WHAT WILL YOU DO IN YOUR DASH?

#TheDash #YourDash #YourLife
Your birth year, or date, and your death year, or date, will likely be engraved on your tombstone.
Between the two years, or dates, will likely be a dash. It could be a fancy dash, or just plain.
But that dash represents what you did between your birth and death.
Linda Ellis has written a poem titled, “The Dash.” The poem is a basis for the book, “The Dash: Making a Difference With Your Life,” written by Ellis and Mac Anderson.
“For it matters not, how much we own, the cars … the house … the cash. What matters is how we live and love and how we spend our dash,” the poem reads in part.
The book also includes testimonials of how the poem has inspired people who have read it.
When someone is speaking at your funeral, how would you like them to remember you? Most of us would probably like to be remembered as one who helped others. We also would like to be remembered, perhaps, as one who was successful.
We all define success differently, but if we can become successful by helping others be successful, we would probably say we hit a home run with our dash.
The verse also talks about change. “So, think about this long and hard. Are there things you’d like to change? For you never know how much time is left that can still be rearranged.”
Are there things in life that YOU can change? Perhaps not some circumstances, but certainly how you react to them.
Are you doing enough to make others successful? If you are looking for a way you could better bring success to others, and, as a result, to yourself, there are many such vehicles out there. To learn about one of the best, message me.
We may also look at life as a dash, meaning a sprint. The poem looks at it differently: “If we could just slow down enough to consider what’s true and real and always try to understand the way people feel.”
Yet, a testimonial by Michelle Landahl, included in the book, says, “It’s important not to save all your energy for the final lap; live your dash so hard it will be impossible to forget.”
Often, it’s the little things that will be most meaningful in life, the poet and many readers say.
So, don’t forget those little things as you, perhaps, pursue bigger things. Between your birth and death, make your dash the best you can make it.
One would rather make a life than a living. The life you make is your dash. Let those who would remember you speak of you as one who inspires them, and perhaps others.
As you inspire others, you will enrich yourself in so many ways. As much as we’d like our dash to be more of a marathon than a sprint, sometimes it doesn’t work out that way. We can’t do much about that.
But we can make the most of the time we have. Live your dash to the fullest.
Peter

DO SOMETHING; THERE IS MUCH IN YOUR LIFE YOU CAN CONTROL

#DoSomething #IgnoranceInAction #KnowledgeAtRest
Ignorance in action is better than knowledge at rest.
That’s the conclusion reached in the book ,”The Final Summit: A Quest to Find the One Principle That Will Save Humanity”, by Andy Andrews.
Andrews takes a group of historical figures and other successful people places them in a room to help figure out what the world, and individuals, need to do to improve the human condition.
After several tries and great guesses at the one thing that would be most beneficial, they finally came to the conclusion that one must do something, even if he or she doesn’t know what to do.
Careful thought is certainly not discouraged. Neither is constant learning. But thoughts and knowledge only take one so far. Not putting what one knows and thinks into action renders thoughts and knowledge moot.
Certainly, many people have been hit hard by circumstances, either as individuals or groups. Often, when they reflect upon what has happened to them, they tend to look for something, or someone, to blame for their plight.
When they do that, they either fail to see, or fear to take, the action THEY can take to eventually improve their lives.
Fear and blame waste energy that could be used to take an action that will make a difference in one’s life.
Sometimes, though, one might not know about something that they could do to change their lives. There are many such vehicles out there that may be able to do what’s needed, that not everyone may know about. If you’d like to hear about one of the best such vehicles, message me.
Sometimes, fear, or skepticism may prevent someone from checking out something that could be the game-changer they are looking for. Also, for some, if they get the opportunity to check it out, they hesitate to act out of fear, self-doubt etc.
Remember the point of Andrews’ book: do something, even if you are not sure what to do.
Remember, too, that one has nothing to lose by looking. That means, don’t assume you are not going to like something before you check it out.
We’ve all met people who say they don’t like certain foods, but have never tasted them.
Have you ever started a new job, in a new location, and are not sure you are going to cut it the first few weeks? Perhaps the routine is new. Perhaps you have to learn new skills. Perhaps something seems difficult at first, but will get easier with time.
If you have to work, you have to give it your best shot. Time can tame the untenable. Time can often turn drudgery into simplicity. It can help you learn to do things better, faster and easier. Every new situation deserves a little time.
So, it doesn’t matter that you don’t have 100 percent certainty about where you are going and what you are doing. It doesn’t matter that things seem difficult now. Don’t let the unknown keep you from taking action YOU can take to better your life.
Just when it seems the world has gone to hell in a hand basket, perhaps making hand baskets will change your life.
Peter

