CV is your marketing brochure through which you try to sell a commodity, ie your skills to the potential buyer ie the prospective employer. The sole purpose of your CV is to fetch you an interview call. Nothing more, nothing less.
However, creating a CV isn't as simple as just using flowery language and pretty fonts. There are certain things that put recruiters off and if you want to make a good impression, make sure you do not commit these mistakes in what is arguably the most valuable document of your job hunt.
While the rules listed are well-founded, they are not carved in stone. At times you will need to break the rules. If you want to add these things knowingly and purposefully to your CV we advise you to do that.
The points mentioned here are not listed in the order of priority; instead they are listed in the sequence in which they usually appear on a CV.
~ Colorful or glossy paper and flashy fonts
Your CV is a formal, official document. Keep it simple.
~ Resume or CV at the top
Many people tend to add headings to their CV. The usual are CV, Curriculum Vitae and Resume. Do not do this.
~ Photographs until asked
Do not add your photo to the CV until you have been asked for it. Photographs are required only for certain types of positions like models, actors etc.
~ Usage of 'I', 'My', 'He', 'She'
Do not use these in your CV. Many candidates write, 'I worked as Team Leader for XYZ Company' or 'He was awarded Best Employee for the year 2007'. Instead use bullet points to list out your qualifications/ experience like: Team leader for XYZ Company from 2006-2007.
~ Spelling mistakes and grammatical errors
Proofread your CV until you are confident that it doesn't have any spelling mistakes or grammatical errors. These are big put-offs for the recruiters. Moreover, sometimes these mistakes might land you in an embarrassing situation.
A candidate who submitted his CV without proofreading it committed the mistake of wrongly spelling 'ask' as 'ass'. Now you can imagine the type of embarrassment he must have faced during the interview, when the interviewer pointed it out. These mistakes tend to convey a lazy and careless attitude to the interviewer.
~ Lies about your candidature
Do not lie about your past jobs or qualifications or anything which might have an impact on the job. You may be able to secure a job with these lies today but tomorrow you may lose it as well.
~ Abbreviations or jargon that is difficult to understand
People screening your resume usually belong to the HR department. If they do not understand what the abbreviations and jargon mean, they will simply dump your CV in the trash can. Avoid over-using such terms as far as possible.
~ Reasons for leaving last job
Leave these reasons to be discussed during the personal interview. For example, some candidates write: Reason for leaving the last job: Made redundant. Avoid making such statements in your CV, they add no value. Besides, if you do get an interview call, chances are the interviewer will address the issue.
~ Past failures or health problems
Mentioning these immediately slash your chances of getting an interview call.
For instance, you have a gap in your employment because you started your own business which did not do well. Some candidates might write -- Reason for gap in employment: Started own business which failed. Do not do this type of injustice with your job hunt at this stage of writing the CV.
~ Current or expected salary
Leave it to be discussed while negotiating the salary.
~ Irrelevant details
Leave out the details like marital status, sex, passport number, number of kids, age of kids. These are usually irrelevant for most interviewers but at times could be used as a basis for discrimination.
~ References
Do not include them until asked. In fact, it is not even required to mention the line 'Reference available on request'. If the recruiter requires a reference, he/she will ask you to bring it along for the interview.
Now that you have run through the list, take a fresh look at your CV and prune away unnecessary details and unaffordable blunders that could have cost you your dream job.
Friday, February 8, 2008
Sunday, January 20, 2008
16 Methods for Getting Free Advertising
1. Place copies of your circular on bulletin boards throughout your community, such as in coin-operated laundries, grocery stores, barber shops, etc. Concentrate of Fridays and Saturdays when shopping increases.
2. Check with local newspapers. Before going to press, many smaller newspapers have space left that needs filling.. Your ad may be just the right size to occupy this unfilled space and they will run it free.
3. Place your circulars on windshields of parked autos, Youngsters will be happy to do this for you for a dollar or two. Check first with city ordinances to see if this is permitted in your locality.
4. Leave sales literature on doorsteps of homes & businesses in your area. Do this on weekends in residential areas; weekdays for businesses.
5. Have your best pulling 1 inch or 2 inch ad made into a rubber stamp. Stamp this on envelopes of all of your outgoing mail.. Check rubber stamp dealer's ads in current mail order publications for price information.
6. When you have envelopes printed with your return address, have them also print your best ad directly beneath your address. It costs noting additional to have this printed on the front of your envelopes.
7. If you publish a mail order magazine, newspaper, adsheet, etc., contact other publishers, If your circulation is equal to theirs, many will be happy to exchange an equal amount of ad space with you.
8. Many publishers will give you free adspace for mailing a few copies of their publication. Simply write to them and ask if they will give you a free 1 inch ad in exchange for mailing 50 to 100 copies of their pub.
