What makes one person satisfied with their job and another person unsatisfied? Sometimes, sure, it's because the satisfied person sees life differently and accepts their crappy job as an actual blessing; they take things in stride and are grateful for what they have. If you're unsatisfied, however, don't think that you're ungrateful! Be grateful for at least being given the opportunity to tide yourself over - but be ambitious enough to eventually get out of there.
Oh, and by the way, if people are always "looking to get out," of where you work - you're most likely in a crappy job. If people are "looking to get in," pat yourself on the back!
So, what are the three keys to job satisfaction and to a meaningful job? Well, according to Malcolm Gladwell and his book, Outliers (and to which I totally agree), those three keys are; autonomy, complexity, and a clear relationship between effort and reward.
Saturday, December 12, 2009
Sunday, November 15, 2009
Keeping Your Options Closed
Everybody talks about "keeping their options open," like its some kind of must-do as "eating healthy and exercise," is! Well, let me tell you why it isn't and why you should keep your options closed. Close those doors instead of keeping them open. Close 'em!
The material... err... inspiration from this post comes from Dan Ariely's book, Predictably Irrational, and if the title of that book doesn't convince you that what I just said is right, well, read on.
As you know, people like to keep their options open - whether it be in terms of love, career, or even housing. Wasn't there a time in your life when you were completely single, but yearning again for the love life? You were considering whether to get back with your ex or to pursue a new and exciting person. But wait... you really liked the new person and felt that there wasn't much chance with the old person. Then why not just close that door and move on?! It's because people always want to keep their options open! (Even if it means screwing themselves overall.)
Let me tell you a more poignant story about how when one man's options were closed - his doors were finally shut - he made a change for the better. This man was an alcoholic and he had a loving wife who supported him for seven years. She tried and tried to get him to quit alcohol, but no no avail. She loved him and supported him and cried herself to sleep, but he just couldn't seem to get over his alcoholism. Finally, his wife really couldn't take it anymore and finally left him after all that time. And guess what? Within a year, he was completely sober.
What does this story tell us? It tells us that when the man's wife was with him, his options were open and he was thus not obliged to take action... he could hang on for the rest of his life without making any change - because his options were open. His wife would be there for him! However, when she left him, those doors closed and he only had one route to choose: get sober or else. And that was when it was easy to choose... it was easy to choose when there was no choice.
So... when you have the stupid urge to keep useless doors open, just forget about it! Those extra and useless doors only serve to distract you from the door that truly matters. With too many doors open, you spread yourself thin and aren't able to make certain parts of your life great (not just okay). Choose what's really important to you and stick to them!
The material... err... inspiration from this post comes from Dan Ariely's book, Predictably Irrational, and if the title of that book doesn't convince you that what I just said is right, well, read on.
As you know, people like to keep their options open - whether it be in terms of love, career, or even housing. Wasn't there a time in your life when you were completely single, but yearning again for the love life? You were considering whether to get back with your ex or to pursue a new and exciting person. But wait... you really liked the new person and felt that there wasn't much chance with the old person. Then why not just close that door and move on?! It's because people always want to keep their options open! (Even if it means screwing themselves overall.)
Let me tell you a more poignant story about how when one man's options were closed - his doors were finally shut - he made a change for the better. This man was an alcoholic and he had a loving wife who supported him for seven years. She tried and tried to get him to quit alcohol, but no no avail. She loved him and supported him and cried herself to sleep, but he just couldn't seem to get over his alcoholism. Finally, his wife really couldn't take it anymore and finally left him after all that time. And guess what? Within a year, he was completely sober.
What does this story tell us? It tells us that when the man's wife was with him, his options were open and he was thus not obliged to take action... he could hang on for the rest of his life without making any change - because his options were open. His wife would be there for him! However, when she left him, those doors closed and he only had one route to choose: get sober or else. And that was when it was easy to choose... it was easy to choose when there was no choice.
So... when you have the stupid urge to keep useless doors open, just forget about it! Those extra and useless doors only serve to distract you from the door that truly matters. With too many doors open, you spread yourself thin and aren't able to make certain parts of your life great (not just okay). Choose what's really important to you and stick to them!
