Get Your Homework On

For many of us students, homework is not daily routine. We put it off until the very last minute, or perhaps we don't do it at all. Many of us are not motivated by overacheiving, but doing whatever we perceive to be the bare minimum. This, however, doesn't cut it for todays ambitious youth.

Underacheiving, as is explained above, leads to a sense of failure and worthlessness. These feelings are not conducive to future success. They cause you to feel hopeless, and without control of your life. Those who put no effort into their schooling, are unlikely to be satisfied with their education.

Maybe you're in a band, or maybe you have a girlfriend or boyfriend that makes you feel fulfilled. Either way, school is still a big part of your life. It's something you face multiple times a week, and it's very expensive. So it's bound to get you down if you are doing below what you think you're capable of.

Put in the time, and get your homework done. Do the assigned readings, and take notes. This is a key to feeling GOOD about yourself. Which is a key to acheiving your goals. Doing well in school is a very tangible acheivment, and it's just the acheivment you need to get into the mindset of success!

A Little Crazy Could Do You Good

I want to get back to a topic that is near and dear to my heart. Delusions of Grandeur. Those ideas you get sometimes, that turn into visions of epic proportions, and elate you. They wrap you up and take you where you want to go. You believe for a little while, that this idea is going to take your life into overdrive. And it could.

I know I've experienced this personally, and have heard friends and family spout these sorts of images. They not only seem like good ideas. They are great ideas. We just need to learn to set these goals and achieve them. Like my idea for a greeting card company. This has been done. And successfully. It is my own lack of follow through that makes it so unfeasible.

That's why I challenge you, anyone who reads this, to look within yourself and realize a goal you've had, one which is feasible, and to get started on inching your way into the dream of being self-made. Get your blog or website of the ground. Start designing your own clothing line. Or set up a fashion show at your local bar, and get sponsors, and make it the biggest party your town has ever seen.

If you can imagine it. You can accomplish it.

Work and School and Work and School

Starting a new job and school simultaneously on Tuesday was a wake up call. I hadn't been so busy in weeks, and my system is taking the shock in stride. I'm tired. Really tired.

I realize that I've now got to get my daily schedule into gear. This means putting off going out until the weekends. Nights out disrupt the system, as they make it nearly impossible to prepare for the next day.

My last three years of college have not consisted of much scheduling, and it has made it difficult, but lacking a schedule leaves me tired at inconvenient times, and makes focusing difficult. A sleep schedule will help my performance in school and work, and increase my efficiency. Thus, I am making a pledge to:

Not go out during the week.
Be awake by 8:15 each morning.
Be in bed by 11:15 each night.
Prepare for the next day hours before I go to sleep.
And start exercising withing a week.

Exercise is supposed to help one fall asleep faster. And dealing with stressful situations, like doing homework, and making preperations for the next day make it more difficult to fall asleep, thus they are better done a couple of hours before one goes to sleep.

This will be a difficult schedule to stick to, and I will be posting my progress in an honest fashion. As a senior in college, I have had my time to be the typical college student (perhaps even some extra time) and now, it is time to reconsider my lifestyle choices, and prepare for a future that is right around the corner.

Root for me!

Mankind Is Imploding

Regardless of how illogical it appears to most of us, mankind continues to engage in wars which kill thousands of innocent bystanders daily. Many of us who live in America feel helpless regarding the situation in Iraq. Perhaps we feel helpless, because that is how we act.

I'm not sure how the cultural climate in America has changed since the sixties and seventies, but the imagery of protests we see captured in history books and documentaries seems non existent today. Though there may be a small protest here and there, it seems that today's youth keep their anger about the government to themselves.

I don't mean to scoff at them. I am one of them. I am severly angered by the disconnect between the rhetoric of politicians and that of the general population. They don't speak to us. They speak at us. They condescend to us. They don't tell us their true intentions. They use flowery euphamisms that appeal to masses.

Of the democratic candidates, I feel like if I were to talk with Hilary Clinton or Barack Obama, that neither of them would say one honest thing in the course of a conversation. John Edwards, on the other hand, makes a clear commitment to helping middle class Americans. He emphasizes his understanding of what it's like to live in the middle class, and it makes me feel as though he truly can relate. The other candidates seem jaded and power hungry.

Out of the Republicans, I am honestly disgusted that Mike Huckabee has one a single primary, let alone the Iowa caucus. He is clearly attempting to recreate Bush's platform of faith as he does his best to woo the large but narrow minded religious right. These sort of tactics will destroy internal relations among Americans. At least half, if not more, of Americans will not allow themselves to be governed by faith they do not share. And I do not mean to say that the president cannot be a religious person, but if he intends to mend our constitution, or to rule with a religous dogma, this sect of American's will not tolerate it. They have had enough of Bush. We have all had enough of Bush. Huckabee is Bush 2.0.

As for us, Generation Y, sometime in the near future, if we do not begin to take seriously our roles as future keepers of the world, we will lose them, and we will begin to drift into decentralized unit, with civil war(s) obliterating us all off the face of the Earth.

What we need to do is band together on a global scale and put our energy into preventing global warming.