GENDER ROLES CHANGING IN WORKPLACE

#workplaces #GenderRoles #WomensJobs #MensJobs
More men are expected to be attracted to “women’s jobs” in the coming years.
However, the reverse is not proving to be a trend.
That’s according to research by Jed Kolko, economist at the job-search site Indeed. His study was quoted in an article by Ana Swanson in the Washington Post. It was also published in the April 23, 2017, edition of The Atlanta Journal-Constitution.
Kolko concludes that less-educated men may especially face challenges in the job market of the future, the article says.
“In recent decades, fields that are dominated by men and by women have not fared equally. Many men have fallen out of work as increased mechanization has allowed the U.S. to produce more agricultural and manufacturing goods than ever, with fewer people than before,” the article says.
“Jobs that are dominated by women are projected to grow nearly twice as fast as jobs that are dominated by men,” the article quotes the Kolko study, based on figures from the Bureau of Labor Statistics.
“Fast-growing ‘male’ jobs that require lots of education don’t really help men without a college degree who have been in traditionally ‘male’ jobs,” the article quotes Kolko.
We all have an idea what a “male” job – construction, manufacturing, mining, farming etc. –or a “female job” – nursing, administrative assistant, etc. –is. The article says that computer programming was once dominated by women, but is now heavily male.
It’s been reported many times that men fared worse in the Great Recession than women. The good jobs done largely by men went away more quickly than those done mostly by women.
Kolko points out that some “female” jobs, such as telephone operaters and textile workers, also have been automated out, according to the article.
The broader trend is away from manufacturing and more toward services, which could draw men into jobs traditionally dominated by women, the article says.
So let’s step back and examine this. Good jobs in general are disappearing quickly. Lots of folks, if they are lucky to find new jobs, generally are getting paid less than their previous jobs paid them. Many are not using the skills they were trained for. Those skills, largely, are being replaced by machines. There’s nothing a person can do to stop that!
But what a person CAN do is think about other ways to make money. There are many such vehicles out there for those willing to step out of what’s comfortable, and look at something different. To learn about one of the best such vehicles, message me.
The economy, the recession, downsizing – however you wish to think about it – is not something that will, or can, go away. So, if such circumstances hit you, don’t beat yourself up. Sure, those circumstances will hurt, but by further beating yourself, the pain will be worse.
Americans can be very resilient. Sometimes, tough circumstances require bold action. Sometimes, one has to think differently to better himself.
If you view yourself as a hard-working person, and most do, don’t expect someone to give you something. You may have to look for other opportunities, perhaps completely unrelated to what you’ve done before.
So whether you’ve been doing a “male” job, or a “female” job, and it has gone away, remember that someone you know, or may not yet know, may introduce you to something you may have never heard of. Listen. Don’t dismiss it out of hand. You could be hearing about the light at the end of your tunnel.
Peter