Tuesday, August 4, 2009
Requirements for Your Job
Make sure your job fits these requirements, otherwise you'll spend your whole life labouring away for nothing except a paycheque:
- It's something you like to do.
- It's something that'll create lasting value (and preferably, increasing value).
- It's something that'll start growing eventually, thus precluding you from always working.
- You'll get more and more income from it over time, even as the hours you put in head towards zero.
- It'll make the world a better place for at least one person other than yourself.
Sunday, March 8, 2009
The One Winner in Today's Financial Crisis
The environment.
Yes! Have you ever thought about it? The ultimate winner in this financial crisis is the environment - but that also means that we are all winners. Sure, many of you have lots your pants and shirts and underwear - but for the majority of the people on this Earth, nothing has changed. That majority of people are still struggling for survival today as they were during the height of the boom. You may point out that there are people, like recyclers in China, who lost their life savings because of the financial crisis - but is economic prosperity really worth decimation of the Earth's environment?
The biggest polluters on this Earth are manufacturing, mining and shipping (cargo and people), and it follows that with a decline in the economy, these activities are reduced to a fraction of what they were before. What does that mean for pollution? Yes, it also means that pollution has been reduced by an equivalent amount.
As manufacturers reduce output, mining operations scale down, exporters export less (people turning to local products), consumers stop going out as much and people start tightening their belts - the environment gets a little more room to breathe. And so do we.
Yes! Have you ever thought about it? The ultimate winner in this financial crisis is the environment - but that also means that we are all winners. Sure, many of you have lots your pants and shirts and underwear - but for the majority of the people on this Earth, nothing has changed. That majority of people are still struggling for survival today as they were during the height of the boom. You may point out that there are people, like recyclers in China, who lost their life savings because of the financial crisis - but is economic prosperity really worth decimation of the Earth's environment?
The biggest polluters on this Earth are manufacturing, mining and shipping (cargo and people), and it follows that with a decline in the economy, these activities are reduced to a fraction of what they were before. What does that mean for pollution? Yes, it also means that pollution has been reduced by an equivalent amount.
As manufacturers reduce output, mining operations scale down, exporters export less (people turning to local products), consumers stop going out as much and people start tightening their belts - the environment gets a little more room to breathe. And so do we.
Sunday, October 12, 2008
What's Your Labor Earning You?
Today I was at a place in Taipei called "Ximen Ding," basically "West Gate Square," and I stopped to watch one of the many street performers. The guy I was interested in played the Erhu accompanied by music... as I stood there watching with the crowd that had also gathered to watch, I noticed that every couple of minutes, someone was dropping a donation into his box (he was blind). Then, I saw that across the ways was another street performer who was doing traditional Chinese paper cutting of people's silhouettes (he also had a crowd). Both of these street performers only asked for donations - it was up to you what you wanted to donate. The person cutting the silhouettes left it up to the person whose silhouette was being cut to decide the amount donated. The person playing the Erhu didn't even explicity ask for donations.
Now, why am I talking about street performers and their donations? Well, there was a huge difference between these two street performers, economically speaking. The Erhu player was able to perform his services (music) for a large group of people, who could stand there and enjoy the music together, and they could all donate at the same time. The Silhouette Man, however, made it so that the expectation of his "customers" was that they must get their silhouette cut before even considering making a donation. In actuality, however, there were equally large crowds gathered around both men watching (and enjoying) what they were witnessing. The people watching the Erhu took away the music and the sight of seeing him play. The people watching Silhouette Man took away the sight of seeing his skilled hands cut the paper... but only one person at a time received their own unique silhouette paper cutting.
I talked to my wife, Sandy, and she boiled it down to this: the Erhu guy was offering his services to many people all at once, whereas the Silhouette Man offered his services to only one person at a time. I agree with this, and that is the thing to think about here. The labor that you do - is it being offered to one person at a time, or is it being offered to a multitude? If your answer is the former, you'll be stuck making low wages. If your answer is the latter, you'll have the chance to make great wages.
Now, you probably think I'm simplifying this too much. After all, the nature of music is that many people can enjoy it at one time (a service), and the nature of paper cutting (a product) is that you trade your money for the item. But, let me first argue that the paper cutter could have not only asked for a donation for his cutting of your silhouette - but he could have asked for donations from people who enjoyed watching him (make a sign, perhaps?). He could have also simultaneously cut out several sheets of a famous Taiwanese landscape (or any other landscape) and had people watch him, and at the end sold the product to whoever would like one. Of course, maybe more people go for their own "personal" cutting.