9. Write informative articles for mail order trade publication. Most publishers will give you free ad space for the use of your article.
10. Take advantage of advertising specials. Many publishers offer ads on a 3-for-the- price- of -2- basis, or 4-for-the-price-of-3, etc. This saving is the same as getting one ad free of charge.
11. Some publishers offer a free classified ad with your first display ad. Watch for such specials. Use the free ad and pocket the savings.
12. When starting a new publication, many publishers will offer reduced ad rates to help fill space. Watch for ads regarding such offers.
13. In your ads, request a SASE. Then insert some of your other offers in regular outgoing mail. This is the same as getting free advertising.
14. Become a mailer. Get your printer's lowest price for printing circulars on both sides of the sheet. Contact other dealers and state you will print and mail their circulars for this price with no conflicting ads on the back. Then print your circulars on the reverse and distribute them with your outgoing mail. There is no extra cost for postage and envelopes, and your side of the circular is paid for by your customers.
15. Offer a free commission circulars. Print one of your regular offers on one side; a commission offer on the reverse, leaving space where the mailer can rubber stamp his name & address, Your offer gets a free ride.
16. If you use a postage meter machine, use the ad space directly left of stamp imprint for a free message.
2. Check with local newspapers. Before going to press, many smaller newspapers have space left that needs filling.. Your ad may be just the right size to occupy this unfilled space and they will run it free.
3. Place your circulars on windshields of parked autos, Youngsters will be happy to do this for you for a dollar or two. Check first with city ordinances to see if this is permitted in your locality.
4. Leave sales literature on doorsteps of homes & businesses in your area. Do this on weekends in residential areas; weekdays for businesses.
5. Have your best pulling 1 inch or 2 inch ad made into a rubber stamp. Stamp this on envelopes of all of your outgoing mail.. Check rubber stamp dealer's ads in current mail order publications for price information.
6. When you have envelopes printed with your return address, have them also print your best ad directly beneath your address. It costs noting additional to have this printed on the front of your envelopes.
7. If you publish a mail order magazine, newspaper, adsheet, etc., contact other publishers, If your circulation is equal to theirs, many will be happy to exchange an equal amount of ad space with you.
8. Many publishers will give you free adspace for mailing a few copies of their publication. Simply write to them and ask if they will give you a free 1 inch ad in exchange for mailing 50 to 100 copies of their pub.
9. Write informative articles for mail order trade publication. Most publishers will give you free ad space for the use of your article.
10. Take advantage of advertising specials. Many publishers offer ads on a 3-for-the- price- of -2- basis, or 4-for-the-price-of-3, etc. This saving is the same as getting one ad free of charge.
11. Some publishers offer a free classified ad with your first display ad. Watch for such specials. Use the free ad and pocket the savings.
12. When starting a new publication, many publishers will offer reduced ad rates to help fill space. Watch for ads regarding such offers.
13. In your ads, request a SASE. Then insert some of your other offers in regular outgoing mail. This is the same as getting free advertising.
14. Become a mailer. Get your printer's lowest price for printing circulars on both sides of the sheet. Contact other dealers and state you will print and mail their circulars for this price with no conflicting ads on the back. Then print your circulars on the reverse and distribute them with your outgoing mail. There is no extra cost for postage and envelopes, and your side of the circular is paid for by your customers.
15. Offer a free commission circulars. Print one of your regular offers on one side; a commission offer on the reverse, leaving space where the mailer can rubber stamp his name & address, Your offer gets a free ride.
16. If you use a postage meter machine, use the ad space directly left of stamp imprint for a free message.
Thursday, November 1, 2007
10 Tricks To Trick Yours Brain
There are two basic principles to keep your brain healthy and sharp as you age: variety and curiosity. When anything you do becomes second nature, you need to make a change. If you can do the crossword puzzle in your sleep, it’s time for you to move on to a new challenge in order to get the best workout for your brain. Curiosity about the world around you, how it works and how you can understand it will keep your brain working fast and efficiently. Use the ideas below to help attain your quest for mental fitness.
1. Read a Book
Pick a book on an entirely new subject. Read a novel set in Egypt. Learn about economics. There are many excellent popular non-fiction books that do a great job entertaining you while teaching about a subject. Become an expert in something new each week. Branch out from familiar reading topics. If you usually read history books, try a contemporary novel. Read foreign authors, the classics and random books. Not only will your brain get a workout by imagining different time periods, cultures and peoples, you will also have interesting stories to tell about your reading, what it makes you think of and the connections you draw between modern life and the words.
2. Play Games
Games are a wonderful way to tease and challenge your brain. Suduko, crosswords and electronic games can all improve your brain’s speed and memory. These games rely on logic, word skills, math and more. These games are also fun. You’ll get benefit more by doing these games a little bit every day-spend 15 minutes or so, not hours.
