#happiness #TeachingHappiness #schools
Most of us think of happiness as a feeling.
Either we are happy, or we are not.
In Delhi, India, children have a class on happiness in school.
It appears the public schools in Delhi are experimenting with such a class, since schools in India are so obsessed with test scores that the obsession may be stressing the students.
Vidhi Doshi wrote about this in an article in The Washington Post. It was also published July 29, 2018, in The Atlanta Journal-Constitution.
And, the article says, the classes have paid off. Delhi’s public schools have outperformed the private schools on standardized test in recent years.
“We should work happily,” the article quotes Aayush Jha, 11, who took his first happiness class. “When you work sadly, your work will not be good,” he said.
But, after nearly three decades of rapid industrialization in India, some states in the country made exams easier and graded them leniently to bring up the scores. Some students got through high school without being able to read or write, the article says.
So now, experts in India are asking whether the focus on employability has stifled creativity and stymied social progress, the article says.
So, how do the classes work? Some 10,000 Delhi students spend the first half-hour of each day without opening a book, learning instead through inspirational stories and activities, as well as meditation exercises, the article says.
It’s kind of like recess, indoors, to start the day.
During this period, the students are encouraged to think about what makes them happy.
So, if your job, or school, stresses you out, start the day by thinking about what makes you happy.
Not just, say, ice cream, or cake. Instead, think about what you want out of your life that you don’t currently have. It may inspire you to do something different or, at the very least, allow you to go to work inspired to do something great. Then, you may be able to have what you want, eventually.
In realistic terms, however, many jobs will not provide people with what they want out of life. The jobs either don’t pay enough, or occupy too much of our time – or both.
If you have a really big dream, and your situation isn’t getting you closer to achieving that dream, it may be time to look at something else.
Fortunately, there are a number of vehicles out there that, starting with a small, part-time effort, could give you what you need to fulfill that dream. To check out one of the best such vehicles, message me.
As we’ve learned in the U.S., focusing an education system on test scores may not be the best way to educate children. We certainly want our children to achieve as much as they can academically, but kids need time to be kids.
They also need to learn the value of skills that are not easily measured – happiness, friendliness, working as part of a team, getting along well with others etc. They can be just as important to one’s career as math, science, social studies and language.
Perhaps U.S. children don’t need to take a class in these “soft” skills, but they should learn them as part of their overall education.
Chronic unhappiness not only leads to other mental and physical problems, it can reduce productivity.
We’ve been taught to work smarter, rather than harder. We should all learn to work happy, live happy. We may have to work harder to create that happiness.
Peter
Monthly Archives: November 2018
ACADEMIC FRAUD?
#education #AcademicFraud #college #CollegeDebt
Only 37 percent of 12th-graders tested proficient or better in reading. Only 25 percent did so in math.
Yet, the high school graduation rate is better than 80 percent.
Columnist Walter E. Williams, who writes for Creators Syndicate, quoted these figures from the National Assessment of Educational Progress’ 2017 report, also known as The Nation’s Report Card. His column on the subject was also published April 25, 2018, in The Atlanta Journal-Constitution.
He also writes that not only do 80 percent of high school seniors graduate, 70 percent of white high school grads were admitted to college in 2016, as well as 58 percent of black high school grads. Here, he quotes the Bureau of Labor Statistics.
Colleges, then, have to provide remedial courses, dumb down their courses so ill-prepared students can get passing grades and/or set up majors with “little analytical demands so as to accommodate students with analytical deficits,” Williams writes.
Williams’ conclusion: there is academic fraud being committed at all educational levels.
“How necessary is college anyway?” Williams asks. “One estimate is that 1 in 3 college graduates have a job historically performed by those with a high school diploma,” he writes.
We’ve all heard the stories, particularly in recent times, of students coming out of college and hitting the job market with degree in hand, college debt on his or her back and slim prospects not only to earn an income appropriate for his or her education level, but even to find a job at all – at least one in a field to match his or her education.
There is a teacher shortage, however not every college graduate is fit or prepared to teach. Besides, many of them might think that teaching doesn’t pay well enough for them to cover payments on their college debt, let alone any other life expenses. (Some loan programs allow college debt to be written off if the student goes into teaching for a certain number of years).
The pressure is on most children from grade school to go to college and get that degree, so they can get that good job. The pressure is so intense that families – ultimately, the students – go into debt to pay for that education.
They then spend some of their most productive work years paying that debt off, and probably delaying things like buying a house or saving for retirement. In the extreme, these graduates move back home with mom and dad and stay for several years, thus delaying their parents’ progression toward retirement.
As Williams points out, the cycle is that many students get through high school ill prepared for college academically, yet go to college anyway. They really can’t afford college, yet they view it as an investment into a great career. Again, as Williams asks, “How necessary is college anyway?”
First, if a student isn’t prepared to cut it academically in college, it’s perfectly OK not to send him or her, especially if you are going to saddle that student with a massive debt upon graduation – presuming he or she can get TO graduation.
Then, if they wind up waiting tables or doing some menial job that doesn’t require a college degree, what was the point of the education, or the debt?
Fortunately, for a student like that, he can take his menial job, work as many hours as he needs to and, in some of his off hours, pursue one of the many ways to earn money without taking a second W-2 job. Many such vehicles can eventually provide an income that could surpass any income from not just the menial job, but also from a job that would be appropriate for one with a college degree.
But, to pursue this, the student has to be willing to check out such a vehicle. If you’d like to examine one of the best, message me.
Otherwise, one could struggle to get through high school, get into college and take a lot of “gut” courses or major in something that will not have much value on the open market – and pay dearly to do it.
