Monday, November 21, 2016

"Does your job make the world a worse place?"/ Should I get a driver's license?

Sept. 27, 2015 "Does your job makes the world a worse place?": I cut out this article by Joanne Richard in 24 News on Nov. 19, 2012. It lists jobs that makes the world a worse place and how workers feel guilty about it.  I would have to say the best part of the article was this line that I put into my inspirational quotes:

"(Job expert) Geoff Bagg says you don't need to love every job, but you do need to find one thing about it to make it bearable."

I know you can't love everything about your job, but at least it's tolerable.  I would say I work at 2 restaurants and they aren't making the world a worst place.  Here's the whole article:

Not feeling good about your job?

Well, if you're in the fast-food industry, you might be experiencing some stomach-churning guilt. Nearly 40% of fast- food workers say their job makes the world a worse place, according to a survey by payscale.com.

Slinging those burgers and dishing out greasy fries possibly leaves them feeling like they're feeding the world's obesity epidemic, reports PayScale's lead economist Katie Bardaro.

"Even though they do not force people to eat fast food, they do not stop them either."

Other workers who don't feel good about what they do: casino dealers, telemarketers, loan collectors, bartenders and fashion designers. They are all well above the average of less than 1% across all jobs.

From interrupting family dinners, to taking away money from those who can ill afford to lose it, to fueling nasty body image issues, some workers are taking on heaps of guilt while just trying to pull down a paycheque.

Feeling bad about what we're doing and not being proud of ourselves "hurts our self-esteem and gives us a sense not of what we can do, but of powerlessness," says job expert Geoff Bagg. "Feeling powerless and defeated doesn't help people in our world, near or far."

Feeling good about your job matters because "the hours we put in at work are not hours we'll ever get back," says Bagg, of staffing firm at bagg.com. "Work isn't separate from our life, it's a big part of our life."

The key to feeling great about your job isn't finding the perfect job, says Dr. Rick Kirschner. "It's bringing your best self to whatever you do, and doing it like it matters to you."

Identifying and fulfilling what you personally deem important has the capacity to fundamentally alter your experience of what it means to work, says Kirschner, of theartofchange.com. It's about being committed to live our values and bring them into whatever we do.

"Any job has negatives, and any job done poorly can contribute to a worse world," says Kirschner. "But an empowered person delivering exceptional service can have a positive impact even in the most unlikely places, as our interactions with one another can determine how a person's day goes, how coherently they can make a decision, what they spend money on and what they invest in too."

Bagg says you don't need to love every job, but you do need to find one thing about it to make it bearable. "It could be you really like your colleagues, or you recognize it's good for your resumé, helping you learn something -- a new skill or how to deal with difficult people."

Adds Bagg: "We self-identify often with our jobs. If we feel we're doing something good, we feel great about our lives. And that good spirit contributes to making our families and friends feel good. All boats rise in a tide."


Oct. 12, 2015 Derek Hough "From dance floor to desk": I cut out this article "Doing the workplace watusi" by Lakshmi Gandhi in Metro on Aug. 11, 2014.  It interviews the Dancing with the Stars dance Derek Hough and tips from the show are applicable to work. 

It's a happy and light article:

Over the course of 13 seasons on “Dancing With The Stars,” ballroom dancer Derek Hough has been paired with celebrities as varied as former talk show host Ricki Lake, country singer Kellie Pickler and Olympian Shawn Johnson.

This week, Hough releases his book “Taking the Lead: Lessons from a Life in Motion,” in which he delves into what it takes to transform a celebrity into a dancer and how to take what can be scathing criticism on live television.

Hough — who just completed his Move Live tour co-starring his sister Julianne — took some time to share a few of those lessons with us.

You will never be 100 percent ready


Wondering if it’s time to make your next move? Don’t wait until you are “ready,” says Hough. “It’s trial by fire,” he says. “You’re never 100 percent ready. That’s something I learned growing up in England [while being trained by dancers Shirley and Corky Ballas]. For me, with my personality, I’m such a perfectionist that I didn’t want to go out on the dance floor until I was ready.

“If it was up to me, I would have stopped myself,” he continues. “But Shirley just taught me to just get out there and just do it.”

Make an effort to get to know your partner/co-worker


“Each partner is so different, but that’s what makes it exciting,” says Hough. “Its all about adapting, it’s about figuring out what are their strengths and weaknesses.”

Work to bring out the best in your partner


Being a cast member on “Dancing with the Stars” means that you are one part professional ballroom dancer and one part life coach/therapist/chief motivator. “One of my favorite parts is working with celebrities and really trying to figure out what that fear is and seeing their eyes light up when they get past it.”

