Empowerment

For almost two years, I subscribed to Hugh MacLeod's GapingVoid mailing list. Everyday, I am receiving emails from him. Today, I got this email and this explains why every people living on the 21st century should write their thoughts down. Every struggles, every hardships, and every painful events that happened should be written down. Of course, success stories should be written too. 

Who knows, perhaps there will be one person who will be empowered with the stories that you have shared. Who knows, his life might change because of that piece of literature published online or offline. We'll never know. 

I can talk about this topic all day long but I guess that's for my future post. For now, enjoy Hugh McLeod's post.

“Empowerment” doesn’t happen in a vacuum. Empowerment is part of a story... your story. You feel empowered depending on the context. 

I believe that every person needs to know, at least once before they die, that their life- with all its mess and suffering- was worth it, somehow. 

And how do they know that? by telling stories. By telling THEIR story... 

And making it great. 

When someone is using your product, don't ask what stories are they telling about you; ask what stories they're telling about themselves, and how you product fits into it. You'll get a far more interesting answer.

Until my next post,

Elvin Peria

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Tips on Multitasking and Planning a Project Effectively

I stumble upon this post from Brian Tracy's blog while I was updating our facebook page. It is entitled How to Multitask and Effectively Plan a Project. This post is very timely because my wife and I just started our new online project with the help of Millionaire Society.  Enjoy reading!

All of life is a series of projects. A project is a complex task. It is often called a multitask job. This type of job requires the coordination of efforts of several people, each of whom is responsible for a part of the job, with every part of the job being necessary for successful completion. Your ability to handle these multitask jobs is a critical skill for success. All achievements of consequence are complex, and they involve the cooperation of many people.

The Key Management Skill

A study by Stanford University of the qualities that companies look for in promoting people into the position of chief executive officer concluded that the ability to put together a team to accomplish a task was the single most important identifiable quality of an executive who was destined for the fast track in his/her career. Your ability to put together teams to do multitask jobs, ability to complete complex projects, and visible qualities of leadership will determine the course of your career as much as any other factor. It will enable you to multiply yourself times the talents and efforts of others, and accomplish vastly more than you could do on your own.

A Learnable Skill

Project management is a learnable skill, like riding a bicycle. It can be divided into a series of steps, each of which you can master, one at a time. In managing any project, you begin by defining the ideal desired result of the project. What exactly are you trying to accomplish? What will the project look like if it is a complete success?  Start by defining a successful completion of the project, the ideal desired result.

Start at the Beginning

Once you are clear about your desired result, you then start from the beginning. Determine what you are going to have to do to get from where you are to the completion of this project, on schedule and on budget. Determine a specific deadline or target to aim at. Make sure that it is realistic and achievable.

Assemble the Team

Bring together all the people whose contributions will be necessary for the success of this project. Sometimes you need to assemble a team before you can even decide upon the ideal result and the schedule. Remember that people are everything. Take ample time to think carefully about the people who are going to be the team members.

Share the Ownership

Instill ownership of the project in the team members by sharing the job with them. There is a direct relationship between how much a person feels a sense of ownership for the job and how committed he is to making the project a success. One of the key jobs of management and leadership is to instill this feeling of ownership in each member of the team, so that each person feels personally responsible for the accomplishment of the overall project. You accomplish this by discussing every detail of the project with the people who are expected to carry it out.

Develop a Shared Vision

A shared vision is an ideal future picture of success that everyone buys into. How do you develop a shared vision? You sit down and work with the team to answer the question, “What are we trying to accomplish?” You encourage everyone to contribute, visualize, and to imagine the ideal outcome or desired result of the project. Once this vision is clear and shared by everyone, you move on to the development of “shared plans” to achieve the vision.

Set Schedules and Deadlines

Once you have a shared vision and shared plans, and everyone knows exactly what is to be done and what the ideal results will look like, the next step is for you to set a deadline for project completion based on the consensus of your team.

Create a List

Create a to-do list and write down every task, function, and activity that must be completed, right down to the smallest job. Make it easier for yourself-get the project finished on time and break the project down into individual jobs and tasks as much as you can.

Organize the Project

Organize the different parts of the project in two ways: sequential tasks and parallel tasks. You organize by sequence when you determine which jobs must be done before other jobs can be done, with each task in order. Sequential organization is necessary where a particular task requires that another task be completed before it can be started. In almost every case, before you do anything, you have to do something else first. Organize the tasks sequentially with a logical process of activities from beginning through to the end of the project.

