My local jogging path.

I walked with MapMyRun! Distance: 4.90km, time: 50:40, pace: 10:20min/km, speed: 5.80km/h. http://www.mapmyrun.com/routes/view/162330028

Weight Loss

I've just set the goal of losing 500g a week to reach my short term weight loss goal of 82kg. It will take me 12 weeks to lose another 6kg.

Using some made excel skills I calculated what the date of goal would be. 12 weeks from the 31/12/12 is 25/3/12, if I were to start from tomorrow 1/1/13 it will be 26/3/13. My 29th Birthday. I think as a birthday present to myself, I'm going to jog, spin and eat my way to my weight loss goal.

My morning walk.

I walked with MapMyRun! Distance: 3.75km, time: 47:19, pace: 12:36min/km, speed: 4.76km/h. http://mapmyrun.com/view_route?r=824135680983973475

Having trouble getting a job, create one.

Very interesting article on the decline of the 9-5 job. I really think for the foreseeable future employers are going to be reluctant to be locked into an employment relationship with people, but those companies still have problems and if you have a solution to their problem, they may just be willing to pay you to fix it.

http://www.informationweek.com/byte/personal-tech/science-technology/as-mobile-work-rises-9-to-5-jobs-decline/240144579?pgno=1

Beach Day

I'm currently on the Sunshine Coast staying at family home in Noosa. Last night I couldn't sleep because I had been on my computer all night, so I walked down to the beach and sat under the full moon. I can say for a fact if you want the beach to yourself 1.30 am is really good time.

The good news is that I've got through the silly season without putting on much weight. I'm currently around 88kg which is only a little higher than I was before the season started. When I get back to Brisbane I will arrange for a new program to be made up and hit it hard. I just know 2013 is the year, with my masters in hand, looking slim, now is the time.

On Christmas day I applied for a job with a cloud based accounting software company as an accounts manager. Having used both MYOB and Quickbooks I know for a fact that there is significant room for improvement. I don't think it would be too hard to sell the benefits of a single ledger system to accountants or the benefits of point of sales system to businesses. As a person who works between a windows 8 notebook, android phone and tablet. I know the benefits of cloud based computing first hand.

Anyway, this afternoon I'm off to the beach!

A love letter to the ASUS F202.

This year Santa put an ASUS F202 Vivobook in my stocking. At $490 including the extended warranty, it's very cheap alternative to an ultrabook. Only having a celeron chip I thought I was worried that it would be very laggy, fortunately it is running far faster than I would have hoped. My needs are quite simple, I need to blog, use the internet and use Microsoft office.

I was also worried that the screen would be too small. The screen actually isn't that much bigger than a netbooks monitor, however the few extra inches and higher resolution make a significant difference. Things that were hard on my old netbook are easy on this computer. At 11 inches the screen is about the same size a tablet. The touch screen is a really nice touch, the metro interface would seem a bit stupid without it.

The notebook weighs under 2kg and fits nicely into my satchel. It's the perfect size for setting up at cafe and the power cord and can easily be thrown into a bag as it extremely light. The battery life is a disappointing 3 hours and the battery is slow to charge. So it will be important to ensure the notebook is fully charged before taking it out.

Ultimately, if you're looking for an ultrabook experience and can accept some compromises this is a good choice. If money isn't an object then I would suggest spending a few hundred more an get an actual ultrabook.

Merry Christmas All

Hi loyal blog readers,

Just wanted to wish you all a Merry Christmas and a happy new year. This year I finished my Master of Economics Studies and lost 12 kilograms. I'm really excited about next year and hope you all have a great 2013. I will be using the next couple of day to set some goals for the year and to develop my mission statement.

I recently listened to Stephen Covey talk about the importance of mission statements. He used the example of a flight plan, 90% of the time the flight is actually of the plan, but the pilot makes adjustments and continues to work towards the flight plan. The result is the flight arrives at it's destination and most times on time. This is despite the fact that 90% of the time the flight is off track. Think about that, it is possible to be off target most of the time but because your making adjustments towards an ultimate goal you arrive at your destination.

Compare this with having no goals, you have a goal to go nowhere, where are you likely to go. That's right no where.

