Archive for June, 2011

Sometimes keeping the 9 to 5 job is ok

Friday, June 24th, 2011

I know this seems unlikely advice, especially coming from someone who’s made a clear intention to leave the office job in the (hopefully) forseeable future. While I am certainly not suggesting that you settle for an office job if it’s not what you want, I do think that marching into your boss’ office quitting is equally inadvisable. There is plenty of advice out there from self employed entrepeneurs and other free spirited creative types that says there is no better time than now to quit; that if you’re not following your heart, you should start doing so today. But sometimes a little prudence may be called for.

That said, what you should start doing today is thinking about what you want and where you would like to get to.

But for the time being, if you still have your day job, don’t despair. Not every unhappy employee out there is young and […]

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One Hundred Pushups – The Challenge

Wednesday, June 15th, 2011

A while back I had heard of a web site called one hundred pushups. The site is really just a 6 week program designed to get anyone to a point where they can do 100 consecutive push ups. Right away I was interested, and my immediate thought was “There’s no way I can do this! But I’d sure like to try!” I started the program immediately and made it one week, and then fizzled out.

Fast forward about a year, and once again this one hundred pushup challenge has been brought into my world via the wonderful world of Twitter. So naturally, when I was reminded of it, I knew it was a sign that I should start up again, and get ready to knock out 100 pushups.

Since the program is designed for everyone, beginners to advanced, you take an initial test and pending those results, it tells you […]

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I didn’t attend the World Domination Summit, but I should have.

Wednesday, June 8th, 2011

I had heard about the World Domination Summit that Chris Guillebeau and Co. were putting on many months back, but sort of just dismissed it.

In case you happen to be unfamiliar with Chris or the WDS, let me explain before I continue. The tagline for event, which just happens to be the coolest and most thought provoking description for an event that I’ve ever heard, is this:

In the face of overwhelming pressure to conform, how do we live a remarkable life in a conventional world?

As if you need to know more after reading that, here’s more from the WDS site:

The World Domination Summit is no ordinary event. It’s not a retreat and it’s not a business mixer. And most of all, it’s definitely not a convention. It’s an unconvention. The summit takes place in an art museum, a park, an independent bookstore, and all over the unconventional city of […]

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Why deadlines are a waste of time

Monday, June 6th, 2011

In most companies, and in the world in general, there is a pretty big focus on deadlines. Personally, I think setting deadlines is a waste of time and only serves to create an environment where subpar performance is normal and incomplete or rushed final products are acceptable.

For the sake of argument, assume I’m talking about a corporate environment where someone is expected to work 40 hours per week. If a worker is a good, honest, and hardworking person, they will work on their task at a pace comfortable to them and it will be completed in a reasonable amount of time, at which point the final product would theorectically be at the level expected when tasking it.

If a deadline is set or agreed upon ahead of time, really it’s all based on assumption. And if it turns out that something unexpected comes up and the deadline is too short, in […]

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