The second way to organize the tasks is through parallel activities. Parallel activities exist when more than one task can be done at the same time. Two or more people can be working on two or three different tasks independently of each other.

I hope you enjoyed this post.  Please leave a comment and share with your friends! 

Until my next post.

Elvin

PS. By the way, I will be sharing my review for the online group Millionaire Society on my next posts. 

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Tips in Renewing Driver's License in the Philippines

Last first day of March, I renewed my driver's license for the third time. I realized that I've been driving for almost nine years. Wow. I never realized that I was that old. Anyway, even though I've been through the process of renewing my license a couple of times, I haven't perfected it. I still encountered some problems  along the way. I'm sharing you these tips so that you will not encounter these anymore.

Tip # 1. Bring a pen. Obviously, I forgot to bring one. I was already mobile when I realized that I forgot my pen. Oh, well. It made me incur additional time to search for a place where I can buy a pen. Also, it made me incur additional P10.

Tip # 2. Prepare P400 for drug and medical tests. The amount may vary depending on the location but this is the exact price I paid for these tests at the LTO compound in Calamba City.

Tip # 3. Make sure that you have the capacity to urinate enough to fill 60ml bottle. I failed to fill the bottle on the first attempt. For me to urinate again, I needed to buy water and wait for more than fifteen minutes while convincing myself that my kidneys are full.

Tip # 4.  Be there before 10AM. In my experience, if the LTO system is not down, you can get the license in less than two hours as long as you are there before the cut-off for lunch break. 

Tip # 5. Be sure to talk to other people while waiting (or better yet bring a book). You'll spend a lot of time waiting for your queue therefore it's best to do something while you're waiting.

Tip # 6. Be sure to look good in front of the camera and don't forget to smile. Someone told me that you're not suppose to smile but I think it's better to try your luck because I did. It's better to look good in your driver's license because you'll be using it over the next three years. Who knows, being positive (even in the license) might help you in the future. 

I hope these tips can help you in renewing your license. Please feel free to share your experiences too.

Until my next post,

Elvin

PS. The exact price of driver's license renewal is P417.63. 

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The 50 New Rules of Work

Photo courtesy of Budzlife. 

I was researching on how can I improve the websites I created when I stumbled upon Robin Sharma's blog. He has written the "50 New Rules of Work". He encourages us to share, discuss and debate with our team throughout our organization. Let's try them over the next thirty days and let's see the results.

The 50 New Rules of Work by Robin Sharma

1. You are not just paid to work. You are paid to be uncomfortable – and to pursue projects that scare you.
2. Take care of your relationships and the money will take care of itself.
3. Lead you first. You can’t help others reach for their highest potential until you’re in the process of reaching for yours.
4. To double your income, triple your rate of learning.
5. While victims condemn change, leaders grow inspired by change.
6. Small daily improvements over time create stunning results.
7. Surround yourself with people courageous enough to speak truthfully about what’s best for your organization and the customers you serve.
8. Don’t fall in love with your press releases.
9. Every moment in front of a customer is a moment of truth (to either show you live by the values you profess – or you don’t).
10. Copying what your competition is doing just leads to being second best.
11. Become obsessed with the user experience such that every touchpoint of doing business with you leaves people speechless. No, breathless.
12. If you’re in business, you’re in show business. The moment you get to work, you’re on stage. Give us the performance of your life.
13. Be a Master of Your Craft. And practice + practice + practice.
14. Get fit like Madonna.
15. Read magazines you don’t usually read. Talk to people who you don’t usually speak to. Go to places you don’t commonly visit. Disrupt your thinking so it stays fresh + hungry + brilliant.
16. Remember that what makes a great business – in part – are the seemingly insignificant details. Obsess over them.
17. Good enough just isn’t good enough.
18. Brilliant things happen when you go the extra mile for every single customer.
19. An addiction to distraction is the death of creative production. Enough said.
20. If you’re not failing regularly, you’re definitely not making much progress.
21. Lift your teammates up versus tear your teammates down. Anyone can be a critic. What takes guts is to see the best in people.
22. Remember that a critic is a dreamer gone scared.
23. Leadership’s no longer about position. Now, it’s about passion. And having an impact through the genius-level work that you do.
24. The bigger the dream, the more important the team.
25. If you’re not thinking for yourself, you’re following – not leading.
26. Work hard. But build an exceptional family life. What’s the point of reaching the mountaintop but getting there alone.
27. The job of the leader is to develop more leaders.
28. The antidote to deep change is daily learning. Investing in your professional and personal development is the smartest investment you can make. Period.
29. Smile. It makes a difference.
30. Say “please” and “thank you”. It makes a difference.
31. Shift from doing mindless toil to doing valuable work.
32. Remember that a job is only just a job if all you see it as is a job.
33. Don’t do your best work for the applause it generates but for the personal pride it delivers.
34. The only standard worth reaching for is BIW (Best in World).
35. In the new world of business, everyone works in Human Resources.
36. In the new world of business, everyone’s part of the leadership team.
37. Words can inspire. And words can destroy. Choose yours well.
38. You become your excuses.
39. You’ll get your game-changing ideas away from the office versus in the middle of work. Make time for solitude. Creativity needs the space to present itself.
40. The people who gossip about others when they are not around are the people who will gossip about you when you’re not around.
41. It could take you 30 years to build a great reputation and 30 seconds of bad judgment to lose it.
42. The client is always watching.
43. The way you do one thing defines the way you’ll do everything. Every act matters.
44. To be radically optimistic isn’t soft. It’s hard. Crankiness is easy.
45. People want to be inspired to pursue a vision. It’s your job to give it to them.
46. Every visionary was initially called crazy.
47. The purpose of work is to help people. The other rewards are inevitable by-products of this singular focus.
48. Remember that the things that get scheduled are the things that get done.
49. Keep promises and be impeccable with your word. People buy more than just your products and services. They invest in your credibility.
50. Lead Without a Title.

