Book Talk: The Year of Yes by Shonda Rhimes

Photo by Austin Chan on Unsplash

If you read my introduction post, you'll already know that I'm an avid reader and I'll read almost anything. While fiction is still my go to, I do read a lot of nonfiction as well. After discovering financial independence blogs, my reading list has grown exponentially, and I plan on sharing some of these reads with you. One of my recent reads was The Year of Yes by Shonda Rhimes. Now, this is not about personal finance, but I still found it applicable to my life right now.

This is who I am.
Silent.
Quiet.
Interior.
More comfortable with books than new situations.
Content to live within my imagination.

That quote basically sums me up. I don't like new. New is scary. I worked an awful job for almost a year because I was scared to apply elsewhere and get rejected. Then I got hired at my current job part-time and was scared to apply for the full-time when it became available (I have it now though!) and I was definitely terrified to apply to other departments. But I thought about it a lot. Since then I've applied to other departments several times, and I've never gotten a call back for an interview.

Until now. I finished reading The Year of Yes in the wee ours of Thursday morning. Thursday afternoon, I got a phone call asking "Are you still interested in the position?" YES! My interview is this afternoon. I don't do well in interviews, but this is my chance. I've wanted this position for a long time and now it's closer than ever.

We could all use a little more love.
A lot more love.
I am not a naturally optimistic person. I'm too in my own head to be a constant source of cheer. I have to work at happy. Dark and twisty is where my brain likes to settle. So I can use some reminders of what is good and optimistic and glass-half-full about this world.

I need to think positive. I'm qualified for this position. There has to be a reason they finally called me back after over a year of silence. But in the back of my head, I have this voice telling me that I'm not going to get it. I'm terrible at interviews. I've never gotten a job that I actually had to interview for. If I don't get it, I'm going to look stupid for being excited about getting a call back. That last thought needs to go away. Even if I don't get it this time, I can try again next time. Or maybe something better will open up. Or maybe I'll just have to stay in my current position longer. I like my job, so it's really not the end of the world.

You know what I am?
I am smart, I am talented, I take advantage of the opportunities that come my way and I work really, really hard.
Don't call me lucky.
Call me a badass.

I need this quote to become my life mantra!

This is one rule.
The rule is: there are no rules.
Happiness comes from living as you need to, as you want to. As your inner voice tells you to. Happiness comes from being who you actually are instead of who you think you are suppose to be.
Being traditional is not traditional anymore.

I hope today's interview goes well. The best case scenario is that I finally get this job. The worst case scenario is that I get a little more practice doing interviews, so I'll be more prepared next time.