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Why Do You Go To Work?

October 9, 2013
Time Card

Photo Courtesy of Marcin Wichary.

There are very few things that you have to do in life. You have to eat, drink, and take care of yourself in order to survive but other than that there really isn’t anything that you have to do.

With that, why do you go to work? Is it because you enjoy it or because you need a pay check? If the answer is because you need a check I think you might need to look a little deeper as to the reason you go.

I am an advocate of doing work that you love. There really needs to be more of a reason to go to work than just to trade your time for money. You should enjoy what you do and find deeper meaning in going to work. If you don’t then it may be time to look for another line of work.

“If a man is called to be a street sweeper, he should sweep streets even as a Michaelangelo painted, or Beethoven composed music or Shakespeare wrote poetry. He should sweep streets so well that all the hosts of heaven and earth will pause to say, ‘Here lived a great street sweeper who did his job well.” Martin Luther King Jr.

You have the choice to go to a job you hate tomorrow or to look for another job. If you do not enjoy your current employment then come up with an exit plan over the next 60 days. Put in applications, make phone calls and once you secure a job doing something you find meaning put in your notice and go do good work that matters to you.

Question: What is something that gives your current job meaning?

Filed Under: Business, Life Coaching, Motivational, People, Time Management Tagged With: , , , , ,

Say No?

September 25, 2013
I Said No

Photo Courtesy of Roland Tanglao.

Is it time to say no?

It has been my experience that most humans are people pleasers.  They want to make everyone, at least in their immediate circle of family and friends, happy.  They do this at the sacrifice of themselves and their own time and at some point they start feeling drained or even resentful if the requests keep pouring in.
Do you think it is time you start telling people in your world ‘no’?
Chris Gillibeau in his book “The Art of Non-Conformity” says to ask “What is the worst thing that will happen if I say no?”  Most of the time the answer is nothing.  If it isn’t a life or death situation then you need to consider whether you want to spend your time doing the request.
This isn’t to say you should be self serving and only thinking of yourself.  There are plenty of times that you want to help others when asked.  But before you do consider all of the factors and whether you truly have the time to give at that moment.  Time is a precious thing so handle with care.
What was a time that you said yes to someone and after the fact realized you should have said no for one reason or another?
Filed Under: Life Coaching Tagged With: , , , ,

Book Review: 100 Days of a New Year by Jennifer Tankersley

January 7, 2013

100 Days of a New YearJennifer has once again provided an excellent resource to those who want to stay on track and stay motivated for the first 100 days of the year.  In her most recent edition, Jennifer takes you day by day from January 1-April 23.

This edition is setup like the other two that I have written reviews about.  It comes with 75 downloadable planning pages to help you stay on track.  You are provided with an activity each day to help navigate and organize your life (except for Saturday – that’s catch up day!).

The book is in PDF format which allows you to read on your computer, tablet, or print it out and put into a three ring binder as recommended.

What I enjoy most in each release are the different activities.  Many times they are things that you have thought of but put off or activities which give you that “I haven’t thought of that” a-ha moment.  A new version comes out each year and I do like going through and seeing what is new.

You can purchase this ebook directly from ListPlanIt for five dollars.

*Note: I received a copy of this book at no charge in exchange for my honest review.*
Filed Under: Goal Setting, Life Coaching, Organization Tagged With: , , , , ,

Time Management

September 3, 2011

Randy PauschFinding enough time in our lives is hard.  I have mentioned before about having 168 hours in your week and one way to get more time is to plan.  Another way is to watch the lecture below and learn.

Giving the lecture is Professor Randy Pausch.  You are likely to remember the name as he is the author of “The Last Lecture” which was released in 2008.  The premise of the last lecture in the academic world is to give the professors a chance to answer “If you could only give one final lecture before you pass what would you tell the world?”  Unfortunately this was more true for Randy Pausch as he had pancreatic cancer at the time he wrote his.

The following video is another lecture he gave during this same time frame on time management.  What better way to learn about time management than from someone who has not choice but to prioritize?

Filed Under: Life Coaching, Time Management Tagged With: , ,

Not Enough Time?

August 6, 2011

clockIf you are like many people I know you never have enough time to do everything you need to do. I see it all the time on social media that there just isn’t enough time to do _____________.  Why is it so many people feel this way?  It is because not enough people plan their time.

Everyone in the world has the same amount of time in a week.  168 hours in fact.  Now, if you are working full time deduct 40 hours from that and it leaves you 128 hours.  Remove 8 hours per night for sleeping (if in fact you sleep that much) and that gives you 72 waking hours during the week to do what you want to do.

If you are working a 5 day work week that means you have two days off.  Minus time for sleep that gives you 32 hours on your off days for the week.  How do you make the most of this time?  Try the “Rule of 3.”

The”Rule of 3″ is simple but you’ll have to make an effort to plan for it until it becomes habit.  Laura Vanderkam describes her rules in this way:

So here’s the rule of three for weekends: plan three meaningful, enjoyable things, beyond life maintenance, that you intend to do on the weekend. There will be different for everyone, but could look like this:

  • Go for a run, have date night dinner, go to church
  • Volunteer at food bank, meet friend for coffee, go for a family hike
  • Visit an art museum, take kid bowling, go for bike ride
  • Go to a birthday party, have a picnic, do weight-lifting session

That sounds incredibly simple right?  Simple doesn’t mean easy but if you plan your time, set the goal, and make it a habit then the simply becomes easy.

In This Post: Laura Vanderkam is the author of 168 Hours: You Have More Time Than You Think and writes a blog at my168Hours.com

Filed Under: Time Management Tagged With: , ,