investigations, insight, unconditional Love for the greater Oneness, tales of adventure, and shameless optimism from the edge of the not so distant future
During “economic downturns” many choose to invest in (and or hoard) gold.
Why is gold so valuable anyway? Is it just for its jewelry value or is there something more to it?
Does it matter?
Free investment advice for those with money right now: invest in SEEDS, LAND, and/or GREENHOUSES!
a link to my LinkedIn profile and a screenshot as it appeared today
I am also very open to work that could be done remotely
I am currently seeking a full-time job in Southern Ontario. I am trained librarian with extensive Internet skillls, and would also make an excellent content manager, technical teacher, digital archivist, or a technologically savvy super secretary.
Specialties:
computer expert – proficient in most PC and Apple applications and able to assist others, Internet professional since 1995 finding information – online research and library skills organizing information – filing, paperwork, and digital information management communicating information – writing, giving presentations, and teaching administration – typing, filing, writing, and reception customer service – customer relations, retail sales, and technical assistance
Though I am aware of many of the problems too much corporate power causes in our society, I am totally in love with Google and Apple and believe they are forces for good in the World.
Seriously.
In my work, I am currently getting to know them more intimately, and the more I see the more convinced I am.
Yay Internet!
Here’s a selection from Andrea Conway’s Successful Self Employment newsletter that was helpful to me today.
She’s the person who first introduced me to “The Law of Attraction” and I recommend her career coaching services.
Impatience comes naturally to most business owners. We like taking action, being in charge, and feeling super productive.
Those are terrific traits that bring big visions into reality. But when you add impatience to the mix, it’s like cruising down the highway with your foot on the brakes.
Impatience says to the universe: I’m doing everything to make this happen, but it hasn’t happened yet. It hasn’t happened yet… it hasn’t happened yet… oh, damn — why isn’t it happening?
You can be right on the verge of a beautiful manifestation, but your attention to “it hasn’t happened yet” slows it down.
Impatience removes the possibility of a peaceful heart. Impatience stubbornly ignores all the work spirit does on your behalf. You start thinking that you and your mental willpower are the cause of your success. You work harder and harder, becoming more and more impatient, and the more you struggle, the fewer results you manifest.
Consider this. If you had faith in spirit, there would be no need for impatience. Yes, I know you have bills to pay and all kinds of pressures in your life. If I know it, you can be certain spirit — connected to you through your soul — knows it and knows exactly what to do about it.
If you have faith that it’s working for you, spirit delivers results quickly and in amazing ways.
I’m not saying the answer to impatience is to cease all work and stop desiring results. You must take action to manifest!
What I’m saying is that as you work, remember spirit is your partner. As you work, know that you are doing your best and that spirit never fails to do its best for you.
As you work, ask your soul to take care of the results. Know that your asking is answered. Work with a peaceful heart.
Till next time, here’s to your successful self employment!
I picked up the book How to Negotiate Like a Child: Unleash the Little Monster Within to Get EVERYTHING You Want from the library just to check it out. I was very turned off by the concept and think it’s obnoxious to be darkly manipulative in business (and it always comes back to bite YOU in the end) however I wanted to give it a chance.
It’s funny and has some good advice, especially around how to deal with others that use childish tactics. I found the advice in the “Just Cry” chapter helpful also, because sometimes I do cry and can’t help it (though it’s not something I could turn on on purpose just to manipulate!)
Here’s a quote featuring the Donald, who may be wildly successful in dollar amount terms however he’s also widely hated and someone I personally would not ever emulate. I somehow doubt he’s among the happiest beings on Earth…
Try a Wild and Scary Threat
A variation on the tantrum theme is to employ a wild but scary threat. Both use extremes — tantrums involve an extreme of sound and emotion; wild threats involve a large range of consequences. You know how kids threaten to hold their breath till they drop dead. Sometimes people will give in rather than wait to see how far the kid can go. That’s the tactic Donald Trump used when he wanted to build the Trump Tower higher than permitted under New York City’s zoning laws. He said if he didn’t get the height exception he wanted, he’d build the ugliest building that he could possibly design, and site it in a way that would overshadow the historic, low-rise Tiffany’s building below. He showed the city planners a hideous design. While they may not have been sure he’d really do it, they decided not to risk it and gave in.
In my career, I am now in the position to choose the clients/colleagues I want to work with.
My preferences:
transparency/honesty (all stakeholders know what is going on)
positive legacy work (the ripple effect of what we are creating has a positive legacy in the world)
quality (quality artistic work by genius specialists, neither rushed nor cheap)
friendly (everyone is fun to work with, friendly, and forgiving)
While some like the intrigue/excitement of the chess game of business politics, I choose to work differently.
