#past #present #future
The past has passed.
The present is present – not absent.
What will come can become what you want it to be.
There are those who long for and, indeed, push for what was.
They see the past as their best time. They see the present as signaling a future of doom and gloom.
Therefore, they look for ways to bring back what used to be, even if that is impossible.
There are others who see the here and now as something to celebrate. Or, better yet, a good place to start.
They see it as a time to look for what they might become, and keep looking until they find it. They may think that what they have now is OK, but it is not entirely what they want.
They see the present as a springboard from which they can create a future.
Still others see a future of happiness, prosperity and dreams fulfilled.
Not only do they know it is coming, they plan to make it happen.
They have set up a plan not only to see themselves prosper, but they also see themselves as bringing many others with them – as many as possible. Those they will help may have different dreams and goals, but share a common desire to do what they must to achieve them.
So what type of person are you? Do you want to go back to the way things were?
Remember, the past has passed. Memories can be wonderful, even cherished. But, it’s difficult, if not impossible, to re-create yesteryear.
Look at the present as a time to dream, plan and execute. Then, go about creating the future you want.
The future is not what will happen, though things like a pandemic and other disasters will come. The future is what you decide to make happen.
So, you may be optimistic and ambitious. You envision a great future but are not sure yet what will take you there. Still, you are curious enough to look for something you can work on – something that you feel confident will get you to your goals, providing you do your part.
Fortunately, there are many such programs out there that can be the catalyst for the future you want to create. They require no specific background, education or experience. Instead, they require the desire to build a better, more fulfilling future, a mind open enough to see whether they are for you, and a willingness to ask for, get and provide help.
To learn about one of the best such programs, message me.
The lesson here may be that the past can teach, but may no longer be in reach. The present can motivate, but will not be permanent. The future will be made.
If you long for the past, despise the present and fear the future, it’s not too late to change. For some, it may take more work than others to change.
Yet, in the future, all good things are possible for those willing to create them.
Peter
Author Archives: pbilodeau01
UNEMPLOYMENT RATES HIGHER FOR OLDER WORKERS
#coronavirus #COVID19 #FlattenTheCurve #pandemic #OlderWorkers #jobs
In this day and age, it’s tough getting old.
For the first time in 50 years, older workers are facing higher unemployment rates than those in the middle of their careers.
Sarah Skidmore Sell quoted that stat from a study by the New School in her article for the Associated Press. It was published Oct. 21, 2020, in The Atlanta Journal-Constitution.
The pandemic has hurt workers of all ages, the article says, but the New School researchers found that workers 56 and older lost jobs sooner, were rehired more slowly and continue to struggle keeping jobs more than workers 35 to 54, Sell writes.
In every recession since the 1970s, older workers were able to use their seniority to better preserve jobs, the article says.
Now, older face age discrimination, and employers are more reluctant to bring back older workers because of their health risks in light of the pandemic, the article says.
That means more early, and often involuntary, retirements and more financial insecurity as people age, the article says.
Let’s examine this more closely. Retirement in today’s world is not what it once was. That is, you could work as long as you wanted to, and as long as you were able, and retired on your own terms many years ago.
Today, workers don’t know whether each day they go into work will be their last. If employers don’t want you, or see your non-entry-level salary as a financial burden to them, they will find a way to get you to go. Though overt age discrimination may be illegal in most places, if an employer wants you out, he or she will find a way, within the law, to get you to leave, if not terminate you outright.
For the worker, it means planning as best you can for the day you walk into work, only to have to walk out for good.
When you walk out, think about your opportunities to find other work. Likely, you’ll find that most other, available work will pay considerably less than you were making.
What to do? First, if you live where the cost of living is high, think about moving. There are many locales with more reasonable living costs. If you have to take a job with a lower paycheck, you may as well cut your living expenses, unless there is some other non-financial reason to live where you live.
If you are lucky enough to land a job that allows you to work from home, and you don’t have to live close to your work, move anyway, if you can. Cut your living costs, if you can.
Also, there are many programs out there that allow you to augment, even well surpass, the income you have earned at your traditional job. These programs require no specific background or education, just a mind open enough to take a look, and the ability to devote a few part-time hours a week if you still have a job.
To learn about one of the best such programs, message me.
