48 Days: 7 Areas for Achievement

Hello Everyone!

Today was a slightly different chapter than the ones so far. It didn't focus much on jobs but more on the rest of your life. It talked about how there are 7 areas of your life that you have to work with to have a good and enjoyable life. If one area is failing, it will start hurting the other areas too. The 7 areas are Financial, Physical, Personal Development, Family, Spiritual, Social, and Career.

You need to have money to survive, unless you are going to run away into the wilderness and live off the land with no contact with civilization then you are going to need money. Have goals for your savings and make sure to budget your money. If you are failing financially then it will be very hard to support any of the other areas because you don't have any money to do anything. I'm not saying you need to be rich, you just need to know how to use your money or all you will be doing is worrying about it and won't have time for more important things.

Keeping yourself in good physical condition is very important. If you are always sick then it will be hard to work or do much of anything. You have to keep your body in good working order so you are able to work on the other areas. You can have all the money in the world but if you aren't healthy you will end up spending it all to improve your health. This is a very simple thing to do too, although it is hard to get the motivation to just do it. Just try to eat healthy and get some regular exercise in, doesn't have to be a huge work out, just enough to keep your body working and in good condition. 

You should always be learning your entire life. You don't have to go to school and take classes all your life. You can just do simple things like, reading a good book, go to a museum, or try a new hobby. You should always be trying to improve the skills you have and learning new ones. You can even simple listen to an inspirational or educational podcast on the way to work, anything to keep you learning and thinking.

You should always be working towards having a great family relationship. Weather it is with your parents, spouse, children, grandparents, aunts and uncles, everyone. They are the people that care about you most in life and you should do your best to grow with them. Barbra Bush said, "Your success as a family, our success as a society, depends not on what happens in the White House, but what happens inside your house." Spend some time with your family, it can be as simple as sitting down to dinner with them or going or a short day trip. If you can improve your family life, you will improve your whole life.

You should be trying to live a good life. Always try to be serving God in everything you do, try to follow his calling for you and stick to a good and pure path in life. Try to have some faith in your life, you can take some risks and know that you will come out of it ok. That doesn't mean you should go out and try a bunch of crazy things but you can take some risks knowing that God is there to protect you. This also includes praying and going to church. You don't have to go to church but it is a good thing to go and be around other people with similar view points and you never know what you could learn. You should also pray about everything. Any decisions you make pray about it, happy about something, thank god for it, have a problem, ask God for help. When I say everything I don't really mean EVERYTHING, you don't have to for pray if you should get a McChicken or a McDouble, I'm talking about things that could have an effect on your life.

Everyone needs friends, even if you want to think you don't need anyone try to see how long that lasts. You should try to have a good relationship with your friends. Always be open to meeting new people and try not to be judgmental. You should also try to be involved in the community. Not only will you be helping your community out but it can also help you. People will get to know who you are and will be more willing to help you out, It should even open up some job opportunities. There are six basic ways to get a person to like you, be genuinely interested in them, smile, remember their name, and be a good listener. These are all simple things anyone can do and they can make a huge difference in the way people think of you.

Last but not least is your career. Your career should be something that supports all the other areas of your life. You should love they work you do and always be trying to learn more about it and always improving. If you find a career that is meant for you, it won't even feel like you're working. Your career isn't simply just your job, it's all your hopes and dreams for life. The is your part of the 7 areas, it's what you want to be doing and what you enjoy doing. It should work together with all the other areas and pull them all together.

This chapter also talked a lot about goals and how they are important. If you set some goals and stick to them, you are much more likely to succeed than if you don't. When you make goals, you are making a plan for your life. You are determining what you want to be done and when you want it to be done. Many people joke around with New Year's Resolutions, but they are actually a very good way to get you started for the new year. It can give you motivation and something to be working towards. The point of seeing goals is to constantly be improving and having a new objective to reach. 

Now for questions!

1. Are you a goal setter? Do you typically set goals at the first of the year? If not, why not?

It really depends, usually I'm not but if I'm determined then I will set some goals. I try to come up with something at the beginning of the year but I usually forget about them. The only time I have succeeded was with the Bible in a year plan. I would probably do better if I wrote them down. 

2. How would you describe your current focus on work?

I have just been looking around on job sites for work. I want to get away from the job I have now but I'm not sure where to go. If I had so describe it in one word, I would go with searching.

