Words of Inspiration From Jim Carrey

Jim Carrey was born to a middle class family in Newmarket Ontario. When he was a young boy, his father lost his job and his family moved to a low income area of Scarborough. His family went through many hardships, and he was forced to drop out of high school to work just so they would have enough money to live, and to take care of his chronically ill mother. Before making it big, he worked in a steel mill and a scientific testing facility among other things.

Today, Jim Carrey is one the highest paid comedians in the world.

Carrey came from a difficult place – one in which many others in his situation would have given up. But he pushed through – and not only that, he did it with a smile so big the world turned and looked. It’s inspiring that someone who came from so much hardship chose a career in laughter. In a recent commencement speech, he shared the words that kept him going:

“You can fail at what you don’t want, so why not take a chance on what you love?”

Words To Remember

One Minute Closer To Getting Things Done

We’ve all got a list of things to do every day. Some days we get through some things, some days everything, and some days none. That’s to be expected. We can’t always accomplish everything we want to do, but do you ever notice that some things keep moving from to-do list, to to-do list day after day without ever getting done?

The reason some things never get scratched off the list is because they seem so big and daunting. Oftentimes when a project or task feels overwhelming we put it aside until we feel mentally and physically ready to deal with it. Then by not dealing with it, the thing gets the added weight of a psychological barrier against doing it and we’re even less inclined to tackle it.

No matter what the size of your task, whether you’re prepared to do it or would rather put it off indefinitely, there’s a little trick that can completely change your perspective on it.

 Give it a minute

Rather than getting intimidated or overwhelmed by the size of a project, deal with it in small, easy to manage segments. Essentially the trick is to only commit to one minute.

Set a timer and devote a single minute to your task. At the end of the minute you will have some sort of result. It probably won’t be a huge result, but it will be something. At that point you can either decide to come back and give your task another minute tomorrow or you can keep going. The hardest part of any project is getting started. One minute is enough time to start, it’s enough time to put you into the proper mindset to get on with your task. You’ll be surprised how much you can accomplish by committing to a single minute!

 

What To Consider When Considering Working For Free

Is the experience worth the loss of time and money?

So the first thing you have to ask yourself when considering whether or not to work for free is, if the loss of time and money this will cost you is worth the experience.

You have to be tactical about that. Are the people you’ll be working for going to be really helpful for your career? How well known is the place you’ll be working for? Will the employer at your next paid job know what it is?

You have to be careful with this, because if you’re not clear about what you’ll be gaining and what you’ll be losing, you’ll be easy to take advantage of.

Can I get the same experience at a paid job?

Are you sure you’re working for free because you have to? Depending on the situation, you may be able to find a paying job that will give you the same experience as this one you’re contemplating doing for free.

Be completely certain that this will:

A) Help you get a paid job and

B) Isn’t something you’ll be able to find paid elsewhere.

How do they treat you?

There’s an old TV trope about treating the intern terribly, and how it’s kind of a fact of life. Spoiler: it’s not.

If you’re working for free for a company that treats you like dirt, don’t work with them anymore.

For one thing, they are not giving you a good workplace experience, and for another, if they’re the type of people who treat an intern like trash, chances are they don’t have a great reputation in the working world and they’re not people you want to be associated with.

Is this company thriving?

So the people are nice, you’re getting great experience, and they promise you’ll get a job with them at the end of your internship. That sounds great. There is one last thing you need to make sure of: Is this company thriving?

If you’re interning with a company, hoping they’ll hire you on for pay after your first few months or a year, you need to be certain this company will last that long. If it’s a small, startup company they may not last any longer than your internship. Make sure you’re putting your efforts into a company where they will eventually pay off!

 

The Most Important Work Skills In The Upcoming Decade

In our rapidly changing world, job seekers would do well to look ahead at upcoming societal trends while planning their futures.

Originally published in Inc.com

So Many Reasons To Find A Mentor

Having trouble figuring out how to get where you want to go? Navigating your career is like driving, sometimes you need to ask  for directions.