3. Use Your Opposite Hand
Spend the day doing things with your non-dominant hand. If you are left-handed, open doors with your right hand. If you are right-handed, try using your keys with your left. This simple task will cause your brain to lay down some new pathways and rethink daily tasks. Wear your watch on the opposite hand to remind you to switch.
4. Learn Phone Numbers
Our modem phones remember every number that calls them. No one memorizes phone numbers anymore, but it is a great memory Skill. Learn a new phone number everyday.
5. Eat for Your Brain
Your brain needs you to eat healthy fats. Focus on fish oils from wild salmon, nuts such as walnuts, seeds such as flax seed and olive oil. Eat more of these foods and less saturated fats. Eliminate transfats completely from your diet.
6. Break the Routine
We love our routines. We have hobbies and pastimes that we could do for hours on end. But the more something is second nature, the less our brains have to work to do it. To really help your brain stay young, challenge it. Change routes to thegrocery store, use your opposite hand to open doors and eat dessert first. All this will force your brain to wake up from habits and pay attention again.
7. Go a Different way
Drive or walk a different way to wherever you go. This little change in routine helps the brain practice special memory and directions. Try different side streets go through stores in a different order anything to change your route.
8. Learn a New Skill
Learning a new skill works multiple areas of the brain. Your memory comes into play, you learn new movements and you associate things differently. Reading Shakespeare, learning to cook and building an airplane out of tooth picks all will challenge your brain and give you something to think about.
9. Make Lists
Lists are wonderful. Making lists helps us to associate items with one another. Make a list of all the places you have traveled. Make a list of the tastiest foods you have eaten. Make a list of the best presents you have been given. Make one list every day to jog your memory and make new connections. But don’t become too reliant on them. Make your grocery list, but then try to shop without it. Use the list once you have put every item you can think of in your cart. Do the same with your “to do” lists.
10. Choose a new skill
Find something that captivates you that you can do easily in your home and doesn’t cost too much. Photography with a digital camera, learning to draw, learning a musical instrument learning new cooking styles, or writing are all great choices.
1. Read a Book
Pick a book on an entirely new subject. Read a novel set in Egypt. Learn about economics. There are many excellent popular non-fiction books that do a great job entertaining you while teaching about a subject. Become an expert in something new each week. Branch out from familiar reading topics. If you usually read history books, try a contemporary novel. Read foreign authors, the classics and random books. Not only will your brain get a workout by imagining different time periods, cultures and peoples, you will also have interesting stories to tell about your reading, what it makes you think of and the connections you draw between modern life and the words.
2. Play Games
Games are a wonderful way to tease and challenge your brain. Suduko, crosswords and electronic games can all improve your brain’s speed and memory. These games rely on logic, word skills, math and more. These games are also fun. You’ll get benefit more by doing these games a little bit every day-spend 15 minutes or so, not hours.
3. Use Your Opposite Hand
Spend the day doing things with your non-dominant hand. If you are left-handed, open doors with your right hand. If you are right-handed, try using your keys with your left. This simple task will cause your brain to lay down some new pathways and rethink daily tasks. Wear your watch on the opposite hand to remind you to switch.
4. Learn Phone Numbers
Our modem phones remember every number that calls them. No one memorizes phone numbers anymore, but it is a great memory Skill. Learn a new phone number everyday.
5. Eat for Your Brain
Your brain needs you to eat healthy fats. Focus on fish oils from wild salmon, nuts such as walnuts, seeds such as flax seed and olive oil. Eat more of these foods and less saturated fats. Eliminate transfats completely from your diet.
6. Break the Routine
We love our routines. We have hobbies and pastimes that we could do for hours on end. But the more something is second nature, the less our brains have to work to do it. To really help your brain stay young, challenge it. Change routes to thegrocery store, use your opposite hand to open doors and eat dessert first. All this will force your brain to wake up from habits and pay attention again.
7. Go a Different way
Drive or walk a different way to wherever you go. This little change in routine helps the brain practice special memory and directions. Try different side streets go through stores in a different order anything to change your route.
8. Learn a New Skill
Learning a new skill works multiple areas of the brain. Your memory comes into play, you learn new movements and you associate things differently. Reading Shakespeare, learning to cook and building an airplane out of tooth picks all will challenge your brain and give you something to think about.
9. Make Lists
Lists are wonderful. Making lists helps us to associate items with one another. Make a list of all the places you have traveled. Make a list of the tastiest foods you have eaten. Make a list of the best presents you have been given. Make one list every day to jog your memory and make new connections. But don’t become too reliant on them. Make your grocery list, but then try to shop without it. Use the list once you have put every item you can think of in your cart. Do the same with your “to do” lists.