All this boils down to you having to take charge of your own financial well-being. Have a plan, or plans, in place that will prepare you for the day you don’t expect. Who knows? Those who plan well enough can walk into work, and walk out for good, with a smile.
It’s certainly wrong for employers to discriminate against older workers. Many of them can work circles around younger counterparts. But often, they only look at numbers and potential risks. That means discrimination can, and will, happen in some form to many.
So, expect the unexpected when it comes to your job. Many jobs are no longer there for as long as the employees want them to be.
Peter
LANDLORDS, TENANTS AND EVICTIONS
#coronavirus #COVID19 #FlattenTheCurve #landlords #tenants #rents #evictions
If you’re a tenant, and you’ve lost your job, how are you paying the rent?
If you are a landlord, and your tenant has lost his or her job, how are you collecting rent, while keeping up with expenses, paying your mortgage etc.?
Two articles highlight this issue. One, by the Washington Post, discusses how landlords, and their lobbyists, are launching a legal war on the federal eviction moratorium instituted after the coronavirus pandemic led to economic shutdowns, lost jobs – some temporary, some permanent – and left tenants with no way to pay rent.
The second article, by Anne d’Innocenzio for the Associated Press, discusses how landlords are being squeezed between tenants, who can’t pay rent, and lenders, who want their mortgage payments for the properties.
The articles were published on consecutive days in October 2020 in The Atlanta Journal-Constitution.
In one instance, if tenants have lost their jobs, they have no way to pay rent. The landlords can’t get blood from a stone. And, even if they get their jobs back, they will still owe back rent. Will they be able to catch up?
In the second instance, landlords have to make a living, too. They want, in most cases, to work with their tenants, having empathy for their situation. But they have expenses, too, that rent helps cover. Those expenses not only include mortgage payments, but also repairs to their rental units. And, of course, many landlords depend on that rent for their own survival.
Federal aid helped initially, but that aid has largely run out and the wheels of government are turning slowly to extend it.
Apartment dwellers and other residential tenants in the U.S. owe about $25 billion in back rent, the AP article says. It may reach $70 billion by the end of the year, the AP article quotes an estimate in August by Moody’s Analytics.
At that rate, some tenants and landlords may never recover from the fallout of the pandemic.
In fact, the National Council of State Housing Agencies in late September estimated that, potentially, 14 million renter households, totaling approximately 34 million Americans, will owe $34 billion by the time the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) moratorium expires at the end of the year, the Washington Post article says.
It goes on to say that 1 in 3 adults say it is somewhat or very likely they could face eviction or foreclosure over the next two months. It attributes that to survey data from the U.S. Census Bureau.
That would create a full-blown housing crisis.
What’s a person either in the landlord’s or tenant’s situation to do? One thing is to look for other ways to earn an income that one can do whether there is a pandemic or not.
Fortunately, there are many such programs out there that require a few, part-time hours a week, that anyone, regardless of education, experience or background can do to supplement his or her income – perhaps even dwarf one’s previous income. But, one has to be open-minded enough to check them out.
To learn about one of the best such programs, message me.
In short, this housing crisis is not going to disappear soon. Regardless whether you are a landlord or tenant, you may be in for some difficult financial times. If you were lucky enough to keep your job and keep up with your rent, consider yourself lucky. Your landlord undoubtedly is thanking his or her lucky stars for your situation.
But if you weren’t so fortunate, consider thinking a bit outside the box and look at other ways to put money in your pocket and keep up with rent, mortgage or other regular expenses. You may find that the pandemic can create an opportunity for you to be less vulnerable to circumstances you can’t control.
It may even allow you to not only survive, but also to dream of a better life.
Peter
PANDEMIC TO PRODUCE CHANGES IN EDUCATION
#education #coronavirus #COVID19 #FlattenTheCurve #teachers #students
It’s tough to go to school during a pandemic.
As a result, online learning at home has become not just popular, but necessary.
Education could change forever as a result.
Maureen Downey, education columnist for The Atlanta Journal-Constitution, writes that a college education is the most successful path to the middle class for students.
But going to college has changed during the pandemic, she writes in a column published Sept. 22, 2020.