Sometimes you just have to learn as you go along


Longtime “DWTS” fans may be surprised to learn that Hough had never really choreographed professional routines before joining the cast. “I wasn’t a teacher, I wasn’t a choreographer. I was really faking it till I made it.”

Criticism isn’t personal


One of the hardest parts about performing on a show like “DWTS” is receiving criticism from the judges on live television just moments after a performance. “Truthfully, early on I got really nervous,” Hough recalls. “If it wasn’t good, it was my fault, it had nothing to do with my partner.”

He notes that his approach to the judges’ comments has evolved over the years. “Now it’s more like, ‘Am I happy with my performance?’ If I feel like [my partner] did a really good job, I kind of take [the judges’ comments] with a grain of salt. If it’s negative and I agree, I always say so.”

Two heads are better than one


Growing up on the competitive ballroom circuit, Hough sometimes found himself in direct competition against his sister Julianne and his best friend (and fellow “DWTS” cast member) Mark Ballas. “It was interesting, growing up and competing against each other,” Hough says now. “Competing on ‘Dancing with the Stars’ is completely different. Now it’s more, ‘Hey, what do you think of this?’ and ‘Hey, can you come look at this?’ It’s much more collaborative now.”

Be calm before your big moment


“I tried to do this thing with [Paralympic snowboarder] Amy Purdy where we would just be talking about gratitude,” he says about the ritual he developed with his partner last season. “We’d just be naming things we were grateful for like ‘I’m grateful for my family,’ ‘I’m grateful for my friends.’ For Amy it would be ‘I’m grateful for this dress I’m wearing.’ And then all of the anxiety goes away and you are just feeling good.”


Mar. 2, 2016 McDonald's: I was talking to a dishwasher at my job.  I noticed he was wearing a McDonald's hat.

Tracy: You worked at McDonald's?
R: Yeah, for a week.  But then I quit because I burned myself working the fryer.  I got scared and quit and got this job instead.

Both jobs could have paid the same.

I did learn that if you work at McDonald's in the daytime, you get 50% off the food.  If you work at night from 7pm onwards, it's free.

Nov. 15, 2016 2016 Business trends: I have been reading the Edmonton Journal and the Globe and Mail business section of the newspaper 6 days a week since 2010 (The Year of Unemployment when I got laid off from the Soup place.)  In 2015, I put up every job article I ever cut out since then.  Most of them were dated 2011-2012.  (There were some dated on 2013-2015, but not as much).

Now it's 2016.  Here are the trends:

1. Women in business: Women are still on average getting paid less than men, less women on board of directors, and sexism at work.

2. Retail is struggling because of the internet sales.

3. Technology taking over our jobs: there is lots of automation.

4. Disruption of new businesses: that never existed 5 yrs ago like Uber and Airbnb. 

5. The gig economy: there is more temporary and contract work then permanent.

6. Virtual reality.

7. Apps.

These are the trends and I'm aware of them.  I can't exactly apply it to my job search.  In 2016, all the articles are about the above topics.

In the days of 2011-2015, most of the articles are about how to improve your resume, be more productive, and work-life balance.  Those are timeless pieces and we always need to know that.  I can apply that to my work and job search.

I went through my blog to see my job articles that I posted in 2015.  My memory of it is accurate.

Nov. 16, 2016 "Know when to narrow and widen your focus": I said this before on my blog about "Tracy's writing career."  I need to know when to narrow and widen my focus on my job search.  The above news doesn't really affect my job search.


Entrepreneur: I read the business section of the newspaper 6 days a week, and I do read things about being an entrepreneur.  However, I never really wanted to be one.  Reading this is kind of distracting me from my main focus of getting an office job.  Or it could be widening my focus because I could create my own job.

Meaningful job: I have been thinking about a meaningful job that will really help people in a meaningful way like medicine.  However, I am not interested in medicine.

Nov. 17, 2016 Mall brochures: I have cleaned out my room of mainly magazines and books.

Now onto the home office.  I decided to recycle my 2008 City Centre mall brochure and 2010 West Ed mall brochure.  I had these because I was looking for a regular job back then.  I can go on the mall website to see the stores.  Also if I want to go walk on memory lane, I can go on my blog to read my shopping trips of stores that were there before it closed down. 

