I wonder why I cannot get back into the habit of writing my blog. Every day I think about doing it, and I actually do have stories to share, and I miss writing in general. So why don’t I just do it? Ohhh, the mysteries of human behavior… Hopefully, today will finally be the day!

I had never wanted to be a business owner. In fact, I’d been always saying, “Me, starting a business? No way! Never! It’s just too much! I want to be an employee for the rest of my life.” And it’s true that having your own business is too much. As an employee, you just focus on what you like and know best (hopefully) and – unless you are an accountant – you don’t worry about the hidden workings of the business system, all these social security taxes, balance sheets, articles of incorporation, and the list goes on and on and on. As a business owner you are expected to take care of everything from A to Z, and most annoyingly you have to take care of things you have no clue about. But wait, why is it annoying? Don’t I love learning new things? I thought I did. So why not take advantage of the situation I’ve put myself into and try all those new hats on.

Hat #1 – Dive Instructor

As a brand new dive instructor I’m, of course, scared. To be fair, I’m always scared of everything I do for the first time. But I’m brave, so I just do what I’m scared of. And I’m also stupid, so I constantly put myself in situations which test both my fear and my courage. In other words, I am used to it.

However frightening, this hat is probably my favorite so far! I’ve realized that I really enjoy teaching. Maybe it’s the challenge of finding the right approach. Or the thrill of both physical and moral responsibility of passing the knowledge on – enough knowledge, correct knowledge, useful knowledge. Or the immediate gratification – your student is a bit dubious about putting their head underwater in the morning, and suddenly they are already breathing and clearing their mask and struggling with buoyancy in the afternoon. Or maybe it’s this wonderful look of awe and ecstasy in your student’s eyes after the very first immersion… It’s a miracle, really!

Hat #2 – Dive Guide

Believe it or not, this is my least favorite at the moment. Of course, I love diving, otherwise nothing I’m doing at the moment would make any sense. But I’m still very suspicious of my knowledge of the reefs in Cozumel and I’m still afraid of losing my way and spoiling the entire dive for somebody. The funny part is that so far I have never gotten lost, and also if you are dropped in the right spot, it’s almost impossible to get lost. But on the other hand, I hear all those horror stories lately from Javier (who quit Aldora, so he is free-lancing for random shops now and relaying all sorts of “experiences” to us), how they went to Devil’s Throat and he had to jump off the boat 5 times before he finally steered the captain to the right starting point of the dive. I don’t think I can do that! I wouldn’t know where this starting point is and would just trust the captain to bring me to the right spot… In other words, I’m still very nervous about my weak spot – topography. So for now I prefer to only take out novices (or friends). Just to be on a safe side…

Hat #3 – Social Networking Coordinator

In our day and age, having a website is nearly not enough. Every more or less respectable company creates Facebook and Twitter accounts immediately at launch. And so did we, of course. Facebook is no brainer, since I’ve been actively using it in my personal life for quite a while now. It was just a matter of reading up a bit on what type of presence is best suited for Dive Cooperative on FB (turns out a FB Page makes more sense for us that a FB Group, who knew) and start posting photos and updates. But Twitter is a whole different beast. I had never wanted to get on Twitter. To me it equals volunteering to completely eradicate the little attention span we have saved from being swallowed by the ruthless whirlpool of information we are being sucked into on a daily basis. But it had to be done, so now we have Dive Cooperative on Twitter, too.

My God, Twitter is awesome though! I have never learnt so much in so little time. The wealth of information you expose yourself to if you are smart in choosing who you follow is absolutely unparalleled. No wonder it’s so popular and continues gaining more and more weight on the social media arena. I’m totally hooked.

But of course I was right about the attention span! I can physically feel it dwindle with each passing day. I need to figure out some system that will help me effectively counteract this mighty flow of data input and preserve my sanity and focus. It’s urgent! Any recommendations?

Hat #4 – Accountant

Of course, we have an official accountant for the firm, but we also want to understand what the hell is going on with our finances, so I took it upon myself to learn accounting. Man! I had no idea it is so complicated! I really thought it would be more intuitive. Why all those credits and debits? Why can’t things be just straight-forward and logical? But of course, I’m enjoying it, because all those systems and spreadsheets and calculations are the closest thing to what I’m used to be doing as a job. It’s familiar and new at the same time, therefore easy and fun.

Am I forgetting something? Ah, of course! A part-time cleaning lady for the office, IT technician on-site (with Michael’s virtual guidance), chofer, secretary, client relationship manager, website content writer… All of a sudden, I have a desire to draw all those hatsJ. Now that would be a fun project! But can’t be done – I have no idea where my drawing hat is at the moment. Let me go try to find it now.