She points out that every year, 500,000 high school students graduate in the top half of their classes, but don’t get a certificate or degree within eight years of graduation. She was quoting Anthony Carnevale, director of the Center on Education and the Workforce at Georgetown University. Carnevale conducted a virtual forum for the Georgia Partnership for Excellence in Education.
The pandemic-induced recession, leaving many parents with lost jobs etc., may present a problem for sending their kids to college.
In another issue, Downey, in a Sept. 29, 2020, column, posed the question: “Will COVID concerns cause more teachers to flee?”
She says that readers have sent her emails calling teachers “crybabies” for resigning, rather than risk bringing COVID-19 home to their families. She writes that some emails called teachers “un-American” for making their students wear masks in school.
What should we make of this? First, education has become a huge expense for both taxpayers and parents. If parents fear for the safety of their children, it’s no wonder they are opting to keep children at home. The opposite of that is also true. If parents don’t fear for the safety of their children, and encourage them to go to school and conduct themselves as if no pandemic existed, why not have schools open as usual?
If teachers don’t feel safe in school, why would they keep their jobs if forced to go to school? Is how little they get paid worth the risk? Certainly, most teachers want to be in school. They love it. It’s what they do. But they do not want to be there, in many cases, with a rapidly spreading disease running through the building.
Therefore, a potential teacher shortage, and a potential drop in public revenue from the recession, it’s likely some remote learning will take place in the normal course of life, once the pandemic is gone.
If college is your thing, or your child’s thing, how cool would it be if you, or your child, could take a course with Professor X in a faraway institution, and have teachers or graduate assistants grade the work at the institution to which you, or your child, have matriculated?
Finally, if college is not your thing, or if you or your family would have difficulty affording it, what if there were a way to become very successful, potentially make a great income and not have to go through the college experience? There are many such vehicles out there for those willing to check them out.
If you’d like to learn about one of the best such programs, message me.
In short, look for more permanent changes in education as a result of the pandemic. Don’t expect education, or life itself, to be entirely as it was prior to the pandemic. We are officially on guard. Don’t let that guard down. Expect a new normal, whatever that is. Roll with it.
Then, think about your own situation. What do you want from life? What are you willing to do to get it? Remember, as you ponder that, what was “secure” probably no longer is. You may have to think totally differently about your future.
Disease can, and will, change lives. Make your attitude such that you look at those changes as good, rather than bad.
Peter
WARRIOR ON
WarriorOn #SoldierOn #FightOn #CarryOn
Warrior on. Soldier on. Fight on. Carry on.
Circumstances will come at you. Illness may befall you.
The world will change in front of you.
All you knew could be gone tomorrow.
Yet, you are still here. You are here to be the best you can be.
Though circumstances may not be ideal, you can still be stronger than they are.
Or, you can let yourself be defined by those circumstances. Remember, circumstances cannot conquer you without your permission.
Certainly, things WILL happen to you. Some of those things you will not want. Yet, they bring out your inner strength that allows you to rise above them.
Are you feeling overwhelmed? Is your life not where you want it to be? Have you resigned to your circumstances, to the point of giving up?
If so, it’s not too late to summon your inner strength.
If not, then you must look for something that will help you get out of your situation. Certainly, there are many vehicles out there that can help a person not only change his or her life, but also the lives of others who wish to join him or her.
These programs can give you the resources to overcome any adverse circumstances. Or, to quote a friend, help you work out your problems in style.
To learn about one of the best of these programs, message me.
Meanwhile, though you may see the grimness of the world, you don’t have to accept it.
All you can do is your part to change it. But as you do your part, you may encourage others to do their part. Collectively, change can come – perhaps not with the speed some may want, but it can come.
Remember, too, that only you can change you. Other things can change your circumstances, but they do not have to change you.
The changes upon which you embark may be dictated by circumstances. You can give in to the circumstances, or you can work to overcome them.
Changes in you sometimes come when a friend introduces you to something that could change you, and your circumstances.
Strong people willfully examine, evaluate and decide on opportunities placed before them.
Weaker people pass on those opportunities, out of fear of change.
Strong people look for those opportunities. Weaker people hope they are never offered such opportunities.
So, keep your eye out for something that perhaps you never envisioned yourself doing.
Look to change you, so you can overcome anything that befalls you.