Beyond these two street performers, however, let's talk about what you do for a living. Do you just serve one person a time, make one thing at a time? If so, that blows. Let's look at making a tangible item first. Let's say you hand craft a wooden chair... you are using your own labor to make that one hand crafted chair. That's nothing to laugh at, but you only get the money for that one chair, and maybe it took you an entire day to make. Even if it was expensive, you still pocket a limited amount of money. The money's all yours, however. On the other hand, let's say you come up with a popular design for a chair and you have it manufactured and sold to the multitudes. You've labored alright, but your labor was put into the design (and not the crafting), which can be disseminated amongst tens of thousands, if not millions of chairs. You'll get a cut from each of the chairs sold, and although you won't pocket as much per chair, the numbers would just be overwhelming. (Of course, there will be other people who get a part of the sale price for actually making the chair.)
Presently, let's look at performing a service. Performing services is a bit more complicated than making an item, because particular services MUST be performed one-to-one, whereas certain services can be performed for many at a time. Look at music for example - it's practically limitless as to how many people can watch you at once (think TV). Teaching is a good example, too - university lecturers have hundreds of students listening all at once. Other services, however, must be performed one-to-one; such as hair cutting, massage, cooking your food, etc. The only way that these one-to-one services can be expanded beyond your physical capacity as one person with one body is if you train others to do it and you are the proprietor (But in this case, you're not actually using your own labor - you're just taking a cut of the labor of others and being rewarded for the risk you took in entrepreneurship.).
Think about this as you go about your days... examples are everywhere.
Now, why am I talking about street performers and their donations? Well, there was a huge difference between these two street performers, economically speaking. The Erhu player was able to perform his services (music) for a large group of people, who could stand there and enjoy the music together, and they could all donate at the same time. The Silhouette Man, however, made it so that the expectation of his "customers" was that they must get their silhouette cut before even considering making a donation. In actuality, however, there were equally large crowds gathered around both men watching (and enjoying) what they were witnessing. The people watching the Erhu took away the music and the sight of seeing him play. The people watching Silhouette Man took away the sight of seeing his skilled hands cut the paper... but only one person at a time received their own unique silhouette paper cutting.
I talked to my wife, Sandy, and she boiled it down to this: the Erhu guy was offering his services to many people all at once, whereas the Silhouette Man offered his services to only one person at a time. I agree with this, and that is the thing to think about here. The labor that you do - is it being offered to one person at a time, or is it being offered to a multitude? If your answer is the former, you'll be stuck making low wages. If your answer is the latter, you'll have the chance to make great wages.
Now, you probably think I'm simplifying this too much. After all, the nature of music is that many people can enjoy it at one time (a service), and the nature of paper cutting (a product) is that you trade your money for the item. But, let me first argue that the paper cutter could have not only asked for a donation for his cutting of your silhouette - but he could have asked for donations from people who enjoyed watching him (make a sign, perhaps?). He could have also simultaneously cut out several sheets of a famous Taiwanese landscape (or any other landscape) and had people watch him, and at the end sold the product to whoever would like one. Of course, maybe more people go for their own "personal" cutting.
Beyond these two street performers, however, let's talk about what you do for a living. Do you just serve one person a time, make one thing at a time? If so, that blows. Let's look at making a tangible item first. Let's say you hand craft a wooden chair... you are using your own labor to make that one hand crafted chair. That's nothing to laugh at, but you only get the money for that one chair, and maybe it took you an entire day to make. Even if it was expensive, you still pocket a limited amount of money. The money's all yours, however. On the other hand, let's say you come up with a popular design for a chair and you have it manufactured and sold to the multitudes. You've labored alright, but your labor was put into the design (and not the crafting), which can be disseminated amongst tens of thousands, if not millions of chairs. You'll get a cut from each of the chairs sold, and although you won't pocket as much per chair, the numbers would just be overwhelming. (Of course, there will be other people who get a part of the sale price for actually making the chair.)
