Spring is in the air and so is the birth of a new chapter in life long learning. I have just recently embarked on a certificate course in IT Support.

Previously as a customer service agent, I had been offered the opportunity to apply for a job in the IT Support department – however, this would involve having to sell up and move to London. After doing some quick sums, I realized that although my wages would increase, the cost of living would also increase to the point where I would just be working to pay my bills and have nothing left over. The negatives outweighed the positives and I decided to withdraw my application.

I didn’t foresee that in the not too distant future I could have the best of all worlds, I could find a new day job, run my Mindful Relaxation Wellbeing classes, helping my local community with a much more fulfilling variety of work, including working on my publishing business. Now to me, if all goes well, this would be my dream state of being – AND – I don’t need to move. Better to work for yourself rather than some CEO lazing in his London penthouse suite, getting paid millions to spend his day organizing meetings about having meetings.

I find that IT is one of the most challenging areas to study and work with – it requires having the ability to somehow translate computer technology into simple English so that things work. It requires spending much time researching in order to understand. IT problems causes stress and anxiety and can result in a person’s life grinding to a halt if the technology solution is not there.

I have found that this course is not easy, the learning curve for me is so steep, you could paraglide off the top of the apex. So much jargon that doesn’t mean anything to me, so many target pass marks that need to be obtained in order to gain the certificate. I was quite overwhelmed by how much information needs to be read and understood, so much so that I wanted to give up after the first night.

Taking a leaf out of my own course notes, I had to stop overthinking this, pull back, take a break from reading jargon, have a cup of tea and re-think. Then the realization came.

If I can just learn one thing from this course that will help me with computers that’s enough, my expectations will not result in disappointment. Being honest and upfront with yourself and others is the best way to go. I immediately informed my tutor of my true feelings about the course to let her know what I’d like to get from the course. I’m sure she’ll appreciate my honest communication and I’m glad I’m not quitting too soon.