How to interview like a top MBA

I'm currently reading a book on my kindle called, "How to interview like a top MBA" by Dr Shelly Leanne. It's separated into 10 chapters . Create a great first impression, do your homework in four key areas, use your resume as an effective interviewing tool, demonstrate a fit through your response to key questions, shape the interview with responses to open-ended questions and turnaround questions, address clear weaknesses (without apologizing!), present a strong explanation if you've been out of work, demonstrate business relevance if you're a nontraditional hire, end your interview excellently, follow up, reinforcing a positive and lasting impression.

Of all of the career books I've read this one best prepares candidates for professional interviews. I really like the authors writing style, she provides multiple examples of how to address a question. First a standard answer that isn't terrible but would be pretty typical of candidates and then she provides an alternative, which provides a better example of how questions like, "What is your worst professional failure?" Can be used to sell yourself. Fortunately for economics students the author uses lots of examples that relate to economics.

I would strongly recommend buying this book and then using it as a reference when preparing for up coming interviews. Being well prepared for a job interview is a time consuming process, but candidates need to remember that hiring someone is a significant investment for a business, and nothing else you could be doing with your time will likely earn you thousands of dollars. Ultimately, getting a great job as opposed to settling for something less is going to have  big impact on your life. Do yourself a favour and go into the interview room well prepared.

The book is available through amazon.com

Samsung Galaxy S3 a love letter.

I will state that this is a fanboi post. I love my Samsung Galaxy S3. I use to love my iPhone 4, but this phone is so much better. As a big user of google products it has made my life a whole lot simpler. The phone integrates well into my gmail account and is linked to my google calendar  This allows me to access and alter my calendar on my Acer 501, S3 and pc. While this seems like a minor benefit I remember the trouble I use to have syncing my PDA with my two computers. Having widgets allows me to use my phone much more like a PDA then my old iPhone allowed. I can flick between my agenda, calendar and emails, access myfitness pal app and post on my facebook. I also like the design of the phone, it reminds me of a smart phone and seems more business like then the iPhone.

I am also extremely happy to be rid of itunes, as a big audiobook listener I was worried that I wouldn't be able to effectively manage my audiobooks. This has proven not to be an issue. I use an app called smart audiobook and keep my audiobooks in a separate folder on the phone. Unlike the iPhone all I need to do is drag and drop, I can run MP3s, WMA and will convert other formats. I also use Beyond Podcast to manage my podcast subscriptions, mainly econtalk.

With the highly publicised problems Apple is having with Maps, it's important to note that Google's Navigator is fantastic, it has a 3D view and links with the phone contacts. I found a family members address using the whitepages app, added them to my contacts and then selected them in the navigator. Easy no need remembering address or manually copying them.

I did find two things disappointing. Battery life is short and the phone struggles to get through a fall day of heavy use. I would recommend having a mico-usb cord at the office. The other was the lack of a spellchecker, consider this is an inbuilt feature of android 4.0, it's removal is just dumb. I have replaced the standard keyboard with swiftkey which has mostly solved this problem.

On a final note, I am aware that most of the things I am doing with this phone I could do on my iphone but I have just found it easier and more customizable on android then on iPhone. I guess I just love freedom.

Opportunity

If you are wondering where opportunity is,  it is here.  When to act,  now. Hidden in mundane, tiring, unglamorous are the seeds of greatness. Take ownership of the task and make your mark. - Justin Campbell

Interview Preparation

I recently had the opportunity to interview for a fantastic job. The interview process is still ongoing so I am unsure of whether I will be successful in gaining the position, but I have been told that there were only six people interviewed out of over 100 applications. All people who got through to the interview stage had postgraduate qualifications. However, this was not a requirement for the position and more likely reflects the greater life experience of those candidates. The feedback I received was that the candidates who got through had tailored their coverletters to reflect what was said in the position description. This is advice I constantly give my clients, and is often resisted by them. It is absolutely essential that candidates sell themselves in their coverletters!

