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Learn a skill and use it

Now that the initial rush of New Year’s resolutions is over (if you took part or not), I believe it’s time to sit down and actually think about the rest of the year.

I am a big fan or continuous learning and the older I get, the more I see value in learning practical skills. Don’t worry if you think it’s too hard or takes too long. Most skills only take a few hours over a few weeks to get the hang of. Also, there are plenty of organizations and clubs or night schools to help you get started.

For me, it’s a simple choice: I want to learn how to look at a flat and know if it’s going to be nice to live in it. Yes, it’s time to move house again and rather than rushing in like last time, or the time before or the time before…, I want to become better at it. So I’ve decided to put all my efforts into learning how to do that. I’ll start by doing some research online on what to look out for, organizations who can help me on the learning journey and even if there are certifications which may be useful later on. After all, I’ve never found myself in a situation of having an official certificate and not needing it. More the other way around, needing official recognition and not having it. That’s why I know how important it is to have skills to start with and if there’s a certificate to be had, to get certified also.

It may sound like a rubber stamping exercise to you and I agree with this feeling. Having said that, you never know what will happen in the future and if you spend time on learning a skill, why not have a paper in your back pocket to show the world that you are capable of?

What’s your skill you will learn over the next few months?

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Be a little selfish at times

On Thursday, I tried to motivate you by appealing to your own best interest. This got me thinking that selfishness seems to have a very bad reputation. When I grew up, I always had to share my toys with my siblings and at school, we had to watch out for weaker pupils in class to make sure we all graduated together.

Whilst I am very much in favor of helping others and see it as one way of building a better society, I have to point out that being a little selfish at times is also needed.

You may have heard of self-care or the damaging results of the Superwoman Syndrome or just be overworked yourself. I’m sure many of you could do with a little help at times – or just some time to yourself. There are many benefits that taking a few moments out of a stressful day keeps you happy and healthy.

There is also no downside to putting yourself first when there is only one drumstick left at the end of the meal and you really want it. Unless you want (need?) to loose weight, there shouldn’t be anything stopping you from indulging sometimes.

More importantly, in a work and business setting, don’t be shy and do apply for every opportunity in which you would gain new skills, learn new techniques and earn more money. If you don’t put yourself first, nobody else will do it for you.

I invite you to be a little selfish at times and to take a few minutes every day to yourself or apply for that promotion or have that last piece of chocolate, if that’s what you want. Go for it!

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Sign up to vote in YOUR best interest

It is time to mention it again: it is important to vote!

In most countries, elections are held regularly to allow every person to participate in how the country is run. This is the biggest chance of getting your voice heard and putting someone in power who will champion YOUR interests.

Yes, vote for your interests and yours only. If you want women’s rights protected, go and vote for the party who actually has female members and leaders. Don’t vote for the party where the leaders are “grabbing them by the pussy” or where it’s OK to rape women because “boys will be boys”.

If you feel financial stability is important to you, I suggest you look at the track record of the parties on offer. Here, I will ask you to dig deep. Don’t rely on what you hear in the media but try and find the actual records of how each party acted, spent money and made you better off. Which party did go into debt for real? Which party lowered unemployment really?

If you want a better world for your children, again, I suggest you look at what each party has to offer. Is there a party that sticks out as supporting the greater good for future generations via infrastructure projects or childcare?

I highly recommend you think about what kind of a future you want to help create and then vote accordingly.

First, you have to sign up so that you will be allowed to vote. Then, you will have time to figure out who to vote for.

I urge you to sing up today and make your voice heard.

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Smile and the world will smile back at you

Watching and listening to the news gives me the chills these days. There doesn’t seem much good in the world. To make me feel better, I would usually smile intentionally at my fellow human beings but given that I’m taking one of the team and wear my mask diligently to stop the spread of COVID, that seems an awfully big challenge.

So how can you acknowledge and connect with people whilst lacking visual feedback?

Well, there are a couple of options. The first one is to wear a transparent face

mask. Yes, there are plenty of options of see through masks on the market. The main driver was to allow hearing impaired people to be able to lip read. What an achievement!
The downside to these masks is that not all are created equal. So please be sure to choose one which is certified to filter COVID particles.

Another (better?) option would be to make sounds to elicit the same reaction a smile would do. WHAT? I hear you ask.

I’m pretty sure that when you speak with a friend or someone close to you that you listen to them and on occasion make sound like “aha” or “oh”… sometimes even a full “oh, I see now”. These are often used to show that we are listening actively and that we are still with the person who is talking. It doesn’t take a lot of effort to get into the habit and in my experience, the benefits are huge.

So how do we do this to temporarily replace a smile?

How about wishing your neighbor a good morning, make a brief comment on the weather or just saying “Hi” if your eyes meet someone else’s.

I dare you to try it for a week and see what happens.

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Master your tools and learn to love them

Over the past few weeks, I have noticed how much has changed in WordPress since I initially started. The most embarrassing thought is that I didn’t really keep up. Shame on me!

No longer! For the next 3 months, I’ll learn for 20 minutes a day to become better at it and master all the ins and outs of this powerful tool. After all, it will save me time in the long run. I’m certain it will also reduce my stress levels when I need get something done within a short period of time and I just don’t know how to go about it.

I wonder what other tools I’m using like am amateur?

Possibly that’s where I should start: a gap analysis. I need to find out which tools I use regularly and how well I use them. Once I have a better overview where I can save time, I will be in a better situation to compare where to spend my time learning and improving.

Which areas in life or which tools would you like to improve upon? Data analytics tools to get through the regular reports at work faster? Finding the movie for tonight quicker? Using the new multi function pressure cooker?

Whatever it is, there is plenty of evidence that mastery of tools you use every day will pay off. It’s not only the time and stress saved but also the positive that comes from knowing you have control over your tools and with that you have control over your life. How does that sound to you? Having full control over your life. That would be great.

Craftsman makes pottery

So I will start with small actions towards learning how to use WordPress and over the weekend I’ll be doing a skills audit. By end of this year, I’d like to have closed all the gaping holes that there may be (read: that there will be) so I can start next year in a better place.