YOU CAN CONTROL YOUR ATTITUDE AND EFFORT

#attitude #effort #DreamJob #LifeWillHitYou #technology #reorganizations
It’s been said that the only things you can control are your attitude and effort.
How you feel about something may have everything to do with how much effort you put into it.
Circumstances happen. How we deal with them makes a difference between success and lack thereof.
Life will hit you in various ways. But successful people don’t let life control them. Instead, they deal with what comes their way, and move on.
If life knocks you down, you get up, dust yourself off and try again.
There was also a thread on the LinkedIn networking site that asked whether there is any such thing as a dream job.
That points to another matter. If you really like your job, and want to keep it, will you be allowed to. Even during labor shortages, as we are now facing, companies reorganize.
As technology progresses, and reorganizations happen, even dream jobs can go away – quickly, and without notice.
No matter how much you like your job, or how good you are at it, the job suddenly can disappear.
So what does one do to in that case?
Going back to attitude and effort, there are a number of options.
First, one can look for another dream job. If he or she is lucky enough to find it, he or she has to remember what happened to the last dream job.
He or she can keep losing and looking, and bounce around like a rubber ball, to borrow from the Bobby Vee song.
But that may not be anyone’s idea of a good time.
There are a number of other options that can allow a person, while he or she is working at one job, to build an income stream with a few part-time, off-work hours a week.
If a person doesn’t want a second job – second jobs usually aren’t that dreamy – he or she can become a part-time entrepreneur.
Those many programs out there allow anyone, regardless of education, background or experience, to have a separate business.
To check out one of the best such programs, message me.
In short, life will hit you. Life will knock you down. You won’t be able to control that.
But you can get up. You can prepare for what you may not really expect. The right attitude and effort can cushion life’s blows.
One can dream of a great job, but he or she has to be aware that dreams can come true, but may not last.
A good attitude and great effort will last, no matter what else doesn’t.
When one combines attitude and effort, he or she can create success eventually. It doesn’t matter what job you are in, or whether you like it. Having a Plan B, or C, or D etc., can blunt the trauma of life.
Your attitude and effort will create success.
Peter

JOB MARKET FAVORS WORKERS THESE DAYS

#coronavirus #COVID19 #FlattenTheCurve #workforce #QuittingYourJob #workplaces #jobs
The COVID-19 pandemic changed a lot about our attitudes toward our jobs or workplaces.
But, as Tom Baxter, columnist for the Atlanta-based Saporta Report, puts it: it’s been a long time coming.
Baxter categorizes the explanations for the high availability of jobs and the relatively high level of unemployment as ”low end” and “high end,” in his column published Oct. 11, 2021.
Low end: There is too much in federal benefits, so people get used to being on the dole.
High end: Workers are more thoughtful about what they want to do with their lives.
We’re starting to see more strikes, or threatened strikes, by unionized auto workers at John Deere and behind-the- scenes movie and TV workers at production companies. The movie production folks settled their dispute with the studios this past weekend.
Baxter argues that much of the so-called Great Resignation is actually ambitious people moving from one job to another, because they now have the flexibility to do so.
He explains that just-in-time manufacturing – allowing companies not to have to store inventory for a long time – and outsourcing – having gig workers and other companies handle chores that employees used to do – has led to what the pandemic unleashed.
These things led to greater job insecurity, reduced or eliminated benefits etc. So, if a gig worker does what you used to do, then become a gig worker. Baxter says many such workers are getting used to unsteady paychecks and no benefits – which they probably weren’t getting anyway as employees.
Job security has long been a thing of the past. People go into work every day not knowing when the next reorganization will eliminate their jobs. At least, with the frequency that it happens, people should be more prepared for it. That doesn’t mean it still won’t be a shock.
Baxter also points out that the stay-at-home spouse, with the other working, is also becoming a trend – again. The roles may be distributed differently between men and women now, but they are happening.
The column predicts that a combination of higher wages, economic necessity and workplace innovation eventually will draw some back to the job market, if they had left it by choice.
“Many of them will be better off for taking their time, and so will the businesses that hire them,” Baxter writes.
What he doesn’t point out is that there are many other programs out there that enable people to devote a few, part-time, off-job hours a week to potentially earn more money than they could make in their jobs.
No specific education, experience or background is required to take advantage of these. In short, anyone can do them.
The only two requirements: be open to looking at them if you are presented with them, and, if you decide one of them is for you, find the few hours you will need to work at them. As a bonus, you’ll get to help others do the same thing.
To learn about one of the best such programs, message me.
Things are looking relatively bright for labor at the moment. Certainly, we are all paying more for what we buy, but that may be a good trade-off to get workers higher pay , more benefits and more flexibility between work and life.
Employers are indeed competing for help. But, if you give the right people what they want and deserve, ultimately you will have no problem finding them.
Workers can pick and choose more freely what they do, and where they do it. Consider as many options as possible before choosing.
Both employers and employees should choose wisely.
Peter