10. Choose a new skill
Find something that captivates you that you can do easily in your home and doesn’t cost too much. Photography with a digital camera, learning to draw, learning a musical instrument learning new cooking styles, or writing are all great choices.
Tuesday, October 30, 2007
Ten Tips to Get More Readers for your Blog
How do you feel when you do not get any comment on your blog or have very few reads. Depressed. You worked hard to write and nobody showed interest in reading. There may be many factors behind it. Sometimes your post get unnoticed due to heavy rush of posts or an unattractive heading. If a writer pastes too many posts at a time all of them can not get good readers in a short period. Too many posts from a person also create problem for other members who are online to submit their posts. There are many other factors too. Let us discuss a few steps that you can take to increase the number of readers.
1.Value of a Heading
Most of the members do not care enough to give a good heading to their post. Devote some time and think several headings for a post. Choose the most attractive and the most relevant.
2.Informative and Interesting
The matter of your post must be informative as well as interesting. If bloggers feel bore they may not read other posts written by you. If they like your writing they may go to read your other posts too. Although you may write on any topic on the earth but do write more often on the field you specialize in. It ensure more visits in future.
3.Never Too Lengthy
Keep maximum limit of your posts to 1000 words. Posts which are too lengthy may create disinterest in readers. In case you can not keep this limit because the topic of your article demands more words them keep your writing very interesting. Read your article several times to check if it has the power to hold the attention of the reader. Posts should not be too short either. It must contain at least 200 words.
4.Give Links of Your other Articles
Many writers give links of other sites under their articles or comments. It is mostly useless until you are popularizing your own site. Publicity of other sites will prove bad for your own blog. You will get less readers and less income. Give links of your others good articles in your blog. It will increase readership of your other articles too. It will also get more readers for you from search engines. It is a phenomenon only a few wise writers understand.
5.Tag Your Content
Many sites provide facility of Technocrati tagging – good to popularise your blog in the long run. Tag your every writing with a few good key words relevant to your article.
6.Do Write Comments But..
Do not write hurried-comments to get points. It will not popularise your own blog. Write good comments and you will get good comments in return. It will help you to get more readers not in present but in future too. It will also popularize you on the site. Result: more readers.
7.Invite your Friends on the Site
The best way to create the interest of your friends and acquaintances on the site or your own blog is to send them links of good articles by emails and ask them read those aricles. Whenver those persons visit the site by hitting the link (easy way to invite them) they will definitely visit your blog too, and read several of your articles.
8.Copy-Paste Technique and Search Engines
You may get more points and readers in the beginning, but it will not help you build a good blog. Many readers just copy from other sites and paste in their blog. They get points and think they will also get more ad clicking and thus more income. But in future your blog will not be able to gain strength and get good readership. Search engines also hate such blog – labelling it as spam. Result: less readers or visitors from search engines. Though you may copy and paste (but only now and then) to help readers get good information but be careful about giving the source of the article/writing. And do not whether a site or writer allows it or not.
9.False Readership
Many bloggers show a cleverness by creating false readership to show they are getting readers. But in the long run this clever tactics proves a suicide of your blog. Readers can easily understand it and my ignore your other articles. Modern software also detects this tactic and your articles may be removed from the site. You also face cancellation of your membership.
10.Quality is Heavier than Points
Points are there to encourage a member to write more. It may also help you to get some more income. But if you rush for posting and commenting just for points it will not be a good strategy for getting more readership or really good income in future. Quality should be your watch word. A few of your articles/posting must prove real blockbuster (capable of attracting a large number of readership).
And dear friend, please be careful to your grammar and punctuation. Keep space in paragraphs. Keep sub-headings bold.
I hope above tips will help you to build a wonderful blog on a site. In the long run only a good blog generates good income too.
1.Value of a Heading
Most of the members do not care enough to give a good heading to their post. Devote some time and think several headings for a post. Choose the most attractive and the most relevant.
2.Informative and Interesting
The matter of your post must be informative as well as interesting. If bloggers feel bore they may not read other posts written by you. If they like your writing they may go to read your other posts too. Although you may write on any topic on the earth but do write more often on the field you specialize in. It ensure more visits in future.
3.Never Too Lengthy
Keep maximum limit of your posts to 1000 words. Posts which are too lengthy may create disinterest in readers. In case you can not keep this limit because the topic of your article demands more words them keep your writing very interesting. Read your article several times to check if it has the power to hold the attention of the reader. Posts should not be too short either. It must contain at least 200 words.
4.Give Links of Your other Articles
Many writers give links of other sites under their articles or comments. It is mostly useless until you are popularizing your own site. Publicity of other sites will prove bad for your own blog. You will get less readers and less income. Give links of your others good articles in your blog. It will increase readership of your other articles too. It will also get more readers for you from search engines. It is a phenomenon only a few wise writers understand.
