How NOT to burn out while building a cathedral -- by Al

Hey y'all,

Reading back through your spectacular posts, I thing that I've got to help you all find "the balance" in the job. Yeah, it's early and yeah, it's hard. I STRONGLY believe that half the battle is understanding what is expected -- in a manageable way. Know what you are building. Yeah, that's right, think of yourself as a builder. Yeah, a builder -- you're making a cathedral. It's huge, it's daunting, it's difficult. But the only way to build a cathedral is one brick at a time.

One Brick.

At a time.

Try this, forget about the cathedral. You are making a wall. Just a wall. Choose a brick. Look at where it fits in the wall you are trying to build. Study it, learn what you need to about it. How does it fit in the space that is allocated for it? Where will you need to put the most mortar? How are you going to keep it level?

Put it in the wall.

Step back and look at how it fits.

Is it working in that space? Does it need more mortar? More support? Does it need to be built up on one side, or lowered on another? How's the fit? Is it time to move onto the next brick?

You've started building your cathedral. You're somewhere on the first row of the foundation walls. Your walls are are community and internships. With a little luck, you've started projects. Your bricks are initiatives, trips, cold calls, the BG Internship Request system, interest inventory work, the WHO AM I project, etc. Keep your focus on the bricks that make up those walls. Don't look at anything else, yet. Make sure you're building those walls correctly and you're making them strong.

Yeah, you may be asked to look at other walls. Math walls and Regents walls. Attendance walls and Credit walls. Assessment walls and Living Environment walls. Glance at them if you must. Know that you will need to build those walls sometime in the future. But keep building community, internships and projects. It is that triad of walls that will be the foundation of your cathedral.

Yeah, the Guild builds funny looking buildings.

Keep on, y'all. You are each and all doing SPECTACULAR work.

See you on the morrow.

Peace,
Al