Ashley Baxter

I'm a 23 year old Director from the West Coast of Scotland. I run a small business, play a lot of video games, eat scones with jam, and wonder why I'm not obese.

So, I’ve Made A Decision

So, I’ve Made A Decision

I’ve been thinking a lot, which isn’t unusual for me seeing as I kind of live inside my head. One of the topics whirring around up there is my job. A lot of this ties into what I talked about last month, about deciding which direction I wanted to take with my career. Even with my 2 week break over the festive period (okay, it might have been a little more than that), at no point did I actually stop thinking about this, about work, and I believe I’ve reached a decision.

I love my job. I don’t know if I always convey that. The thing about social networking, and Twitter in particular, is that everything is documented from the highs to the lows. When I have a bad day, I do give in and bitch about it to 1000+ people. I don’t know why, but it makes me feel better pissing everyone else off with my bad mood. Similarly, when business is going well I won’t hesitate with blowing my own trumpet. The good, the bad, it’s there for everyone to see, but the bottom line is, despite how challenging I can often find my job, and how draining it can sometimes be on my energy, I actually anticipate each day I get to mould the business into exactly how I envision. Not many people can say they eagerly start work every morning. Why I felt I couldn’t do that while also dedicating time to my hobbies escapes me.

So, it may come as no surprise then, that I’ve decided to keep my head down with work and hustle. Growing the business excites me, and seeing how little I turned my mind off from work when I was on holiday says a lot. It also gave me time to explore the possibilities of its future, and I realised how many avenues there are for me to go down. What I’m trying to say is, I love my job, and I really do want to fully dedicate myself to it.

But!

That’s not to say I plan on doing this for the rest of my life. I’m 22 (I can only say that for another couple of weeks), and I still want to experience other ventures. There are many pies, and I have ten fingers — get my drift? So my plan is to really knuckle down with work for the next few years, growing it at a steady rate, investing all my energy into it, eating and breathing the business, and maybe a few years down the line looking at bringing someone in to do my current job, giving me an opportunity to pursue other interests. Perfect.

I’m not one to massively plan or look to the future, but that’s my general idea of where I’m headed, and one I’m feeling comfortable with. I’d still retain control and be involved with ‘my baby’, but I would be freeing up my time to explore other avenues. In my eyes this will mean I’ve struck a perfect balance. Who knows what connections I will have made along the way, or what skills I’ll have developed along the line, or if my interests will have even changed. That’s the beauty of life, but having a vague idea of where I’m going makes me feel better about what I’m currently doing.

This entry was posted on Tuesday, January 12th, 2010 at 3:03 pm and is filed under Work.
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6 Responses to “So, I’ve Made A Decision”

  1. Ross Chapman Says:

    January 12th, 2010 at 5:52 pm

    Nice post Ash!

    Similar here, I’ve been running skysoclear for the past couple of years. Yes, it’s been tough, but I’m determined to get it to where it needs to be and immerse myself in it. Who knows what the future may bring – I don’t know if I’ll be doing web design forever, but I’m certainly enjoying the ride!

  2. Dan Says:

    January 14th, 2010 at 1:02 pm

    Great decision Ash. It’s exactly the one I’d have made in the same situation. At 22 you’re young enough not to get trapped by your directorship. It won’t take over your life, spit you out the wrong side of 40 and leave you thinking “Now what the fuck can I do?”

    You can put all that youthful energy into growing the business and step back by the time you’re 30 having created a company that is self-sustaining (assuming you don’t hire a moron or a crook as MD)

  3. Ashley Says:

    January 14th, 2010 at 1:16 pm

    @Ross Thanks. It’s very important you are enjoying the job you are in now and not solely focusing on the future. Sure, it’s important to make plans to enable the business to grow and to be able to rely on it, but it’s best to not lose sight of the fact that you are happy in your job in the present. Anyway, I’m getting off-topic. Good luck with skysoclear :)

    @Dan It’s comforting to read your comment, and I think you’re right. I was inspired by Spencer Fry’s post, about how he’s not planning on devoting his entire life to Carbonmade, but will move onto other projects and keep things fresh. I think we all have many avenues we want to experience, and hopefully I’ll be lucky enough to be in a position to do that. And I won’t hire a moron! But I am a bit worried there will come a point where I’m so anal about the business that I won’t be able to pass on control o_O P.S. Get your ass to DIBI!

  4. Dan Says:

    January 14th, 2010 at 1:33 pm

    Yeah I can easily see that being a danger. It’s like you spend so long and invest so much effort in something you don’t want to give the reins to someone in case they fuck it up.

    I can see no reason why I wouldn’t be able to attend DIBI. Gotta sort it out with work etc though so they may still find a way to scupper my plans.

  5. Dan Coverdale Says:

    January 15th, 2010 at 8:22 pm

    I envy anybody who can take the reins of a business and see it through the good times and the bad, especially in the current climate. It’s a trait I admire in my bosses, coupled with their commitment to build on something and kick some ass.

    It’d have been easy to take the easy way out and sell up. But I think you’ve done yourself proud :)

    Job satisfaction is something i’ve always strived for, and its taken about 7 years and 5 different companies to find it. And ultimately you’ve the opertunity to really take things forward and make what im sure is already a good business even better.

    Keep reaching for that rainbow!

  6. Ashley Says:

    January 22nd, 2010 at 11:52 am

    @Dan Coverdale Thanks Dan, that means a lot. I’m glad you’ve found a job that satisfies you, and if that ever changes then you know what to do ;)

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