My previous article discussed how to prepare for an interview. I spent my evenings before the interview preparing my answers. It's really amazing how hard it is to sell yourself in a pressure situation so have an answer prepared.  So Justin tell me about yourself? Come armed with a story that explains why your past experience has lead you to applying for the position. Zig Ziglar said in Sell your way to the top, "A 'canned' sales pitch allows you the space to be creative for the unexpected." Basically coming ready with answers for the predictable questions, leaves you mental capacity to be creative for the unexpected. If you're thinking on the spot to answer questions like what are your strengths? Or where do you see yourself in five years? You're going to be really exhausted by the time unexpected answers come along!

I had also read the organisation's annual report, my preparation was noticed. For example, I knew the organisation provided a free financial planning service and income protection insurance for casual workers. Come passionate and know that you are capable of doing the position. Say to yourself, Why not me? I am adequate. I am ready. Prepare your interview answers out loud. I did this, sure I sounded crazy in Starbucks but at least I interviewed well. Try to be likeable, on one past occasion I prepared so hard, that there was no way that I wasn't the most prepared candidate but I was so serious, I probably wasn't the most likeable. Team fit is just as important as having the right skills. This could be a barrier for you if you seem to have all the skills but aren't getting the job. 

Also, dress well. I'm no fashion expert but always give serious thought about what you're going to wear. If they don't notice you will, you will feel better looking sharp. I also feel alot better about myself since I lost 12kg, obviously it's a long term goal but looking healthy will help you in life.

Basically, writing good coverletters, preparing for interviews really matters. Also, the role I applied is very close to my ideal job, so the moral is if something seems like your dream job, maybe you're the ideal candidate. Perhaps it's a two way relationship. Just something to think about.

Great interview questions

I'm doing some research on the interview process. I have found an excellent resource in one of my books which breaks the interview process into three Ps, Preparation, Presentation and Performance. Preparation is researching the the company you want to work for, knowing facts about the industry you want to enter and who is conducting the interview. Presentation is deciding what to wear, arriving on time, how you speak and how you carry yourself. Performance is having your interview questions ready and being likable.

Remember convincing the interviewer that you will fit into their team is just as important as having good answers to their questions. Read any career blog or tell people at a party you're a recruitment consultant and you will be faced with questions from people with lots of qualifications, yet can't get work. There is every chance they aren't convincing interviewers that they will fit into the team. Some of this maybe discrimination, but it maybe that they aren't coming across as 'likable' in the interview. It's important to come across relaxed, natural and good humoured. Also, come with your own questions. Ask, what would my average day be like? What does great performance to you look like? Any questions that shows your sincere desire to do the work.

One of the best list of potential interview questions has been developed by Career FAQ:

http://www.careerfaqs.com.au/careers/interview-questions-and-tips/how-to-answer-interview-questions/

Good Luck!

Make Today Count

I've just finished reading John C Maxwell's book, 'Make Today Count". It's a shortened version of his book Today Matters. The book is broken into 12 small chapters 1. Attitude 2. Priorities 3. Health 4. Family 5. Thinking 6. Commitment 7. Finances 8. Faith 9. Relationships 10. Generosity 11. Values 12. Growth.

The book has nothing groundbreaking just common wisdom worth mediating over. The small chapters make it perfect early morning reading. I have previously read another one of his books how successful people think. While that book had some good material in it, I really found this book to be much better.

While I strongly recommend reading the book, I will share the following quote from the relationships chapter:

If you desire to improve your understanding of people so that you can build positive relationships, then keep in mind the following truths about people - and actions you can take to bridge the gap often caused by them:

- People are insecure ... give them confidence.
- People want to feel special ... sincerely compliment them.
- People desire a better tomorrow .. show them hope.
- People need to be understood .. listen to them.
- People are selfish ... speak to their needs first.
- People get emotionally low .. encourage them.
People want to be associated with success .. help them win.   

Toastmasters On Job Interviews

I'm glad I went to gym this morning!

My Daily Ritual

I thought I would write about my daily ritual. Starting the day right is incredibly important. A person can either start the day on a positive note or hide in bed till the very last moment wishing it was the weekend. On my better days, I start by reading a few pages of a book. Currently, I'm reading John C Maxwell's 'Make Today Count'. I then goto the gym do a quick 20 minute work out, then get a coffee on the way to work.

