Beyond 254

Things I Look Forward To After I Escape

As you know, I plan to “break-out” from this prison called Corporate America by the end of this year. Today I was thinking of all the things that I look forward to after I leave Corporate America and strike out on my own. The things I look forward to are listed below:

• Spending my time doing something that I am passionate about
• Expressing my creativity
• Sharing my thoughts, creativity and ideas with other like minded people
• Looking forward to Monday mornings
• Setting my own schedule
• Freedom to work wherever I want
• Control over my own destiny and future, instead of leaving my future in the hands of short-sighted corporate executives
• No more commuting and fighting traffic
• No more lunches at my desk
• Escaping the cubicle
• Working in an aesthetically pleasing environment
• No more office politics
• No more illnesses and pain related to job stress
• No more boredom

I would advise you to create an “I look forward to” list of whatever you are believing for, whether it is a better work environment, new job or leaving Corporate America. Print out the list and place it where you can see it everyday. This will help keep you motivated, so you can work toward your goal.

The Cubicle vs. the Kitchen

Yesterday, I read an article from CNN.com titled, “Trade Your Cubicle for a Kitchen.” Basically, the article is about various people who left Corporate America and followed their passion, cooking. I thought this was a fantastic article. I enjoy reading about people who quit their jobs to follow their passion. The people who were profiled were at different stages in their careers, but it showed me that you can follow your passions at any age. I also liked how the article described the steps some people took transitioning out of Corporate America. This article was an inspiration for me. I suggest everyone read this article, because it should inspire you to live out your dreams

Weekend Depression, Leads to Monday Blues: Part 3

The first part of the series, revealed how stressing about Monday can affect your health. The next part, I revealed some tips to help you get through Sunday evening and Monday morning. Now we will discuss how to view things from a higher perspective.

How to view things from a higher perspective
1. Your experience will help others: Maybe you can help a friend, relative, etc. who can learn from the way you handled the situation
2. What can you learn from this: Maybe you are doing things that are causing people to act in a negative fashion to you? Maybe some co-workers do treat you unfairly, but how can you learn and grow from this situation.
3. I try to remind myself that the situation could be worse: Some people are going through worse things in their lives. Each morning and night, count your blessings and things you are thankful for.

Related Links
Weekend Depression, Leads to Monday Blues: Part 1
Weekend Depression, Leads to Monday Blues: Part 2

Why Can’t You Do Your Own Work?

Have you ever worked with someone who has time to meddle in your assignments or projects, but can’t get their own work done? I am currently going through this situation.

Last month, I sent a document to one of our director’s for her approval. In order to move forward with this project, we need her approval, but for some reason, she has not reviewed the document. Even after many requests, she has not moved forward. She does not have time to finish her work, but she has time to meddle in my projects. She has a history of being delinquent on requests. A while back, there was another document that needed her approval and it took THREE months until we received approval. The document was only seven pages! Then, what really irritated me, not long after she approved it; she started pressuring our team for status. I felt like saying, “If it did not take you three months to approve this document, this project would be a lot further along.” But, I kept my mouth shut, because I might need to use this statement in a much more pressing situation. I always say know when to choose your battles. Without her approval, we are at a standstill and everyone knows this. But no one seems to be bothered. I wonder what would happen if I held a document for three months, would everyone be so understanding.

Weekend Depression, Leads to Monday Blues: Part 2

During the first part of my Weekend depression series, we learned how stressing about Monday mornings can affect your health. As promised, I listed some tips I used to help me change my outlook. These tips help you deal with Weekend Depression that can lead to Monday blues.

Tips on how to cope with the Weekend depression
1. Read something positive, uplifting and inspiring
2. Have an outlet. Do something you enjoy: take a dance class, pottery, fishing, etc.
3. Do something relaxing: Walk around a park, visit an art museum, get a massage, etc.
4. Visit a place of worship
5. Hang out with friends and family
6. Do volunteer work
7. On Mondays, change your alarm from a buzzer to music. I found that this helps prevent my heart and pulse from racing.

In my next series, I will reveal some tips to help you view things from a higher perspective.

Related Links
Weekend Depression, Leads to Monday Blues: Part 1
Weekend Depression, Leads to Monday Blues: Part 3

The Importance of Soft Skills

While talking to one of my co-workers, he stated that one of the skills of a Project Manager is to nag people. A few minutes earlier, I heard someone else say the same thing about Project Management. Then it hit me, “nagging” is one of the main soft skills for this job and I despise it. In addition to looking at job requirements, we should also look at the “soft skills” that are needed.

Usually when I or anyone else search for a job, they usually look at the necessary requirements, education, experience with certain applications and/or job functions. But I think most people, including myself, fail to look at the soft skills required. Some examples of soft skills are: sociability, negotiation skills, team player, communication with fellow co-workers, etc. I think soft skills are just as or more important than the basic job tasks or hard skills. The hard skills can be learned, but soft skills are usually part of someone’s personality and usually difficult to change. I think people should ask more about the soft skills required for a particular job during the interview process.

Thinking back, I should have asked about the soft skills requirements. If I had known some of the soft skills that were needed for this job, I might not have taken it.

Top 5 Reasons Why Passion Pays

I was always taught: go to school, get an education and obtain a job making a good salary. No one ever added follow your passions into the equation. I heard many people say, “Follow your passions and the money will follow.” For years that statement did not resonate with me until recently.

