The truth is that we human beings require each time more that we already have. So, rich people complain that money has stolen their happy days and those who are not so financially fortunate say that only money could complete their life, that they would surely get everything else on their own if only they had the means to do that.
The truth lies somewhere in the middle.
It is not accurate to say money brings happiness, because it doesn’t. But at the same time one cannot claim money has nothing to do with it. We are never really happy, maybe just for the brief moment when we reach our purposes or complete one of our dreams. But then, very soon after that, a new totally different problem or desire arises to take that happiness away. It’s human nature to be unsettled and uncertain and it is not a bad thing.
Whether we want to admit it or not, we all are happy at certain moments in life, but all we say is that we are never happy. There’s always something to inflict with our self-assurance or way of living that makes us nervous, sad or depressed.
And money is indeed one of those factors. Many people need it just to pay for food and shelter and they are happy if it’s enough to provide just that. But others, and I’m not talking here about rich people, they already have some living assurance and need more money for other desires or things they want to buy. And the list can go on and on as we climb social and financial levels one at a time. Everyone wants something, and once they have it it’s not enough or just too much and too stressful to deal with.
In fact, we should be happy just with what we have and stop thinking about money so much. Money is an important factor in achieving stability and eventually even happiness because we let it, we even push it up to that pedestal. Money does not equal happiness, it’s even worse than that: because money exists happiness is harder to reach.
But then again, if not for money, we’d come up with something else that we would let interfere with our life and cause us an infinite diversity of problems…It’s just human nature.
Tuesday, January 16, 2007
Is it more important to enjoy your job than to earn a great deal of money?
An ancient Chinese proverb says: ‘Find a job you enjoy doing and you will not have to work a day in your life’. The meaning is that you will be so busy in enjoying your work that you will not consider it work at all. Certainly this is a realistic statement and we might add that a person who enjoys his job is likely to be happier and a better person than one who sees work as a drudgery or worse still as a necessary discomfort.
Time and again it has been argued by philosophers that the purpose of life is to seek pleasure and to avoid pain. Looking at it in that way, it is obvious that humans automatically look for what gives them pleasure. In that case it must be true that we look for work that we enjoy rather, though they may not pay very well, rather than choose a less enjoyable job which pays well. The argument here sounds simplistic: is this always possible? Can we all find jobs that are indeed enjoyable?
One certainty is that money is also important. There can be little happiness for a person who does not have enough money. For a person to enjoy life he certainly needs money, and if the means of obtaining money is somewhat unpleasant -- like working in a mortuary -- or even difficult -- like working as a manual worker, can we say that he should abandon his job and seek a job that he would enjoy? An immediate difficulty that comes to mind would be that if all of us seek only jobs that are enjoyable, there are jobs that no one will find enjoyable and no one would like to do them. What will happen to the country -- and the world -- if everyone wants to be a musician and no one wants to be a mortician or a coal miner? There certainly are jobs that no one can enjoy doing.
A good suggestion could be that we should learn how to enjoy what we are doing, rather than look for what we would enjoy doing. This may not be as unreasonable as it sounds. It is like saying that if you cannot marry someone you love, then learn to love the person you marry.
It should be easy to learn to love a job that gives you a lot of money. One could think of all the pleasures one could have and realize that it is the job that makes these possible and from there see the hob is actually enjoyable after all. Psychologists tell us that what gives us pleasure is a matter of programming. We have been programmed to listen to a certain type of music; like certain foods and even people. If this is true that would be possible to programme ourselves to enjoy our jobs -- whatever they are. So if there is a well-paying job that we cannot see as enjoyable, but which gives a great deal of money, we can see it as enjoyable.
Hence, we could say that though it is true that enjoying a job is more important that earning money, it would be wonderful if we enjoyed the job and earn a lot of money from it. Enjoying ourselves is a matter of attitude: we can find enjoyment anywhere if we look hard enough. But if given a definite choice that we can have only one or the other, I would agree that enjoying a job is more important than money.
Time and again it has been argued by philosophers that the purpose of life is to seek pleasure and to avoid pain. Looking at it in that way, it is obvious that humans automatically look for what gives them pleasure. In that case it must be true that we look for work that we enjoy rather, though they may not pay very well, rather than choose a less enjoyable job which pays well. The argument here sounds simplistic: is this always possible? Can we all find jobs that are indeed enjoyable?
One certainty is that money is also important. There can be little happiness for a person who does not have enough money. For a person to enjoy life he certainly needs money, and if the means of obtaining money is somewhat unpleasant -- like working in a mortuary -- or even difficult -- like working as a manual worker, can we say that he should abandon his job and seek a job that he would enjoy? An immediate difficulty that comes to mind would be that if all of us seek only jobs that are enjoyable, there are jobs that no one will find enjoyable and no one would like to do them. What will happen to the country -- and the world -- if everyone wants to be a musician and no one wants to be a mortician or a coal miner? There certainly are jobs that no one can enjoy doing.