For daily rituals to work preparation is required, the night before I prepare my gym bag, have a shave and get all my clothes read for the next day. Preparation also played a major role in my recent success with my diet. Having meals frozen in the fridge and lunch ready for work played a major role in breaking my old bad habits of eating poorly.

I'm in the process of creating new rituals at work. The day before I check my diary make sure I have a plan for the next days work and when arrive early the next morning I use that time to review the day ahead. All people have 24 hours in the day, it's the only true equality in the world.

Are you working within your circle of influence?

One of the most useful lessons in the 7 Habits of Highly Effective People is the idea of the circle of concern and the circle of influence. We all have both circles. The circle of concern contains issues out of control. What is the economy doing? When will work release the new product? Why won't my relative do this or that? People who ask questions like this and spend most of their time worrying about these questions are responsive. I know people (sometimes myself) who spend most of their time investing their energy into these things. Their life is dictated to by external influences and usually the consequences are negative. Proactive people do the opposite, they focus on what they can do and take responsibility. 

Habit 1 Be Proactive is the exact opposite, you invest your time on those things that are within your control. You spend your time making sure your business or job is ready for the recession. Notice some people even in the mid 2000s couldn't find a job while others in this gloomy economy are being offered dream jobs! They do the best they can with the tools they're provided with. The person who works in the phone shop doesn't wait for the iPhone 5s to be released before trying to make a sale. Proactive people focus on the aspect of their relations they can control, what they do and accept and understand what they cannot.

It takes a high level of maturity to adopt this mindset, to do the work before being paid for it. To focus on what you can do rather than complain. It's very easy for us to spend time talking about what's wrong with the world, our family or our job. It takes a lot of maturity to be nice to the person who isn't nice to you. Or to work hard in a job your don't like. Equally they do this based on the principal of taking responsibility, some people work hard in a job where they are underpaid because they are worked centred and get their sense of importance from work. Or they constantly do nice things for a family member as a way to win approval. I would argue that when people do these things based on reasons other than the principal of taking responsibility they open themselves up to lose-win relationships. 

The principal centred person works hard at the job because they have taken responsibility for it. But the principal centred person knows the relationship has to be win-win. The work centred person gets a high from being the king or queen at work and has no ambition to go beyond the current job they are in. Equally the principal centred person who is dedicated to working within their circle of influence will do what they can to make a relationship work with a difficult parent, spouse or sibling, but they won't allow themselves to be abused or taken advantage of. Where the person who needs that validation from their relative or friend will allow themselves to be abused to give the other person what they want. 

In fact their is an interest phenomenon with the circle of influence. The more a person works in it the more expands. If people spend most their time in the circle of concern. Their influence shrinks. So my challenge for you in the next week is think about an aspect of your life you want to improve. It maybe your work life or a relationship. Come up with a list of things within your circle of concern, then a list of your circle of influence. Spend all of your time on the second list and watch it expand to encompass much of the the circle of concern. 

Circle of Influence vs. Circle of Concern

The 8th Habit Live

The late Stephen Covey's the 8th Habit from Effectiveness to Greatness. Covey presents a 45 minute talk on the 8th Habit. Well worth watching.

Desire

"Desire is the ingredient that changes the hot water of mediocrity to the steam of outstanding success." See you at the top. -  Zig Ziglar

Working on the principal of the farm.

In Stephen Covey's Seven Habits of Highly Effective People he compares work on the farm with work at school. At school it is possible to slack of all term then cram and get the result you want. You may get the grade, the social validation of having completed a certain subject. The farm doesn't work like this, on the farm you must first sow the seeds, then nurture them, only then will you enjoy the harvest.

Well, I just had a real life demonstration of this principle, in my Diploma of Financial Planning, I've been reading through the chapter then sitting the multiple choice exam. Up till now this strategy has worked fine, however I just reached the chapter on superannuation which is significantly more complicated, because I haven't worked through the work book and really studied the material in a serious way. I failed. Lesson learned, for the more advanced modules I need to do the workbook.

Know and value your gifts

I'm currently working my way through Great Work, Great Career by Stephen R Covey and  Jennifer Colosimo. As part of identifying my strengths the book asks, What are my talents/gifts? The  book stresses that sometimes gifts can be difficult to identify as people don't realise their gifts are gifts.  As part this process I developed a list of my talents that include:

• Mathematics/Numbers/Finance/Economics
• Computers/Information Technology 
• Marketing
• Problem solving
• Communication and;
• Time Management. 

