Episode 36 - The Pause

Sometimes the most powerful move isn’t forward — it’s stopping long enough to see how far you’ve come. This episode is about reflection, checking your direction, and making sure the grind still aligns with your purpose. Progress means nothing if it’s leading you somewhere you never meant to go.

Transcript

SPEAKER_01 0:01

You have all these things going on. You have all this potential. During the right race, you're working. No, you're working hard.

SPEAKER_00 0:12

Trying to achieve that goal. Then you finally achieve that goal. You see you got some PTO stacked up. You go ahead and use that PTO with yourself about a week two weeks three.

SPEAKER_01 0:24

And then at that moment, once you put your email on out of office and your phone, D D, you know, you talk to your close friends or family. The momentum stops. When that momentum stops, you take the time to reflect on where you are. Take the time to reflect on where you've been, and you take the time to reflect on where you're headed. This is what I call the pause. Everything for you stops. And for me, these moments are the best moments.

SPEAKER_00 1:10

You know, you're just focused on the goal and trying to achieve whatever your aim is for.

SPEAKER_01 1:16

So you're constantly moving, never stopping, and the only time you're stopping is when you're going to sleep. Other than that, still working, still studying, still practicing, still doing everything you can to be the best that you can do. And then when you finally give yourself that break, that's when you get that time to reflect. And then after that assess, where you need to be to get where you want to go. And what you need to do to get where you want to go. So all this is very important. Are you taking the time to relax and sit and look at everything that you've done so far? And if you're still headed towards that path that you always wanted to go towards, you need to do these things.

SPEAKER_00 2:29

Because otherwise, you're just stuck in this rat where you're stuck in this constant mode of working without actually seeing where you're at and judging your progress. You need to be able to judge your progress so you know exactly where you're headed and what you need to do to improve it. And if you're at a point where you're not trying to improve your progress and you're trying to stay stagnant and you know stay where you are, not in a negative way, not in a judgmental way, but you know you're comfortable.

SPEAKER_01 2:57

You're in a good space, then that's fine. Take inventory and see if you're still able to do that. If you're still able to do that, cool.

SPEAKER_00 3:07

But if you're sitting there and you want to achieve more and you want to do more, then you need to sit there and go over everything and see what it is that you're doing that's good, what it is that you need to work on, and then see how far you are with your progress.

SPEAKER_01 3:24

Are you where you want to be? Is there still some time for you to go and do what you need to do to get to where you want to go? Is this just a pit stop or is this the end? Is this the finish line? Which one is it? For me, I uh I pause and reflect. Typically, you know, when life events happen.

SPEAKER_00 3:56

So like while I was working at Walgreens, I didn't really take the time to pause and reflect because I was in goal mode. The only time that I actually took the time to pause and reflect was when, you know, uh I went on paternity leave. And then I was able to take care of my son, help my wife, and uh the times where I was uh able to get to myself, I would take that time to see where I'm at and see what I want to do. And at that point, I had realized, okay, I'm about to finish school soon. So I need to make more money, and I don't want to continue to just be a shift lead. I want to do more and make more money. So, what do I need to do? So then I'm like, okay, well, let's look at the options. I could stay at this store, be a shift lead, and hopefully be an ESM one day, and then uh do that, or if I had to, I can go to another store and be an ESM and be an assistant manager and make more money over there. It's like I didn't know exactly what I was gonna do. I just knew the path that I was gonna go. I could just try to be promoted to an ESM. And then besides that, I was still looking at other jobs as well, saying, like, if I leave out this thing, shouldn't go somewhere else, and I can get my degree to give me a better paying job somewhere.

SPEAKER_01 5:14

So that's what I did. I just took inventory.

SPEAKER_00 5:19

And then once I got back from paternity leave, you know, you already have your plan at this point. You're like, okay, so what I'm gonna do, I'm gonna try to be an assistant manager now that I got this degree and get a promotion and stuff like that. I get back and I find out that they uh gave the position to someone else who said they didn't want the position in the first place a long time ago.

