Vancouver Bound

I just finished up the week working at Lake Louise yesterday and now am heading back to Vancouver today. Since I worked this week right up until the Sunday and have to get back to Vancouver for my best friends wedding, I don't have a job lined up for the week. It will be nice to take a few days off to just get myself organized before heading out again in a few weeks. I will tell you more about the end of my week and how the event up at the mountain went when I get back to Vancouver, but for now I got to get out on the road.

-Sean

Beep... Beep... Beep... Beep...

I had a great day up at Lake Louise Resort today. I was working as a ticket scanner; the person who greets you and scans your lift ticket when getting onto a chair lift. Amazing the amount of satisfication that comes with hearing that little beep, reassuring you every few seconds that you are doing a good job! Could I do it for the rest of my life? Probably not, but I realized again how much I like interacting with and meeting new people. It was a lot of fun being in a position like that in which new people are constantly coming through.

It is definitely a work hard, play hard, party even harder mentality up here. With all that I got going on right now, I am trying my best to keep up. Not too sure how well I am doing, though I got to keep in mind that it's the end of the season and so most here have already had close to seven months practice.

I am working here until late Sunday afternoon, and so need to make my way back to Vancouver on Monday somehow. If you have any ideas or know anyone heading that direction, please give me a call.

Tomorrow I will be running around helping out with Spring Episode, the spring wrap up event for the season. I just might have been convinced to enter into the hot dog eating contest, yet we will see if I can overcome the peer pressure. I have never entered an eating contest of any kind before so I guess this is a good as time as any to give it a shot.

On the other hand, I am not certain if stuffing your face with whole hotdogs, drool pouring out of your mouth, holding back the gag reflex, and secretly vomitting under the table out of the view of the audience sounds all that appealling. No promises, but we will see!

-Sean

PS - Make your promise today, click here.

Late, In The Season

I set my alarm for 8:45am this morning figuring that would give me plenty of time to write an entry about my first day on the job before I had to be at work by 10:45am. As I was about to leave to go to use the internet at 9:20am, I suddenly realized that it was 9:45am I was supposed to start and not 10:45am, oops! The other problem being that there were no more shuttles from staff housing up to the mountain and it takes 45 minutes to walk it. I set out hitch hiking in hopes that somebody would see the sense of urgency in the expression on my face and stop to pick me up a long the way. I guess it was believable enough and somehow managed to get to work on time.

My first day on the job I was working with Trail Crew which was great because I was able to get out and see the mountain. Since it is the end of the season, all the temporary fencing needs to come down and so we spent the day cruising to different parts of the mountain and removing steel poles and plastic fencing. It was a beautiful sunny day and the raccoon style sun tan I received as a result helped me fit right in with the majority here.

Today I was with the Snow School and so accompanied a couple of the instructors as they taught a beginners snow boarding lesson. Although it was freezing, it went well and reminds me how much I enjoy teaching; seeing others overcome challenges, make improvements and be successful.

Tomorrow I will be working at the lifts scanning tickets. I am looking forward to the interaction with customers, not to mention hearing the beep when scanning something is always undoubtedly a good time. That and I met the scanning supervisor today and she had made a name tag for me with my hometown on it, very cool!

It is great to be able to try out different departments within the same company and it really makes me realize how much work and organizing goes into operating a company with over 600 employees effectively.

They certainly do a great job here!

Thanks for the emails/comments with all your suggestions on how to get rid of my sore throat! Hopefully I will be back to 100% for Spring Episode coming up this weekend!

-Sean

Exhausted In The Rockies

I arrived safe and sound in Lake Louise this afternoon after hitch hiking from Calgary. I got a tour of the resort today and was introduced to I don't know how many people. Poor Rebeckah, the resorts Event Coordinator, who had to explain One Week Job to each person she introduced me to. (I thought I would let someone else sound like a broken record for a change) Everyone at the resort is super nice and it is going to be a really great week! I got set up with my snowboard, boots, snow gear and even have a my own staff season's pass!

The only problem is that I think I may be getting sick. The throat is starting to hurt and I am not feeling the greatest. Not good timing and I feel bad not having as much energy as I should when meeting new people and starting a new job. I guess everything is finally catching up to me, but I am going to head to bed early tonight and get some vitamin C in me.

After leaving the Slomp family dairy farm in Rimbey, Alberta for Week Eight, I headed back to Edmonton and spent the night there. That night I was cruising down Whyte Ave and was in the middle of the street trying to hail down a cab for a couple of people when a random guy walked up to me and with a sly smile said "So what makes you think you get to do all the fun jobs?" I laughed, and then he said "somebody's go to do the crappy ones." Thinking back to my last job, he may have been speaking literally.