It's easy to undervalue gifts, one because they seem so easy to us and second, because we associate with people who also share our gifts. For example, compared to friends of mine, I am relatively poor at mathematics. I'm certainly no calculus wiz. I probably never will be confident enough with the advanced mathematics required for Phd level economic research. By comparing myself with people who have that ability, I have tended to underestimate the value of the talents I do have.  I can create productivity saving tools in Microsoft Excel, I can do financial mathematics and many things beyond the ability of most people. I have in fact used these skills in my current organisation and it is quite probable that I am one of only a handful of people in my organisation capable of developing such tools. While it can be beneficial to be humbled by the ability of others don't let this lead you to undervalue your natural talents or underestimate their value in the marketplace. Know and value your gifts. 

Cultivating an unshakable character - Jim Rohn

I really love this series, Jim Rohn along with Stephen Covey focus on the development of character rather than personality.


 

Career Manual - Know Yourself. Book Review

Regular readers of www.econstudent.org will know I'm a big fan of Amazon and my Kindle. One of the greatest things about Amazon is it allows people who normally would not get published to self-publish books and connect with a global audience. Jonathan Milligan an executive recruitment consultant has written what I think is a very good career book. While most career books tend to focus on how to apply for your next job, resumes, interview skills and so forth. This book all about knowing yourself.

Central to the book is notion of having a vocation. Milligan guides the reader through exercises which will help them discover their vocation. For me I developed the following work purpose statement: "My vocational purpose is to use my analytical ability and creativity to advise and innovate, creating a more dynamic, productive and prosperous society." This vocation can then be used to inform your choice of career. 

I developed the following career statements:

Careers Statements:

Employment Consultant: To work with jobseekers to overcome personal barriers, assisting them to

develop win-win relationships with employers that will result in sustainable on-going employment.

Recruitment: To assist companies to access candidates unavailable on the open job market and

assist both the employer and candidate to develop a win-win employment relationship.

Finance: To maximize the return on capital invested while minimizing risk by ensuring it is invested

where it is most productive.

Economist (Microeconomics): To work with other professionals to create markets for goods and

services, that have low barriers to entry and which are not distorted by unnecessary regulation while

minimizing market failure.

As you can see it's actually possible to work towards a single vocational goal in a whole range of careers. In world where people change careers several times and there is increased uncertainty about the future, having a true north vocational goal is an extremely important concept. From my experience people often get hung up on doing a particular career or even getting a particular job title by having a vocational mission statement the reader is able to open themselves up to other opportunities. 

Milligan also gets the reader to determine their personality type (I was a communicator-planner) and provides exercises so the reader is able to determine what duties in their current job energize them. This exercise in particular has lead me to re-evaluate how I structure my days. I strongly recommend this book for anyone considering what career they are in or even to re-evaluate their current career. 

Career Manual - Know Yourself is available at  http://www.amazon.com/Career-Manual-Yourself-Discover-ebook/dp/B0087GFWG6/ref=sr_1_1?ie=UTF8&qid=1352529883&sr=8-1&keywords=career+manual.

Win - Win Employment Relationships

I've been thinking about the importance of developing sustainable relationships in business. The most important of which is the relationship between the employer and employee. The term sustainability has increasingly become commonplace in our language. However, this term is usually intended to mean what other people do, what corporations do and what government requires us to do. I'm using this term in a very different context, I'm using it in the context of the sustainability of your own livelihood. In the context of the employment relationship sustainability means developing Win-Win relationships. 

As an employment consultant I am constantly discussing with jobseekers and employers what they hope to gain from the employment relationship. The employer is seeking to solve a problem and a get a job done, while minimizing their costs. The jobseeker hopes to maximize his or her income and be employed in a role which they enjoy.  Rarely, does either party give much thought to the needs of the other.