However, if I get dragged there I can engage it (watch out!)
The link below describes companies which apply democracy in their decision making. While there are challenges around how to do it effectively, this can lead to better decisions, happier people, and higher quality results.
This is a smart idea in a time when employee loyalty is low in the corporate world (largely due to the way many companies treat employees!)
Profit sharing based on results is also a good idea ;)
WorldBlu: Designing Democratic Organizations
http://www.worldblu.com
No two democratic organizations are alike. However, our research shows that democratic organizations often exhibit the following characteristics:
* Relationships are adult-to-adult, not parent-to-child.
* Leadership happens at every level of the organization, not just at the top.
* You’re paid for the value you bring to the organization, not your job title.
* Everyone knows to whom and for what they’re accountable.
* Transparency isn’t considered scary.
* Formality and polices are avoided in favor of informality and principles.
* Humor and having fun is actually encouraged.
* You can access real-time financial information about your organization’s performance anytime you want.
* Change = life, not death.
* The employee manual can be summed up in one sentence: “Use common sense!”
* You look forward to meetings where you can collaborate and share ideas.
* There’s a spirit of ownership in every project in which you’re involved.
* You either helped create or strongly share in the organization’s purpose and vision statements.
* Incentives aren’t used to motivate employees – meaningful work is.
* You never have to ask to go to the bathroom.
* Your life outside of work is as valued as your life at work.
* You receive real-time, ongoing constructive feedback from your co-workers, and you’re often publicly acknowledged for excellent work.
* Failure is seen as a right-of-passage to success.
* Thinking differently and challenging assumptions is encouraged.
* Alignment comes from a shared sense of purpose, not automatic agreement.
* Your job is one of your favorite places to be.
Sound utopian? Hardly. Organizational democracy is more than a management or leadership style. It’s both a mind-set and a system of principles practiced at all levels of a company as a coherent organizational system.
We’re not talking about a bunch of job perks here. We’re talking about creating an environment and culture any organization must develop in order to survive in a fast-paced, decentralized, and globalized world.
We’re the people who design these kinds of organizations. Welcome to our world.
Being a woman in business is not the same as being a man. Despite many gains in womens rights over the past few decades (thanks to the elders who worked for it!) there are still differences in how we’re treated, judged, paid, and promoted.
The book She Wins, You Win focuses on the idea that women need to cooperate with one another at work instead of competing and the importance of older women mentoring younger ones. I found it to mostly to be about the corporate environment (which is not my focus of interest) but I really like what she says below.
It doesn’t matter where you are– corporate business, education, or law. It doesn’t matter whether you work for the largest company on the Fortune 500, you’re a freelance journalist, or you own your own business. We women are stuck.
It’s time to stop doing it as individuals and do it together. By working on the same team we will find ways to attain our fair share of power and impact the system. Eventually we’ll reach a point where we won’t feel we have to work twice as hard as the guys to achieve the same reward.
Just as the right to vote and the right to own property didn’t come until we demanded it, equal access to capital and the inner circles of power will not come until we are a united force.
Join the women’s team. Whether you like it or not, as far as the men are concerned, if you were born with XX chromosomes, you’re already on it. It doesn’t matter whether you work for a large corporation or you’re a one-woman shop. You might as well become an active player. You may be surprised by all the rewards you will reap.
In my career I’ve had some altercations with various bosses due to my refusal to just follow along and be a yes man. I’ve also had a lot of benefits come my way because of this attitude. I once criticized an idea of the CEO in a company meeting and though some people were shocked, he laughed and loved me ever after for it.
Some bosses hire geniuses who are awesome at what they do, let them do their thing, and express their ideas, even when they contradict the boss’ thinking. Others want to have authority and power over others and be told that everything they say is brilliant.
Guess which method of management I feel works better in the long run?
I just sent off an article for the December issue of the new magazine The Urban Hippie. I’ve linked to an online version below.
Buyer be Aware: Conscious Consumerism
http://www.margonaut.com/consume.htm
Everything available for sale represents people that worked to get it to you. We can make choices that affect how our money circulates in the world. Many consumers choose to buy items that are made locally (or at least inside the country) whenever possible. Others choose to support local merchants, buy used items, or do their holiday shopping directly with artists and craftspeople.
Here’s a passage from an illuminating ebook worth reading that talks about a business philosophy worth cultivating!