No education is really wasted, but one must have eyes wide open about the economic potential — and cost — of what one wants to study. Try to enjoy school at all levels, if you can, then look for ways to support yourself, and perhaps help others do the same.
Peter
PRINCES CAN HIDE BEHIND FROG WARTS
#frogs #PersonalContact #FaceToFaceMeetings #princes
“You can’t smell a rose over the phone.”
That popular axiom is often the answer when someone is making a sales contact, but doesn’t want to say too much over the phone.
The salesperson would rather the potential client see the presentation as it was designed to be presented. In other words, face to face.
Attorney Jeffrey Babener talks about the value of personal contact, vs. an e-mail, social media, text and other more modern – perhaps, more popular – forms of communication in his essay titled “Kiss That Frog! – Personal Communication”
“Technology is changing the game, but don’t sell short the old-fashioned hug or handshake as the best bonding and recruiting machine yet invented,” Babener writes.
“You’ve got to kiss a lot of frogs to meet a prince … You’ve got to spend time with frogs and you’ll find them in the marshes … Remember, kissing is a contact sport … That is, if you really want to meet a prince,” Babener quotes from an old marketing fairy tale.
In today’s world, we tend to forget about personal contact. We go to restaurants, or even household dinner tables, and see everyone at the table looking down, eyes on their devices.
We even hear about folks texting each other while sitting next to each other. Perhaps we can call that the Text Next syndrome. That can be useful if you are around a (pick one: boring, angry, long) meeting table and you want to have a private conversation without the others knowing.
But if you are in sales – face it, we are all in sales in one form or another – and you want to recruit a client, team member etc., there is nothing more effective than meeting face to face.
No, you don’t have to kiss or hug the person – often, that’s not appropriate. But you should talk face to face.
Even those dinner-table interactions should involve live conversation. They should involve looking up at the person to whom you are speaking.
Now, let’s look at what Babener means by “frogs.” Leadership expert Brian Tracy wrote a little book titled, “Eat That Frog,” to advise that doing the unpleasant sometimes yields the best results. In Babener’s context, however, one may have to go into the reeds, weeds or marshes to find the frog, which can turn into a prince after hearing what you are presenting.
Some of those frogs will hop away, slither back into the water etc. Others will turn into a prince – a top client, or team member.
If you are in a job now that feels like a swamp, and you want out, and are looking for something to bring out the princely being you are, and provide a potentially life-changing situation for you, message me.
Sometimes, you have to head to the marshes to escape the swamp.
Sometimes, you have to look for the person who not only understands your warts, but will embrace them.
Sometimes, you have to weed yourself from the reeds, and look for someone who will help you find new and better reads.
Sometimes, great princes are found in places you would never think to go. And, if you find that prince, it could change your life.
Peter
IS YOUR ECONOMY MATCHING THE NATION’S?
#economy #YourEconomy #jobs #raises
OK. The numbers show a booming economy.
Corporate profits are up. The unemployment rate is at a historic low.
So, how are you doing – financially, that is?
Arizona Republic columnist Russ Wiles poses that question in a column for USA Today. It was also published July 1, 2018, in The Atlanta Journal-Constitution.
If you don’t find yourself in a booming financial situation now, here’s what Wiles suggests: find a better, steadier job, while the unemployment rate is so low; He admits, however, that a lot of jobs pay poorly or feature irregular work hours.
He also suggests getting financial help from someone outside your household – hey kids, ask mom and dad or supplement your income with a part-time job in your off hours.
He even suggests the bold move of asking your boss for a raise. Wiles says the employee may be in the driver’s seat in this economy. We’ve all been told, perhaps, that it never hurts to ask. After all, the answer is always NO if you don’t ask. As a practical matter, however, most request for raises generally receive a NO, perhaps in a more graceful manner.
Let’s look at this problem from the employer’s perspective. The general rule of thumb is to pay people as little as you can get away with. However, if you have good, dependable people working for you, it may improve your bottom line – and cut down on work you have to do yourself – to INVEST in those people.
It’s not just in raises, though they indeed may be necessary. You want to make sure that if you know of some particular hardships that a good employee is enduring at home, that you help relieve some of that stress as best you can. Recently, an Alabama worker just hired by a moving company walked 20 miles, hitching rides along the way, to make sure he showed up for his first day of work.
The employee’s car had broken down and he had no other way to get to work. The boss, realizing how difficult it is to buy that kind of dedication, gave the young man a car.
That CEO should make sure he has a decent career ladder crafted for that employee, so that he never leaves.
Of course, at the same time, we read about employers dealing with workers who don’t show up for interviews, or, worse, are hired and don’t show up for their first day of work. Or, they abruptly leave a job without giving the employer any notice.
Reports indicate that during the recession, people would apply for or be interviewed for jobs, and the employers never get back to them. This may be in retaliation for that.
If you follow Wiles’ suggestion and consider getting a second, part-time job to boost your finances, consider a thought outside the box. There are many ways out there to pick up some extra money – perhaps eventually enough to quit a lousy job you hate, that doesn’t pay you enough – that do not involve a second, traditional job. To check out one of the best such vehicles, message me.
In short, these are supposed to be among the best of times for workers. However, many jobs involve hard work and low pay – or at least lower pay than many deserve. Companies have to keep their costs down to compete. The employers have to make money. No one wants to work for someone forced to go out of business.
It’s up to employers and employees to learn more about each other’s circumstances. There’s really no good reason for people not make good wages, while companies make decent profits. It does workers little good to keep changing jobs, and it does employers no good to have to be constantly rehiring.
Everyone – employers and employees – wants options. If everyone treats everyone fairly, there’s no telling what great options everyone will have.
Peter