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#82 Limit Overtime

Denver — Thu, 20 Oct 2011 06:56:59 +0000

Unpaid overtime? Doing a sixty plus hour work week, week in, week out to keep up with the expectations put on you will do you no favours in the long run for a number of reasons.
-break-
1. The fact that such a state occurs should indicate your worth to the organisation. It probably is very little. They would happily let such a state continue till it is deemed you need to replaced, since this is would prove to be a cost effective solution.
2. Your health. It is not transferable, replaceable, and will degrade in such an environment. In effect you are being paid to live a shorter life.
3. Your life. You probably have none. Alive? Yes. Living? Probably not. Your time wont be apologetically returned to you when it is greedily consumed.

There is one reason that such activity may, in the long run, prove fruitful. If you are engaging in such activity, not for the money, but for the skills and experience you gain to take you further. You are investing in yourself.

#78 Picking up a penny on the road

Denver — Mon, 04 Oct 2010 16:13:04 +0000

If you are moving towards being in credit rather than debt, would you turn down the chance at obtaining free money?

Often we do this by not taking opportunities that are offered to us in more practical ways, such as not picking up a coin on the street.

It is viewed with disdain to pick up such an item, but the concept of disdain is the one to be viewed with disdain. Granted, some would earn more in the time it takes to pick up the item, but the activity serves a dual purpose, and it would be foolish to suggest we would be greatly profited by the odd coin collected in this way. As well as adding a small amount to our wealth, the activity reinforces in the mind the idea of taking beneficial opportunities, despite what others think.

Today it may be picking up a coin that is viewed with disdain, tomorrow the opportunity might be a managerial promotion that is viewed with disdain by other peers.

How to score a goal when the goal moves suddenly

Denver — Mon, 02 Aug 2010 21:34:32 +0000

You’ve heard of moving goalposts, right?
Well, this is about goals being kicked away and what to do about it.

Often when you aim for a target your goal is likely to get kicked away from you.
For example, right now as I sit by the roadside with a split cycle tyre the goal of getting fit feels as far away as the puncture repair kit is -that I was certain I’d packed when I left home this morning.
Sometimes you feel like you shouldn’t have bothered, and you’d be better off not having tried.
That’s the deceptive thing about Success, before you reach any worthy goal it will ask you if you really want it.
The feelings of dissappointment and dejection are just that – feelings, though they are intense at the time they occur.

Any great achievement is adorned with much dissappointment and defeat along the way. History deliberates not over lost battles as much as wars won.
So if your goal is kicked off target remember it’s the aim of Persistence that will help you score.
Keep on keeping on, Success is calling you.

What one thing would you take to escape a fire?

Denver — Tue, 09 Mar 2010 21:37:24 +0000

“There’s a fire burning in your home and you only have time to get out with one thing. What would you take with you?”

Apparently this hypothetical question is about showing what is important to you. It was posed to me a number of years ago, but with a change of situation over the years my answer has remained constant. In fact, I don’t see my answer ever changing from what instantly popped into my mind at the time.

What would you take with you?

I’ve heard a number of answers, ranging from the obvious; “the family”, “the pet”, through the material; “passport”, “files”, “jewellery”, “phone”, to the eclectic such as “Love”. No, I don’t understand that last answer either, but the question is a personal one and as such it has no right or wrong answer.

From the answer I gave to the question I’ve discovered that what is important to me is a fresh approach to problem solving. In fact the answer partly influenced the creation of thoughtlateral.com.

What was my answer? “The fire itself”.

What will the future hold? Think about it.

Denver — Sat, 02 Jan 2010 00:05:49 +0000

Time has three dimensions, the past, the present, and the future.
The first of these, our past, is recorded in videos, photographs, print, inscriptions, and memory.
The second, the present, is a constantly flowing flux that is being played out to, and absorbed by, our senses.
What about the third, the future? What does the future hold? What will the world look like in say five, or ten years time?

If we could take a mental snapshot of humanity, a photo of our minds’ thoughts we’d see what is yet to unfold. For the thoughts of our mind now will become actions of the future.

For the thoughts of our mind now will become actions of the future.

Wide angle lens anyone? Just don’t think about cheese when the ‘photo’ is taken!

Hayfever? Where’s the hay?

Denver — Mon, 20 Jul 2009 14:03:37 +0000

Increasingly people in cities are succumbing to the symptoms of hayfever. My question is “Where is the hay?” There is less and less greenery in the city with each passing year as front gardens turn into driveways and rear gardens are decked. Granted, hayfever is not caused by hay and is attributed to the effects of pollen, but the point remains. The number of hayfever sufferers appears to be inversely proportional to the amount of greenery, which suggests to me that hayfever would be better called “pollution fever”.

I hypothesize that increased pollution is either directly causing the symptoms of hayfever, or accentuating the sensitivity to pollen.

Hayfever? Pollution fever more likely!