SPEAKER_01 5:37

But you know, things can change, people can change. So then when that happens, it's like, oh, okay. So I'm kind of in this tough spot where I'm stuck as a shift lead with no upward mobility, and I'm kind of stuck. So what can I do at that point? And that was like, well, I still want to be promoted and I still want to try this position, so if I gotta leave, so be it. So that's what I did. I found another store, applied, had interviews, did good on the interviews, then I got promoted. I got where I needed to go. So in the end, I ended up getting that promotion.

SPEAKER_00 6:23

I ended up getting a job. It just wasn't ideal to where I wanted it to be. Because if I got it where I wanted it to be, then you know it would have been right where I was, where it's literally like 15 minutes from my house. But this position was literally an hour, hour 10 from my house. But even though it'd be an hour, hour 10 away, it's just that opportunity of actually being assistant store manager and getting paid more, where it's like, well, you know, the ends justify the means.

SPEAKER_01 6:52

So if uh if this is the role I gotta take in order to get this uh opportunity, then you know, as a family, we just have to make that sacrifice and try to make it work. And in the end, that's what we did. And it all worked out.

SPEAKER_00 7:12

Now, of course, at that point, you know, you're focused on work, and it doesn't take me that long to think of exit plans, to be honest. Uh even with that being said, I could think of an exit plan, but not be fully on to leave. Just that, you know, just in case you want to know what you could do and where you would be headed. So that's something that I always do. And uh the plan was potentially to be a store manager and move up to being that. So it was well actually the first six months was really just getting the experience and trying to be the best assistant manager that I could. And then at that point, I was like, okay, so I want to work towards being a store manager, and I still got my degree, so if I can get an IPN job, other than that, then you know I'll go towards that too. It just depends. But even then looking at that, I was like, I could stay here, I'm comfortable, I'm in a good spot. But also, you know, if I want to make more money, I'm not gonna make more money doing retail. So it's like uh I might need to look outside my industry to try to find something else that's better that'll pay more. And in the end, you know, um, I did stay at Walgreens for a while. And, you know, um I did everything I needed to do, did all my qualifications, and at that point, all I need to do is take the pharmacy test, and then, you know, I could be an assistant, I could be a store manager.

SPEAKER_01 8:45

And I never got that opportunity. And that's because I went into a different industry and got a new job that paid more. So that's where we're at right now. And I've been there for about it'll be two months next week. Two months.

SPEAKER_00 9:06

And you know, it's uh with me anytime there's a new job, it's always the same situation, same dynamics. You know, when I get there, people already feel a certain way about me, even before I really do anything. And it's not even because I'm like an asshole and I talk to people negatively, it's usually something else. But I never actually know what that thing is, it's just that people treat me differently.

SPEAKER_01 9:32

But even then, it's the same process, it's always that happens. I work hard, earn my falls, uh try to excel at my work. Then it chills out a little bit. Now you may have those people that still dislike you, but they can't really stop for momentum. They can try. There's nothing really they can do except be annoyed. So I move along with the same ideas and the same process everywhere I go. Same dynamics, doesn't matter. Um, how well you try to be in your first impression, it happens. So, you know, that's where I'm at right now.

SPEAKER_00 10:21

But nonetheless, you know, it took me taking that time to pause and really think about everything to really know what I want to do. And with my son being here, the time I took the pause was really like during the summer, during his birthday, that was like the perfect time because, you know, we're celebrating his first birthday, and you know, I'm asking for those days off so I can be in my family. So I asked for those days off, we celebrate his first birthday, and while I get to celebrate with him and make sure him and my wife have a good time, I'm also in the background looking at options and what I can and can't do. Because sometimes when you're in the throes of working, you don't really have the time or mental capacity to be able to look at your career and what you can and can't do and where you should apply and where you shouldn't apply. You just don't have the capability or capacity. But when you have those days off where you can actually sit back, relax, take some time, and then look at your situation, those are the times that you want to do it.

SPEAKER_01 11:27

So that's when I did it. And then at that point, you know, I have been applying to jobs in this new industry for well, how long was it? Actually, I think I started like in January, maybe. Just applying to places.

SPEAKER_00 11:54

You know, I was getting I was still getting emails and calls saying over interested in this and that. So, you know, that was happening.

SPEAKER_01 12:03

I was getting momentum. It was okay. And then uh once I did that, I was still working in Walgreens, still making it work.

