Ultimate Career
Career Worth Living For!
Monday Blues
Feb 8th
Is it Monday already? How did the weekend fly by so quickly?
Well, they say that “time flies when you are having fun” and this, according to nuclear scientists, is actually a literal phenomenon.
Whether you are a working professional or studying student, you would have felt that a typical weekday can be such a drag while the weekend, especially when you are enjoying yourself, just zips past in a blink.
And you would have heard of the term “Monday blues” which is commonly used amongst working adults to describe their lousy mood on Mondays. It is a kind of sadness, lethargy, and even slight depression. In fact, “Monday blues” often starts building on Sunday afternoons when the thought of the next day being a workday after a good weekend creeps into one’s consciousness. In fact, there are people who start to feel a sickness coming on on Sundays and by Monday morning, they’ll feel a strong urge to see a doctor. Ask any doctor who runs a clinic and they’ll tell you that Mondays are their busiest day of each week.
And ask any retail business and they’ll tell you that Mondays (and Tuesdays, for some) are the days of the week with the lowest sales. People are simply not in the mood.
How about this: Across the globe, more people die on Mondays than any other days of the week!
So, what’s the problem with Mondays?
Or does the problem really lie with our interpretation of what Monday means?
I think the answer is obvious. You see, if the problem is with Mondays, than animals and other living things would be affected in a similar way.
In other words, time does not exist except in our minds. And our minds play tricks on us if we are not conscious of them.
Here’s further evidence: Research has shown that there exists a strong link between heart disease (one of the major killers in modern society) with, get this, JOB SATISFACTION and SELF HAPPINESS (i.e they rate themselves as happy people).
More specifically, the most interesting finding from this research is that:
1. People with who displays all the risk factors of heart disease such as being over-weight, having high blood pressure and high cholesterol levels AND low job satisfaction and low happiness will usually develop a heart attack sooner and later.
However…
2. People with the same risk factors and HIGH job satisfaction and HIGH happiness will usually NOT have any heart attack nor other forms of heart disease.
Of course, this is understandable. A full-time job takes up at least 1/3 of our lives and if you spend 40 hours every week in a job that you dislike and see no future in, then that translate into mood issues (read “Monday blues”), low productivity, poor health and falling ill often, poor relationships, slow income growth, and eventually, premature death.
It’s time to make an informed choice on what an ideal career and life should be for you. Don’t wait till it’s too late.
Have or Not?
Apr 11th
Two Tuesdays ago, I had two separate conversations with two persons
on the same day which I thought were quite interesting. Here’s how
each one went:
1. A student of mine who is in her early 20s
Over lunch, she was relating to me how the current market situation
sounds very daunting and that coming from a not-so-well-known
university will post certain challenges in her job-hunt in the near
future.
She spoke of how most of her graduating friends in the university
are planning to avoid the current downturn by opting to sign up for
a Master’s degree program once they get their undergraduate degree.
Even so, she feels a calling in her heart that she should start her
professional career upon graduation instead of continuing to study.
She knows the exact field she wishes to be in and is focused on
uncovering all the opportunities in the field wherever they may be.
At the same time, she understands the challenges ahead and instead
of finding ways to avoid them, she is making plans to prepare to
overcome them.
She’s scheduling time to build her network, attend recruitment
talks, job-fairs, keep fit, eat well, craft and refine her resume
and cover-letter.
I was particularly impressed with her enthusiasm and passion.
Throughout our conversation, I could feel that she already has the
job and career that she wants very clearly in her mind. And she’s
taking steps each day to move towards her goals.
2. A good friend of mine who is in his late 30s
While catching up over the phone, he spoke about how the people
around have achieved the level of “success” that he aspires to
achieve. Yet, although having tried very hard and strived for many
years now, he is disappointed that his goals have eluded him.
He also found that while he tries to be happy for the people and
friends around him who have “succeeded,” such news only brings
further disappointment to him and reminds him that he “does not
have.”
And when I suggested that keeping such an attitude will only
continue to bring him disappointment, he argued that “it is only
human” for him to be unhappy with his current situation.
When I suggested options which he can take, he presented the
challenges and difficulties of those options. He sounded very
convinced that it is simply impossible to achieve what he wants,
especially after having tried “every avenue.” He sounded resigned
to his “fate.”
There is an interesting chapter in the Bible that says that those
who have will be given more, and those who do not have, even what
he has will be taken away [Matthew 2:29]. What it means to say is
that that those who make use of the talents that they have fully
will be rewarded with abundance while those who do not will lose
even those talents they have.
If your starting point is lack (i.e. I don’t have happiness, I
don’t have wealth, I don’t have success, etc.), then you are
focused on lack (“have-not”). Guess what? You will receive what you
focus on.
On the other hand, if you starting point is abundance and act AS IF
you already possess what you wish to achieve, then you are focused
on abundance (“have”). And guess what? The law of the universe is
neutral and you will receive what you focus on.
Find Your Purpose
Dec 4th
A quote of what I read recently by Dr. Wayne Dyer: “There is no way to happiness. Happiness IS the way.”
Dr Dyer was stressing the fact that if we strive for happiness, it will elude us. Yet, if we choose to be happy here and now, we will have it.”
I thought of the amount of time and effort and angst that I went through trying to find my purpose in life some years back. Back then, I held the idea that I have A purpose in this life and unless I find it, I’m not living a fulfilling life.
I have grown to realise that this idea is not an accurate view of what life is about.
The greatest gift that we have as human-beings is that we have free-will. And with free-will, we can choose what we want to do and how we want to react every moment of our lives. We can also choose a purpose that is our bliss. In this sense, we can find a purpose for ourselves NOW instead of THE purpose way out in the future. And that purpose is something that we enjoy doing most parts of our lives right up till the current moment. Such a purpose often involves contributing to the community or simply helping others.
My own learning is this: Go after your bliss (i.e. what you absolutely enjoy doing and find satisfaction from) and your purpose will find you.