Today Is Not A Holiday

There was no question when I got outside this morning that classes were in session today. College kids crowded the sidewalks, their hands clasped tightly around the straps of the backpacks. People seemed happy.

I wasn't too depressed, however, I'm still very skeptical of my ability to continually get up at 8:30 for 9:30 French class. It's strange, because in high school, class started at 7:40, and I don't remember having too much trouble getting up for that. But now, waking up at 8:30 is a struggle. If I can adjust to this, it will be for the best, as I do well as a morning person when I am completely awake.

I wasn't the oldest in my French class either. There was a twenty-five year old and a twenty-two year old. I bet your wondering how I knew that.

Well, instead of saying our name, where we're from, and our major, the teacher-- a young, sassy French (redundant, huh?) woman named Laurine-- had us say our name, where we're from, and our age. It was as though she were catering to my curiosity.

The class, as I know it, will be run somewhat slow. We'll do 9 chapters over 15 weeks. It's a bit agonizing for me, as I'm more than ready to charge at full speed through beginner French. Which brings me to one of the education systems greatest flaws.

It's as though they took a poll of all of the students, and for each class decided on an average student, and how he ought to learn. This completely displaces the rest of the students who fall either way behind, or way ahead of this alleged curve.

It's a bit agonizing to sit and endure a class that you feel is moving far too slowly. Very agonizing even.

So, on that note. Stop being bad at French kids. And stop wasting my time.

More Money, More Problems

According to researchers at Princeton, the effect of income on mood [is] vastly exaggerated.
They performed a study on the moods of men and women with varying levels of income, and the results showed about an 11% difference is time spent happy, with incomes of 100k presenting with 11% more time spent happy. They also found that people with lower incomes spent 10% more of their time in leisure pursuits. No surprise there.

When deciding on a career path, income is something that we must take into consideration. Those of us who grew up in upper-middle class families have to consider whether or not their career paths will help them to maintain that lifestyle. But they must decide how important it is to maintain.

Potentially fulfilling jobs like teaching, which allow for takers to be involved in their more artistic or academic pursuits as part of their career, are off putting due to their repuation as low-income jobs.

Some people resort to more harrowing jobs like insurance sales, which can be very lucrative, in order to satisfy their hunger for a good income. However, there is an equation that everyone ought to consider when picking out their job.

More Money = More Wants

According to economist Richard Easterlin, who conducted a survey of 1500 people over a three decade time span, Wealth doesn't necessarily lead to joy and contentment. His findings also concluded that People with more money usually want more things.

Of course, there are issues of personal standards, and one shouldn't settle. But it is important to consider that making more money, isn't always the most important issue. Factors such as job quality affect quality of life, rich or not.

What's All This Hulabaloo?

As this blog is more or less dedicated to the distress one feels transitioning into the "real world," it has me thinking: What is the future job market?

It seems that around every corner, some aspect of business is "going digital." Ticket agents are using Tix.com instead of their own databases. TV networks are posting their series on the web the day after they air. And here I am, blogging like a maniac.

In fact, one of the reasons I started this blog was to try and stay above the curve. Professional bloggers are sprouting like AOL users back in the 90's. If you look at an array of blogs, you'll notice the google adwords sewn amidst the content in many of them, in addition to banners and, on the more popular blogs, national advertisers. Whenever you see these, the owner of that blog is getting paid.

Of course more popular blogs yield much bigger profits than the unknown ones. But attaining these levels of traffic is not as easy as it was to start the blog.

You need good content. You have to be writing about something people either need or want to know about. Check out the most popular blogs. You'll find a couple celebrity gossip websites in the top 10, and a few gadget/technology ones, too. Obviously, to do the former, you'll have to find a way to get in the loop on celebrity gossip, and the latter, you'd have to know a thing or two about gadgets.

Luckily, you can learn from the blogs already in existence.

While anyone can write a blog for any reason, it's beneficial to consider the ways in which a blog can help your career. Check out blogs like Penelope Trunk's The Brazen Careerist, and Rebecca Thorman's Modite.com. These are two popular bloggers who have managed to integrate the personal and professional lives into popular blogs. An ideal mixture if you ask me.

MLK Jr. Day- Time To Relax and Reflect

I got up at nine o'clock this morning. That's two hours earlier than I have woken up in the past month. Lately, waking up has been a gradual process in which it begins with me lying in bed with my eyes closed, then turning on the TV, watching for an hour, then, if I'm having a particularly productive day, getting out of bed around 11. But today was the first day of classes.

I make it out of the shower with a few minutes left before I'm supposed to be at class, but I live so close, I'm sure I can make it. I throw on a sweater and the jeans i wore yesterday, carrying my jacket in my arm (no time to put it on) and head out the door. The sidewalks are empty, but I don't seem to take notice. My attention is elsewhere, as I ponder the new faces I will meet in class.

I'm taking a beginner French course, and I hadn't realized until this morning that I was probably going to be in class with a group of people who are, on average, three years younger than me. My feelings, being mixed-- am I "that old guy" or that "cool older guy"-- distract me until I get to the door of Phillips Hall.