3. What hobbies do you have? What other skills and interests do you have?

My main hobby is skiing, I love skiing and go every winter. I'm also getting into airsoft now which is a lot of fun. I also like to do crafty things and play games. You can see the list later in this post to see some of my other skills and interests. 

4. How are you involved in your community?

I'm not very involved right now other than what I do at the church. I used to do a lot through the Boy Scouts. Last year I helped with a big event in New Hampton, I helped park cars and direct people to where they needed to go. I've done a few little things here and there too. 

5. What was your father's or mother's attitude toward work and how has that affected you?

I would generally say they think you should work hard and get the job done. I would say that I try to do that in my work. Even if I'm not in the best of moods or things aren't going right, I'll still try to get the work done the best I can. 

Although it's not part of today's assignment I decided to make a couple lists. They keep saying that you already know what you enjoy doing but most people just can't think of it, so I decided to make a list of all the things I can remember doing that I liked as a kid. I'm sure that I missed a lot but these are all the things I can think of at the moment. I also made a list of some rough goals. I didn't put much detail into them, I just wanted to see what a rough outline would look like. Well enough talking, here they are!

Things I liked to do as a kid

• Play in the river
• Build things
• Crafts
• Drawing
• Skiing
• Playing in the woods
• Video games
• Art
• Cook
• Imagine
• Design

Goals and Stuff

Five years - 5/2017
• Married
• House
• Job I love
• Financially secure

One year – 5/2013
• Have a good job
• Saving money
• Married/engaged/almost
• be in better shape, around 180lbs

Six months – 12/2012
• have a job/searching for jobs/business plan
• Exercising regularly
• Reading and learning more
• The planning for future

One month - 7/22
• Have a plan
• Start learning more
• Start exercising more
• Know start to understand calling

Well I think that is a record for me writing, other than school papers. It's strange because I usually don't like writing but I actually enjoy making these blog posts. I put it into word and it's just about 5 pages, normally I would hate writing something that long. I guess you never know what you will enjoy until you try it!

48 Days: Vocation, Career, and Job

Hello everyone!

This chapter talked about the differences between a vocation, career, and a job. Most people use these words as if they have the same meaning, or a similar meaning, but each one is actually defined differently.

A vocation is what your calling, purpose, mission, and destiny are. This includes everything you want out of life, everything that has meaning and makes a difference. Stephen Covey says, "to live, to love, to learn, and to leave a legacy." That is what a vocation is, it's what you want out of your life, all the things you enjoy and that make an impression on the people around you. This would also be considered God's calling for you. It is your purpose in life, the thing you where meant to love to do. Many people have a hard time finding their calling, when they do and try to achieve it they can do great and amazing things.

A career is your line of work but it doesn't have to fulfill anything. You can have a meaningless job that you hate doing and you are never going to go anywhere with and that's still a career. Career is defined as "to run or move at full speed, rush wildly."" It doesn't mean you will get anywhere it just means you will be working hard. A career has nothing to do with what you like doing, it's just whatever you happen to be doing. A career can also be a job you love, but it doesn't have to be, it's just simply the work that you are doing.

A job is generally, what you do to produce income. It doesn't matter what it is as long as it gives you a paycheck. A job is defined as "a lump portion, a task, chore, or duty." It is simply the work you do to produce money. You will have may have many jobs over your life but they shouldn't get in the way of your vocation or calling. In Hebrew the word, avohah, means both work and worship. To them working their daily jobs and worshiping in the temple had the same meaning. It was all considered service to God. This is why it is best to have a job that is you're calling, it will just make your life so much better and you will be happier and able to do more than you even knew you could do.

Now it's time for questions!

1. In today's rapidly changing work environment, is it realistic to expect a job to provide more than just a paycheck?
There is a good chance that you will get the basic benefits but even that is starting to go away. Right now though you can generally expect benefits from a full time job. Outside of that, you would be lucky to get any more than that.

2. Have you ever had a sense of calling in your life? How did you hear that calling?
This is a tough one for me. I know there are things that I love doing, it's just hard to remember them. There all there it's not that I have forgotten, it's just that they don't come to mind. I would say it's when you find something and you just completely love and enjoy what you're doing. You may hear someone talk about it, read about it, or actually do it.

