Almost everybody has had a job at one point or another in their life. The vast majority of us will spend almost our entire adult lives working, making our choices about a career extremely important. Additionally, our attitude and performance at work have an array of impacts on the other elements of our lives. So, how do we make this important component of our existence one we enjoy, rather than one we dread?
It all starts in our childhood, when we truly believe that we can become anything we want. We fantasize about becoming a super hero, a ballerina or a movie star. As we age, we realize that these, indeed, are fantasy jobs and we must cope with the idea of having a “regular” job. If we are lucky enough to possess academic prowess and take our education seriously, we certainly have options that others will not with respect to career choices. In the end, though, it seems that we all must settle on a realistic career that is available and can sustain us.
Since we will spend so much of our time at our job, we must consider what type of job we will enjoy and be able to perform day after day, year after year. It is never a good idea to choose a job just because it pays well or gives us superiority, even though financial security and social standing are important aspects to consider. If we follow these rationale and spend each day completing tasks that disgust us, literally or in principle, it will affect us emotionally and mentally. Such distaste for our work will certainly mold us into miserable human beings.
It is also essential to choose work that provides us with some type of satisfaction. Performing menial work tasks gives us no positive feedback, making us dejected, unfulfilled individuals. A lot of people do not have to change the world in their work to find pleasure in it. Choosing a job that gives us a sense of accomplishment, whether from completing a big project or actually saving someone’s life, is refreshing and will help us to come back the next day and feel good about doing so.
Finally, we must have the ability to maintain a positive attitude about our work and believe that our contributions are important. Employees who begrudge everything about their jobs, even the tiles on the ceiling, will find themselves feeling the same way outside of work. We all have days when we feel negatively at our worksite, but it is necessary for us to find the positive in something about our job that day. We need to feel as though our work is a direct reflection upon ourselves and give as much effort as we would if we owned the company.
These simple ideas can mean a lot when it comes to rolling out of bed and heading-off to face our work day. Even if we dreamed of being a celebrity chef as a ten-year-old, we should still be able to find satisfaction in our position as a short-order cook. Finding the positives in our job will keep us charged for success and this positivity will spill-over into other areas of our lives. Feeling like a part of our employer’s mission and fulfilling our expectations will help us live happy and healthy lives, even if we are looking forward to retirement!
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Hannah’s Story
Listen to Bruce talk about Hannah’s story. Learn how one simple request has changed their perspective on Christmas…..
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Money Matters – Avoiding The Arguments
One of the primary reasons that relationships rapidly dissolve is the fact that couples often find it difficult to work together towards the successful management of the family budget. By simply taking the time to discuss your finances, you are doing more than taking control of your finances with a firm hand – you are working towards the preservation of your family and your relationship.
- Laying The Ground Rules. Whether your household has a dual or a single income, it is vital that you work together with your partner to establish which one of you will be taking primary responsibility for the household finances. This does not mean that your partner will have no say-so in the financial decisions that affect your household; this simply means that there needs to be an understanding and arrangement as to who will be opening the bills, setting the monthly family budget, paying the bills, and ensuring that everything flows in a smooth and timely manner.
- Honest Communication. Just as no relationship can easily survive without a solid level of honest and open communication - neither can your household finances. It is important that you and your partner are completely honest about where you stand financially, and even about things related to budget shortfalls, unexpected expenses, and even unbudgeted impulse purchases. Without that communication, you are very likely to run into major issues related to resentment and even anger as your budget planning efforts fall apart. Consider having a quick once-a-month informal budget meeting with your partner just so that both of you can be on the same financial page.
- Organization. A very important part of ensuring the stability and financial success of your household is to keep everything related to your finances as organized as is possible. Complete organization will not only help you to ensure that your bills are paid in a timely manner, which in turn can positively affect your credit rating, but it can also help to ensure that either partner can step in to take charge of the financial reins should it be necessary. It may make sense for you to include home financial management software as a part of your overall organization methods.
- Money Tracking. As an offshoot of your organizational efforts, money tracking can help you and your partner gain a clear understanding as to the direction that every penny spent in your household takes. An effective money and budget tracking system will leave no doubts about your current financial situation; it will also readily allow for an insight into where there is room for improvement in your household budget.
- Working Together To Save. During your budget discussions with your partner, you should both take the time and make the effort to see where your expenses can be improved upon. Work together to gather and compile coupons that can help to significantly reduce your grocery bills. Work together to comparison shop for mobile phone providers and insurance companies.
With effective management of your household budget you will be able to not only ensure the financial stability of your family, but also of your relationship with your partner.
Just Talk
It has been said by many people for many years that being a parent is the most difficult job a person could ever have. Although it is true in some respects, there are certainly areas of the parent-child relationship that can be eased through a common-sense approach to parenting. One of the most integral aspects of any relationship is communication. If a parent cannot engage their child in conversation or honestly discuss issues that arise, there is no foundation upon which a meaningful relationship can be built.
From the first day of a child’s life, it is important to include children in family discussions. Obviously, the conversations within which a child is involved should be age-appropriate and non-threatening. But, even at a young age, children can contribute to the decisions being made and the problems being solved within a home, thus sending the message that they are an instrumental part of the family system. As such, they are more likely to consult with the family before making major life decisions of their own. More importantly for their overall development, this early involvement provides them with a feeling of connectedness and makes a child more likely to consider the impact of their decisions on their family.
Also conducive to open family communication is creating opportunities for discussion on a regular basis. The oldest and most practical way of doing this is to have at least one meal as a family each day. Even the busiest of parents have to eat, so this can be fit into almost anyone’s schedule, whether the meal is breakfast, lunch or dinner. Another strategy is to schedule an entertainment night once a week for the family. From playing board games to watching a movie, conversation is naturally stimulated.
There seems to be a consensus that the teenager years are the most difficult times on the parent-child relationship. Admittedly, teenagers are sometimes unpredictable and it is often a problem for parents to decide how to relate to them. This is where a parent must transform their communication to fit the situation and the child. It is important to remember that a parent is always a parent, but that does not mean that a parent cannot take on a variety of roles in guiding a child. For example, when a teen has a problem and needs a sympathetic ear, the parent needs to be more of a friend. This requires the parent to stifle their desire to take on the child’s problem, but allow the child to solve the problem themselves with a little friendly advice. It is situations like these that, again, reinforce the value of talking to our children.
How to Stay on Track at this Time of Year….
Perhaps you are a little worn out, a little damaged or maybe a little injured in your relationships and life in general at this time of year. What do you do? Where do you start? Here how Bruce’s version of RICE can help.
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How to Achieve Work/Life Balance
Getting the balance right is going to be one of the biggest challenges facing Australian’s over the next 10-20 years. We work harder and longer than any western nation on the planet – but at what cost?
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