If you are in the Lake Louise area and are coming to Snow Episode this weekend (and you should), be sure to give me a shout and we will meet up!

-Sean

Week Nine Announced - Lake Louise Resort

This week I will be working at Lake Louise Resort, one of the most spectacular mountain resorts in Canada located in the beautiful setting of Banff National Park. They have 4200 skiable acres and are one of the largest ski areas in North America. I will be starting on Tuesday working through until Sunday doing various things each day such as a liftee, shadowing a snow school instructor, and working with the events team to help run their spring wrap up event for the season called Spring Episode. It runs next weekend, April 28/29, and for sure is going to be goodtimes!

If you are anywhere near Lake Louise or the surrounding area next weekend, I would definitely come by and check it out. The event will feature a full line up of Free concerts, demos, bike trials riders, and a bunch of other activities (there will even be a hot dog eating contest!)

Find out more about Spring Episode '07 here.

Hope to see you there!

-Sean

PS - 'Pledge Your Passion'

April Snow Storms, Bring May Temperature Norms?

After getting a sun burn from being outside all day on Tuesday, it has now been snowing yesterday and today! Crazy, but it did give us a chance to stay in doors yesterday morning and play some scrabble.

Anyways, just finishing up a video of what I have been up to on the farm for the last few days. I will have it up in a couple of hours!

-Sean

Surrendering To The Pooh

After trying to avoid it for the first 15 minutes, I realized quite quickly that there is just really no way around it; having cow manure all over your hands and occasionally splat on you is just part of the job. I call it "surrendering to the pooh." It is kind of like walking in the rain. We may try to avoid it for a bit, but if you are in it long enough and just commit to 'being' in the rain, it really doesn't matter anymore and you can then start enjoying yourself. So am I enjoying having cow manure all over me? Well, I wouldn't say enjoy, but it certainly doesn't bother me as much as it once did and allows me to focus on other things... such as not getting kicked in the face from a hoof or getting the right positioning of the milking suctions on the 'teets.' (maybe by Friday I will be able to say that word without a smirk, though I highly doubt it)

The meeting of farmers looking to convert their farms to produce organic milk Monday was pretty informative. I was able to learn a lot about the industry and advantages to organic farming. It was really interesting to see the different dynamic between people and what prevents some from moving forward with it. Some people were thinking more of the benefit to the environment, taking a more holistic approach whereas others were only interested in the bottom line and if they would make more money by doing so.

It made me think about consumer buying power in general, in that we as consumers have a much larger influence than we think. By demanding corporations to be more socially responsible/conscious in their practices, we create an associated benefit for companies to do so that will often help to increase their bottom line. So whether companies want to appear socially responsible because the market demands it and so are forced to, or if they genuinely would like to make a positive difference, at least we are moving in the right direction.

Be sure to check out 'Pledge Your Passion,' and if you agree, sign your name!

-Sean

Week Eight Announced - Dairy Farmer

This week I will be working with the Slomp family on their 300 acre organic dairy farm in Rimbey, Alberta. Today I am heading to an organic milk convention where I will be meeting George, the head farmer, and afterwards will be heading back to the farm with him. Apparently his girlfriend is a Yoga instructor so perhaps I will be able to keep up with my newly developed Yoga skills in farm country. My tasks for the week will include milking cows, shovelling manure, feeding the calves, and general barn maintenance. I remember milking cows once when I was on an Elementary school field trip which was quite the experience, but I have been told that now they have machines for that and so don't need to worry about my lack of aim or the spray back.

I am really looking forward to the week ahead as I have always wanted to try out working on a farm, yet have never previously had the opportunity. As I continue with One Week Job, I am realizing more and more how many different options and possibilities are out there that I would love to try my hand at.

Perhaps when all is said and done, it may just be all the more difficult to decide as I won't want to choose just one!

The next two weeks I will be working in Alberta, and then am heading back to Vancouver for a friends wedding May 19th. If you are in Vancouver and have any job offers for any of the weeks in May, send me an email!

-Sean

PS - 'Pledge Your Passion'

Make Your Promise Today

Shortly after graduating from college, I made a promise to myself: I will not settle for a career that I am not truly passionate about, I will not allow yearning for weekends and the illustrious two week vacation a year to define my life, I will be in a positive work place situation and I will love what I am doing.

I made a promise for passion and I think you should make that same promise today.

What exactly will this particular situation look like and how am I going to get there? I am not too sure, yet I believe it is far more important that we first start by making this commitment to ourselves, taking the leap wherever it leads, and find the courage to persevere in the face of our fears, self-doubt and uncertainty.