Presently, let's look at performing a service. Performing services is a bit more complicated than making an item, because particular services MUST be performed one-to-one, whereas certain services can be performed for many at a time. Look at music for example - it's practically limitless as to how many people can watch you at once (think TV). Teaching is a good example, too - university lecturers have hundreds of students listening all at once. Other services, however, must be performed one-to-one; such as hair cutting, massage, cooking your food, etc. The only way that these one-to-one services can be expanded beyond your physical capacity as one person with one body is if you train others to do it and you are the proprietor (But in this case, you're not actually using your own labor - you're just taking a cut of the labor of others and being rewarded for the risk you took in entrepreneurship.).
Think about this as you go about your days... examples are everywhere.
Monday, September 1, 2008
Everyday is Labor
Yes, that's right - everyday is labor! You're either going to have to get out there and labor away your days, or you're going to have to get other people to do it for you. There are only two choices.
Of course, I would choose the second choice anyday. And that's how a business works. Sure, the workers are paid their share of the profits the company generates, but ultimately, it is the owners who are making money off the backs of the workers. Of course, this doesn't stop you from being the owner of a corporation (through stocks) and at the same time laboring away at one.
It's like this: If you can generate $50/hour through whatever economic activity it is that you're doing, a company would pay you maybe $20 to do the job. They'd take the rest of the $30 and do other stuff with it; such as marketing, R&D, and profits, etc.
Now, the thing is that if you're a worker and have to work all the time in order to support your lifestyle (however grand or sparse you choose it to be... YOU choose...), you're going to have to be using your own body and mind to do that labor every day. In order to support all the material things that are your life - you're going to have to keep working. From that, you'll have to save a portion (parsimony) to support yourself when you're not working or can't work (vacation, retirement, etc.). BUT, what if you get injured or can't work for some reason? Or what if you just don't want to damn work? Too bad! You've got to work because that's the path you've chosen.
You can choose another path, however, but you've got to do it early! You can choose to be the owner of an entity that continues to generate income for you even when you're sitting at home. What is that entity? Yes, it is a corporation or a business. Of course, there are some businesses that require you to work, and virtually all businesses require you to work at least at the beginning... but you better be aiming for a business where the reigns can be handed over to someone else AND still give you a nice monthly income (if you want to be truly free). In this way, you can still pass your days working on the business (which, in the context of the universe is probably insignificant... unless you're doing something that will change the world), or you can choose to take vacation at any time, OR you can choose not to work altogether! Of course, you're going to have to create this business for yourself or take one over somehow.
Of course, I would choose the second choice anyday. And that's how a business works. Sure, the workers are paid their share of the profits the company generates, but ultimately, it is the owners who are making money off the backs of the workers. Of course, this doesn't stop you from being the owner of a corporation (through stocks) and at the same time laboring away at one.
It's like this: If you can generate $50/hour through whatever economic activity it is that you're doing, a company would pay you maybe $20 to do the job. They'd take the rest of the $30 and do other stuff with it; such as marketing, R&D, and profits, etc.
Now, the thing is that if you're a worker and have to work all the time in order to support your lifestyle (however grand or sparse you choose it to be... YOU choose...), you're going to have to be using your own body and mind to do that labor every day. In order to support all the material things that are your life - you're going to have to keep working. From that, you'll have to save a portion (parsimony) to support yourself when you're not working or can't work (vacation, retirement, etc.). BUT, what if you get injured or can't work for some reason? Or what if you just don't want to damn work? Too bad! You've got to work because that's the path you've chosen.
You can choose another path, however, but you've got to do it early! You can choose to be the owner of an entity that continues to generate income for you even when you're sitting at home. What is that entity? Yes, it is a corporation or a business. Of course, there are some businesses that require you to work, and virtually all businesses require you to work at least at the beginning... but you better be aiming for a business where the reigns can be handed over to someone else AND still give you a nice monthly income (if you want to be truly free). In this way, you can still pass your days working on the business (which, in the context of the universe is probably insignificant... unless you're doing something that will change the world), or you can choose to take vacation at any time, OR you can choose not to work altogether! Of course, you're going to have to create this business for yourself or take one over somehow.