LEADERSHIP AND OZ: BRAIN, HEART, COURAGE

#TheWizardofOz #leadership #workplaces
Even if you’ve read the book or seen the movie, “The Wizard of Oz,” you may not realize that it offers great lessons in leadership.
Workplace expert BJ Gallagher brings some of those lessons to light in her book, “The Leadership Secrets of Oz: Strategies From Great and Powerful to Flying Monkeys – Unleash Some Magic in Your Management.”
Using actual lines from the book and/or movie, Gallagher addresses how one can build brains, heed your heart and cultivate courage.
To jog one’s memory, Dorothy and her three sidekicks were looking to Oz to provide each with the one thing they thought they lacked. The point is that they didn’t lack that characteristic at all. The wizard helped give them the perspective they needed to see that they indeed had what they needed all along.
Sometimes, when we think we don’t have something, or believe we can never find that one thing that we believe will put us over the top, often it is our perspective that is lacking, as Andy Andrews often writes and speaks about.
Have you ever heard someone say, “if I just had a …, I could do …?”
Perhaps what they don’t have is money. They may have a job, but perhaps live paycheck to paycheck. Perhaps they are overwhelmed with debt.
Perhaps they really want something – a nice car, for example – but believe it takes the money they don’t have to get it.
There are many ways to get money while still working that job that doesn’t pay enough, in a person’s mind.
First: spend less and save more. It’s old advice, but still applicable today. If you are young, you can get your nice car, if that’s your dream, but perhaps not right away. If you skip, say, one trip to the coffee shop every day, and saved the money you would otherwise spend there, eventually you’ll have the money put away for that car. Better yet, buy a container that will keep your coffee hot for a long time, make your own coffee, skip the coffee shop altogether and save what you would have spent there. You’ll be driving those dream wheels even sooner.
By the way, while saving for the car, put a few bucks into an account for your retirement. You never know when the day will come that your job will go away. The more and the longer you can save, as well as invest wisely with good trusted advice, the bigger your smile will be when your job eventually goes away.
Second: take a second job or, better yet, use a few non-working hours to help generate an income that could be even better than that from a second job. Maybe it could even outpace your main income source. There are many such vehicles out to help you do that. To check out one of the best, message me.
One can dictate his own future by the right perspective on each circumstance. The Oz characters came to realize that what they lacked was not lacking at all. They simply lacked the perspective that could help them better see what they had.
We all make choices. We all have circumstances. Sometimes, seeing opportunity amid catastrophe requires merely a new perspective. Sometimes, looking at other ways to do things that may be different from what you are used to can turn catastrophe into a dream come true.
Peter

JOB MARKET GETTING CRAZY

#JobMarket #employment #SmallBusiness
After years of recovering from the 2008 recession, the job market is starting to look good, even for those who’ve had a hard time finding work in the last decade.
The number of part-time workers who would prefer full-timework dropped by 281,000 in April 2017. Those numbers dropped from 9.2 million at the peak of the job crisis, to 5.3 million in April, according to an article in USA Today by Paul Davidson. It was published May 11, 2017, in The Atlanta Journal-Constitution.
On the opposite side of the coin, many baby boomers who are small-business owners are at or approaching retirement. That may produce a “silver tsunami” of job losses among those who work for those retiring business owners, according to an article by Gene Marks in The Washington Post. That article was also published May 10, 2017, in TheAtlanta Journal-Constitution.
According to Project Equity, many small business owners do not have a succession plan. Therefore, many of those businesses will quietly close forever, the Marks article quotes Project Equity co-founder Alison Lingane.
Let’s examine these two trends together.
Many big employers are finding it hard to find workers. Small businesses may quietly close when their owners retire, putting lots of folks out of work.
“There simply aren’t enough” available workers, the Davidson article quotes Joe Brusuelas, chief economist for consulting firm RSM U.S. “The dynamic has shifted. Labor is going to have power for the first time in years,” the quote continues.
“Since today most family-owned businesses don’t have somebody in the next generation who wants to take over, employee ownership is one of the best ways to keep thriving businesses locally rooted into the next generation,” the Marks article quotes Mark Quinn, district director of the U.S. Small Business Administration.
So, are you finding that your employment prospects are looking better? Do you work for small business with an owner who’ll retire soon, with no plan to keep the business going?
Do you like what you do? If so, enjoy the better job prospects, or become an owner of the company for whom you work. That’s easier said than done, obviously.
If you don’t like what you do, and really need a change, there are many vehicles out there to earn a potentially great income and help others do the same. To check out one of the best such vehicles, message me.
We’re all hearing and reading good news about the economy, but some folks still are not seeing the improvements in their own lives. There are still a good number of folks who, if they are still working, are working a job that paid less than the one they lost. Others just never found work at all after losing a good job, and have quietly left the job market.
In those cases, complaining, blaming various people or entities for one’s plight is not productive. One must take action – perhaps a different action from the one(s) he has taken thus far – to find a better way to live.
Indeed, there is much to be excited and optimistic about out there. Likely, those things may not just land in your lap. Or, if they do, they may do so in the form of a person – someone you already know, or will meet for the first time – who has something to show you.
Don’t be afraid. Check it out. If that person is honest, he’ll take no for an answer. (If he doesn’t, walk away). Saying no before looking could bring you much regret.
Peter