Friday, February 26, 2016
One Simple Trick to Defeat Procrastination Once and For All
How often do you hear someone say the following? – “I should be doing X, Y, and Z, but I’ll probably wait until the last minute to do it.”I used to be a self-proclaimed procrastinator. You know the type; the ones who claim they work well under pressure. But the reality is that if a person combines that sense of urgency, and learns to induce it at will, with additional time then you’ll have the extra hours to edit, revise, and improve your work if you see the potential for it to be even better.
The other issue is that many people need to be told what to do. They end up working for someone else their entire careers because they need someone else telling them what to do. The choice is pretty clear: You can either work to make your dreams come true or you can be hired to build someone else’s for them.
This is because people know what needs to be done, but when they’re fatigued from obligations, they’re significantly less likely to have the energy or desire to create new tasks for themselves.
This is where your plan of action comes into play. Writing your goals and to-do lists every day will change your life.
1) Write your long term goals and dreams down
Don’t be afraid to dream big – there’s something to putting that energy out there – the world has a way of rewarding the ones who dream big. It’s okay for your dreams to be improbable, as long as they aren’t impossible. In fact, if you don’t have any improbable dreams you’re not truly living.
2) Write down your short-term goals
Your short-term goals can be separate, but are often stepping stones to help reach the long-term goals. Give yourself some tasks you know you can accomplish in the present so you can track your progress and feel a sense of accomplishment as you try to catch your big break.
Wednesday, February 24, 2016
The Pros and Cons of the No Regrets Mentality
Our generation, and youth culture in general is fond of saying anything that justifies short-term thinking. You only live once, and no regrets ties in directly to what we as millennials are conditioned to crave – instant gratification.
The pursuit of happiness in the here and now is a good thing, so long as you don’t mortgage greater happiness later on. However, youth typically means that we lack the experience that would help us judge what’s in store down the road. I’m sure some people can say they have no regrets and mean it, but for the vast majority of people it’s a way to avoid confronting the past.
The pros of this mentality are that it’s fun to act without weighing the consequences because it can allow you to be fully in the moment. It also leads to snap decisions, which is advantageous in certain situations, but the negatives of this approach far outweigh the positives.
1. Lacking humility
Thinking in this way exhibits hubris because it displays an unwillingness to learn from the past. It’s okay to make mistakes, and it’s also okay to call them mistakes. This doesn’t mean you should carry emotional baggage but think through what you’d do differently in the future.
2. Practiced apathy
The no regrets mentality is a method of training yourself not to care. The peace of mind that comes in the short term sets you up to live with the results no matter the consequence.
3. Getting caught up in the moment
You’re more susceptible to the behaviors of others once you’ve checked into YOLO mode. Sheeple have no regrets because they don’t analyze what’s going on.
Why You Don’t Need to Be Qualified
In this day in age we’ve been afforded extremely diverse opportunities in terms of not only employment, but ways to make money.With that said, often to be employed you have to have experience, but then to gain experience you need to be employed. It’s a catch-22 that puts new entrants of the workforce, particularly millennials, in job limbo.
However, as millennials there are some things we can do to counter this dilemma.
1. Give potential employers the proof of concept
When seeking a job you are selling yourself – you are your brand, your product, and your employer is considering whether or not to invest the time and resources to train you.
Instead of simply waiting to be taught, go ahead and do whatever it is you’re being considered for. If you want to go into marketing use social media to promote and sell something. If you want to write then begin blogging. Whatever you see yourself doing start doing it now, so you have proof and effort to show employees.
2. Talk your way into the job
Going back to selling yourself, what you lack in experience is possible to make up for with confidence that you can do the job and are worth the investment. I’d argue that even if you aren’t sure you can by going for it you’re going to be forced to grow, and learn – don’t be afraid of failure, just do the best you can to reward your employer for giving you a chance.
3. Network, network, network
It really isn’t what you know; it’s who you know. There’s always a more qualified candidate, but to a certain extent networking makes you a known commodity, and the more trusted brand.
Saturday, February 20, 2016
The Great Myth of Creativity
Many people make the mistake of explaining why they can’t sing, write, dance, draw, or paint. “I’m not creative,” they’ll say as if creativity is purely genetic, but what that perception reveals is the underlying assumption that art is not work. To say, “I’m not creative” is equivalent to someone saying, “I’m not good at math.” You might not have an aptitude for it, but creativity like math is about finding hidden patterns. Even chaos has order within it. To see these patterns requires practice. Sure, not everyone will be a prodigy, and people certainly have different talents, but don’t buy into the stigma that creativity is solely in your blood or something you’re born with.By thinking of art or anything as a skill as opposed to a talent you give yourself a chance to grow and improve. Creativity is a skill, requiring hard work and persistence.
The Best Social Exercise You’re Afraid to Do
As human beings, we hate projections it’s no fun and it hurts, but it’s also a guaranteed part of putting yourself out there. Whether it’s for a job, a relationship, or anything else you have to learn to love rejection (or convince yourself you do) in order to be persistent enough to get what you want. In light of that, I challenge you every time you go to a new place to talk to strangers. In a new place, where you don’t know a soul there’s nothing to lose – if you have an awkward encounter all you’ve lost at worst is a bit of pride. But traveling is the time to be whatever you want to be – try out different personas – this doesn’t have to be a front. People evolve, but sometimes the old setting makes it hard to be the new you that you’ve known was in there all along. Ask questions, gather stories, and broaden your own perspective. If you do this social exercise you’ll realize you’ve got nothing to lose, and everything to gain by reaching out.Being a Real Friend in the Virtual Age
A commonly held view is that a friendship is not real if it rarely or never crosses the boundaries of the digital realm. The stigma regarding virtual communication, that there is no intimacy online or if it’s not the face to face is bogus. The dilemma is not whether communication is in person. What still counts is quality.1) Don’t try so hard to be interesting, be interested
Ask questions and don’t be afraid to be expressive. If it’s online or over text they can’t see your face to know you’re happy to hear from them…so say it. If you miss them, say that. If you care about them take the time to stay current about what’s going on in their life.
2) Call, Facetime, Skype
It’s often inevitable that certain friendships will be strained by distance. Some people require a sense of realness and can only get that from more intimate forms of communication. If they’re worth it to you then don’t look at it as a reflection of weakness in the friendship, but rather, a need of theirs – a meaningful gesture. If you can’t meet in person, Facetime, Skype, and calling are the next best thing. Millennials tend to avoid phone calls in favor of texting, but sometimes you need to at least try to connect in a more intimate way when distance prevents physically meeting up.
3) Make time
If you’re close enough to see your friends, do it. Make time to grab a drink. The best way to be a real friend in the virtual age is to make the effort to connect outside of the digital realm. This may be common sense, but I’ve seen friends drift apart because neither makes the effort to do this.
3 Reasons Why You Need to Share Your Dreams
Good people still exist
Believe it or not people want to help. Don’t go into any situation expecting or demanding help, but you’ll be surprised by people’s generosity if you’re open to it.
Talk about what you’re working on
When someone asks what you do, tell them what you want to do. However, only say it if you’re actually working on something otherwise it’s just talk. If you want to act or you sing then there’s no need to say you bag groceries. A window of opportunity is small enough, and you never have a chance to break onto any scene when you’re hiding your passion.
People want to know you
When you’re already engaged in a conversation with someone and they ask about you, it’s because they want to know the real you. The fact that you’re currently bagging groceries has nothing to do with you. It reveals nothing about what excites you, so it certainly won’t engage anyone else. When you say you write songs they learn more about what makes you tick and you’ll give them the chance to open up and reciprocate, helping to potentially form a more genuine connection.