My week:

Nov. 15, 2016 "Criminal Minds Writer Opens Up About Physical Altercation with Thomas Gibson: ‘I Hope the Best for the Guy’": Here is an excerpt.  I only read 1 article about it when it first happened, but there is more to it:

Virgil Williams, a writer for the CBS drama Criminal Minds who was recently involved in a physical altercation with actor Thomas Gibson, is encouraging high school teens to take a stand for what they believe in.

During a recent visit to Ghetto Film School Los Angeles, where he hosted an interactive workshop for students aspiring to work in the entertainment industry, the writer-producer spoke candidly about the importance of telling your story.

“There’s a certain cycle that needs to be broken,” Williams tells PEOPLE. “One of these kids came up and asked me, ‘I’m doing a full report on the diversity problem in Hollywood and how do you think you fix that?’ The first thing that came to my mind was ‘You guys. You guys are the way that we fix that. You guys are here right now. You’re fixing it right now because you’re spending time and you’re studying and you’re working on your craft and you’re trying to tell your stories. You have to be the change that you want to see.’




Nov. 16, 2016 Mel C: I was bullied in Spice Girls: I found this on Bing and I had to click on it.  I liked them as a kid and teen.  I have to say, I would choose Mel C/ Sporty Spice as my favorite member: 

Mel C was "bullied" when she was in Spice Girls.

The 42-year-old singer - full name Melanie Chisholm - has revealed she was the subject of bullying when she was in the girl group comprised of Mel B, Victoria Beckham, Geri Horner, and Emma Bunton, but won't spill any names.

Speaking about her experience with bullying, the star said: "'Version of Me' is about being bullied, about being in a situation as a young adult where I felt bullied and how that has affected me, and moulded me in a way."

Then, asked if the bullying occurred when she was a part of the successful girl group, Mel revealed: "Yes. I'm not going to name names. But yes. It's been addressed, they were aware of what they'd done. They apologised."

My opinion: There was also a 2014 interview I saw where Larry King interviewed Mel B/ Scary Spice about Geri/ Ginger Spice leaving the group on Mel B's birthday.

When Geri left, I remember reading news that the limo driver said that Mel B was always "nagging" at Geri.  The driver was fired because he spoke to the presses and he wasn't supposed to.  Also in the 2014 interview, Mel B says: "We always fought like cats and dogs."



Dream: Does anyone remember this girl group called Dream where they had the song "He Loves U Not"?  Well there is a reunion and they performed here.  I thought it was cool and fun to watch them perform:



Nov. 18, 2016 Pottery Barn: I finally bought a scented pomegranate candle from the store with the $25 gift card.  I then burned it daily for a month.  It smells good.

Nov. 21, 2016 American Apparel at West Ed Mall closing: So go buy things if you like the store.


Oct. 24, 2016 Should I get a driver's license?:

Pros:

1. I should because it is a helpful skill.

2. I can drive for work.

3. I can drive in my personal life.

Cons:

1. I don't really need to learn how to drive.

2. I don't really want to drive.

3. I dislike driving.  (There are too many rules.)

4. It's hard. (Lots of mental effort.)

5. There will be self-driving cars 10 yrs from now.

If I were to stop learning to drive, then:

1. I am back to my job search.

2. I have spent 3 months, hundreds of dollars (parents' money).  I put time, money, and effort, and nothing to show for it.

This is what upsets me the most.

Even if I did get a driver's license, I can put it on my resume.

But I would still be back on my job search.

I gave it a really good 100% shot.

At least on my lessons, I went to donate things to Value Village.

Oct. 26, 2016: I'll probably add this to the list of things not working out.  It's like that time I was at NAIT.  I wasn't good at graphic design and it wasn't my true passion like writing.  At least I know that I can get accepted into college, and that I can put that I did a yr at NAIT on my resume.

Oct. 27, 2016: I know it would save time if I drove.  I would rather sit on a bus for 1 hr instead of driving for 30 min.

Oct. 28, 2016: I conquered my fear of driving.

I know how to drive.  I don't have a license.

Nov. 18, 2016: I know you can't exactly tell and I can't really prove that I can drive, because I don't have a license.  I know if there is some crazy emergency and I need to get someone to the hospital, I can put that person in a car and drive.

I don't really need to learn how to drive like if I were to become a cop, I would need to get a license.

Professional Writing: You know I graduated out of college with a 2 yr college diploma in Professional Writing.  I have the diploma paper to prove it.  I also have this blog since 2008 to show my writing.  I know it's subjective, and by all means some of you guys are saying: "From 2008-2014, the writing isn't that good."  From Sept. 2014 onwards, most of it is news articles I posted with my comments on it.




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