Seek the wisdom of those whom you trust. On the other hand, don’t let those around you talk you out of what’s best for you. Act on the best advice you can get. Sometimes, that means shelving some of the old adages, customs and fears you had been taught. Take on what seems right to you. Though risks are part of life, they are also part of your growth.
Warrior on. Soldier on. Fight on. Carry On.
Peter
KNOWLEDGE VS. WISDOM
#knowledge #wisdom #education #power
It’s great to have knowledge.
But knowledge without wisdom can be useless, even dangerous.
First, let’s talk about the differences in the two. Knowledge is a collection of facts, skills and other useful components.
Knowledge gives you the ability to do some things. It equips you with the wherewithal to be your best self. Yes, knowledge is power.
Wisdom, on the other hand, is the comportment to do good. It’s the ingredient that allows you to take what you’ve been given, and use it to the best of your ability – but in a way that enhances the world.
If knowledge is power, wisdom is the vehicle that implores you to use that power for the greater good.
The power of knowledge can be used for evil – say, by a criminal.
But the wise person would never use his knowledge for evil.
So, are you both knowledgeable and wise? Here’s a test: Is what you are doing now to earn a living what you really want to be doing? If so, you are both knowledgeable and wise.
If not, is it because you don’t have the knowledge, you believe, to do something better?
That can be a relatively easy fix. Certainly, getting educated would be a help. But education may not be for everyone, especially if it requires going into debt.
So how does one gain more knowledge without more formal education? Reading, researching on one’s own is one way.
But when it comes to bettering one’s life, that may requires a new way of thinking. It may require the wisdom to think outside of one’s comfort zone. It may require a person to look at something that he or she may have never thought he or she would do.
There are many programs out there can change a person’s life. Potentially, they can give a source of income you may have never thought about. They can potentially allow you to get the things in life you may never thought you would get.
To learn about one of the best such programs, message me.
To sum it up, knowledge can be acquired, without the formality and expense of some types of education. But it requires wisdom to know what you don’t know, and take steps to learn it.
Knowledge is out there for the taking. Wisdom has to be created.
Knowledge is power. Wisdom is the strength to harness the power of knowledge for the greater good..
To know may be to love. To be wise is to learn before you love.
The combination of knowledge and wisdom can give you everything you may need to get whatever you want, and also to help others do the same.
So, indeed, learn what you don’t know. And, be wise in learning what can help you change your life, and, perhaps, those of others.
Peter
REMOTE NO LONGER A REMOTE POSSIBILITY
#coronavirus #COVID19 #FlattenTheCurve #RemoteWork #RemoteLearning #InternetProviders
We’re doing more things remotely these days.
We’re working remotely. We’re going to school remotely etc.
Most would rather not, but the pandemic has made it a way of life.
What if your Internet provider craps out on you for an extended period?
There’s no Plan B for that, unless you have data plans in your devices.
What if you’re in the middle of a virtual meeting, and, suddenly, everything freezes?
It may not be the provider’s fault. Road construction and other things can affect Internet access.
There are certain cost advantages to bundling phone, TV and Internet service. But all of them, in most cases, are dependent on the Internet. When the Internet goes down, they all go down.
And, when you’re stuck at home with no landline phone – yes, most of us have cellphones – TV or working computers, time surely passes slowly. Still, there is a positive here. It might encourage people to read more.
We also have the issue of limited Internet access, in general, in certain areas of the country – very rural and low-income urban areas come to mind.
What if we could make Internet service as universal, low-cost and essentially required as basic telephone service was decades ago? What if basic Internet service with reasonable speed were a public utility? That means costs would be regulated, providers would be required to make service available to all and have to get any rate changes approved by a governing body.
Certainly, providers would oppose that. If the providers don’t want that eventuality – and the pandemic has prompted people to think of that eventuality – they have to step up and provide essentially universal service, spreading the costs around in a reasonable fashion.
The pandemic has also given all of us time to think, especially when the Internet goes down.
Is your “old” life worth wanting back? Sure, we’d all like to get back into circulation, even back to work. But is that work giving you what you want from life?
