Hello Friend. Brett Hoffstadt here, grateful to have you as a
subscriber to my Project Management Success blog. And feeling guilty that
I’ve been missing in action for the past month or so. Here is an email
to give you the short story. And I would love to hear back from you to
hear about your current life project that might be stressing you out (or
have you excited… the best projects make you feel both, right? That’s
me recently!)

For the past year, my wife and I have been working as consultants or
transitional professionals in our respective careers in San Antonio, Texas.
I spent several months as a project manager with an enterprise-level
electronic security system company. This was a big change from my previous
aerospace and innovation project management work.

In many ways the changes were very enlightening and rewarding for me. But
in other ways the experience was very stressful and humbling. One of the
big lessons I got from it is that—for me at least—project management in
all industries is not equivalent. Work cultures, technical expertise, and
company philosophies can vary in ways that make project management very
different from one company to another.

I concluded that aerospace and aviation is my niche and “tribe” where I
thrive, and have a unique set of expertise. Meanwhile, my wife was eager
to land a more permanent and long term position in an institution where she
could make a bigger impact than as a consultant.

So we have each been working our own projects (in a mixture of competition
and collaboration) to get a reason to relocate to another city in the
United States. San Antonio, Texas is a great city with much to offer,
including strong growth outlooks in many ways. But for both of our
respective careers, we had realized that we needed to move to another city.

Then, earlier this month (July), my wife got an offer that we had been
hoping to receive for a while. She beat me to a great offer, but that’s
fine with me because it is in a city that has a respectable and promising
aerospace presence:

Our new home town is Sacramento, California!

If you happen to live in California, or have any connections in Sacramento,
I hope you’ll let me know Friend. So far we love the area.
We’ve only been here a week…I just recently improved from sleeping on
the floor to sleeping on a sofa bed. Our master bedroom still looks like a
storage unit with all the boxes…no room to set up a bed yet.

While my wife focuses on getting off to a strong start with her new job, my
projects are all family-focused.

But I wanted to give you this personal update to explain why I’ve been
quiet on the blogging front. Even though we were hoping for this
particular relocation, it wasn’t confirmed until just this month of July.

And then my wife had to start the new job on August 1st… so we had to
move fast!

I’ve literally been sleeping on floors, sofa beds, and where ever I can
find a flat space to rest while moving a family and household half way
across the country… with 100+ degree temperatures in both cities!

Drinking lots of water and taking breaks is part of my risk management
plan, because I don’t want to risk any major upsets to our relocation.
Fortunately we have now arrived safe and sound, but still a little cramped
with piles of boxes in our new apartment. Last night was the first time we
got to sit and eat dinner as a family together around our dining room
table. (And now it is where I’m sitting to finish this email—no desk
set up yet.)

I hope your summer is going well (assuming you are in the northern
hemisphere too). I would love to hear back from you Friend to learn
what your big personal project is for the summer.

Look at it through the lens of a project manager, and you will discover
that you will become a more competent and confident person. And your
project should see happier, more successful results too!

All the best to you with your life projects.

From sunny (and hot) California,
Brett