Be a Professional

amateur

Today, one of my favorite writers had an article on his blog entitled Professionals, amateurs and the great unwashed.  Seth Godin is really a master at writing only a few words but getting a strong point through to the reader. Seth was talking about people and how they work.  Seth said that a professional is somebody who is expensive, but worth more than you pay because of the quality of the work that they do.  An amateur is somebody who is cheap, even free, because they are not doing it for the money, but for their love of what they are doing.  The “great unwashed” are people who are only doing it because it is a job. Professionals? … [Read more...]

Stop being stubborn!

imsorry

One of the hardest things to do in life for somebody who has a stubborn streak is to apologize.  Saying “I’m Sorry” just doesn’t always come easy.  And, let’s face it, all of us are stubborn to some extent, right? But, even though it is hard to say, when we finally build up the fortitude to apologize for something, it also makes us feel very good, don’t you think?  It is rare that a person does not accept a sincere apology. In a relationship like a marriage, the two people can get very bull headed and stubborn with each other.  Sometimes, no matter how wrong the person is, they don’t want to say those two simple words that … [Read more...]

I’m looking for interaction

If you love blogging, interact with those who love you!

I enjoy interaction. I like to be engaged. These are two of the main things I am looking for when I read blogs in the Internet. There are millions of blogs on the Internet, literally.  A large number of those, though, are sort of on autopilot - posts show up, but beyond that, there really is nothing much more. To me, a blog should be interactive.  You post an article.  If you have a big enough reader base, some of your readers will respond by posting a comment with their thoughts and opinions on the subject that you wrote about.  Should that be the end of things?  In my opinion, no, it should not.  As a blogger, you really should … [Read more...]

What is one of the best habits?

listen

We all want to be smart, right?  We also all want to engage in good habits.  Today, I want to tell you about one habit that you can get into that will help make you smarter!  Well, at least it will help you gain more information, and be better informed.  It will also make you appear smarter to people. What am I talking about? Listening. That’s right, listening.  Nobody ever gained any knowledge while talking.  We can gain knowledge if we listen, though!  Not all information that we listen to will make us better informed, but it is our brains that can weigh the information and decide if the information is useful or not.  If we … [Read more...]

Focus on what you are good at

OLYMPUS DIGITAL CAMERA

In all parts of our lives we need to focus on something.  If we don’t focus ourselves, our lives will be aimless, going on from one thing to another without any real effort to be the best we can be at any one thing. Being the best that you can be is important for many reasons.  For one thing, it will make you feel really good, and thus even make it possible to improve on your best.  But, probably the most important thing when it comes to focusing is that it gives us purpose.  When we have something on which to focus our efforts, it gives us a purpose, it gives us more drive, and we tend to try harder when we know on what we are focusing. Always … [Read more...]

Who ya gonna call?

money

A few days ago, I was browsing the Web a bit, and I decided to go an visit a website of a fellow that I know.  His website, frankly, is not very nice.  It’s poorly laid out.  Many of the articles are not well written, or about subjects that tend to really bore me.  But, the person who owns the site is a friend, and I do visit his site, because from time to time I find something there that is worth looking at. This person who publishes this site is somebody who always seems to be short on money.  There have been times in the past when I have even sent meals to his house, because I knew that he had nothing to eat, and no money to buy food.  … [Read more...]

Are we facing financial failure?

A lot of people all over the world are feeling despair

When you read the title of this article, the obvious question is this: Who is "we"? Well, when I say we, I pretty much mean all of us, collectively.  I mean, I am not personally on the edge of financial failure, and I hope that you are not either.  However, "we" might be.  I am talking about we collectively, governments. In the past few months, we have seen Greece at the brink of bankruptcy.  Spain is there now too.  I saw something on a TV news program yesterday, I think it was on CNN, that in Spain they are cutting the salaries of Government workers.  Cutting the salaries!  In my childhood, even in my adult years, this was unthinkable, … [Read more...]

Does being smart mean that you know everything?

A lot of people, even smart people, are confused about what being smart really means.  Many people don’t really understand what it means to have a high IQ.  A lot of confusion is out there, and many people think that if a person is smart, they know everything, or at least they know a lot.  There is also the misconception that if a person holds little knowledge, they are not smart.  Both of these thoughts would be misconceptions, though. In truth, you can be smart, yet also be ignorant.  Smart only entails the ability to learn, not that you actually have learned many things.  Having a high IQ would mean that you are able to learn, not … [Read more...]

It was revolutionary!

In the past week or so, I had an opportunity to view a BBC TV Mini-series called Rebels and Redcoats, which focused on the American Revolutionary War in the 1770′s and 1780′s.  I have always been a fan of history and enjoy learning more on the subject.  I would not, could not, consider myself an expert on the American Revolution by any means, but I probably know more on the subject than the “average” American, I would say. Frankly, I had never heard of this TV mini-series before, but last week I was thumbing through a guide of TV shows, looking for something that I might enjoy viewing, and came upon a listing for this … [Read more...]

What is happening to my country?

Police Taser - Shocking!

I live in the Philippines, but I am still a citizen of the United States of America, and as such, I care about my country of citizenship, even though what happens there does not affect me in the same way it did as if it would if I lived there. Of course, the biggest sign of the system not working as it should is the economic collapse that the United States has seen in recent years.  Yes, other countries have had economic problems too, but the truth is that the USA has been hit much harder than any other country among the world's leading countries. But, the illness that lives in the United States goes much deeper than the economy.  Just … [Read more...]