The only relationship that gives both the employer and employee what they want is the Win-Win relationship. The Win-Win relationship is defined by the fact that both parties are benefiting from the transaction. The employee earns income that adequately compensates them for their time and effort while performing a duty that they find rewarding. The employer gains the services of an employee that exceed the full cost of employing the employee. This includes, the cost training, supervision and any financial costs. This relationship is sustainable.

The Loss-Win Relationship is one where the employee is not maximising their income or enjoyment in the role.  This relationship is extremely common. This can occur when an employee gets a promotion without pay, is taken away from duties they enjoy performing for the short term benefit of the workplace. Or where an employee feels trapped in a role that they don't enjoy or feel is underpaid due to the state of the labour market or their own fears. Often, companies fall in the trap of overburdening their better workers or not providing enough growth opportunities for such people.

An example of a Loss-Win relationship happened a few years ago to a friend of mine who realized she was being underpaid and asked for a wage increase in line with a market rates. This person was told that she was an older woman and would not be able to find a better offer. She did, and when the employer finally offered the pay increase, she wasn't interested.

The Win-Loss Relationship is the opposite, In this relationship the employee benefits from pay and conditions that exceed the market value of their work. These kinds of can happen when the employee slackens off or benefits from asymmetric information about their work to do less then they are paid for. These kind of relationships can happen when an employee becomes demotivated and decreases their productivity or in situations where the cost of low productivity can be passed onto a third party. While sometimes employees in a Win-Loss relationship may consider themselves lucky, they are really in an unsustainable position and will in the long-run find themselves far less employable then people who operate on the basis of win-win relationships.

The Loss-Loss relationship is also very common where neither the employer or employee is benefiting from the employment relationship. A common example of this kind of relationship is where an employee has stopped being productive and is unhappy in their position but doesn't find another position. Unfair dismal laws can make it difficult for employers to terminate the employment relationship with such employees. However, this situation is terrible for both parties and I recommend anyone in this situation look for another position or if you're the employer have an honest conversation with the employee and assist them to find another position.

Developing Win-Win relationships is not just something that happens at the beginning of the relationship. It’s a constant ongoing practice. It requires employees to operate with honesty, integrity and diligence. It’s the acceptance of the fact that the only increase in pay and conditions come from increased productivity. Likewise employers needs to create an environment where win-win relationships are possible, people can grow and acceptance that increases in productivity and quality work must be rewarded.

Career Book

I'm considering writing a career guidance book that I would self publish online through Amazon. While there are many good career books I think the Australian ones could be better. So far these are the chapters it will have:

• Building a positive self image.
• Identifying your strengths, transferable skills and selling points. 
• What employers want and how do your past employers see you?
• Finding a suitable career.
• Disability, age or gender - Why these things don't have to matter. 
• Why there is no such thing as a free lunch!
• Education and entry points into industries. 
• Traineeships and Apprenticeships
• Graduate Programs and Internships
• Goal setting: planning your path into your new career. 
• Jobsearching: Networking, social media, recruitment companies and applying online. 
• Selling yourself: Coverletters, Resumes and Selection Criteria. 
• Selling yourself: Develop your elevator pitch and cold canvassing. 
• Selling yourself: Phone Interviews
• Selling yourself:: Job Interviews 
• You've got the job now what? 

This is just a rough outline of the areas I will cover. I may start by writing articles on each of these subjects for this blog that can later be developed into chapters for a book. 

Confession time

I have a confession to make, over the last couple weeks I have fallen of the diet wagon. My weight is up back up to 88 kgs. It's probably going to take a couple weeks of good behaviour to get down to 85kg. So here is my plan to get back on track.

• Don't purchase takeaway. 
• Only eat my planned meals.
• Go to gym everyday doing 60 minutes cardio. 

Building relationships on a positive foundation

I recently had a thought that we build relationships with other people around shared experiences. These can be either positive or negative. Unfortunately, too often we build relationships around negativity. How often have you made friends with other people based on the mutual dislike of another person? Or we find someone we can have a good whinge to about the problems in our life. While sometimes this can be healthy often it can be destructive. Much like Julia Gillard and Kevin Rudd's alliance, these kinds of relationships often don't last and are built on weak foundations. 