3. Does God call only a few people?
No, He calls every one, just in different ways. A lot of people only thing pastors and ministers have a calling to do Gods work, but actually, anyone can. It doesn't matter what your job is, it can still be your calling. A persons calling may be a carpenter, a factory worker, a layer, a janitor, or almost anything, If they love what they are doing and it just feels right to them it is there calling.

4. Is it reasonable to expect our work to be part of the fulfillment of our calling?
Yes, It should be part of your calling. Your calling is what you are meant to do in life, so your work should reflect your calling. It doesn't have to directly be your calling but it should go along with it. If you like helping children you could be a teacher, a nurse, a museum guide, or work at a day care. They all will have an effect on children even if the job isn't directly related to them. Your calling is the thing you want to do in life so you should want a job that matches it.

5. Do you currently have a job, a career, or a vocation?
I would say I have a job and a career. I do work and I get paid at the end of the week so that fits as the definition of a job. It's a career because I feel it's going nowhere. It's Just what I do to make some money. I do enjoy they Youth Director job a lot but I wouldn't say it's my vocation. It's closer to it than my other job though.

6. What does success mean for you this year?
I would say finding a better job that I would be able to live off of would be my current goal. I would like to have the ability that I could support myself from the job that I have.

7. Are you where you thought you'd be at this stage of life?
I was hoping I would already be beyond where I am. I was hoping to have a job right out of college and be making some decent money at a job I like doing. That didn't happen so I've been searching with no luck so far, and now I'm here seeing if this book can help.

8. Do you go home at night with a sense of meaning, purpose, and accomplishment?
From Vista I rarely do. The only thing I get out of it is when I can help customers, the rest is rather blah. I do a lot more from the Youth Director job. I like seeing the kids learn and knowing that I helped in the process, but even still I don't feel like it's my purpose in life. I enjoy doing it but it's not my calling.

9. If you want different results next year, what will you change in what you are doing now?
I will have to work harder in looking for a job. The job sites can only do so much, you have to go out and find the jobs yourself and make then want to hire you. If I go for starting a business, I have a lot of learning to do as far as how businesses work and actually deciding on something I want to do.

48 Days: Change Pt. 2

Today is an only question day! Nothing to read today just some questions to answer, so here they are!

1. Respond to the statement, "All progress requires change, but not all change is progress."
You can't get anywhere without change, even in the simplest of things. If you want to get out of bed in the morning, you have to change from laying down to standing up. I think that's a very simple explanation but it shows that everything required change. This is a little extreme example of how not all change is progress but anyways. Say, you own a business, you decide that to come into your store customers have to pay $20 at the door. That is a change to your business but it will also destroy your business, I don't know anyone that would pay money just to go in a store. I know that's something that would probably never happen but it shows the point, well actually they have pay bathrooms in cities and stuff, but that's different.

2. What statement describes your career path so far?
I don't really know how to describe it. I had a couple jobs for a short time and I've been with my current job for about 4 years now.

3. How has a company change affected you? How did it make you feel?
It can be annoying at first but then you get used to it. The only one I can think of that can still be a bit annoying is how they angled the registers, its hard to get a cart into them if your coming the other direction and the cashier is trapped on the last one, you have to squeeze behind the soda cooler to get out. I've been able to deal with them all the just get a bit annoying sometimes.

4. Have you experienced any "failure" in your career? If so, what did it lead to?
The only failure I can think of at the moment is being short money at the service desk. There have been a couple times it's happened. All they do is not let you work at the service desk for a few weeks and try to figure out how you messed up.

5. What were your childhood goals and ambitions for life? Which ones have you been able to fulfill?
This is a tough one! I can remember that the jobs I wanted as a child where an architect, roller coaster designer, scientist, or landscape designer (mainly water features, rivers, ponds, fountains, etc). I wanted to learn how to ski, which I have accomplished. I can't really think of any real goals I had, although I think that I wanted to invent something, I didn't care what, I just wanted to invent something.

6. Who are 2 or 3 people you know who seem to have accomplished their dreams? What do you remember about their accomplishments?
I can't think of anyone I know that has done that. Most everyone I went to school with are either in college, that military, or working some other job. I'm sure plenty of people I know have accomplished their dreams but I can't think of anything that stands out, or maybe they never mentioned it.

