Aching To Smack The Minimalists Around
I do support the minimalist blogs out there and their nomad and environmentally friendly lifestyles, don’t get me wrong. I appreciate reading about how they avoid those yucky cars, sit in cafes blogging about hip memories, and stick their well traveled tongues out at whoever isn’t “master” of their lives. Ya well it isn’t all leprechauns and rainbows boys and girls.
You see…we can’t all chuck everything and go globetrotting at a moment’s notice. Some of us have serious family commitments, a fascinating career (that may actually help make the world a better place)…and pets…and …oh ya… children.
And some of us really do like ascetically pleasing material goods. Is it bad to treat ourselves? Hey, if I’m going to sit in traffic for part of the day I WANT to be surrounded by soft leather and a Bose sound system.
Yeppers, I have a 40 foot in ground pool with funky rock gardens surrounding it. After work, I plunge into that cool revitalizing water and skim under the surface in total silence. Love it. Jagged beams of sunlight greet me to create a golden mirror effect throughout the baby blue water. It’s a fucking alternate universe. Love it.
Am I being authentic about my life? Hell ya. Do I always believe in it? Hell no. But I’m providing a beautiful haven for my family, my pets and myself (for now).
I’ll get to climbing Mount Pica Chu perhaps in a few years. And thank you for teaching me about the horrors of bottled water. But for now I’m going to take my time to cook a delicious meal, crack open a fine red Syrah and be grateful for all that life has bestowed me. You are all welcome to join me.
Cheers!
Now WTF am I going to do during winter?
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Stop Complaining, Whining Or Making lame Excuses And Start Living
If We Are Only Willing To Take A Few Risks
I left an aerospace company after being there 21 years. It would have been easy to stay and play it safe. But I had made a promise to myself that I would not retire from this company. I could not bear picturing myself receiving a gold watch, a few pats on the back and a polite shove out the door.
I had been part of a major SAP IT project for 18 months at this company during my final days. Prior to this I had been a buyer/planner for quite a few years. As the project wound down I asked if a promotion was in the works upon my return to the business. Meanwhile I also had a job interview at IBM ; however a co-worker (who treated people like crap and I despised) got that job.
After hearing, “no” about any sort of promotion - I quit.
Being no dummy, I also received a substantial severance package and a few weeks later I was at another company honing my IT skills. After a couple of more years there I landed a job at a pharmaceutical company and began yet another career change.
I’m not sure what prompted me to take these risks. Maybe it was my job interview at IBM. Perhaps it was because I had always embraced technology. Almost certainly my willingness to learn and a gutsy attitude had a part in it. I also desired to be part of a dynamic and growing business.
Are you playing it safe? Do you embrace change? Do you embrace technology?
Let me know, I’m curious.
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5 Reasons Why The Grass May Not Be Greener
Every day I hear someone daydream about changing jobs or companies. It’s incredibly easy to dream. I’ve made three major career changes and changed companies five times. Here are the top 5 lessons I learnt.
Money isn’t everything (but it can help). If you accept a job that earns you ten or twenty thousand dollars more a year, but adds another hour or two of a lonely and miserable commute, are you really ahead? Has your quality of life improved? Those dreadful and polluted hours sucking on someone’s tailpipe are never regained. You can’t call on the traffic fairy and magically have time turned back. Those hours are lost forever. Being stuck in traffic is the biggest stressors in people’s lives. Is your time more important than money?
Be prepared to have a boss that you may loathe. Sure it may be great fun to have your dream job, but when your new boss goes on to bigger and better things, you may be stuck with the company clown as your glorious leader. Now your wonderful new job is a horrific nightmare as each hour your new boss finds fresh ways to torture you. Not so much of a dream anymore huh?
Ready to give up the perks that come with company seniority? I lost three wonderful weeks of vacation time changing companies once. Are you willing to lose your vacation time? Not only will you work more but you have to cover for your co-workers that have more seniority.
Are you able to ignore company politics? Every company has clicks, favoritism and certain unappealing dynamics which may make you wound up over time. I’ve heard whispered plans and dreadful lies spread about me because certain people wanted their friend to be hired. Are you ready to ignore all that and focus on the job itself? Or will you transform into the office tittle-tattle and gleefully buy your boss a Starbucks latte each morning?
You decided to start your own business. Do you think that being an entrepreneur is all about giving yourself a fancy title and working from home in your shorts while the money pours in? It isn’t. Starting a business takes guts, hard work and persistence.
There you have it.
- Make sure your commute doesn’t kill you over time.
- Avoid working for the company clown.
- Think hard about your seniority perks.
- Get ready to ignore office politics.
- Figure out if you have the courage to become a successful entrepreneur.
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Related Posts:
How To Start An Internet Business
The Myth Of Finding The Perfectly Balanced Life
Successful Small Business - The Top Three Requirements
Goal Setting And Value Identification Lead To More Meaning And Purpose
Quite Simply, The 5 Best Self Development Blogs
Sid Savara – Achieve Your Goals More Effectively With Analysis Driven Personal Development
Sid backs up a lot of his posts with facts, which is why I like his blog so much.
Get Rich Slowly – Personal Finance That Makes Cents
J.D Roth shares some excellent personal success stories and gives the best advice out there on how to get rich.
Erica.biz – Teaching You How To Build An Inspired, Successful Business
Erica claims she sold her online business for over a million dollars at age 26. She provides excellent advice to anyone starting up a business.
The Blog Of Tim Ferriss – Experiments In Lifestyle Design
Tim has a bestselling book out on how to work 4 hours a week and gives all kinds of great advice on how to be successful with almost anything!
A blog with solid articles on how to make life changes and also provides terrific tools to begin making life changes right now. Align your goals, personal values and mission statement all in one tracker and see your success grow in leaps and bounds.
