Cherney’s Life Story

Just about a full week under my belt, in regards to my return to Eugene.

Within that time, I have had a lot of fun catching up with friends. .  playing frisbee. .  eating yummy food. . and enjoying the life I have been given.

Now that the weekend is just about here, I get to come back to reality.  Work starts on Monday, and so does everything else that goes along with it.  I can take comfort in the knowledge that my time there is only on a short leash.  It makes going in that much easier, and at the same time that much harder.  This is a topic for a whole different post, so I am going to move on to other things.

I was able to complete the task I set out to do this week.  I wanted to create a cover letter for potential future jobs.  I left out a majority of the fine details, as I wanted to make it look personalized for each applications.  Drafting something that looks personalized, but is also standard boilerplate is a skill all on its own. In addtion to this, I got the ball rolling for my letter of recommendation from my boss.  I just need to send him a few details, and I should be good to go.

It did a quick walk around the building the other day to see how everything was looking.  It looked like all is well, and that was great to see.  I also noticed that they, the installers I hired, installed some drop down projectors in a few classrooms.  These additions will be much appreciated by the students.  I know that they make a big difference for me in the classroom, it is safe to assume that they will do the same for them.   I’m happy to see some of my vision in action.  I feel like I contributed to some of these kids education.

I’m not really sure where next week is going to take me.  I could be at work all day, I might go to the beach, I might visit Portland, I might go to Seattle. .  hell, I might go to Vancouver BC.  In many ways this is a good feeling.  I like the idea of not having it planned out at the moment.  It feels like vacation that way.

It may seem like I live an exciting life, from all my traveling and all. ..   but it so often feels like I don’t.   I wake up each morning follow the same routine.  Run (for fun) :), work, school, dinner, read, maybe play.   I think the routine is what kind of makes me bored.  I could break it, but then what would I do?

I took some sort of personality test when I was in France.  It said that I am a person who likes to reflect on stuff, and also likes to take things to action.  I don’t enjoy doing things if they don’t have a purpose that I can’t clearly see.  I also learned that my personality is focused more on enjoying the fine details than the creative side of life.

This info is all fine and good, but then explain why I don’t like and get bored with the fine details???  I might be good at it, but I want something else to fill my mind.

I might be one of the most complex people out there.  The simple stuff doesn’t always do it, nor does the complex.  I fit somewhere in the middle.  I don’t like to be stressed out, and I don’t think that I function well under it.  At the same time, I like to have goals, plans, and time lines.  My motivation comes from within, it doesn’t come from others.  However, I seem to enjoy having a mentor, and coaches in my life.  I don’t know. .   I just don’t know.

Have a great weekend everyone, I don’t know when I will write again.  It could be tomorrow, it could be on Monday.  Keep your eye out for my next post.  I could be good.

Have you ever heard of the term, neo classical economics?

This is the term we use for modern day economics.  Basically, everything you hear, read, and learn about is based on neo classical principles.  I will not bore you with all the details, just know the term.

I bring this up, because I learned a new type of economics a few weeks ago, and I am now converted over to it.  It is called, ecological economics.

You might ask me, “what is the difference?”  To that, I say. . good question.  Here is one of the major differences between the two.  After you read them, I have a feeling you too will become a ecological economist.

Neo classical’s believe that the economy can grow through the sale of products and services.  The more we sell, the bigger the economy becomes.  (I believe this too.)  The problem comes in the constraint.  They consider the environment as part of the economy.  Draw a big red circle, then draw a smaller blue circle inside it.  The blue is the environment.  So, as the red circle gets bigger. . the environment still stays part of the economy, it doesn’t really grow.  Only the red circle is getting bigger as we sell more stuff.

Ecological economist’s see the situation as just the opposite.  Imagine the big red circle is the environment, and the little blue circle within is the economy.  This sound very similar, until we talk about growth.  The environment is static, it doesn’t grow.  We only have one environment, one world.  The economy, on the other hand, can grow.  That little blue circle can grow to be as large as the red circle, but never bigger.

The problem is this.  As the blue circle gets bigger, there is less red circle area.  Thus, less natural resources for the economy to gorw.  You see, the economy needs natural resources (the environment) to grow.  This capital can come from tree, fish, water, land, air. . etc. etc. .   When you use it all up, the economy can not grow.  What is even scarier, when all the natural capital is used up. .  life as we know it will change.

If you don’t have wood, how can you build?  If you don’t have clean water, what will we drink?   I think you get the point.

At our current rate of growth and consumption, we are using more than what our planet can produce.