7. What do you imagine your retirement will be like?
I would like to be able to travel around, go skiing in the winters, and just enjoy life without having to have a job to worry about. Have a nice peacefulness cabin up in the mountains.

48 Days: Change

Hello Everyone!

Today I read chapter 2. It talked about how jobs are changing and they are no longer how they used to be. You used to find a company and you would stick with it until you retire. Now it is more common for people to jump around jobs improving as they go instead of trying to climb higher in a single company. The average an employee stays at a company is now 2.2 years, by the time your 45 the average person could have up to 20 different jobs. People are also starting to shift from large corporations to small businesses.

The main point of this chapter was change. It talked about how you have to be able to adapt to change and enjoy it to survive in the world today. It will be very hard to have a single job your whole life now, so you have to be able to adapt. They are not saying that people are getting fired and then finding new jobs, although sometimes that's the case, it's just saying people get tired of a company and move on the a better job for them. It also said looking for jobs in the paper is a bad idea. Only about 12% of jobs are posted in papers and they are usually open before they made it to the paper. You have to learn the companies you would like to work at and personally contact them to see what they have to offer, or what you have to offer them. You can be hired for a position that doesn't even exist if you can convince a company that they need you.

Question time!

1. How close to the national average are you in length of your jobs?
My current average is about 1 year, although i have had my current job for about 4 years now. All the other jobs I had were around 1/2 to 1/4 of a year. My current job has been about twice the national average and my others have been under.

2. Were the changes in your work a result of circumstances or something you did?
My first job at the dog track was only a summer job so I guess that would be a result of circumstances. McDonald's I quit because I just didn't like it there, I would have rather had no job than that job so I guess that would be something I did. My two current jobs I still have so no changes there.

48 Days: What Is Work?

Hello everyone!

It's day 2 of 48 days and things are already going well! Today the booked talked about what work is. What the difference between work and play is and how they can be the same thing. It talked a lot about how work turns into the thing you do to make money and not the thing you enjoy doing. It was interesting seeing how some of the people he has talked to defined work and play, and talked about their own situations.

Today there were questions so here they are!

1. Who gave you your first job? What kind of job was it? How much money did you make?
I'm not exactly sure what he means by that but I'm guessing its the first place I worked. MY first job was at the Belmont Dog Track. I was a Lead-Out, brought the dogs to the starting boxes at the beginning of races. Im not sure the exact pay but I made around $200 every 2 weeks.

2. From looking at your work life so far, what has been of the greatest value or worth?
Seeing the kids in youth group grow, having fun, and learning.

3. If your job changes, does your purpose change?
My purpose at my job may change but general purpose in life would stay the same no matter what the job is.

4. Do you  think your current job will exist five years from now?
I don't see why it wouldn't unless the store goes bankrupt, which from how busy it can get I don't think is a problem any time soon.

5. What would be the key characteristics of an ideal job or career?
Something that I really enjoy doing. Not having one repetitive task, multiple things that I have to do with out being too overwhelming.

6. When you daydream, what do you see yourself doing?
There are many things I have thought about, architect, computer repair, landscape designer, youth director, and probably more that I cant think of at the moment.

7. What have been the happiest, most fulfilling moments in your life?
There are a lot that I  know are there but I cant think of them all, here are a few. graduating college, achieving Eagle Scout, being able to have Amy as my girlfriend, being Youth Director, hiking Mt. Chocorua(hiking in general), helping at Amazing Grace Farm, Soulfest, and finishing projects that I enjoy.

8. If nothing changed in your life in the next 5 years, would that be OK?
It would probably be able to deal with it but it definitely would not be what I wanted. There isn't any way for me to move on with the job I have now, they don't offer full time to regular employees and they only give yearly raises. I could survive if nothing changed but I would be pretty miserable. Pretty much, No, it wouldn't be OK.

48 Days

Hello everyone!

As I mentioned in my last post I was going to read the book 48 Days To The Work You Love. Well last Saturday we went to Lexington Mass. for a youth leaders conference, which was great, after we decided to shop around and we came across a Barnes and Nobel. I found the book there and decided to buy it.

Today is my first day of reading it. The book is broken down over 48 days, each day there is an assignment. They are all things like read a chapter, answer some questions, make a plan, make a list, ask some people something, etc. Today's was to read over the schedule and to read the introduction.