5.Tag Your Content
Many sites provide facility of Technocrati tagging – good to popularise your blog in the long run. Tag your every writing with a few good key words relevant to your article.
6.Do Write Comments But..
Do not write hurried-comments to get points. It will not popularise your own blog. Write good comments and you will get good comments in return. It will help you to get more readers not in present but in future too. It will also popularize you on the site. Result: more readers.
7.Invite your Friends on the Site
The best way to create the interest of your friends and acquaintances on the site or your own blog is to send them links of good articles by emails and ask them read those aricles. Whenver those persons visit the site by hitting the link (easy way to invite them) they will definitely visit your blog too, and read several of your articles.
8.Copy-Paste Technique and Search Engines
You may get more points and readers in the beginning, but it will not help you build a good blog. Many readers just copy from other sites and paste in their blog. They get points and think they will also get more ad clicking and thus more income. But in future your blog will not be able to gain strength and get good readership. Search engines also hate such blog – labelling it as spam. Result: less readers or visitors from search engines. Though you may copy and paste (but only now and then) to help readers get good information but be careful about giving the source of the article/writing. And do not whether a site or writer allows it or not.
9.False Readership
Many bloggers show a cleverness by creating false readership to show they are getting readers. But in the long run this clever tactics proves a suicide of your blog. Readers can easily understand it and my ignore your other articles. Modern software also detects this tactic and your articles may be removed from the site. You also face cancellation of your membership.
10.Quality is Heavier than Points
Points are there to encourage a member to write more. It may also help you to get some more income. But if you rush for posting and commenting just for points it will not be a good strategy for getting more readership or really good income in future. Quality should be your watch word. A few of your articles/posting must prove real blockbuster (capable of attracting a large number of readership).
And dear friend, please be careful to your grammar and punctuation. Keep space in paragraphs. Keep sub-headings bold.
I hope above tips will help you to build a wonderful blog on a site. In the long run only a good blog generates good income too.
Monday, October 29, 2007
10 Tips for self improvement
TRUTH: 21st Century
While I do not always end up managing to put each of the following tips into practice, I do make a big effort to do so each day. This is a list of my favorite tips to improving your life. All it takes is a little bit each day and you will see wondrous changes.
10. Get off to a Good Start
This means getting up early and eating breakfast. You will have much more energy throughout the day to follow the rest of these tips if you do! If you are so inclined, you can even include a little exercise in your morning routine.. If you live with other people you can try to use this opportunity to get everyone together at the table to eat in the mornings. This is a nice way to start the day and a good way to ensure open lines of communication in a very busy household.
9. Keep a Schedule
It is a very good idea to write down the tasks you need to achieve in each day. As you complete them, tick them off. You should not, however, feel like you are bound to your list. If you don’t manage to do everything, it doesn’t matter - move any incomplete tasks from today on to tomorrow’s list. This is also a great help if you are a procrastinator.
8. Take a Break and have Fun
If you spend too much time in front of the computer, at your desk, or doing whatever it is that your occupation requires, you should take a break. This doesn’t mean you have to take time off work - it just means you should try to make better use of your non-work time to do something fun. I always have difficulty pulling myself away from the computer and as a result I don’t go out as often as I should on the weekend or in the evening. But every time I do - I wonder why I haven’t done it sooner. This is a good way to develop new interests, and friends and to break up the monotony of everyday life.
7. Be Generous
Generosity has a tendency to come back. By generosity I am not referring only to money. You can be generous with your smiles, your advice, and many other things. Always try to find a way to help others. One day you may be in great need and people you know will be more likely to come to your aid when they know that you would do the same for them. You might know someone that could use help around the home from time to time - not only are you doing a good thing by helping them out, but you may also make a great new friend.
6. Accept the things you can’t Change
When something bad happens in our lives, we try to fix them or change them. But sometimes we can’t. Often this leads us to spend hours moping and falling in to depression. If you can make yourself accept the things you cannot change - you will become a much happier person. Acceptance of these situations also allows us to start finding a way to cope much faster. For example, you may realize that you have only $10 left in your bank account that has to last the next 2 weeks. Instead of getting down about it, accept that you have no money and work out a way to survive on that amount. You can save yourself from wasting hours in a bad mood by just getting on with life. You will find much more serenity in life following this tip.
5. Learn a New Language
Learning another language is one of the best ways to improve your grasp on English. In my own experience, learning French at high school taught me so much more about grammar than English class ever did. In addition, when I later started studying Ancient Greek, I learnt a lot about the roots of English words - something I have found very useful in writing in the years since. As well as improving your knowledge of English, if you learn a living language you increase the number of places you might like to visit - or make those holidays much more enjoyable by being able to speak to the natives in their own tongue.