Sunday, August 3, 2008
Freedom, Williams, Freedom
I've always remember the name of this CD album cover... Freedom, Williams, Freedom... and I think not because I remember the music (I don't), but because of the powerful message. Sure, he could've meant freedom from any number of things, but because I live in this money-driven society that I do, I choose to consider it "financial freedom." As you may have figured out already, the only type of freedom that we have in this world (society) that we choose to live in is financial freedom. Sure, it's great to have political freedom, but what pattern emerges? People are most always happier with some sort of financial stability than they are with liberty and political freedom. If you're poor in a politically free country, your life would probably be pretty crappy. If you're rich in a politically unfree country, you can be sure that things will be pretty good. Like Singapore!
Anyway, the point of today's post is:
"The poor think of survival, the middle class think of comfort, and the rich think of freedom."
When I say "rich," I don't mean someone who has lots of money - I mean rich in the sense of a rich and wonderful life, rich and wonderful thinking. Poor means poor, of course, and middle class is talking about the amount of money they make. However, the key to this is that anyone (living in a developed country) can move up to thinking "rich" and living a life of freedom.
What I talk about today only applies to developed countries... talk about underdeveloped countries is a whole different topic. Anyway, the poor just think about paying their bills, putting food on the table and surviving day to day. And that's all that they ever do, because they don't even know that they have options to live a better life. If they come into a little money, they just "treat" themselves and start enjoying material objects... rather than invest it in some furthering education or some asset of value. It's a mindset. There are a few who move out, however.
As for the middle class - I'm sure most of you out there are middle class - they just think of comfort. They're always asking themselves how they can make their life more "comfortable." Maybe if you work longer hours, you can afford a nicer house... maybe if you kiss more ass, you can take longer vacations? Is that what comfort is? Killing yourself most of the time, so that you can enjoy a very small portion of your life? (Y'know, sleeping doesn't count as enjoying your life, because it's partly done for the sake of your crappy job - AND you don't know what the heck's going on while you're sleeping.)
The rich, however, all they can think of is freedom. And yes, that's a good thing. Sure, they might seem middle class at some point in their lives (and might even start out as poor), but the difference is in their thinking. They're always thinking about what they can do today to make tomorrow free. The key is free. Will you spend the money you have on a vacation now, or will you sock it away and enjoy 10x the reward in a couple years? I think the answer is obvious for the rich. Are you going to buy a fancy Beemer, or are you going to get a nice used Chevy and put the difference away for a rainy day? And by rainy day, I mean freedom.
So go ahead, the choice is yours.
Anyway, the point of today's post is:
"The poor think of survival, the middle class think of comfort, and the rich think of freedom."
When I say "rich," I don't mean someone who has lots of money - I mean rich in the sense of a rich and wonderful life, rich and wonderful thinking. Poor means poor, of course, and middle class is talking about the amount of money they make. However, the key to this is that anyone (living in a developed country) can move up to thinking "rich" and living a life of freedom.
What I talk about today only applies to developed countries... talk about underdeveloped countries is a whole different topic. Anyway, the poor just think about paying their bills, putting food on the table and surviving day to day. And that's all that they ever do, because they don't even know that they have options to live a better life. If they come into a little money, they just "treat" themselves and start enjoying material objects... rather than invest it in some furthering education or some asset of value. It's a mindset. There are a few who move out, however.
As for the middle class - I'm sure most of you out there are middle class - they just think of comfort. They're always asking themselves how they can make their life more "comfortable." Maybe if you work longer hours, you can afford a nicer house... maybe if you kiss more ass, you can take longer vacations? Is that what comfort is? Killing yourself most of the time, so that you can enjoy a very small portion of your life? (Y'know, sleeping doesn't count as enjoying your life, because it's partly done for the sake of your crappy job - AND you don't know what the heck's going on while you're sleeping.)
The rich, however, all they can think of is freedom. And yes, that's a good thing. Sure, they might seem middle class at some point in their lives (and might even start out as poor), but the difference is in their thinking. They're always thinking about what they can do today to make tomorrow free. The key is free. Will you spend the money you have on a vacation now, or will you sock it away and enjoy 10x the reward in a couple years? I think the answer is obvious for the rich. Are you going to buy a fancy Beemer, or are you going to get a nice used Chevy and put the difference away for a rainy day? And by rainy day, I mean freedom.
So go ahead, the choice is yours.
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