I encourage to share this post to your team. :)

Until my next post,

Elvin

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I Love My Job

I was searching for an email in my archive when I found this facebook note from Francis Kong.  I believe that this is worth sharing.

Dr. Seuss came up with a poem entitled “I Love My Job” and it is so funny in its attempt to reflect reality. Now listen to this: 

I love my job, I love the pay, I love it more and more each day.

I love my boss and he's the best. I love HIS boss and all the rest.

I love my office and it's location. I hate to have to take vacation.

I love my desk, drab and gray, and love those paper piles each day.

I love my chair in my padded cell; there's nothing else I love so well.

I love to work among my peers. I love their leers 'n jeers 'n sneers.

I love my computer and all its ware; I hug it often to show I care.

I love each program and every file; I even try using it once in a while.

I'm happy to be here, I am, I am...I'm the happiest slave to my Uncle Sam.

I love this work; I love these chores; I love the meetings with deadly bores.

I love my job AND I'll say it again, I even love these friendly men: 

These men who've come to visit today, in lovely white coats to take me away!

So what is he saying here? That those who really love their jobs are truly insane? 

This is funny and it actually reflects the attitude of many people in the work place. 

What about you? Do you share the same sentiment? 

If you think your job is awful allow me to give you a list of the world’s most terrible jobs. And here is the list: 

1. Nuclear Warhead Sensistivity Technician

2. Circus Elephant Clean Up Specialist

3. Rotten Sardine Taste Detector

4. Executive Assistant To The Boss's Nephew

5. Shark Baiter

6. Russian Cartographer

7. Vice President, Screen Door Sales, North Pole Division

8. Hurricane Photographer

9. Director Of Public Relations, Chernobyl Nuclear Facility

10. The Person Responsible For Replacing Urinal Deodorizers

11. Prison Glee Club President

12. MGB Electrical Specialist

13. Road Kill Removal Crew 

A lot of people complain all the time about the kind of jobs they are involved in yet when news travel through the grapevine that a re-engineering is about to take place, layoffs will happen, that will be the only time they begin to value their jobs.

No one can make you happy and neither can anyone make you unhappy in your job. It is your choice you make and no one can make that choice for you. There are people out there who would be happy to take over your job if you are willing to hand it over. 

Work is a blessing. It is not a curse. It becomes a curse when you make it so. 

Only productive people can be happy and only the happy people can be productive. This has been the secret of winners and now this secret is yours to keep. 

Stop focusing on your boss as the monster and start focusing on God as your Provider and Employer and do everything you can to make the most out of your job. Learn new things. Improve your craft. And then suddenly, a mysterious thing begins to happen. You begin to be excited with your job. 

Just a parting thought:

Live every day as if it were your last. Do every job as if you were the boss. Drive as if all other vehicles were police cars. Treat everybody else as if he were you. 

Love God serve Him and men and enjoy your day.

Hope you find this helpful. Have a great day!

Elvin

PS. My wife wrote an ebook about Job Hopping, two years ago. If you haven't read it yet. You may download a copy on this link: Stop Jobhopping Now! 

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