Yeah, I said produce.

Our planet is able to take stuff and turn it into other stuff we can use, oil is a great example.  It took millions of years to create the oil we use.  We use it every day, the earth isn’t making it every day.  Perhaps, you get the point?

There is a term I learned called sinks and pits, or something like this.  We take from the earth with our pits.  We produce stuff.  When we are finished, we dispose of the waste.  This waste is usually not in a natural form any more, thus it takes EVEN longer for our planet to take it back.  Much of our waste is just that, waste.  We end up with landfills full, and few places to take our trash.  If the earth could take back our trash at the rate we create it, we would be set.

Sadly, it doesn’t.

We are left trying to put more down the sink than the sink can take.  There is an over flow, and we end up with new problems.

——

Really, the more I learn about sustainable business practices. . the more upset I become.  Anywho, here is my post for the day.

I just read a very interesting list of top environmental concerns facing us today. This list comes from the book “Green to Gold”.

Climate Change
Energy
Water
BioDiversity and Land Use
Chemicals, Toxins, and Heavy Medals
Air Pollution
Waste Management
Ozone Layer Depletion
Oceans and Fisheries
Deforestation

I wonder, how is your business or your life contributing to these concerns. I look at this list and wonder, what am I do each day to minimize my impact on the environment. If you really think about it, no matter what you do each day, you are impacting one of these 10 things.

It sort of leads to the question, is it possible to have consumption that is environmentally friendly?

Let’s look at buying food that is organic and sustainable. How did you get that food? Did you drive? You just contributed to global warming if you drove, and air pollution.

Okay, let’s pretend that you rode your bike. Now we are looking at chemicals, toxins and heavy medals.

Perhaps, I am getting a little a head of myself. Lets look at where the greatest impact of some of these products falls.

For a car, you might be surprised to learn that the most environmental waste comes the use of the product. Manufacturing and production, as well as disposable all isn’t all that bad for the environment. (Fundamentally speaking that is.) The majority of the impact of this product comes from the use of it. All the oil, gas, and energy it takes to maintain it. That really is where the greatest impact comes from.

Now, if we look a product like an iPod. Where does most of the pollution come from? This time you are looking at the production of the product. The waste associated with the packaging, manufacturing, and end of life. The use of the product actually doesn’t impact the environment all that much.

So, I go back to my first question. What are you and your business doing that hurts/helps the environment? Are you pushing the waste and harmful impacts to the consumer, or are you taking it on yourself?

I would say, like this book I was reading, that a smart business address these issues at all phases of the product. Your goal should be to reduce these impacts.

For me, I want to work for a company that works on addressing or fixing these issues. I don’t know if one business can fix all of these, but they can be aware, and try to make a difference.

I never really realized how hard it is to be motivated to work on a cover letter to a company that doesn’t exist yet. Let me try to explain that again.

This week my goal is to write a cover letter to a company I would like to apply for. Now, I will not really submit this cover letter, rather, it is for me to just get a jump on things. It is hard to write for something that doesn’t really need attention yet. Until I am ready to start applying for these jobs, this cover letter is just fictional and it is hard to get my heart behind it.

I will, however, have something written at the end of this week though. That is my goal, and it will be accomplished.

I also was planning on updating my resume some more. I figure there is something things I could probably do to make it a little better. Again, it is hard when you don’t know the target audience. I need to do some research on which companies I am interested in, and see what the job requirements they require include. Then try to draft a resume that has some of the same buzzwords.

Doing this whole process is much like a game really. You need to see what you are applying for, and write/draft a document that means the needs that they are looking for, while putting your own little touch of life in the document as well. Neither of which are easy, but the more you try. . the better the result should be.

Wish me luck.

Some days, finding something to write. . or finding the inspiration to write is much easier than other days.

A friend introduced me to a Aussie Meat Pie maker the other day. I need to go check them out now, as they pictures and their story sounds pretty interesting. I love my Aussie pies!

The weather around town has been REALLY freaking hot these past few days, with temps reaching even higher tomorrow. So many people complain about the heat, then they bitch about the cold. I don’t think you can ever please people. If it was moderate, they would say that it is to cold. . or not enough wind. I have to admit, I get tired of hearing people complain about the weather. ti could be SO much worse.

No real big revelations since yesterday. I kind of just did my thing a ling today.

I wish I could write more, I just don’t know what to say.

I learned, or rather, realized when I got back from my trip that I am going to be moving out of Eugene come January. Well, when I finish school that is. It should be in December.

So after a day back in Eugene, life feel like it did before I left. Well, sort of. Obviously things changed around here, but in reality. . nothing really did.