Do you have any to add?
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Find More Joy In Your Career and Entrepreneurship
Don`t whine, complain or make excuses about what you cannot change.
As someone who has worked in some of the largest and leading Aerospace and Pharmaceutical companies in the world here is my best advice. Don`t try to change what you can`t. And don`t whine, complain or make excuses about it either. In each company I have worked for I have seen plenty of fundamental mistakes being made. These mistakes can create enormous inefficiencies across the company. The best you can do is point them out, provide examples and trust your advice is taken (one day). There may be a million reasons why the company’s priorities lay elsewhere and most of them are probably legitimate. Do your job to the best of your ability and don’t worry needlessly about what is outside of your influence. When the company feels enough pain they will change. In the mean while enjoy your job and stop worrying about what you cannot change. You`ll feel a huge weight lift off your shoulders.
Segregate your tasks into Vice Presidential duties
As an entrepreneur I have found that segregating my tasks into Vice Presidential duties helps enormously. One day I am VP of Production, another I am VP of Sales, and another VP of Finance. This affords me more clarity as to what needs to get done during any given day or week. Trying to do everything all at once, usually leads to only partially completing tasks and frustration. As I am writing this article I am VP of Production. I am not thinking about any other tasks other than production and writing this article. And I am enjoying writing it immensely. Try it! For more great information on this concept read the book E- Myth Revisited.
Other Brilliant and Related posts
Successful Small Business - The Three Top Requirements
Wealth, Money And Getting Filthy Rich 101
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How To Start An Internet Business
August 16, 2009 by Terry
Filed under Career, Lifestyle, Money, Popular Posts
I will be sending out an E-mail to my nearing 5000 subscribers this week. Some have subscribed to the free version of www.mylifechanges.com and some to the deluxe paid version. I have had many people ask me how or why I started this business and I will now answer you.
Passion
I have had an intense passion to start my own business since as long as I can remember. I also have a deep passion for physiology, sociology, self development and also business. I am constantly reading (hundreds of books) and refining my own thoughts about what is the best life to live. I have also lived an interesting life, being adopted, and half Asian to European parents in North America. I have lived through a couple of very tough health issues that affected me both mentally and physically. Without the passion to try to make a difference in this world my web site would have never succeeded. I believe without a doubt in my mind that this is something I love to do. I love to provide great information. I love to write my own articles. I want you to learn and help me learn. Occasionally I just want to kick people’s asses really hard, because making life changes isn’t that hard. Just start. Today.
Money
Yes, I would love to make enough money to live off this site or at least nicely supplement my day income. I worked hard to design the website, I believe I am providing a valuable service (Do you want to change your life?) and I don’t want to give it away for free. I invested thousands of dollars in the initial start up when the technology was weaker and I required outside consultation. There is nothing wrong with wanting to make money, unless that is your only objective. Then the passion is gone. I am competing on a global scale here. It is a huge market. For 5 dollars a month you can begin to understand and make life changes. Five dollars! Less than a Happy Meal… I think.
Drive
I work on the site after my day job (I have consulted and and worked at some of the most successful pharmaceutical and aerospace companies in the world). It isn’t always easy to do. But I can’t just quit my day job. I would be a fool to do that. So I find myself tapping away on the laptop at Midnight, researching and reading E-mails late at night. Now you can understand how passion comes into play. Without the passion in my blood this would have stopped many years ago. Yes, it takes work and drive, but this work is connecting me to thousands of people and I cannot ask for anything more.
Overcoming failure
I once lost all my feeds to my blog. I was severely disappointed and never understood what happened. So I had to start over and build back a reader base with lots more completion facing me. Just the thought of that can be discouraging. But I will not give up. I will keep learning from setbacks and I will grow stronger from them. The thing about having a business on the internet is that your completion is global and almost every idea has been tried. So there were plenty of times when I thought my idea was fantastic yet nobody cared. I thought people would swarm the site. This happens rarely. When it does, it is most likely because you have learnt from failures and found a winning formula.
Good Luck to you if you decide to follow this path. And send me an E-mail at terry@mylifechanges.com
I will be happy to answer you.
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Successful Small Business - The Three Top Requirements
Passion
Entrepreneurship is about being truly and fully passionate about a product or service. It doesn’t matter what your passion is, whether it’s chocolate, IT, cleaning houses, dust balls, cats, video, matchmaking or information. If you have a genuine and heart felt passion that is half the battle in starting and seeing through a business. Go for it! Start now!
Leadership Rules You Absolutely Need To Know
Over the past 30 years, I’ve worked for three major corporations with many diverse leaders. I’ve also branched out to consulting. Some leaders have been highly effective, some incredibly dismal. I’ve also researched this subject extensively and here are three key findings.
Wealth, Money And Getting Filthy Rich 101
July 15, 2008 by Terry
Filed under Career, Money, Popular Posts
Lets talk about getting rich. Filthy rich. Rolling in dough. So how, how, how and how you ask? You’ve come to the right place.
Goal Setting And Value Identification Lead To More Meaning and Purpose
July 15, 2008 by Terry
Filed under Career, Featured Articles, Goal Setting, Mind, Popular Posts
Life seems to hurtle by us these days. To keep up with our frantic-paced life, our ever-changing technological society has given us radical tools to work, plan and supposedly become more efficient.
Computers, cell phones, iPhones and pagers are just a few examples of gadgets that keep us connected, sometimes 24/7. Information whizzes by us at a mind-numbing rate from Internet news sites, work computer systems, E-mail at work, E-mail at home, not to mention pagers, to do lists and pop up reminders. All in the name of efficiency. Work demands that we do more in less time and the global village keeps us all connected with instant news. More and more of us are reeling from information overload, feeling exhausted and possibly headed for burn out.
