4100weeks

Here's to the crazy ones . . .

Below is a great drawing by Hugh MacLeod as a memorial to Steve Jobs, based on an old Apple commercial. Are you one of the crazy ones? The misfits? The rebels? I hope so, because it's time to change the world . . . 

Here's MacLeod's post on this drawing on his blog . . . gapingvoid.com

A challenge for you

 

artwork by Hugh MacLeod - gapingvoid.com

Facing life, and death

“And I just want to encourage people, and inspire them to look at life in that way that they do have control about the way they view every day.” -- Nick Charles, CNN's first sports anchor.

 

 

Simplify your life

I just rediscovered an old article from Fast Company magazine (1998) that I feel is still very applicable, and a must read. Titled Keep it Simple, the article has some great steps you can follow to simplify your life and make more time to do the things you most enjoy doing. Here is an outline of the steps to simplifying your life . . . 

1. It's about time - creating more time, on the job and at home, to do the things you want to do.
2. Less is more - the less you take on, the more time you create.
3. Just say no - No one can maintain more than three priorities . . . so if you have a career that you care about, and a family, that leaves one more priority. 
4. Possessions are nine-tenths of the problem - we all have lots of stuff, and we work to pay for the stuff. 
5. What really matters is . . . what really matters - many people don't know what they want to do. It's often easier to keep doing what we know we don't want to do, or don't mind doing. Simplifying your life frees up time for you to figure out what really matters.

Starting a business . . . in a recession

Starting a business is always a challenging proposition. How about during a recession?  Well some people think that's crazy. Not Richard Branson of Virgin fame. Here are his 5 tips for starting up in a recession.

What do you do?

Author Dan Pink detests the question "What's your passion?" In his recent monthly column for the Sunday Telegraph titled Think Tank: Ever felt like your job isn't what you were born to do? You're not alone, he says a more productive question to ask is "What is it you do?" He says that while hot steamy passion is good, it's the long term, calmer true love that is where the enduring magic is. Here are a few more to ask . . . 

What did you do last Saturday afternoon – for fun, for yourself?

What books do you read or blogs do you visit, not for work, but just because you're interested in them?

What are you great at? What comes easily to you?

What would you do – or are you already doing – for free?

 

Goal Setting that Works!

You're feeling fresh and new, buoyant with energy from the New Year! This year is going to be different! This year you're going to follow through and make the changes in your life you've been talking about for ages.  You're going to get that new job, shed those extra pounds, find a new relationship, start that novel, take some classes, go on that dream holiday (oh, wait...is this last one a goal or is it a reward?  More on this later).
 
But how many of us have set goals or made New Year's resolutions only to find ourselves quickly going back to old habits, reneging on our promises to ourselves or just plain giving up? I know I have! Until I came up with this process.  I use this every year for myself and my clients with great results!

Read the rest here.

Your eyes don't lie . . .

"You need not see what someone is doing to know if it is his vocation, you have only to watch his eyes: a cook mixing a sauce, a surgeon making a primary incision, a clerk completing a bill of lading, wear the same rapt expression, forgetting themselves in a function. How beautiful it is, that eye-on-the-object look." -- W.H. Auden

 

Intellectual Curiousity

Have you ever wondered why some are curious - not just intellectually curious but curious about most everything?   The smartest people I know all have a passion for learning - not just in classrooms or through study but by constantly seeking knowledge in conversation.  These individuals seem to have an endless passion for knowledge and growth.

The result is often a well-rounded, interesting and capable person that constantly learns through the art of the question.

What drives intellectual curiosity?  I don't know but it's a skill I encourage with my family, friends and associates.

If you are curious, see the following blog by Les Potter.

Where’s the curiosity among today’s students?

by Les PotterLes Potter is a Senior Lecturer at Towson College in Maryland

I’ve noticed that among my Millennial students, there is a disturbing lack of curiosity. I wonder if I am the only person who feels this way.

This concerns me because it has employment implications. A lack of curiosity may well hurt graduates’ hiring prospects. The Washington Post reported May 17, 2009, that after contacting eight to 10 area schools, about 35 to 40 percent of seniors are graduating without jobs or a predetermined plan in place. Typically, that number is 10 to 15 percent.

Given, this is the worst economy we’ve seen in a long time. Companies are hurting, and jobs are scarce. But that is all the more reason for graduates to pay attention to every detail that will help them secure a good job.

Why am I saying there is a lack of curiosity? This past spring semester, I had approximately 75 students in four classes. I interact with these students in class twice a week. I talk with them in the halls. They come to my office for things. They participate in our PR Group, the student professional association chapter. Yet in all of these interactions, only occasionally will someone ask a question of any substance. Few make observations that capture insightful interest in or understanding of things. Most never even comment on their surroundings. They seem oblivious to a deeper exploration of ideas and concepts, not only the abstract or obtuse, but the practical as well, like how to get and keep jobs in communication/PR/IMC.

In short, they seem to be devoid of curiosity. Some specific examples:

• Students rarely if ever ask about the working world. I spent 35 years earning a living doing what I now teach. It seems to me that that might provoke some questions. College is a time of becoming exposed to many new and different ideas and concepts. Why then are there so few probing questions? Why so few substantive questions about careers and work?
• Students don’t ask why things are the way they are. They seem to accept everything at face value.
• This is a personal, nonscientific observation, but I think it tells us something; students don’t seem to notice things around them. A specific example of this is that students do not see things in my office. I have a small but nicely appointed office with a few carefully chosen decorations, like interesting photos and original art. I purposely designed my office to be an interesting and relaxing place to visit or work. But students don’t comment on photos, memorabilia, etc. They don’t even see these things.

It does not hurt my feelings that students who visit my office do not comment on my artwork. But it does bother me that they don’t even notice their surroundings. What if it was a job interview? The ability to converse easily, perhaps initiate a conversation about a unique photo or piece of art, is a plus for the job seeker. The ability to build rapport and sell yourself with employers is critically important.

As a manager who hired, trained, and terminated many employees in my career, the ability and willingness to ask probing questions is a competitive advantage for job seekers. 

One of my more memorable supervisors got furious at employees who didn’t demonstrate curiosity. He blasted employees who “were not the least bit curious at why sales were flat, or why this project did not work, or that process cost so much, etc.” In general, he wanted curious employees who dug deep to find better ways of doing things. Those employees were favored. The employees with curiosity were trusted with more meaningful assignments. They got raises and promotions. But first, they got hired.

As May graduates try to enter the job market, I think a sense of curiosity is a big plus.

 

Stay curious, hungry and foolish

"Your relationship with people or with your job has to be a growing organism. It's not something where you reach a certain point and then you start preserving it. You have to nurture it, you have to stay curious and hungry and foolish. Once you stop doing that, you get satisfied, and you get stuck."
-- Susan Sarandon, actress