4. Break the Chain
If you have a lot of patterns in your life, try breaking them - do something different every day. Let’s say you always order the same meal at your regular Friday night restaurant. Why not try something else this Friday? Not only do you get to broaden your experiences of life, you open up many doors for the future. Not long ago I would never eat oriental foods or seafood. Then one day I decided that I would just try it. Seafood is now one of my favorite foods and I would hate to be without it. Because I discovered that I love Thai and Chinese food, I can eat in any restaurant I want. That first step also meant that I am now willing to try absolutely any food. My disliking for those foods had a much greater impact as well - I would only holiday in countries that had foods I felt safe with. Since then I have been to Oriental countries and loved it.
3. Face the Fear
Every day you should do something you don’t want to do - or feel uncomfortable doing. This varies in degrees for everyone, but we all have little things we can start out with. For example, you may not go to the gym because you fear everyone looking at you - do it anyway! In no time you will be so much more confident that you abolish the fear entirely and can move on to the next fear - maybe even something bigger. Living a fearless life gives you a confidence that is visible to others. Instead of building walls around ourselves, we should be tearing them down.
2. Forget Goals - Live for the Now
Lists of this nature almost always tell you to set and write goals. I am going to tell you the opposite. A very wise psychotherapist once told me that if you set a goal, and achieve it, you are often left with an empty feeling because the goal is not what you thought it would be. Not only does it not satisfy, you inevitably end up missing out on so much life by striving to reach something in the future. Having said this, I don’t think you should ignore the future - it is worth having some idea of what you might like to one day achieve - but don’t focus all of your energy on getting it. A good example of the difference is this: I have a goal to live in France. I spend 10 years trying to save up all my money so I can acheive that goal. In the meantime I am so busy scrimping and saving, that I can’t afford to go out with friends, I can’t afford to live in a nice home, and I am miserable because I am not living in France. On the other hand, if I simply decide that one day I would like to live in France, the idea is in my mind, but I continue to live and enjoy my life. In living my life, I am happy now and not focused on a distant goal. If it happens, great. If it doesn’t happen, I haven’t failed at anything. But who knows what wonderful things may happen in my life in the meantime? A very good fictitious example of this can be found in the film American Beauty.
1. Don’t Procrastinate
This is one I struggle with a lot in my own life. This has been a great challenge for me as I work from home, but taking this job has really helped me to stop putting things off and take control of my life. The feeling after completing a task you would normally put off is a great high - and certainly a much healthier one than some of the other highs in our lives. When you put something off, you are putting yourself into time-debt. You have to pay that debt back and almost always you end up having to do that at the most inconvenient time. By putting off writing an article for the site, for example, I end up having to write one at 7 at night when I would rather be watching a movie and having a drink! Your life will become so much more organized if you follow this rule.
Thanks and Regards,
Navroz
"One thing that cannot be recycled is Wasted Time"
While I do not always end up managing to put each of the following tips into practice, I do make a big effort to do so each day. This is a list of my favorite tips to improving your life. All it takes is a little bit each day and you will see wondrous changes.
10. Get off to a Good Start
This means getting up early and eating breakfast. You will have much more energy throughout the day to follow the rest of these tips if you do! If you are so inclined, you can even include a little exercise in your morning routine.. If you live with other people you can try to use this opportunity to get everyone together at the table to eat in the mornings. This is a nice way to start the day and a good way to ensure open lines of communication in a very busy household.
9. Keep a Schedule
It is a very good idea to write down the tasks you need to achieve in each day. As you complete them, tick them off. You should not, however, feel like you are bound to your list. If you don’t manage to do everything, it doesn’t matter - move any incomplete tasks from today on to tomorrow’s list. This is also a great help if you are a procrastinator.
8. Take a Break and have Fun
If you spend too much time in front of the computer, at your desk, or doing whatever it is that your occupation requires, you should take a break. This doesn’t mean you have to take time off work - it just means you should try to make better use of your non-work time to do something fun. I always have difficulty pulling myself away from the computer and as a result I don’t go out as often as I should on the weekend or in the evening. But every time I do - I wonder why I haven’t done it sooner. This is a good way to develop new interests, and friends and to break up the monotony of everyday life.
7. Be Generous
Generosity has a tendency to come back. By generosity I am not referring only to money. You can be generous with your smiles, your advice, and many other things. Always try to find a way to help others. One day you may be in great need and people you know will be more likely to come to your aid when they know that you would do the same for them. You might know someone that could use help around the home from time to time - not only are you doing a good thing by helping them out, but you may also make a great new friend.