From the intro and schedule, it seems it will be a very helpful book. A lot of what he says is things I've thought of or wanted to learn and he make some very good points. Another thing he mentioned in the beginning was a few tips to keep in mind while doing this. The first is to talk to everyone and let people know what you're doing. That is why I am going to try to blog about it every day, maybe not every day but whenever something interesting comes up. Most of the people I know I don't see often so posting this online is the best way to let people know. Another thing he said to do it to write out the answers of the questions and not just think about them, if you write them down they stick more than just thinking about them. I don't like writing so I figured I could answer them here. Also that way I could get some feedback on what I'm thinking.

Well that is all I have for now. I hope this book really works out and helps me find something I would enjoy doing. I will see you here again soon!

Work and Running

Hello Everyone!
I know it's a few days late but here I am anyways! I guess I will start with work.
I'm not sure if any of you have heard of Dave Ramsey, but Amy and I took his Financial Peace University classes a month or so ago and leaned a LOT! He has great advice when it comes to money and how to spend it. Of all the 13 lessons only one was on making money, the rest were on spending it wisely and how to save, give, etc. I really got a lot out of the class but the only problem is that I really don't have the money to do anything because I only have a part time job.

As you all probably know I've been job hunting but I haven't had any luck yet. That's when I came up with the photography idea but didn't have much luck with that as you can see from my last blog. I went back to Dave's site to see if he had any good tips or info there. I found some stuff but forgot about it by the next day. Then the other day Amy was listening to one of his CDs we got from the class. She then reminded me about one of the books that Dave recommends. So we looked into it and found his top recommended books for jobs. I checked them out and decided that there were four I thought could help and want to read. They are, 48 Days to the Work You Love, Quitter, The Power of Who, and EntreLeadership. I'm most likely going to start with Quitter. I read the sample on my Kindle last night and it sounds good. I want to actually buy 48 Days because it has things in it you need to fill out and check off so it wouldn't work as well on the Kindle. The other two I will check out once I'm done with these.

I will still be searching for jobs but hopefully these books will help me find something that I've been missing or give me some business ideas. Another thing that Dave said on his site is that you already know what you love to do, you don't have to go out in discover something new, you have just forgotten about it or are too busy to do it.

Well that is all for work related things as of now so on to running! The other day Amy, Julia, Connor, and I decided to go walking down the WOW Trail. We were talking how we don't really work out and we have been wanting to go hiking for a couple years now. Connor decided to challenge us to run every day and that he wouldn't stop bugging us till we did.

I was lazy the first few days but decided to go for it today. I think I might have overdone it for the first day but oh well it felt good! I ran 2.32 miles in about 40 minutes. My legs hurt while doing it but i feel fine now that I have rested for a bit and could probably do it again! I might actually go for a walk later. Now I will try to run more. I'm sure I won't do it every day but I'm going to try to as much as I can. Hopefully this summer we will go hiking a lot, we will have to go at least once or twice!

That is all for now, See you all soon! Bye! : )

Day 44: Oh well...

Hello everyone! So that 40 day challenge... yeah... uhh... I guess we will call this a failure, well it want a failure, I learned a lot. I just didn't complete my goal. Lets see where I am at now.

I have pretty much decided that a photography business isn't for me. Its a good hobby and I can make a little money on the side but nothing I would ever want to do full time. I'm just not a people person and that's kind of important when it comes to photography.

Now I'm back on the hunt for a job, or come up with another business idea. I like the idea or running a business I just have no idea what I would want to do. Well I guess that's my main problem, I don't know what I want to do. There are a ton of things I enjoy doing but none of them I would like to do for a living. I need to find the thing I would actually enjoy doing every day.

Well I might consider doing another 40 day challenge but not just yet. I need to think more into this before I just go for it. I have no idea what the goal would be anyways.

Also random info! Connor is forcing Amy, Julia, and me to run. I don't know how bad it will be but I guess he will be constantly bugging us until we run. I need the motivation though, It would be nice to get in shape.
I don't really know what else to talk about now but I feel like I have more to say. I guess I will sleep on it and come back tomorrow if I come up with anything.

Anyways.. Happy Mothers Day!

Actually I missed it by a half hour.... uhhh....

Happy Belated Mothers Day!