New Priorities and Their Hierarchical Importance

I finally managed to get a job interview. It was at a hardware store and occurred on last Tuesday with the promise of callbacks on Thursday. While I was optimistic about my chances, I didn't get the job. It's quite disappointing since it took such a long time for me to achieve that interview, but after giving myself a mental pep talk while traveling (I find it pleasant to think while driving on the expressway, however discourageable the practice may be) I feel refreshed and have my resolve restored. I also have new goals.

A common question I have been asked when applying to restaurants is whether or not I have previous restaurant experience. I do not, and I believe that may be the greatest obstacle to my getting considered for employment. As such, I have decided to shift my attention in my goal pursuits and focus on kitchen practices and resources.

For practices, I'm going to adopt two: 1.) After each grocery day I'm going to try at least one new recipe or variation of a previously tried recipe, and 2.) to take the harder routes in cooking so as to not deprive myself of practice (e.g. cutting up vegetables manually rather than opting for the food processor). So far it's been easy and enjoyable to stick to these goals, and I've been enjoying the added variety and learning. I think the area I need to focus on the most is my cutting skills: I'm terrible at the quick-paced movements.

For resources, I plan on reading Cookwise: The Secrets of Cooking Revealed and BakeWise: The Hows and Whys of Successful Baking with Over 200 Magnificent Recipes to increase my general understanding of food preparation, and also How Computers Work to increase my technological competence since computer skills seem to be a growing desirability in employment prospects and I am lacking in that area. These readings will also allow me to resume my work on my involuntarily selective memory.

All in all, I would say this is good for now. But I have to confess that one of the things I find to be supremely difficult in pursuing goals is choosing which goals to pursue at what time; that is, determining the position a goal takes in my value hierarchy. Many times I get confused at which to pursue first since sometimes all the goals I list out appear to be of equal importance, and I know it would be counterproductive to try and pursue them all at once. Irritating, but a conflict that needs to be worked out nonetheless. I think, however, that I have correctly identified my priorities in the above mentioned pursuits: I need to find employment since I can't live off my savings forever, so I ought to focus on the appropriate means to achieving that goal, which amounts to cooking practice (since cooking is a value to me) and learning, and also learning about computers since that would help my employment prospects and since I have been intending to increase my knowledge in that area anyhow. The work I'll be doing on my selective memory is simply another goal I can integrate into this pursuit without getting sidetracked.

Oh, and just because it seems appropriate to close this way: tonight (Saturday as of this writing) I'll be having hamburgers, with beef I ground up myself, fried in bacon grease alongside some caramelized onions and green peppers, and perhaps with some mozzarella cheese broiled on top and a dab of hot sauce.