If not, there are many programs that allow anyone, regardless of education, experience or background, to pursue their dreams part-time and, in many cases, provide an income that can dwarf what he or she is earning in the job they may not like. As a bonus, these programs can insulate you from the whims of employers, pandemics, economic ups and downs etc. You can even do these programs remotely, when your Internet is up and working.
To check out one of the best such programs, message me.
A few years ago, in Internet’s infancy, we thought of it as a luxury. Some even thought of it as an unnecessary monthly expense.
Today, life, as we know it, is online. The pandemic has emphasized that. The Internet is changing the way we do almost everything – some for the better, some, not so much.
Yet, we can’t live without it. We just need the providers to make it more universal, more reliable, more resistant to road construction and other outside forces and less costly.
Will these providers step up? Or, will other forces step in and force the issue?
We’ll all have to log in to find out.
Peter
BLEND IN, OR STAND OUT?
#BlendIn #StandOut #BeDifferent #CelebrateDifferences
Most kids want to blend in.
Many adults want to stand out.
Blending in, by definition, makes you “average.”
Standing out, by definition, makes you exceptional.
Children, when interacting with other children, prefer to be included, rather than excluded, from “the crowd.”
When someone, like a child, looks different, or acts differently, from many of the other children, he or she is ostracized, picked on or otherwise treated badly in many cases.
This can hurt a child’s self-esteem – never mind his or her relationships with the other children.
But what if, as the child grows, he or she discovers that being different is not only good, but desirable?
What if being different makes a person not necessarily BETTER than the others, but encourages him or her to celebrate the differences? Perhaps it will encourage others to emulate him or her.
Those who become successful in life, however they define success, usually start out as “different” from most around them.
They come to celebrate their difference. They see “average” as something to shun.
Then, because they learn to celebrate their difference from others, others then want to emulate them.
This begs the question for everyone: do you want to blend in, or stand out?
What if there were a way to go from “average” to exceptional?
First, you have to WANT to be better than average. You have to WANT to hold your head high, rather than keeping your head low, out of fear that it will get chopped off.
Once you decide you want it badly enough, you have to find a way to do it. Then, you need to pursue that way consistently, without stopping.
There are many vehicles out there that allow anyone, regardless of education, experience or background, to go from average to exceptional.
To learn about one of the best such vehicles, message me.
Meanwhile, think about what you want from life. Do you just want to be like everyone else – blending in? Or, do you want more than what you can get by just blending in?
If you want more, you may have to decide to be different. That requires not listening to the blenders, but rather mixing your priorities a little differently.
Standing out also requires that you change how you see yourself. You have to see ways you can grow and be better. You have to see how you can use what you have, and what you know, to greater advantage. And, you have to emulate others who have stood out and reached where you want to be.
In short, it’s tough to stand out when you hang with blenders.
So find what makes you different. Celebrate it. Use it to your advantage. Be open to being different. Be open to standing out.
Peter
WE ALL LIKE ROUTINES, DON’T WE?
#coronavirus #COVID19 #FlattenTheCurve #routines #RoutinesThatPayOff
Much has been made about the loss of routine during the pandemic.
Many articles feature tips on how to get one’s routine back, once COVID-19 disappears.
Sure, we want our kids back in school. We want to be able to go to weddings and other gatherings. We may want to go to parties and other friendly assemblies.
But did we have a job we really want to go back to? Certainly, we want income back that may have been missing during the coronavirus spread, but is that job the best way for us to get it?
Routine is a word that has two edges. The first edge gives us a sense of normalcy. We get used to doing things in a certain way, in a certain order to give us a sense of contentment.
The second edge gives us a sense of doing the same thing over and over – year after year, day after day. No changes. We feel obligated to do things that way, perhaps because we were taught to do it a certain way.
That first edge – normalcy – may be something we all want.
The second edge –obligation – may be something we don’t want.
If we have to accept the second edge to gain the first, is that really OK?
What if your routine never fulfills your dreams? Sure, contentment may mean pleasant survival, but, as the Peggy Lee song says, “Is That All There Is?”
Maybe you’re a person who wants something more from life. Maybe, pleasant survival will not get you what you want. Maybe, there is something out there that will help you get everything you want.
Indeed, there are many programs out there that allow anyone, regardless of education, experience or background, to have the chance to get what he or she wants.