6. Accept the things you can’t Change
When something bad happens in our lives, we try to fix them or change them. But sometimes we can’t. Often this leads us to spend hours moping and falling in to depression. If you can make yourself accept the things you cannot change - you will become a much happier person. Acceptance of these situations also allows us to start finding a way to cope much faster. For example, you may realize that you have only $10 left in your bank account that has to last the next 2 weeks. Instead of getting down about it, accept that you have no money and work out a way to survive on that amount. You can save yourself from wasting hours in a bad mood by just getting on with life. You will find much more serenity in life following this tip.
5. Learn a New Language
Learning another language is one of the best ways to improve your grasp on English. In my own experience, learning French at high school taught me so much more about grammar than English class ever did. In addition, when I later started studying Ancient Greek, I learnt a lot about the roots of English words - something I have found very useful in writing in the years since. As well as improving your knowledge of English, if you learn a living language you increase the number of places you might like to visit - or make those holidays much more enjoyable by being able to speak to the natives in their own tongue.
4. Break the Chain
If you have a lot of patterns in your life, try breaking them - do something different every day. Let’s say you always order the same meal at your regular Friday night restaurant. Why not try something else this Friday? Not only do you get to broaden your experiences of life, you open up many doors for the future. Not long ago I would never eat oriental foods or seafood. Then one day I decided that I would just try it. Seafood is now one of my favorite foods and I would hate to be without it. Because I discovered that I love Thai and Chinese food, I can eat in any restaurant I want. That first step also meant that I am now willing to try absolutely any food. My disliking for those foods had a much greater impact as well - I would only holiday in countries that had foods I felt safe with. Since then I have been to Oriental countries and loved it.
3. Face the Fear
Every day you should do something you don’t want to do - or feel uncomfortable doing. This varies in degrees for everyone, but we all have little things we can start out with. For example, you may not go to the gym because you fear everyone looking at you - do it anyway! In no time you will be so much more confident that you abolish the fear entirely and can move on to the next fear - maybe even something bigger. Living a fearless life gives you a confidence that is visible to others. Instead of building walls around ourselves, we should be tearing them down.
2. Forget Goals - Live for the Now
Lists of this nature almost always tell you to set and write goals. I am going to tell you the opposite. A very wise psychotherapist once told me that if you set a goal, and achieve it, you are often left with an empty feeling because the goal is not what you thought it would be. Not only does it not satisfy, you inevitably end up missing out on so much life by striving to reach something in the future. Having said this, I don’t think you should ignore the future - it is worth having some idea of what you might like to one day achieve - but don’t focus all of your energy on getting it. A good example of the difference is this: I have a goal to live in France. I spend 10 years trying to save up all my money so I can acheive that goal. In the meantime I am so busy scrimping and saving, that I can’t afford to go out with friends, I can’t afford to live in a nice home, and I am miserable because I am not living in France. On the other hand, if I simply decide that one day I would like to live in France, the idea is in my mind, but I continue to live and enjoy my life. In living my life, I am happy now and not focused on a distant goal. If it happens, great. If it doesn’t happen, I haven’t failed at anything. But who knows what wonderful things may happen in my life in the meantime? A very good fictitious example of this can be found in the film American Beauty.
1. Don’t Procrastinate
This is one I struggle with a lot in my own life. This has been a great challenge for me as I work from home, but taking this job has really helped me to stop putting things off and take control of my life. The feeling after completing a task you would normally put off is a great high - and certainly a much healthier one than some of the other highs in our lives. When you put something off, you are putting yourself into time-debt. You have to pay that debt back and almost always you end up having to do that at the most inconvenient time. By putting off writing an article for the site, for example, I end up having to write one at 7 at night when I would rather be watching a movie and having a drink! Your life will become so much more organized if you follow this rule.
Thanks and Regards,
Navroz
"One thing that cannot be recycled is Wasted Time"
Thursday, October 18, 2007
11 Great Ways to be Positive
Look for the positives!
Seek them out - those little scary places that it's challenging to let yourself go to - the positives are genuinely scary, because they give you hope and it's hard to let go of all the fears you have right now - so hanging onto them is the easiest path!
So try letting yourself go, just for the heck of it!
Take that step back from being 'done to' and take the initiative. At work, at home or wherever, this can be a great time, if you let it. There are loads of ideas why. Here are eleven of my favourites...
Personal Growth
Change gives us great moments for self-development and personal growth. It is in times where there is a lot going on, where we have to get out of our box to think, even when change is imposed, that we move forward.
Involving Others
During change periods we can create relationships that are new - and we, as managers, have a great chance to bring others into our confidence and into our network.
Adventure
There is something about change, large or small which creates 'something different' from our routine day. This is pretty cool really. We are being provided with stimulating mental exercise to make the best of things happening differently. It might not look that way, but change brings adventure!