There is a certain comfort knowing, and being back home. Things are simple again, life is easy, and I am surrounded by all that I grew up with. However, I am also left with a feeling in my stomach that I was afraid would surface. I am finding that this town offers comfort and stability, however, there is a feeling of resentment and disappointment here as well.

Here I am, a child from the great state of ND, living in France for 5 weeks. I traveled around Europe on my own. I lived a life that I never did before. There were struggles, there were challenges, there were difficulties that I can’t explain in a blog. But at the same time, I found a new best friend. . learned a new language, found new ways of living, pushed myself to become, and be someone, I never was. I didn’t need a car, I didn’t want one. I could get around just find with the public transportation system. I was able to live a life that I never had, and it was more rewarding than I ever thought.

Yeah, there is a certain sense of disappointment with my hometown. In finding this emotion, I also found an answer to one of my questions. Eugene is not, and will not, be my future. I don’t know where I will land, but the joys of learning and the excitement of struggles are to strong to stay here.

It was hard having to learn a new language, it was tough not being able to speak to people. But I kind of liked the challenge. If I were alone, this probably wouldn’t be the case. . but I wasn’t. I made some really good friends, and they were always there to support me. Now that I am home, all the French I learned might start to be forgotten.

I truly am special, lucky, and very privileged to have had the experience I had. There is no doubt about it.

There is a change in me, and I can feel it. I am more confident, more secure, and more sure of myself. This is a good thing, that no internship this summer would have ever taught me.

Before I left for France I wasn’t sure what I was going to find. There were so many questions I wanted to have answered, things in my life I wanted to figure out. As I sit here, in my apartment, I see that questions I asked were not the right ones. The answers I found, were not to the questions I asked.

I found a new lease for life, and an appreciation for all that which has been given to me.

My time in France, especially my part in Reims, was inspiring. The people I met, the friends I made, helped make clearer all things I must face in my future.

When I left for France, I never spoke of the goal I was striving to reach when I returned. I said that when I returned from journeys, I will take on a new responsibility in my life. I will take that extra step that will separate me from the rest of the pack. I was going to make decisions that would today seem hard, but will take me down the path I believe is correct. When I returned, I was going to set myself up for success in all that I do. No longer will I take the back seat to my life; I will engage in my future through the hardwork of today. There are things I need to accomplish, and things that need to be completed.

Today, I write in my blog a commitment.

There is a new found appreciation for all the good I bring to the table. Seeing the excellence of others, while in France, helped me to align my sights on where I am talented. I might not be the best at any on thing, however, I do understand, more clearly, where my gifts are placed. I always wondered what separated me from the rest of the pack, as I never felt that I was the best at anything. I learned these last 5 weeks what really makes me special, and it is in those skills I need to pay particular attention.

The fortitude in my new found strength will not faultier. I had the chance to speak and learn from so many different people these past few weeks. They confided in me their personal fears, their aspirations, their dreams. Many, as I was surprised to learn, where closely similar to my own. Did the MBA education put these thoughts in our head, or did we always have them? Maybe our education has helped solidify them and brought them to the surface.

There is a conviction in my word today, that I have never felt. Today’s blog is more of a statement, an expression of where I am heading. I woke this morning reborn in many ways. Removed from the foreign environment that I lived in, I can start to understand what I learned. I value greater what I have, who I am, and what it means to be me.

I don’t want to say that I am a leader, a visionary, or anything really outstanding. I am just a young man with a desire to learn, to be molded, to question the process. There is nothing wrong with not knowing, but there is something wrong without having a life plan. If you don’t know where you want to go in the next 5 years, maybe you should ask, “where do you want to end at the end of your career?” Work yourself backwards, maybe then will you find the answers you are looking for.

There was a character from the cartoon Alice in Wonderland, the Cheshire Cat, that said something like, “if you don’t know where you are going, how will you ever know if you are taking a step in the right direction.” You must have a vision or some sort of goal if you are ever going to reach for what you want in life. Otherwise, you are just walking in random directions.

In the coming days, I am going to draft plan that will help me reach all the potential I believe I am capable of. There is so much I want to do, and many things I believe in. I am going to work backwards, and see what I need to do today to reach that point. I need to put myself in a position to succeed, not hinder my natural abilities.

I grew up in France. Like Australia, a new part of my soul was found. I am a better person because of the journey I undertook.

It is time for me to take on the responsibilities that I have shied away from many years of my life. Time to make my career my own, it’s time to be that adult I never wanted to be.