Such a person needs to be open-minded, willing to look at something he or she may never have thought they would do. And, if he or she sees those dreams stand in front of them and takes the plunge he or she then has to be coachable. Yes, there may be a routine they have to follow. But, the payoff will be so worth it.
If you are such a person, and are willing to check out one of the best such programs, message me.
Military, law enforcement and other professions not only thrive on, but require routine. These routines have been proved to get the desired results. You may have had – or still have – a job that requires routine. Such routines may be dreaded. Others may be comfortable, even fun. Others may be completely necessary.
The question you have to ask is whether the routine you are in, or seem to want to go back to, gives you the payoff you really want? Some will. Some won’t.
If your previous routine isn’t giving you the payoff you want, why would you want to go back to itr?
Certainly, employers shake up routines for no good reason. Job descriptions often change from what you were allegedly hired to do. They may have a reason for these shakeups, but you don’t see it. And, just as you get used to the new routine, it gets shaken up again.
It may be time to find a routine that not only works for you, but also gets you closer to your dreams. You may have been discouraged from dreaming as a child, because those dreams were deemed unattainable for you. Those same discouragers may have, at the same time, encouraged you to find the security of routine.
Since then, you may have learned that those routines disappear before you want them to, regardless of a pandemic.
In short, dream. And, know that those dreams can come true if you find the routine that pays off for you.
Peter
GOOD LEADERS POSITION THEMSELVES TO BE LUCKY
#luck #leaders #leadership #success
You need luck to be a leader.
Though many people might quarrel with that statement, David Rubenstein, co-founder of The Carlyle Group private equity firm, told that to Fareed Zakaria on Zakaria’s GPS program on CNN Sunday, Sept. 13, 2020.
Rubenstein has interviewed many leaders of all styles in his research.
But let’s break this down a little more. Many would dispute that people who are leaders, who do well in life, are lucky. They also would dispute the opposite – that those that do not do as well are unlucky?
Rubenstein also believes leadership is a skill that can be learned.
If that’s the case, those willing to learn to be leaders just need to work at it. Luck really would have nothing to do with it.
You’ve heard others say that they would rather be lucky than good. If you are an amateur golfer, for instance, and you sink a long putt, you might consider yourself lucky.
But good luck is more than just carrying four-leaf clovers, a rabbit’s foot or some other charm.
Good luck is acquired, in general, by those willing to put themselves in position to get it.
How does one do that? It requires an open mind. It requires a person to look at things that may seem out of their comfort zone, and take a shot at them. You take enough shots at good things, and you will probably get lucky more often than not. Also, you can take multiple shots at ONE good thing and probably get lucky enough to keep you in the game.
Regular gamblers get lucky often enough to keep them coming back to the table. They also have the mind-set that losing – even losing often – goes with the territory. You might look at that as a failing forward strategy, though gambling might not be the best vehicle to do that.
That brings us to the topic of risk vs. luck. It would be difficult to find a real leader, or successful person, who didn’t take risks. One never gets to the top of the mountain by playing it completely safe, just as one doesn’t get rich with simply a savings account in a bank. He or she may start off with a savings account, but, eventually, for wealth to grow at a reasonable pace, he or she has to invest in things that may carry more risk.
It’s the person who takes calculated risks as opportunities arise that becomes successful. It’s the successful person who helps others succeed that becomes a leader.
Rubenstein points out that leaders come in various styles. In general, though, real leaders will, as the saying goes, know the way, go the way and show the way.
Do you consider yourself a leader? Are you willing to learn to be a leader? If so, do you have a vehicle that can propel you to the leadership you want to provide?
If what you are doing now doesn’t suit that scenario, there are many programs out there that can allow you to become a leader, regardless of your education, experience or background. As stated earlier, you may have to be willing to step out of your comfort zone to check out these programs.
If you are, and want to check out one of the best such programs, message me.
In short, luck doesn’t just always just happen. More often, people put themselves in position to become lucky. To win, you have to be willing to play.
Successful people don’t just settle for contentment. Instead, they go for what they really want.
It’s also been said that good things come to those who wait. But, more than likely, if you are waiting and doing nothing to change things, good things will not come as quickly.
But if you are consistently doing things that put you in a position for good things to come to you, they likely will come more rapidly, and more often.
Peter