"Courage is not the absence of fear, but rather the judgment that something else is more important than fear." - Ambrose Redmoon

To me this "something" is our happiness, our well being, our choice, our life.

I think we would all agree that it is well worth it, yet many of us still choose to let this innate fear paralyze us and settle into comfortable, secure positions despite being unhappy in them. The encouraging thing is that every day is a new opportunity to change this.

Here is another one of those opportunities. Leave your name in the comments section below to make your promise today!

Saying Goodbye To Edmonton

I can't say enough positive things about my time this week at Lotus Soul Gym. Coming into the week I had no real previous knowledge of the practice of yoga, not to say that I am a guru now after only one week, but I guess I absorbed enough to appear as if I knew what I was talking about when teaching my first ever class yesterday. (apparently I am a hard instructor) I think that anyone would benefit from practicing Yoga and it is something that I will be keeping up after having learned more about the practice. I recommend that everyone try it at least once and if you are lucky enough to be an Edmontonian, you have some amazing people and a more than welcoming, safe environment to do so down at Lotus Soul Gym.

This is Erin, she came in on Thursday night for a Yoga class and had made this sign for me. It was so kind of her. Erin, you rock!

One thing about this project is that I am continually meeting incredible people, establishing relationships, developing a sense of familiarity and then it is time to move on. Although it is sad, I know that these people I meet and the experiences I have will always be a part of me, and I look forward with excitement to what is yet to come.

-Sean

My Yoga Instructor Debut

I feel as if I have been studying for a big exam this week and the day has finally arrived. It is interesting because I am little nervous about teaching the class, yet very excited to be presented with the challenge. I told the kids in the facilitation on Wednesday that this project has taught me to see each new challenge as just another opportunity to learn and grow, so I guess I better take my own advice and keep that in mind.

For those of you that had been wondering, the outfit that Lulu Lemon set me up with on Tuesday is actually not the tight spandex that some of you may have been thinking...

If you are in the Edmonton area, you can see how my debut goes by watching the News Hour on CityTV at 6:30pm sometime the week of April 16th.

Wish me luck!

-Sean

Inspiring Youth, Inspiring Me

Yesterday I accompanied Robert Manolson, a career development professional, to help facilitate a Communication/Leadership session for about 16 youth, aged 12-15 years. I spoke to them about my project, various things that I have learned throughout the experience, defining success with terms such as meaningful contribution, passion, courage, and how each new challenge we are presented with is just another opportunity to learn. It was awesome talking to kids about life skills that I feel are so important, and to hear them taking positive things away from the experience, made it so worthwhile. It is an important message and it will definitely be something that I will be doing in the future. One of the kids actually wanted my autograph afterwards which was really cute, so I signed my name a long with a reminder note: "Keep it real!"

Only one day left before I teach my first yoga class. There will also be a camera crew in as well just for some added pressure!

-Sean

Sean's Yoga Marathon

I think I mentioned yesterday that by Friday I was probably going to be pretty sore. Well, it is now Wednesday morning and guess what? I am sore. Justifiably so though as I participated in four different sessions yesterday, five and a half hours of yoga in total! I am sitting in on as many classes as I can and will be co-teaching a class on the Friday. Am I nervous? Yeah, and that would explain the five and a half hours of yoga training I participated in yesterday. I had a teacher who would say, "if you are going to do something, might as well do it right!" This is also why it was necessary I visit Lulu Lemon on Whyte Ave in Edmonton who generously donated some clothing so I would at least look the part. Everyone working there is so nice and we had lots of fun picking out the outfit.

I am meeting great people each day and working with some amazing individuals (come and meet them!) who breath life into me when I am finding it difficult to stay on top of everything with the project. Seeing people excited about what I am doing, wanting to get involved and help out in some way is quite empowering and it continually reminds me of the unique opportunity I have to positively influence the lives of many.

If you are in the Edmonton area, be sure to drop by the studio and say hello!

-Sean

Meet Henri Ferguson - Lifelong Learner

The first day of my crash course to becoming a Yoga Instructor went very well. I haven’t done much yoga practice in my time and was quickly reminded that it is quite challenging and that I am definitely going to be sore by the time Friday comes around. I wonder how many people arrive to work on the first day with a suitcase full of clothes, their computer, and day pack all in hand? Well that was me yesterday. Just another typical Monday morning; time to make the transition into a new working environment, new challenges, new co-workers, new housing arrangement, all over again.

I was asked recently what skills I find to be the most consistently necessary through my jobs so far. I think that I would have to say ‘Transitional Skills.’ More on that in a post later this week, yet first I want to tell you about an amazing talk I had with Henri Ferguson, an incredible man and Yoga Instructor at Lotus Soul Gym, the Yoga Studio in Edmonton, Alberta where I am working for Week Seven.

