Last Friday I rushed out a response to a Request for Qualifications, hitting the “send” button four minutes before the 5 pm deadline. At the time, it seemed like another chore to get done before starting the weekend. I was feeling deskbound and work-weary, and I was already ginning myself up for my Saturday ride.
I shouldn’t have let myself feel so burdened. First of all, the project was right up my alley: digging through some arcane and confusing regulations, boiling those down into implementable design criteria, facilitating consensus among regulators and municipal staff, training land development planners and engineers—all stuff I like to do.
And it was a chance to finally get some payday after months of off-the-books assistance to the beleaguered staff of small-to-medium-sized California municipalities, including many on the Central Coast.
Today I got an email from the prospective client, asking to discuss what I’d sent in. My first thought was that I’d left something out of the submittal. To my surprise, they’d already selected, and I’m in.
And suddenly I was full of energy, and quite excited—not just with the satisfaction of having won something, but with the prospect of doing the project, and particularly the anticipation of working more closely and frequently with the people involved.
The fact of this sudden pleasure—it’s good information. At 54, and in the mature phase of my career, I sometimes question the choices I’ve made, and ask myself how long I want to keep doing this. Apparently, for now, a while longer.
