Why you should not call it a year-end review

It was my first year-end review. I was not sure what to expect. I took some time the day and morning before to compile my year accomplishments and highlights, biggest challenges and weaknesses and areas of improvement for 2016. The plan was to meet my boss at Texas T-Bone for dinner and discuss these objectives. A couple of steaks and brief discussion would not take very long, right?

About three and a half hours later, lots of comments and feedback had been shared. My mind was running at 100 miles per hour (just a little faster than the typical 75 mph). I felt overwhelmed, excited, uncertain, frustrated and encouraged throughout the conversation. I was choking among my own flood of emotions.

It did not get easier from there.

My line manager is challenging.
I shall refer to him as "Mr. Manager" throughout this post, as his name is irrelevant. His actions are not. 

He asks the tough questions and expects answers. He seeks collaboration and ownership on projects. Above all, he wants me, as a direct report, to be successful and happy. He knows what drives me. Mr. Manager is a very talented at reading people, understanding them and using that knowledge to hold fruitful conversations. When I first started on his team, I was not sure how it would go. We are both very goal driven and results-oriented. But, besides that, our personalities differ. He is more blunt, outgoing and downright ornery. However, these characteristics combined make an insightful, charismatic leader.

Mr. Manager is one that does not necessarily follow a script. He develops something unique for each employee. He has demonstrated this through actions this first year. He also discussed it as we began our discussion of our year-end review.

What do you train for? I train for life.

Today, I walked into the YMCA as usual. My Blender Bottle and iPhone in hand, focused and ready to go. Today was an arm and shoulder day, one of my recent favorites. I started with some stretches and warm up movements to get my arms prepped and noticed a young man in his teens and a 20-something, athletic man heading over to do some arms workouts with dumbbells. The 20-something walks over and says "hello", since I had seen him a few days before. I suspected he was one of the personal trainers with the Y, but had no confirmation of that until today.

We all continued with our routines and about a half hour later, the trainer approaches me.

"What are you training for?" I replied, "Nothing really, just life."

He seemed dumbfounded at my response. I have considered training for a body building competition as a bikini or figure competitor, but have not made the plunge yet. Nonetheless, the fact that I was doing supersets of heavier weights and circuit training for "life" seemed odd to him.

If you follow me on Instagram or Twitter, you know I enjoy weight lifting much more than cardio. It's more challenging and I feel more active and accomplished when I finish a good session. The important thing to note about fitness though is I have not always been good at it. It has taken time, practice and training.

Let's compare fitness to work.

It's easy to get stuck in a rut. You may go to work every day, have the same tasks and problems to solve, work with the same associates over and over, and maybe feel like no progress is being made. For me, this past week was extremely trying and tiring. I am still new to the territory and my customers and there is a lot to learn. What happens when I give up? Do I move forward? Doubt it. The training I had this summer helped prepare me for where I am now, but I am still training. Everyone could classify himself or herself as in training because it does not stop once you get a job, get married, have a child, move across the country, etc. It is a continuous process.

Not every day or week is going to be a good training session. You might sweat or cry. However, if you remember you are training for YOUR LIFE and what you want it to be, don't you think it's worth it?

What are you training for right now that you can make a small change to make it easier for you, simpler in nature or more fun? Try something new and see what you can do.

Here is a video of something new I tried today. I could not do it for very long though after an already intense shoulder session! The trainer said I was in beast mode when he saw me doing them. :) I only did it for about 5 minutes in all honesty. But, you have to start somewhere!

No longer a trainee; soon to be a Nebraska Cornhusker.

Sometimes, I question where time goes. It seems like yesterday when I first received my offer as a Developmental Sales Representative (DSR) with Syngenta. Almost exactly one year ago from today, I accepted to start a new adventure in agricultural sales. My spring semester at Ohio State accelerated just as quickly and June 16th was upon me in an instant.

From June to now, I have learn many things. One of the most important concepts I grasped has been how to continue learning. I had the opportunity to not just work in Ohio and Indiana, but also travel the country to some of Syngenta's other facilities in North Carolina, Minnesota, and Tennessee. The group of 21 DSRs have been "drinking from a fire hose" these past few months to understand not just the company and processes behind our innovations, but how our retail customers and local growers are implementing them. The biggest obstacle I faced was feeling I wasn't learning enough as quickly as I needed to be.