The door is locked. "Huh?" I haven't a clue as to why classes would be cancelled. I try another door. Locked. I am fairly confused, and try every other door before I understand that there are no classes today.

So I run over to my computer, and I open up the university's homepage, and low and behold: It's Martin Luther King Jr. Day. (Though at first, I didn't connect it as a national holiday) This experience, although harsh on my ears, as they almost froze off, has given me a good moment in which to reflect on the meaning behind this day.

It's not simply a day in which to honor a man. But rather, a day in which to honor an idea. The idea that none of us are inherently better than anyone else. That regardless of what you look like, you deserve as much respect as the next person. That you are entitled to that respect, as a member of the human race.

And so I realize, that this holiday is not like other holidays. There are no gifts to give, no trees to decorate, no candles to light. There is no feast and you don't have to fast. Today is a day to reflect.

To reflect on the oppurtunities you have as a human being. To be thankful for the ability to walk down the street without being ridiculed. To be thankful for a more integrated society with less violence, and less hate. To realize the hardships we must sometimes go through in order to come out the other end better than we were before. In this sense, the fight for civil rights can be a lesson for our daily lives.

Hard work and struggle are the predecessor to any change and/or reward. We cannot expect to make giant leaps in a day. And without persistence and courage, we cannot move forward. We must be strong in order to attain those goals we know belong to us.

So on your day off today, relax, but also, reflect. On the life of MLK Jr. On the civil rights movement. On the serious hardships that mankind can endure, and move past. And take these lessons, and use them for good.

Oh, and don't go to class.

Minimizing Stress: ATTACK THE PROBLEM!

Everybody experiences stress sometimes. It arises from bills, from school or work, from relationships, etc. So it's not entirely avoidable. However, it isn't entirely bad either.

Some stress helps us to be productive. If we are anxious about a project, then we are more likely to focus our energy on getting it done. It is perhaps the only way to alleviate our stress. The same goes for bills. If we never worry about paying them, then what is to stop us from not paying them at all?

Too much stress, though, is more likely to lead to a lack of productivity. The reason being, that if stress consumes too much of your time, than you might be spending your time panicking, instead of working things out. If you're stressed about not having a job, then you might spend the time you could be applying for jobs, worrying elsewhere. When in fact, just applying for jobs, in this situation, may alleviate some of your stress.

While job rejection might create anxiety in itself, the longer you don't have a job, the more situations will arise that will stress you out. Simply worrying about the situation will not put money in your pocket.

Thus, the best way to minimize this type of stress is to ATTACK THE PROBLEM. Consider what it is that is stressing you out, and then consider what measures you can take in order to solve them. Write a great resume, and then hand it out to fifty employers. On top of that, apply for part-time positions that may carry you until you get that job you need. Make sure you consider all your options.

If you're stressed about a problem in a relationship, address the person. Tell them how you feel, and listen to what they have to say. In many situations, this sort of discussion will lead to a mending of the relationship. If it makes things worse, then decide whether or not this person is someone you want to have in your life.

Because so many of these situations require good judgment, think through your attack method. Think about what kind of job you're most qualified for and take time to write a good resume. If you can't pay a bill, consider where you can either borrow or make extra cash. In a fight with a friend, be considerate of their feelings and try not to be overly critical of the other person.

In order to make our lives better, and closer to the way we want them, we must be proactive in our approach. Taking an assertive approach will decrease the amount of stress we have to deal with in the future.

Acheiving Entrepreneurship

Have you ever had the desire to start up your business? If you didn't go through with it, what was it that stopped you? Did you believe that y0u could actually succeed with it? If you were skeptical, then keep reading.

It's true: many people like to throw around ideas about how to better their lives while never actually engaging in activities to fulfill those ideas. I've experienced it myself.

Just a few months ago I had convinced myself that I would start up a greeting card company, and sell greeting cards all over town. I had even conceived of feasible methods by which I would be able to attain these goals.

But here I am, months later, and I have yet to make even one greeting card.

The point isn't that ideas like these are ridiculous. In fact, it is on these ideas by which the most successful people around were made. The point is that one needs to know how to motivate his or herself into actively pursuing these ideas.

Have Goals-
You should have a specific list of goals every step of the way. Write them down, and post them on your walls in your apartment or house. Check off goals that you have achieved, and remind yourself each day of what you have yet to do.

Support-
Another difficulty we have in pursuing ideas is belief in ourselves. When others believe in us, we are more likely to believe in ourselves. So write up a business plan and create a presentation. And show it around to your family members, and close friends,. Solicit investments. While you may not be making profits, having investors is a push that may send you into overdrive on achieving your goals.

Avoid Overwhelming Debt-
As it is a sad fact that many small business will inevitably fail, it is important not to put yourself at too much risk while pursuing your goals. Do not take out a large loan if you cannot be sure that you will be able to pay it off. This will affect your mood negatively, andit will add desperation and stress into your work. You want to be cool and collected when starting up a business venture because your mood will reflect in your work!

It's always important to pursue our instincts. If you have always had the instinct to pursue a home business, or be an entrepreneur, consider yourself lucky, and utilize that drive. If you are careful and persistent, you have a much better chance at being a success.