7 Principles of Freedom
http://www.7freedom.com/the7principlesoffreedom.htm
If we want a healthy and long-term business, the principle of adding value holds true. The idea is not to try and make a lot of money but to try and add a lot of value! Provide a service, make customers very happy, truly satisfy them, and money comes as a consequence of that. And running our business on the principle of adding value, we don’t need to be falsely modest either. There’s nothing wrong in becoming rich if it means that we’ve been able to give something of good value to a lot of people. The primary focus is to add value, not to make money, that’s the principle.
According to this article, money CAN buy happiness, but only if it’s used to re-configure one’s life. Simply collecting bigger and fancier stuff won’t do it.
Though “retail therapy” can help some people feel good for a short time, it’s ultimately unsatisfying and there’s always a desire for more. For some, shopping even becomes an addiction!
How not to buy happiness
http://mitpress.mit.edu/catalog/item/default.asp?ttype=6&tid=14403
In effect, I wish to propose two different answers to the question “Does money buy happiness?” Considerable evidence suggests that if we use an increase in our incomes, as many of us do, simply to buy bigger houses and more expensive cars, then we do not end up any happier than before. But if we use an increase in our incomes to buy more of certain inconspicuous goods–such as freedom from a long commute or a stressful job–then the evidence paints a very different picture. The less we spend on conspicuous consumption goods, the better we can afford to alleviate congestion; and the more time we can devote to family and friends, to exercise, sleep, travel, and other restorative activities. On the best available evidence, reallocating our time and money in these and similar ways would result in healthier, longer– and happier–lives.
Marketing is all about the psychology of buying. Our purchasing habits are studied through our debit cards, credit cards, airmiles cards, and survey people calling us at home during dinner.
There are people who spend their careers pushing the limits of how to manipulate people to desire and buy more things.
Marketers try high-tech tool to push brain’s ‘buy button’
http://www.cbc.ca/story/science/national/2005/06/13/neuro-marketing050613.html
Brain scan technology, such as functional MRIs, shows which parts of the brain are activated by impulses. Some marketers theorize that since the scans suggest positive or negative reactions, the technology can help them to fine-tune their message.
My fave business writer has a new book out which I’ve just ordered called The Likeability Factor. The general idea is that being more likeable improves your life, but he actually goes into how it works and how to learn to get along better with others. This might sound like obvious advice, but I know I’m not the only one around who could benefit from polishing up her social skills!
It is also available in a video format if you pledge to the PBS station below.
Don’t get turned off by your opinion of “business” people, this guy is a genius.
The Likeability Factor
http://www.wqed.org/tv/tim_sanders.shtml
The message is simple: The more likeable you are, the better you’ll do in life. And not just your job – likeability impacts your personal relationships as well. In fact, according to Tim Sanders, author of The Likeability Factor, your likeability affects your health, wealth and happiness.
I find this document amusing, both because of its subject matter & because of the fact a major corporation paid someone to create it!
HP Guide to Avoiding Info Mania
http://h40059.www4.hp.com/featurestories/pdf/HP-Guide-to-Info-Mania.pdf
Are you an Info-Maniac?
Do you feel anxious if you haven’t checked your voicemail or email for a few hours?
Does the thought of turning your email off for any length of time make you feel out of the loop?
Are you the person on the train who calls the office every 10 minutes to check messages and give your ETA?
My favorite business book is Tim Sanders’ Love is the Killer App: How to Win Business and Influence Friends. It explains how being nice, honest, and generous will do more for your career than any amount of traditional salesman-style manipulation.
His website and newsletter are also worth checking out.
Here’s the back of the book blurb:
Are you wondering what the next killer app will be? Do you want to know how you can maintain and add to your value during these rapidly changing times? Are you wondering how the word love can even be used in the context of business?
Instead of wondering, read this book and find out how to become a lovecat a nice, smart person who succeeds in business and in life.
How do you become a lovecat? By sharing your intangibles. By that I mean:
Your knowledge: everything that comes from all the books that I¢ll encourage you to devour.
Your network: the collection of friends and contacts you now have, which I¢ll teach you how to grow and nurture.
Your compassion: that human warmth you already possess
in these pages I¢ll convince you that you can show it freely at the office.
What happens when you do all this?
* You become a rich source of information to all around you.
* You are seen as a person with valuable insight.
* You are perceived as generous to a fault, producing surprise and delight.
* You double your business intelligence in one year.
* You triple your network of personal relationships in two years.
* You quadruple the number of colleagues in your life who love you like family.
In short, you become one of those amazing, outstanding people to whom everyone turns, who leads rather than follows, who never runs out of ideas, contacts, or friendship.
Here¢s the real scoop: Nice guys don¢t finish last. They rule!