Tag: work

Epiphany. It’s not what you think..

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Dear Readers, I have been valiantly struggling to get a concept in my acting class. It has eluded me week after week. Ever the diligent student, I watch intently in class, taking copious amounts of notes, and consciously practicing the skill and failing.

Then last night, I got it. It was so clear and all of a sudden like tumblers clicking into place the knowledge was revealed. I wish I could tell you there were blinding lights, choirs of angels singing and a very enthusiastic audience to applaud the moment but I can’t because it wasn’t like that at all.

It’s very quiet when it happens and if you aren’t paying attention you might just miss it.

Notice that I posted when I accomplished it, not when I was struggling? That’s not an accident. I did not know if I would ever really get it, and now that I have it seems easy. Have you ever stopped to think about that? Put another way, Nelson Mandela says “It always seems impossible till it’s done”

It’s done now, so it’s no longer impossible. No one is perfect, and it takes time and energy to get something worth doing right. Think about it!

A small gesture to you can be the world to someone else

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Hello dear readers!

I do my best to pay it forward and go so far as make my birthday the “give everyone else a present and don’t tell them” day…

 

Today, I woke up a little late, didn’t get my work out in, (will be doing it tonight!!) and was overall not in the greatest mood. I had in mind a gesture for a team member at work and almost forgot due to all these complications and “life” getting in the way. Man, am I glad I took another minute to do it.

What took me a few minutes to think of and then put together cost me literally nothing but time.

The look on her face and the gratitude that she expressed will stay with me long past today’s early frustration. It occurred to me that if we all took a beat to do something nice for someone else, it might just improve a rough or already good day.

Think about it!

The Struggle or The Prize?

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The Struggle or The Prize?

Dear Readers, It is time once again for us to play the game of … I didn’t do it yet, but I will.
I am in the process of moving towards the goals I want to accomplish and that isn’t a neatly wrapped present with a bow..

When you ask God for patience (like I did two years ago) he doesn’t just give it to you. He provides you with circumstances, situations and people that help you to gain it.

Also, when you shoot for the moon, you can’t get there in a day.. You have to use math and astronauts and science get the guys at NASA to let you play on their rocket. All of these things take time. So while it may look like to you (the person pursuing the goal) that its hopeless and you will NEVER get there.. What is actually happening is that you are taking one step at a time to get there. I share the following picture to illustrate that point. This picture is the before picture of the first 5K where I ran/walked. My goal was to half run, half walk. This picture is a representation of success because it represents the following:

1. I did not sleep in, but actually went to the race.
2. I have others with me, helping me along that road.
3. I did not make my goal of running half but I did not QUIT.
4. I ran more than I had previously which proved to me that I could.
5. Most importantly, it was a stepping stone to the next 5K.

In my acting class yesterday, I was reminded that anything worth doing is worth doing well.
I am often impatient with myself and my progress but must remember that when you are a student, the lesson is the struggle and the prize.

Just because I didn’t write it, I see no reason not to share it. Please click on this link to
read the perspective that inspired me to write the post you just read!

What Students Really Need to Hear
http://affectiveliving.wordpress.com/2014/03/08/what-students-really-need-to-hear/

Debt and Life-Balance- Guest Post by Sunny!

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Today’s Guest Poster is Sunny!

She blogs about living on a budget and getting out of debt with the help of Dave Ramsey* at http://www.debteliminationexperiment.blogspot.com/.

My husband and I have been on the Dave Ramsey plan since the summer of 2012, we got married in April of 2012 and were doing well budgeting but wanted some insight into paying off our loans quickly. If we had not taken student loans we wouldn’t have any debt because otherwise we live very frugally. On the flip side, if we hadn’t taken out student loans we would probably be working minimum wage jobs for the rest of our lives. We are from a small mining town in Missouri where there are more people than jobs.

He moved to Chicago to study Computer Programming and Design, I moved to Tennessee to study Sign Language and Theatre. We now reside in Knoxville, TN.           

We bought into the notion that “student loan is good debt, it’s an investment in your future.” Which I guess is partly true but we “did stupid” in that we chose to go to private (very expensive) colleges. We both worked a few hours a week while in college but not nearly enough to offset our student loans.

We are now living like no one else, in a tiny ugly apartment, driving 2 cars that are old enough to be in high school, and throwing 45% of our monthly income towards our debt. That is unless Murphy comes knocking!

Sometimes we don’t follow the program exactly, we did go on vacation this year. It’s going to take us 3 years to get these loans paid off so we budgeted one of our snowballs to go to the beach. Since we have such a long time to go we don’t want to get burnt out and just give up entirely.

Overall on the program we’ve learned a lot and still have a lot of learning to do I suppose! Our families think we are weird, I bring my lunch to work in my Doctor Who lunchbox almost every day. I’d say we’re moving in the right direction!

Like this post? Sunny blogs at: http://www.debteliminationexperiment.blogspot.com/

*Dave Ramsey is the national talk show host who talks about “Common Sense for your Dollars and Cents-

Want to know more about him or getting out of debt?

http://www.daveramsey.com/home/

Playing to your Strengths-Part 1

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What do you do well? What energizes you about your work? This video takes a look at what can make your day better your interaction with customers better and what can overall make your life better and by extension give you better work/life balance. We can all do better jobs of being good people. What can you do today to make work/life better? Think about it!

Work, Life, and Who are you?

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Recently, I was career coaching a client and I had an epiphany.

Your resume is not just a cold recitation of what you have done and learned. It’s an opportunity to help your potential employer understand who they are hiring not just the skills that they are looking for but the personality type which allows them to not only see that you are qualified for the job, but that you will fit the team culture.

So I came up with five basic tips for resumes. Ready? Here we go!

1. Make sure it has no typos or formatting issues.

2. Include work that you have done for non-profit or volunteer:

Some of the hardest work I have done has been for free.

3. Have a profile on Linked In, and be sure to seek out recommendations from co-workers.

4. This is time to brag, do not be shy about your accomplishments.

5. Categorize your experience in a way that helps you be found.

Make sure you have several different types of resumes. e.g.  you might have a phone work resume, a sales based resume, and a management resume. It really depends on your individual experience.

Beef up your resume. You might just surprise yourself with all you have done.

Never be afraid to ask for help…

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At any stage and any age, support is a good thing. I said that to someone last week when they said, I shouldn’t need help at my age and I got to thinking about how needless that is.

Thought I know that intellectually, emotionally this remains a difficulty for me. I have a very hard time asking for help, I am working on this and my husband has made it much easier for me to ask and receive help graciously.

Case in point, we are working on gaining better health by eating better and exercising and he has been and continues to be an amazing resource for help, encouragement and love. This week is the first week I have lost weight in three weeks, he also decided that it was a good idea to measure the inches and I am proud to say I have lost an inch from my waist and my stomach which is extremely good progress and has reinvigorated my enthusiasm for the process.

Putting yourself out there is very scary but I have been posting photographs on Facebook and getting the encouragement of friends because I couldn’t see I was making progress but the outpouring of support, and just loving remarks could not have been better timed to help move me forward so I wanted to say thank you and hope that my post will encourage you to ask for help if you need it, even if its difficult.