SPEAKER_00 12:15

But just that now I have Walgreens, I had gotten to a point where it wasn't hard anymore, and I had gotten to a groove where I was I had a system on how I do things. So it made things a lot easier. So work wasn't really working anymore. It was just like, okay, routine, this is what we're doing today. We're doing this, we're doing that, okay. We're gonna do this and we're gonna do that. And you know, it just uh it happened that way.

SPEAKER_01 12:38

I got used to it. And then um, you know, got rejected a few times, and then once I got to uh March, got rejected again, and I continued working at Walgreens.

SPEAKER_00 12:56

But then uh, you know, I had good interviews, I didn't have bad interviews, besides that one with Dan Hyder to Book, but he was trying me.

SPEAKER_01 13:04

And in that moment, I mean what could I do? I couldn't really do anything about it. I felt how I felt. So I was passionate about what I was talking about, and that's how it came out.

SPEAKER_00 13:19

Um, and it probably would have been a bad deal anyway, even if I would have been making 90k, uprooting my family while my son is barely turning one to New York and not even like the city of New York, but like upstate New York in the country.

SPEAKER_01 13:35

Probably would have been kind of crazy. I'm just saying, nonetheless.

SPEAKER_00 13:40

Um I end up getting uh email from the same company that rejected me months later, and this is around the same time where I'm about to take my pharmacy exam so I can become a store manager. So, you know, it's like uh you're in two situations now. You can either stay at Walgreens and try to be a store manager and you know make whatever it is, probably like 50, 60k a year, maybe max 70, but more than likely they weren't gonna give you no 70. So you know, make that and then you know, hope through the years with you know salary increases and stuff like that, you can make more potentially. But you'll never break 100K, I'm pretty sure, unless you're a district manager. So it's capped. Or, you know, I can go to the new industry where you know I had a good interview, the start-off pay is more than what I'm getting as an assistant store manager, and uh the amount of pay that you can make long term potentially is more if you stay within the industry and move up.

SPEAKER_01 14:46

So at that point, it's like okay, well, money potentially I can make more. The only thing is, just like uh Wall Grange, it was an hour away, maybe an extra five, ten minutes, but you know, it's more than an hour drives. Yeah, at this point, I'm like, well, if I'm making more money, if it's more than an hour drive, I'll take it.

SPEAKER_00 15:14

Because then again, the short-term sacrifice of having to drive longer just to go to this job uh doesn't outweigh the long-term benefits of getting paid more, getting bonuses, and potentially staying in the industry and making more money by moving up in this industry. So, you know, um had that interview, did well, and ended up getting the offer. So that's where we are now. Now, of course, you know, you go from being a manager to being a regular associate, so that's an adjustment. But for me, it's not really hard because one thing I can do and always willing to do is follow. Yeah, learn to follow before you learn to lead. I can definitely follow. I don't mind being a lead, but I don't like being a lead while not being equipped with the tools to be able to handle whatever situation arises. Um and it's not like I can't do it in general. I've been a supervisor in many different places. It's just in a new industry, if I don't know all the rules and regulations and how to do everything, how am I gonna leave someone to do the right thing if I don't even know myself, you know, fully what the right thing to do is?

SPEAKER_01 16:28

I haven't been in this industry in like two, three years. Things might have changed. You know? So um I did that and that's got me where I'm at now.

SPEAKER_00 16:43

And I'm saying this to say, you know, it's uh it's all due to reflection, looking back at where you are and looking to where you're headed and trying to, you know, make that a thing. Set your goal and try to achieve your goal. I always try to do that, and I would say um the majority of the time, any goals that I have, I do end up getting them.

SPEAKER_01 17:04

They just never happen the way that I expect them to. Yeah. They never happen the way I expect them to, and there's always caveat.

SPEAKER_00 17:15

But in the end, I do always end up getting to where I'm trying to go. It's just not the path that I thought I was gonna go on. For you, you just need to stay focused on what your goal is and what you want to do. And this just doesn't have to be work, it could be life in general. Take inventory on what you want to do, where you want to go, what makes you happy. If you see that you're not in the situation where you're able to do those things, then take the steps to adjust your life so you can do whatever it is that makes you happy and um you know put you in a place to achieve whatever goals you're setting.

SPEAKER_01 17:52

Reflections are very important. They're very, very important. I'm just cast on and this is Harvey so