Archive for Research and Knowledge
What to do when chaos is all around you?
Posted by: | CommentsA very wise person told me years ago that almost every where you go there is a bathroom and when you’re in the middle of something chaotic and uncomfortable the best thing you can do is remove yourself and use the excuse of the bathroom.
Disengaging from chaos is your only chance of survival. It is best not to try and figure everything out all the time some things are best not understood as knowledge brings responsibility and if you have been working with irresponsible people go with your gut and get out now before you get implicated.
I learned a long time ago that proving what you know is true is not that important, your only finding proof to satisfy others opinions which means your still validating your worth on their judgement. If you are centered and confident others opinions of your intuition is worthless anyways.
Trust yourself and make decisions that you can live with.
An example of this is a client who recently fell into depression over his gut telling him that there was inappropriate accounting practices with a public company he worked for. He felt that quitting his job was not an option because his family relied on the income for support. After discussions and some guidance he did quit and cashed out all his stock. He ended up ahead as had he stayed he would have lost nearly 75% of his worth as the economy downturn and the lack of the Peter’s to pay the Paul’s stopped for this organization and they were exposed. Now his intuition won’t be used against him if he is called into questions about what he knew and when because had he gone the way of his personality and waited until he figured it all out and had the proof he thought he needed the ending of this story would have been very different. He gets to live with a lot less regret having relied on his intuition.
The victims of corporate scandal will be large as many were unaware of the “Enron” type accounting practices that went on behind closed doors. You don’t have to open that door and see what’s going on if something does not feel right get quiet and make a decision you can live with.
Did we learn anything from the Orange County Bankruptcy?
Posted by: | CommentsIn 1994 Orange County’s mismanagement became the largest bankruptcy of a municipality. When the city treasurer bet the county’s money on highly risky investments and the county lost billions of dollars. Reading back through the information I believe we may soon face similar issues across many cities in America. When Government Fails: The Orange County Bankruptcy is a summary of what happened. Although the natural disasters i.e. Katrina, Ike etc. have added another factor besides the economic downturn and bad investments a new and ever growing list of failing American Cities and States are emerging . I really think that there are many who did not learn any lessons from this and are faced with exactly the same troubles with the current market crash.
With these entities collecting less taxes and the rapidly falling real estate price, limited credit available, growing unemployment and deficits like we have never seen before we are in a multifaceted deterioration of what we once knew and relied on from our public resources provided by our cities, states and government.
It will take miracles and hard work to turn this around. If anything can bring us together I believe this reversal of fortune is the time. We should start by coming together with our friends and neighbors and just start getting to know each other better. We should watch out for each other’s homes and families and neighborhoods. Don’t wait for a tragedy to happen before you get to know the names of the people that live around you take time today to reach out and exchange names and numbers.
Remember as cities cut employees the Police, Fire and Rescue services may be compromised, hospital waits may be extended and more families can reduce incidents by building a network of people that can help from within their area. Set up a coffee or just knock on a door make an effort to meet someone new on your block or at your kids school. That little neighborhood watch program is making a comeback so be part of the “in” group and do your part to make sure you and your neighbors are working together to successfully keep your community from random neighborhood crimes and tragedies.
Personal Concierge Services
Posted by: | CommentsMost of us have stayed in a hotel and utilized the Concierge to find a place to eat, tickets to an event and even directions someplace as well as many other requests. My clients contact me all day long with all kinds of questions like this. They want to know who can save their over budget project? Who has the best content management system? Who do I know at a particular company? Who is this kid my kid is talking to online? What do I think about how much their kids are playing video games? Who is the best Doctor for my neck pain? Where should I take my family on vacation? and they go on and on and this was just since 7:00 AM this morning.
Having a personal resource that can get you answers on the fly can be a huge benefit and cost effective when you no longer have a secretary or personal assistant at the office or are just short on time. Serving a client as a Personal Concierge is rewarding when you are a wealth of knowledge and have resource capabilities to provide information timely.
With people having accumulated so much stuff and piles at home and in the work-place and with recent down-sizing many are bogged down with the clutter on their desks and in their heads. Having a Personal Concierge to get you information and support with just one call can relieve a lot of stress and save you a great deal of time and is very cost effective under the current economic stresses most people and corporations are faced with today.
If you ever used a Concierge when staying in a hotel why not try using a Personal Concierge in your business or at home to get you what you want instantly. There are a great many talented bright people available that are currently working as a Personal Concierge or are capable of filling their time off as one so line one up for yourself today.
Creating a brag book to boost your self esteem
Posted by: | CommentsIf your self esteem has lowered due to unfortunate circumstances I recommend taking some time to create a brag book and start adding to it. Go back as far as you can and collect all those achievements and clippings that represent who you are and your growth over the years and compile them into a portfolio for yourself to remind you of your accomplishments.
Creating a brag book will reinforce the positive achievements in your life. This task is rewarding in many ways as we have grown we often forget important activities that made us who we are today. Going back through these things may open doors to opportunities you may have not realized existed based on past achievements.
This book will also help you re-evaluate the possibilities for your career and give you more discussion points when selling yourself for a new position. You will also be able to discover areas which you previously had touched on and could further expand that would increase your desirability to a potential employer or opportunity.
Creating a brag book is a great way to tell your story and prepare documentation to support your background and achievements. Start with a great basic large binder and three hole punched plastic sheet covers and put your resume in the front of it then working in reverse chronological order. Do your best to include any proof of statements on your resume as well as any recommendations, certificates, news articles, transcripts etc.
A one stop shop brag book will do a lot to boost your self esteem and will also give you a tool to use when attending interviews and substantiating your story.
