Stuart McMillen

One night during the autumn of 2009 I grabbed a sheet of paper and began writing down a list of goals that I wanted to accomplish in both the short and medium terms. I cared not for neatness, as the ideas flowed freely onto the page designed to me read only by me. In around 3 minutes the crumpled A4 sheet had been filled.

A scan of the list

Writing a list of goals was part of a transformation that began a few months earlier. At around 1:00am on the 27th of December 2008 I sat bolt upright in bed. Although I had just enjoyed a great Christmas/Boxing Day break, it suddenly dawned on me that I was stuck in a rut and desperate to get out of my job. Up until that point I had been waiting for opportunities to come to me, but I now could see that it would take a proactive work ethic to change my situation. I stood up and turned on the computer. It had been some time since I had updated my resume or even searched for advertised jobs. A lot of my best ideas appear in a sleep-deprived state, so I worked into the night, searching for interesting companies that I might want to work for. As the sun began to rise I jumped on my push bike and cycled the empty streets with a refreshed outlook on the year ahead.

Skip forward to the autumn night that I wrote the list.

If asked at the time, I could have easily articulated the ideas floating through my head, but they still felt very abstract and nebulous. It was only once printed on a piece of paper that the goals seemed to assume a more tangible form. I attached the list to the wall just behind my computer monitor. For the coming months it would serve as a silent reminder of the things that were important to me, and subtly keep me on the path towards my goals.

Note that the list did not include a point about keeping my desk tidy.

Almost a year later, I can report that I have been mostly successful in my pursuit of the goals:

• Find another job/venture and quit ARCBS.
  While I do not currently have another job/venture, it became clear to that resigning from my job and starting a job search as a ‘free agent’ was the best way to fulfill this goal. Yesterday was my last day as Apheresis Panel Coordinator with the Australian Red Cross Blood Service.
• Continue expansion/promotion of Green Drinks, whilst retaining essence/credibility.
  As recently mentioned, Green Drinks Brisbane is still going strong, and I remain happy with the essence/credibility of the event and the purpose it serves within the community.
• Continue posting cartoons online. Link cartoons to relevant people at relevant times.
  My cartoon website has exploded in popularity since writing the list of goals. My website has had more than 500,000 hits since that time, and I have begun designing cartoons for clients on paid commission.
• Start a blog in parallel to cartoon website
  This is that blog.
• Create more CONTENT, procrastinate less.
  Still improvement to be made with this one, but I am gradually learning the things that increase productivity in the areas that I try my hand at.
• Hold at least 2 Frottage Cottage parties per year.
  Unfortunately we have had only one sharehouse party in the last 12 months!

Below the line was a medium-term goal of home ownership that I am still some way from achieving.

To conclude, this piece is a testimony to the power of writing down goals. Although I had previously heard of others that swore by the practice, this was my first direct experience. Something psychologically different happens when your goals are written down and displayed in a prominent place. Give it a go and see what happens.

Last weekend I was fortunate enough to attend the first ever TEDxBrisbane event. It was a free, independently organised event which had the aim of trying to replicate a real TED conference. With that benchmark, the event was a raging success.

I won’t go into many details about dissecting the talks given by the event’s speakers, as I think to an extent you ‘had to be there’. Descriptions often barely do speakers justice, although Hannah has done a fine job [1] [2]. Much of the buzz comes from watching the speaker on stage before you, and talking the full 18 minutes to absorb their story.

A real highlight for me were the multiple breaks throughout the day between sessions where attendees were encouraged to move to the ‘Ideas Worth Spreading tent’ outside for refreshments and a chat. It was excellent being able to walk up to any one of the 520 TEDxBrisbane attendees and start up a conversation. These were people who get excited about ideas, and that was a nice change to many social exchanges I am a part of. The vibe was excellent, and I was constantly thinking “this is my idea of a dream society!” I can’t wait for the next TEDxBrisbane event (rumoured to happen later in 2010, as this event was originally scheduled for 2009), and will try to seek out similar events around this city of mine.

Photo credit: Adam Sebastian West

After three and a half years working for the Australian Red Cross Blood Service, this week I made the decision to resign from my job and move in the direction of a career in environmental sustainability.

My choice to move towards ‘green collar’ work should be no surprise to anyone who knows me well, but some have raised eyebrows at my decision to leave my current job without something firm to go to. It was not a decision that I made lightly, but I feel the timing is right. 2009 was a tough year on the job market, but I have felt a sense of optimism since the dawning of the new year. Environmental sustainability is still a major concern for our world, but thankfully it is still warranting serious discussion and decision-making by our politicians and business leaders. I want to contribute to this field and aid the transition away from unsustainable behaviours.

On a personal note, I used 2009 as a year to deepen my knowledge of sustainability through a raft of books, seminars, meetings and discussions. I organise and attend Green Drinks Brisbane, which has further increased my knowledge of the players in the sustainability industry of Brisbane (as well as being a great social asset to the city). I also run a cartoon website that has had around half a million hits in the last 12 months, and has even found my take on the world published in print in countries from South Africa, to New Zealand, Germany and Belgium. The cartoons were supposed to be a fun diversion from my normal activities, but have turned into a fairly large part of my life!

For those that don’t know, my background is a Bachelor of Business Management (marketing major) from the University of Queensland (2005), and my job at Australian Red Cross Blood Service was ‘Apheresis Panel Coordinator’. This was a behaviour change role that drew upon principles of marketing to move selected donors from ‘normal’ whole blood donations to the more valuable plasma and platelet donations. I can see strong potential for these skills being able to be applied to the sustainability industry through project management, behaviour change strategies and many other roles.

I gave the Blood Service six weeks notice of my decision and am leaving on good terms, with fond memories of the time spent working closely with nurses and blood donors. I will even continue to donate plasma once or twice a month at the Edward Street donor centre. My current tally stands at 57 donations and I am interested to see how high I can go!

I am full of confidence that something good will happen with this decision, and like the idea of ‘drawing a line in the sand’ and devoting eight hours per day to job hunting. I will keep this blog posted with updates about my search, as well as the things I do with my time during the job hunt after I finish with the Blood Service at Easter.