A good suggestion could be that we should learn how to enjoy what we are doing, rather than look for what we would enjoy doing. This may not be as unreasonable as it sounds. It is like saying that if you cannot marry someone you love, then learn to love the person you marry.
It should be easy to learn to love a job that gives you a lot of money. One could think of all the pleasures one could have and realize that it is the job that makes these possible and from there see the hob is actually enjoyable after all. Psychologists tell us that what gives us pleasure is a matter of programming. We have been programmed to listen to a certain type of music; like certain foods and even people. If this is true that would be possible to programme ourselves to enjoy our jobs -- whatever they are. So if there is a well-paying job that we cannot see as enjoyable, but which gives a great deal of money, we can see it as enjoyable.
Hence, we could say that though it is true that enjoying a job is more important that earning money, it would be wonderful if we enjoyed the job and earn a lot of money from it. Enjoying ourselves is a matter of attitude: we can find enjoyment anywhere if we look hard enough. But if given a definite choice that we can have only one or the other, I would agree that enjoying a job is more important than money.
Goal Setting, Your Road to Success
In order to achieve success, you need to set your goals. Goal setting is a very important factor that determines your path to success. Success is determined and measured by the goals you have accomplished. Here are some tips on how you can set and achieve your goals:
- Put your goals into writing. Make a list of your goals. This will serve as your commitment to the goals that you have set. Studies have shown that goals are more motivating when you put them into writing rather than just enumerating them in your mind. When writing your goals, be sure to include your plan of actions and a timeframe.
- Make a daily check of your goals. Assess yourself regularly based on the progress of your goal setting. Evaluate how many you have achieved. Assess yourself if you were able to accomplish your action plans within the timeframe you have set.
- Take action. A goal is nothing but a dream if you do not do something to accomplish it. Based on your assessment, you can either continue or change your present action plans. If one was not effective, then do find other ways on how you can achieve your goals.
- Be motivated. You may want to share your goals with your family or close friends. They can motivate and support you in achieving your goals. They can also help you in your action plans and even remind you whenever you tend to forget the goals you have set.
- Be determined. Always be confident that you can achieve the goals that you have set. However, it is important that you set goals that are realistic and can be achieved on a specific timeframe. If you set unachievable goals, they may only cause you frustrations.
Tips to Save Your Time
1. Do certain things fewer times
Things that can be done less or things that can be done once instead of twice are those things that will help us save a lot of time. Clean your house once every ten days instead of every 7 days – you can do that, it’s normal and the house won’t get dirty in those three extra days.
Make a work report every six week not every four weeks if possible. Keep meetings to inform yourself on ongoing projects twice a month not every week. And the list of things that can be done fewer times can go on forever.
2. Compete with yourself
Watch the clock and settle to finish an activity by a certain hour. Focus, get rod of anything that could distract you and work more efficiently.
3. Ask more out of 15 minutes
Can you find 15 minutes a day that you could use more efficiently? Is there lost time in your activities? Or maybe a less important activity you can give up on? If you manage to save 15 minutes every day, you will win in fact 91 hours every year!
4. Do a list of little activities that don't take you more than a couple of minutes
Of course, we usually want to deal with the important problems first. But when we feel tired, stressed, in a bad mood, we find it hard to concentrate and we lose our time forcing ourselves. A list of simple activities will help you finalize something and push up your productivity. And obviously it is always better to know you did something, even if it is small, than to realize you haven’t even started anything.
5. Work on a certain project over a certain period of time
Rather than to try and finalize an activity at once, it is better to tell yourself: “ I will work on this for 15 minutes and see how much I can get done during this interval”. Focus and try to do all you can during those 15 minutes. This is an excellent advice to solve problems or projects you avoided lately.
Things that can be done less or things that can be done once instead of twice are those things that will help us save a lot of time. Clean your house once every ten days instead of every 7 days – you can do that, it’s normal and the house won’t get dirty in those three extra days.
Make a work report every six week not every four weeks if possible. Keep meetings to inform yourself on ongoing projects twice a month not every week. And the list of things that can be done fewer times can go on forever.
2. Compete with yourself
Watch the clock and settle to finish an activity by a certain hour. Focus, get rod of anything that could distract you and work more efficiently.
3. Ask more out of 15 minutes
Can you find 15 minutes a day that you could use more efficiently? Is there lost time in your activities? Or maybe a less important activity you can give up on? If you manage to save 15 minutes every day, you will win in fact 91 hours every year!
4. Do a list of little activities that don't take you more than a couple of minutes
Of course, we usually want to deal with the important problems first. But when we feel tired, stressed, in a bad mood, we find it hard to concentrate and we lose our time forcing ourselves. A list of simple activities will help you finalize something and push up your productivity. And obviously it is always better to know you did something, even if it is small, than to realize you haven’t even started anything.