A mentor is someone who can give those directions. They can share the experiences they went through on the way to your destination, give you advice, support and possibly help on your way. Remember no matter where you’re going, in almost every single case someone else has already made that journey and most people are more than willing to share what they’ve learned with someone else. All the someone else has to do is ask.

Start with people you know

Oftentimes you’ll be able to find a mentor in your midst. Someone you’ve already met or is the acquaintance of someone you know. Explain what you’re trying to do and where you want to go, and ask if they can help you in any way. That help me take the form of a one time coffee meeting. It may be that they make themselves available to you when you need advice or the answer to questions, or it may take the form of something more structured like weekly or monthly meetings. No matter what form it takes, every bit of advice or encouragement will help you adjust your course.

Don’t be afraid to approach people you admire

Is there someone in your field of interest you look up to but don’t know personally? No matter how unapproachable someone may seem, there is never any harm in sending an email and asking if you can buy them a coffee.  It is okay to ask people you admire for advice. In the majority of cases at the very least they will be willing to answer your questions.

This is a prime opportunity not not only let them know what an inspiration they’ve been, but also to ask any pressing questions you may have about how they made it in the industry.

Always show your gratitude

After the meeting, be sure to send them a thank you note and possibly a small gift to show your appreciation for their time. Be certain NOT to do this through email. Hand written notes are more permanent and make a much stronger, lasting impression than electronic ones. They take more effort to create and send and they feel more personal.

If you make a good impression, the person you approach could become your mentor. Your mentor can provide advice at times you need it, and possibly even career opportunities if you keep in touch over time.

Having a mentor whose help you can count on over time is an enormous help. They can help you get past the confusion and fear of getting started, and  focus in on where you want to go, and what you need to do to get there. .

What Motivates Us?

“Financial incentives can result in a negative impact on overall performance.”

What? That doesn’t make sense. Who isn’t incentivized by financial rewards? According to behavioural psychologists, a lot more people than you think.

Dan Pink is the author of five books about business, work and management that have sold over twelve million copies worldwide. His Ted Talk, The Puzzle of Motivation, focusing on non-financial incentives for motivation has had over 12 million views.

According to studies, financial rewards work for straightforward, easy tasks, but when it comes time to really think out a problem, “That reward actually narrows our focus and restricts our possibility.”

Rather than offering someone an external reward, the way to motivate people to personal excellence is by focusing deeper.  “Around the desire to do things because they matter, because we like it, because they’re interesting, because they are part of something important.”

Specifically three things:

Autonomy

Mastery

Purpose

Counterintuitive  as it may first sound, if you speak to anyone who’s had strong success you’ll hear that even if financial gain was their primary motivator in the beginning, it wasn’t long before other things took precedence.

The opportunity to build something I could be proud of is something you’ll hear a lot.

The thrill of conquering obstacles, reaching milestone after milestone. You hear that a lot too.

Probably more than anything else, you’ll hear this: I want to make the world a better place and help others the way I was helped. 

Here’s Dan’s Ted Talk. Check it out!

Got a Minute? Check Out This Perspective on The Meaning of Life

We all spend so much time figuring out what we want to do with our lives, career choices, relationship choices, breakfast choices, sometimes it’s good to step back and look at the bigger picture. Why are we all here? What’s the meaning of life? Check out this short animated video from The School of Life for some delightful perspectives.

Being Good Enough Is NOT Good Enough

When you’re at work, you need to remember you’re being paid for every minute you spend there. So act like it. If you want to become indispensable, if you want to be recognized as someone who deserves the attention of the higher ups, you need to remember you are being paid to do what you’re doing. Don’t waste their money by wasting your time. You are expensive, make yourself worth the investment.

Don’t settle for nothing to do. If you’re done today’s tasks, start on tomorrow’s. Get a week ahead. A month. Clean – clean your desk area, clean your computer’s memory. Research how to do your job better. Ask your co-workers if they need help – assuming of course you’ve already completed all of your own current tasks to the best of your ability.

Write down ideas on how the company can work together to accomplish shared goals. Share your ideas with people above you. Show them you care. Show them you’re doing your best. Work late when you need to. Make everyone else’s life easier. Make your time worth their money.

Stand out.