I remember during my lay off several years ago, I was watching Oprah. During the show, she stressed the importance of following your passion, because the money will follow. In my depressed state, I grumbled to myself and stated, “That’s easy for you to say, you have money.” I thought the only way you can follow your passions is if you had the money. No one ever really broke down how the money will follow. For me, that statement finally clicked with me and I understood why the money will follow:

• You will work harder because you love it. In addition, it will not feel like work. I remember several years ago working with one of my co-workers on a project. One day, he turned and looked at me and said, “This is great, we get paid all this money to sit around and play all day!” The same job that I hated, he loved. He loved it so much that to him it was not work, but fun.
• You will always be on the hunt to learn more about your passion. Part of staying ahead in business is learning the new trends in your industry and staying ahead of the curve. The only way to do this is by continuing education for your passion.
• You are naturally good at it, so it will not be a challenge for you.
• It is never boring and always exciting for you.
• When you are where you should be more ideas and creativity come to you.

These principles apply whether you are running a business or working in Corporate America. Of course, running a business, you need to understand things like, finance, business laws, tax rules, etc. But you can hire experts who are passionate in these areas. But look on your job at the people who are passionate, they usually advance higher and get better pay increases than people who are not passionate. For business owners, look at people like Bill Gates and Ralph Lauren, both in totally different industries, but extremely successful, because they are passionate about their craft. So the adage is true, “Follow your passions, the money will follow.” In my opinion, you can not afford not to follow your passions.

The Human Pain of Downsizing

Last week, my company went through a round of lay offs. My manager told us, that our group was not affected. But, the pain I felt for the people that were laid off, really hit home for me. Since, I experienced a layoff; I know the pain, shock, humiliation and sense of failure that comes with it.

I personally knew a few of the people that were affected by the lay offs. After the announcement, I called one of my co-workers that were affected to offer my support. He sounded upbeat and already had a plan of action. But I wondered about the others, who probably did not take it so well. I remember when I was laid off, I was devastated. Not only did I lose my income, I lost a piece of my identity. A lay off also brings feelings of shame and humiliation. To me, the message that companies send to people who are laid off is, “You are not valuable and do not matter.” But these people do matter. These are human beings with families to support and bills to pay. When you lay off one employee, it does not affect that one employee, it affects their entire family. These people also have feelings and the stigma that goes with a layoff lasts for many years. What irritated me the most was the gossip and chatter surrounding the lay offs. I could hear some co-workers calling others to find out what the reactions were of the people who were let go. I even heard someone making fun of one of the laid off workers. I thought how cold, but I also thought one day it could be them, so they need to stop laughing. People, who have not gone through this, do not understand how a layoff shatters the lives of the people affected. Companies need to come up with better cost cutting solutions. Here is a thought, how about some of the higher level executives taking a big salary cut and eliminating the bonuses. Of course, the executives will not put themselves through hardship but they do not think twice about ruining someone else’s life. In my opinion, sometimes a company goes through hard times because upper management made poor decisions. So, the executives should bear the brunt of their bad decisions.

I know in these tough economic times, companies are watching their budgets, but I wish we could get more executives that think outside of the box and come up with more creative ways of cutting costs instead of destroying the lives of dedicated workers.

Weekend Depression, Leads to Monday Blues: Part 1

If you are like me, then you live for the weekends. But, I usually hate to see Sunday evening come, because that means I have to go to work the next day. There was a time, just recently, when my whole attitude and demeanor would change late Sunday afternoon into the evening. I did not want to be bothered or talk to anyone; I would just read or watch TV to escape the reality that awaited me on Monday.

Then Monday morning would arrive. I would wake up and my heart and pulse would race. If I just came out of a long weekend or vacation, there were some Mondays that I literally cried because I dreaded going to work. I remember several times driving to work with tears streaming down my face and wanting to turn the car around and call in sick. This would go on week after week. I realized that this can not be good for my health. To support my statement, the European Journal of Epidemiology stated the risk for heart attacks among men is 20% greater on Mondays and 15% greater for women. Then one Sunday at church, I heard a message about how “Changing your position, will change your viewpoint.” When I heard this message, it really started to click for me. It was like a fire was rekindled in my stomach. So I decided to make an effort to change my outlook concerning my situation. I decided not to let my job control whether or not I would be happy. What was weird, it seemed like things got worse on the job, but instead of getting depressed, I dealt with it, tried to learn from the situation and move on. It felt much more empowering. Now, I am not saying that I love Mondays and my job, all I am saying is I decided to look at the bigger picture, see what I can learn from it and in the process help others learn from my situation. I still get frustrated and angry, but I do not wallow in it anymore. I experience the moment, but I let it pass.

This discussion will continue next week, when I reveal some tips that helped me cope with the Sunday evening blues.

Related Links:
Weekend Depression, Leads to Monday Blues: Part 2
Weekend Depression, Leads to Monday Blues: Part 3

How to Stay Alert Without Caffeine

I do not drink any beverages that contain caffeine, so I try to stay away from sodas, energy drinks, coffee or any other caffeinated drink. Because of this, I tend to hit a slump during the midday that causes me to become real drowsy. The following tips help combat that midday slump.

• Take a walk around the office
• Step outside for some fresh air and take a brisk walk around the office property
• Chat with fellow co-workers
• Listen to some upbeat music (please use your headsets)
• Light stretching exercises. Try to reach over and touch your toes. This will help energize you and get the blood flowing
• Eat a healthy snack

After trying one or several of these things, I notice the energy returns and I can get through the rest of the day.