5. Work on a certain project over a certain period of time
Rather than to try and finalize an activity at once, it is better to tell yourself: “ I will work on this for 15 minutes and see how much I can get done during this interval”. Focus and try to do all you can during those 15 minutes. This is an excellent advice to solve problems or projects you avoided lately.
Are You Wasting of Investing Your Time?
Time is the most precious value we have. Time is the greatest equalizer of human beings. If we don’t treat time with respect then we will only have to lose it. It doesn’t matter if you are rich or poor, healthy or sick, you will only be given 24 hours a day either way, and you should try to use them wisely.
Most of the times, we waste our time and energy worrying and thinking about things like how to win more money and how to leave a better life. Well, when we do this we usually forget about the most important think – the time to live our life in. A wise man will always tell you: “You can always make more money, but you can never buy more time”.
How many times are we aware of the ways we invest our time? And the word “investment” is the most accurate because the way we choose to spend our time is a true investment in our own lives and ourselves. And you will never find the true value of time in the way people around you act and talk.
People usually spend time for hours in front of the TV, or they spent a lot of time browsing the net with no purpose whatsoever. Some of us even try to steal more time with the cost of many healthy sleep hours. If you wake up earlier in the morning just to smoke a few cigarettes and to fill your self up with coffee so you won’t feel sleepy it doesn’t mean you won quality time. Also, inefficient work or spending more hours at work than you have to is actually equivalent to lending your life to someone else.
Many of us alway say things like: “I’m just counting the hours to go home” or “I wish it were Friday” and so on. These are just signs showing that these people are actually wasting their time. If we organize our time efficiently and if we choose to do only activities that motivate us somehow, then we will find ourselves able to work everyday without feeling tired or sleepy.
At any moment that you just let time pass by you think about what Romans said:”Carpe Diem” – it has a great meaning for our everyday life, it means “Live the day” or better said “Organize your day”. Make more time to analyze the way you invest or waste your time. And never forget that you can’t tell anything about tomorrow so “Carpe Diem!”
Most of the times, we waste our time and energy worrying and thinking about things like how to win more money and how to leave a better life. Well, when we do this we usually forget about the most important think – the time to live our life in. A wise man will always tell you: “You can always make more money, but you can never buy more time”.
How many times are we aware of the ways we invest our time? And the word “investment” is the most accurate because the way we choose to spend our time is a true investment in our own lives and ourselves. And you will never find the true value of time in the way people around you act and talk.
People usually spend time for hours in front of the TV, or they spent a lot of time browsing the net with no purpose whatsoever. Some of us even try to steal more time with the cost of many healthy sleep hours. If you wake up earlier in the morning just to smoke a few cigarettes and to fill your self up with coffee so you won’t feel sleepy it doesn’t mean you won quality time. Also, inefficient work or spending more hours at work than you have to is actually equivalent to lending your life to someone else.
Many of us alway say things like: “I’m just counting the hours to go home” or “I wish it were Friday” and so on. These are just signs showing that these people are actually wasting their time. If we organize our time efficiently and if we choose to do only activities that motivate us somehow, then we will find ourselves able to work everyday without feeling tired or sleepy.
At any moment that you just let time pass by you think about what Romans said:”Carpe Diem” – it has a great meaning for our everyday life, it means “Live the day” or better said “Organize your day”. Make more time to analyze the way you invest or waste your time. And never forget that you can’t tell anything about tomorrow so “Carpe Diem!”
Monday, January 15, 2007
The Gift
Everyone of us has a bank that credits a large amount of money into our very own accout every morning, but unfortunately it carries over no balance from day to day. Every end of the day, it will delete the balance that you fail to use during the day. Ask yourself, what would you do then? Withdraw every single cent, of course!
The name of this bank is called -TIME. Every morning, it credits you with 86,400 seconds. Every night it writes off whatever you have failed to utilize for the day. It allows no overdraft.
Each day it gives you a new deposit, and each night it burns the remains of the day. If you fail to use the day's deposits, the loss is yours. You are not able to go back, there is no turning back. There is no drawing against the "tomorrow". You must live to the fullest on today's deposits. Invest wisely on your health, relationships, knowledge, dreams, happiness and success!
Tick, tack, tick, tack, ... The clock is running. Make the most out of today. Time waits for no body. Yesterday is history. Tomorrow is a mystery. Today is a gift. This is why it called The Present!
The name of this bank is called -TIME. Every morning, it credits you with 86,400 seconds. Every night it writes off whatever you have failed to utilize for the day. It allows no overdraft.
Each day it gives you a new deposit, and each night it burns the remains of the day. If you fail to use the day's deposits, the loss is yours. You are not able to go back, there is no turning back. There is no drawing against the "tomorrow". You must live to the fullest on today's deposits. Invest wisely on your health, relationships, knowledge, dreams, happiness and success!
Tick, tack, tick, tack, ... The clock is running. Make the most out of today. Time waits for no body. Yesterday is history. Tomorrow is a mystery. Today is a gift. This is why it called The Present!
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