream such that everyone wants to work there.
By the way, I wrote a blog on that moment. Readers can read the blog
Growing Up Part 2.
60M: You want to be a person more lose, more fun, less serious?
RM: I do. That key moment was like I raised a life level. I want to have a good personality. I want to do a better job being a "there he is" instead of a "here I am."
I lived a serious life when I was in my 20s. I have been changing my personality loosening up. I'm still mature, and I'm serious when the moment calls for it. Life has been much better being more lose, more open, smiling, joking around, and sarcasm. I'm improving my small talk skills and starting conversations with new people. Shaking hands, eye contact, smiling, listening. Giving appreciation and recognizing achievements are important, too. I want to live a life like those employees.
I remember doing all this back in late 2008. It's all coming back to me now. So yes, the changes I mentioned earlier and the key moment all started from that last job interview.
60M: There is so much you want to do. What do you mean by that?
RM: It's time for me to have a life. I have a limited life living at home with my parents. My parents are neither the best parents nor the worse parents in the world. They live a routine life with very little excitement. They're not interested in change. If you give them a life changing improvement on a silver platter, they're not going to take it. Don't count them out, though. They do succeed in emergencies or situations requiring helping others.
Living in an environment where I can't cook new foods, living in an environment with junk and clutter everywhere, and little communication, the house sucks my life away. My parents, sadly speaking, take their life for granted. They try their best live an active life and staying focus. I feel they can do more. I encourage them to have an active life style physically, mentally, and emotionally using me as an example how I live. They don't notice most of the time. What's keeping me smiling is optimism. One day I'm going to find a job, move out, and live my life.
60M: You live a life in the present and the future.
RM: I do. I believe in living in the present, living for the moment. I also live for my future. Some of the activities I do are for my future. I do physical activity such as hiking and going to the gym to stay fit. Use it or lose it. I want to stay healthy all the way to my senior years. My grandmother lived past her 90s. I want that. And her mind was sharp, at least above average, for a 90+ year old person. I want that, too. I read books and I have a desire to learn something new. I like to play puzzle games on my smart phone and board games with my friends.
I believe in having people in my life. I always meet new people and make new friends. People are important in life. I hate to say this: my parents have no friends. I don't want to live a life with no friends. I always have the mentality of keeping people in my life. Having said that, that's another reason why I find more time to visit Facebook to read, like, and comment on my Facebook friends' status updates.
I seek to visit new places. Sometimes these new places are once in a lifetime. I do it. Memories are important and precious in a human being. I feel a good person lives a good life creating memories, new memories, big memories. I look forward to new experiences and adventures for more memories as I continue to live my life one day at a time.
60M: You recently discovered the CCC or C cube or C^3. What does that mean?
RM: The three C's stands for Control, Consistency, and Choices. Order of the C words doesn't matter. I believe a good person can control more share of his or her life, live consistency, and make his or her own choices. I'm going to write a blog on CCC so I elaborate CCC at a later date. In the meantime, control your daily life, get stuff done on a consistent basis, and make good choices, then you're going to have a good life.
60M: Was going back to school to earn an AA in Accounting after your contract was terminated back in 2008 worth it?
RM: I'm going to prepare a self-interview sharing my experiences, telling my life lessons I learned, finding more about myself, and expressing my feelings at another interview. In short, my answer is yes.
60M: You could have not went back to school, and, instead, use the time to find a job and/or take job training classes.
RM: Again, I learned more about myself and more about life going back to school. I learned accounting. I experience new experiences and went on new adventures I can't get from a textbook.
I believe everyone should have a do-over, a mulligan. I used my life mulligan going back to school. I promised myself to correct the mistakes I did when I went to San Jose State as an undergraduate. I met new people, made new friends, and did stuff I should have done when I was in my 20s. The experience going back to school in class and out of class was satisfactory.
60M: What are you plans if you don't get a job before the end of the year? I know there's less than a month remaining?
RM: I look into taking some classes in statistical software programs I see from job openings. I watch some YouTube tutorials on Office to keep my knowledge refreshed. I have no plans going back to school. I feel going back to school is a waste of time and money. I rather use the money towards a specific job skill.
60M: Where do you see yourself in the future?
RM: To quote Steve Jobs, “You can’t connect the dots looking forward . . . trust that the dots will somehow connect in your future.” I don't know where I'm going, what I do, when I move out, how I succeed, who are still part of my life and who are the new people I meet, and why. I trust myself what I do today and what I have been doing since the day I realized I must grow up lead me to my next success.
60M: Is 2012 a good year for you?
RM: I don't give myself reviews on good years and bad years. My short answer is 2012 is all right.
60M: What do you want to tell the world?
RM: I'm ready to join the world of many adults living their own life.