I arrived at the studio around 11:00am. A class had just finished with no other classes scheduled for the afternoon. Henri greeted me warmly right away and we ended up talking for over two hours. We discussed One Week Job and the learnings I am taking away from it, all the different careers he has had, how his life has led him to his current career at the age of 57 as a Yoga Instructor, and how we can positively contribute to the lives of many simply by helping one person.

One of his career decisions really stuck out for me. He owned a catering business and had built it to the point where after 7 years it was doing $1 million worth of business each year. But, he and his partner were burnt out and came to the realization that their happiness was more important than their material wealth. So, they sold the business. Henri moved to the Cayman Islands in his forties and became a scuba diving instructor. He said that when he looked down at his first pay cheque with an hourly wage of $5.85, he couldn’t have been more happier, and that he would have framed it… had he not needed the money.

He spoke of how we must have realistic perceptions as our perceptions manifest to become our beliefs which then in turn become our truths. In this manner we are continually setting our own barriers, our own limitations. When we can come to the realization that the only thing preventing us from achieving a certain outcome is ourself, we suddenly then become capable of anything and can glimpse our true potential.

It was great speaking with him and I am happy that he was willing to share his experiences, insights, and wisdom with me.

It was also quite empowering to see somebody with such diverse and rich life experience genuinely excited about what I am doing, about my future, and to hear him say, "Sean, you inspire me.. I can’t wait to see what you are doing in 20 years, because you are going to do some amazing things in your life."

It was truly touching and I suppose adds to the mounting responsibility I seem to be creating for myself. A responsibility that just might take me more than a 'One Week Job' to suffice.

If you are ever in Edmonton, I encourage you to drop by Lotus Soul Gym to take a class with Henri and meet him for yourself. Also, check out his poetry here.

-Sean

Week Seven Announced - Yoga Instructor... in training

Week Seven gets underway today here in Edmonton, Alberta and I will be working at the city's newest Yoga Studio, Lotus Soul Gym. Throughout the week I will learn all the aspects of the business and will be sitting in on as many yoga classes (and teachers) as possible and then by the end of the week I will get to join one the instructors in teaching a class!

I am really excited to start the week as yoga is something that I have wanted to learn more about and will also get to see the workings of a newly formed small business.

If you live in the area, be sure to drop by and say hello!

-Sean

Long Weekends Are Fun

I am down in Calgary for the long weekend visiting a friend of mine I met in Quebec a few summers back. It is nice to spend some time 'relaxing' after having such a busy week up in Edmonton. I will be back in Edmonton for Week Seven, then I think I will be heading to Calgary or perhaps into Saskatchewan to work on a grain farm. Actually who am I kidding, things seem to change daily with One Week Job, so who really knows where I will be the following week.

Here is an interview I did on CBC Newsworld this week. It was quite funny as I was just talking to the camera in an empty news room, I could only hear the news anchor through my ear piece and there is a slight delay because it was via satellite.

Meet Alan Kearns : My "Career Coach"

Alan is the Head Coach and the Brand Champion! of CareerJoyâ„¢, a Canadian career coaching company. "He is one of Canada's foremost experts on all things relating to careers with more than 14 years of experience coaching people through successful career changes." Sounds like I could use somebody like this around! I did a podcast (Listen here) regarding One Week Job with Alan about a week ago and we discussed the possibility of doing something more together. Alan was willing to get involved with the project as a sponsor and also offer up his expertise.

I will be speaking with Alan a few times each month about how the project is going, where I am at in my journey, what I am learning, and provide his thoughts and advice. These talks (podcasts) will be recorded and then posted to oneweekjob.com.

If you are having difficulty deciding on a career or looking to change an unhappy work place situation, be sure to check out Alan's site!

-Sean

Roses Are Red, Star Gazing Lilies Are Not

It has been a crazy week here in Edmonton, I have probably done about 15 interviews in the past three days. I even got to change jobs with the weather lady and gave the 7-day forecast for CityTV's News at 6, perhaps it could make for an interesting One Week Job? I am learning a lot about the flower industry, which I suppose was expected considering I knew nothing coming in. I can now arrange and wrap a bouquet of flowers and even tell you the difference between a fuji mom, asiatic lily, and a gerber daisy. I left the store today for about an hour and when I returned I found out that an arrangement of roses that I had made on my first day was sold. Needless to say, it was a proud moment!

I think that I will be spending one more week here in Edmonton, then off to Calgary. If you live in Calgary and have any job offers for me or just want to meet up, send me an email or give me a call!

See you soon,

-Sean