LESSONS FROM THE U.K. FUEL CRISIS

#DriverShortage #UnitedKingdom #FuelShortages #DriverlessVehicles
Drivers are waiting in long lines in the United Kingdom to fill their cars with gasoline.
This is causing gridlock, and worries that emergency vehicles may not be able to get to their destinations.
The government attributes the problem to panic-buying. But when government tells you not to panic, human nature tells you to panic.
Pan Pylas explained this in an article for the Associated Press. It was also published Oct. 4, 2021, in The Atlanta Journal-Constitution.
First cause: a shortage of truck drivers. The government says there is no fuel shortage, just a shortage of folks to transport it, the article says.
Part of the driver shortage has to do with Great Britain’s exit from the European Union (BREXIT). Since people cannot move freely between Great Britain and other European countries anymore, some drivers from elsewhere in Europe cannot easily work in Great Britain, the article says.
Also, the coronavirus pandemic has prompted thousands of EU drivers to leave the U.K., the article says, and prompted many British drivers to retire. Why risk getting sick when the job has relatively low pay, and there are a paucity of facilities for the drivers to take showers, use toilets etc., the article says.
The truck driver shortage in the U.K. highlights another issue. Why would a young person want to drive for a living?
Any casual observer can see that driverless vehicles, though not yet perfected, are coming.
Why would you start a career that likely would have a finite end, long before you would want to retire?
There have been other articles regarding supply-chain issues as an offshoot of the pandemic. When those who transport goods face oodles of testing, quarantining and other precautionary measures to mitigate the virus, it’s no wonder there are backups at ports and other places to which goods are transported.
Some crews have had to work longer shifts because fresh crew members can’t get in to relieve them.
We’ve been warned that if you see something you know you will need or want, buy it when you see it. Shopping around for the best price may leave you going without, or waiting forever for it to be delivered to you.
So, a young person may be thinking: if there is a limited future in a truck-driving career, despite the current driver demand, what should I do?
Fortunately, there are many programs out there that allow you, regardless of your education, experience or background, to earn a potentially lucrative income from your home. There would be no odd shifts, no concern about quarantines etc.
To learn about one of the best such programs, message me.
Meanwhile, the world as we knew it a couple of years ago, with continue to be disrupted. Things we took for granted may no longer be easily available.
Even an economy that desperately wants to resume normal operations will have glitches, pitfalls etc. We, as people, must continue our vigilant personal protection against catching the virus. Get vaccinated. Wear masks in crowded settings, even If fully vaccinated.
The normalcy we crave may be a long time coming back – if ever. The pandemic will indeed change many aspects of how we conduct our daily lives forever.
As will the eventual preponderance of driverless vehicles.
Peter

FRIENDS IN ANY PLACE ARE GOOD

#friends #FriendsInLowPlaces #relationships
Garth Brooks famously sings, “I’ve got friends in low places.”
That’s opposed to friends in “high places,” that might give you an advantage.
The friends in “low places” are just, well, friends.
That begs the question: would you rather be needed (in high places) or wanted (perhaps in lower places)?
You may need people for what they can do for you, and/or what they can give you.
You may want people for who they are.
Perhaps your parents told you that it’s not what you know, it’s whom you know that will help you the most.
So, ask yourself this: Will your friends in “high places” come to your aid in the middle of the night if your car breaks down?
Your friends in “high places” may be able to pull some strings, exert some influence, to help you in other areas. But you may never be sure of their motivation.
Your friends in “low places” wear their motivation on their sleeves. In other words, they just like you. Hopefully, you just like them, too, regardless of circumstances.
In business, and social media, one may work to cultivate friendships even among people he or she doesn’t know well. Sometimes, these people can help that person along the way by, say, becoming that person’s customer. But it can turn into a true friendship if the favor can be returned. In business parlance, that’s called networking.
On social media, one may solicit “friends” for all kinds of purposes – often legitimate, sometimes not.
Before the days of social media, the best way to meet people was to be introduced by a mutual acquaintance. To hasten or broaden one’s social circle, he or she may attend events and strike up conversations with strangers. One never knows what potential “friends” are out there.
In business networking, there is a deliberate science to meeting people who are strangers. Each party knows the purpose is for each other’s business, and acts accordingly. The motivation of networking is clear.
Another question often posed is, whom would you love to have a beer with? It implies you want to have a beer with someone in a “high place,” or a least a place higher than you perceive of yours.
In low places, “The whiskey drowns and the beer chases,” the song says. In other words, drinking buddies can be your best friends.
But if you are looking to friends, or soon-to-become friends, in “high places,” to give you what you believe is missing from your life, friends in lower places may be able to give you much more, even in practical terms.
Someone you know, regardless of education, background or experience, may be part of one of the many programs that can change anyone’s financial life for the better. That person would love to introduce it to you. If asked, open your mind and check it out.
To check out one of the best such programs, message me.
Meanwhile, have many friends in many places. You never know which of them could help you – and which of them you would like to help.
What your parents may not have told you about whom you know is that it’s best to know someone who will come to your aid if your car breaks down in the middle of the night – regardless of what “place” that person is in.
Peter