Building it in
Learning about big changes, means that we can closely observe why those changes are necessary. We have to make radical changes because we have strayed well off course. So as we learn, we can make provision to have some minor course corrections rather than completely the wrong destination.
Challenge
In his great book, 'The Inner Game of Work', Timothy Gallwey talks about the fine balance between security and challenge being what gets people motivated. By creating new things to learn, to do, we stretch our people - and ourselves.
Opportunity
Change brings new opportunity. For learning; for understanding ourselves better; for new perspectives; for different roles. These can be grasped personally or they can be dwelt on miserably. The better choice is to go for it!
Team Bonding
Change exercises, big and small can be great to develop a team. Where there is the opportunity to work together, manager with their closest people there are often places, moments where the team spirit; the trust and the shared commitment - the 'Dunkirk spirit' even, enables future potential of a team to be loosened.
Honesty
Where radical change proves necessary it enlightens those involved that where they are is not where they need to be. Carrying out a review of why serious change is necessary and seeking the real truth is very revealing. The icing on the cake for those involved in organisational change processes is to create a feedback loop that renders future major change unnecessary.
Choice
Change is not truly necessary. Change is about choice. You have the choice whether to accept it positively or not. It is your choice and everyone has that - believe it or not. No-one is holding you down to prevent you getting away. Take personal responsibility for the choices you make.
Focus
Change gives the opportunity for and usually gets really down to the gist of the issues that have precipitated the need. This is good. Your organisation is realising that things need to be different, for all sorts of reasons, but usually for the health of the organisation and that means you, usually. For some it may mean loss of role, status and even job - now what positive opportunity does that bring!
Passion
And finally, we have the opportunity to review our own roles, not just in the workplace, but in life too. Are you passionate about your work - or are you just muddling through? Are new opportunities presented to you personally through change - within or without the place where you work today? What is your personal passion and how do you work towards making that how you spend every day of your life?
...helping you, to help your people, to help your business grow...
Seek them out - those little scary places that it's challenging to let yourself go to - the positives are genuinely scary, because they give you hope and it's hard to let go of all the fears you have right now - so hanging onto them is the easiest path!
So try letting yourself go, just for the heck of it!
Take that step back from being 'done to' and take the initiative. At work, at home or wherever, this can be a great time, if you let it. There are loads of ideas why. Here are eleven of my favourites...
Personal Growth
Change gives us great moments for self-development and personal growth. It is in times where there is a lot going on, where we have to get out of our box to think, even when change is imposed, that we move forward.
Involving Others
During change periods we can create relationships that are new - and we, as managers, have a great chance to bring others into our confidence and into our network.
Adventure
There is something about change, large or small which creates 'something different' from our routine day. This is pretty cool really. We are being provided with stimulating mental exercise to make the best of things happening differently. It might not look that way, but change brings adventure!
Building it in
Learning about big changes, means that we can closely observe why those changes are necessary. We have to make radical changes because we have strayed well off course. So as we learn, we can make provision to have some minor course corrections rather than completely the wrong destination.
Challenge
In his great book, 'The Inner Game of Work', Timothy Gallwey talks about the fine balance between security and challenge being what gets people motivated. By creating new things to learn, to do, we stretch our people - and ourselves.
Opportunity
Change brings new opportunity. For learning; for understanding ourselves better; for new perspectives; for different roles. These can be grasped personally or they can be dwelt on miserably. The better choice is to go for it!
Team Bonding
Change exercises, big and small can be great to develop a team. Where there is the opportunity to work together, manager with their closest people there are often places, moments where the team spirit; the trust and the shared commitment - the 'Dunkirk spirit' even, enables future potential of a team to be loosened.
Honesty
Where radical change proves necessary it enlightens those involved that where they are is not where they need to be. Carrying out a review of why serious change is necessary and seeking the real truth is very revealing. The icing on the cake for those involved in organisational change processes is to create a feedback loop that renders future major change unnecessary.
Choice
Change is not truly necessary. Change is about choice. You have the choice whether to accept it positively or not. It is your choice and everyone has that - believe it or not. No-one is holding you down to prevent you getting away. Take personal responsibility for the choices you make.
Focus
Change gives the opportunity for and usually gets really down to the gist of the issues that have precipitated the need. This is good. Your organisation is realising that things need to be different, for all sorts of reasons, but usually for the health of the organisation and that means you, usually. For some it may mean loss of role, status and even job - now what positive opportunity does that bring!
Passion
And finally, we have the opportunity to review our own roles, not just in the workplace, but in life too. Are you passionate about your work - or are you just muddling through? Are new opportunities presented to you personally through change - within or without the place where you work today? What is your personal passion and how do you work towards making that how you spend every day of your life?
...helping you, to help your people, to help your business grow...
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