Stephen Covey discussed this issue in the 7 Habits of Highly Effective People. He describe us as having emotional bank accounts. We make both deposits and withdraws from these accounts. A really great way to make a deposit into emotional banks account with other people is to defend the person not in the room. So in your group of friends or colleagues if someone puts down another member of the group, be fair to that person, defend them, remember their positive qualities. I know this is hard, I'm going to try a lot harder to actually do this. I have seen it with other people, while you may gain brief popularity with the group by attacking the person not present or partaking in an attack. The people who are uniformly liked and respected are those who defend the person not present. The reason for this is simple, by defending the person not present you are saying to those people present. "You can trust me, I am fair and a person of integrity."

Much like junk food gossip and negativity can be briefly rewarding. Remember you're in life for the long game and by defending the person not present you're building your relationships on solid foundations. 

How to deal with a quarter life crisis?

A guessed post on efinancial careers by my linkedin friend/fellow UNE Econ Grad Giles Dickenson-Jones.

http://news.efinancialcareers.com/au-en/124872/how-to-deal-with-a-quarter-life-career-crisis/

Be grateful for your problems

A quick thought from James A Lovell: "be thankful for problems. If they were less difficult someone with less ability might have your job."

Why hating your job maybe a problem with your mindset.

If you hate your job? If you do watch this!

Something for the mind and body

At beautiful Sandgate reading,See you at the top by Zig Ziglar and having a salted caramel latte chiller.

1 Life

I recently attended a breakfast at 1 Life at Banyo. I was fortunate enough to be invited along to this event as part of my work. Before the talk started I had a Pitt Stop with one of their personal trainers who confirmed I had normal blood pressure but my waist is still too large at 99cm though a significant improvement over the 114cm it use to be. For the record for a man a waist measurements below 94cm are considered healthy.

Healthy food was provided we enjoyed fruit on skewers, chocolate chip and chili muffins, quiches and great coffee. Bruce Sullivan gave us a great speech on being your best self. We then found out about their goal setting weekend being held in February at Mantra on Salt. (Having stayed there I would highly recommend it for a romantic weekend or self help retreat). 1 Life has a gym on site and a cafe Una Vita which I highly recommend. If you are near Banyo I would highly recommend checking it out. http://1lifedoitnow.com/

Positive things about my job

I'm currently listening to a Zig Ziglar audio program on motivation. He tells a story where a woman comes up to him crying saying, "A hate my job!" He asks her to list all the things she likes about her job.I actually quite like my job but it never hurts to focus on the positive. So here is my list:

• The pay me for working there.
• It's in a good area.
• It has a lot of variety.
• I am able to help people.
• I have significant responsibility.
• I get to leave the office.
• I get to work with business owners.
• I can foster personal responsibility in others.
• I get to meet interesting people.
• I get to help people with disabilities and mental illness. 
• I get to deal with policy and procedures.
• I get to sell and use my marketing skills.

I suggest you come up with a list of the things you like about your job. Don't let the negativity of the office get you down, starting working in your dream career today! 

Timely article from the WSJ on blogging about work.

http://online.wsj.com/article/SB10000872396390443995604578003082273743230.html?mod=googlenews_wsj

Manage your energy, not your time

I recently purchased a book for my Kindle called HBR's 10 Must Reads on Managing Yourself (with bonus article "How Will You Measure Your Life?" by Clayton M. Christensen). Included in this book was an article called Manage your energy, not your time. This great article from 2007 provides some basic but hard to apply ideas on how to increase your energy level.

We all have read the articles on how people who work 10 hours a day are no more productive then those that work 8 but this article provides good advice on how to get maximum performance out of those days. I haven't started yet but I'm going to see if I can increase my energy levels. I would however add one thing to their list. Do exercise in the morning. I often don't, but when I do I feel great.

Welcome to my new blog

Believe it or not www.econstudent.org is nearly a year old. I am fully convinced of the value of blogging as a self education tool. By blogging I have been forced to articulate my views while putting them into written form. I have read many books that were not on my university's reading list and have discovered many resources on the internet that are freely available. I will continue to my education in economics and econstudent.org will be the place where I document that journey.

I am however, starting a new chapter of my life. I have finished my Master of Economic Studies and have decided for the time being to put on hold further formal education in economics. I am currently studying a diploma of financial planning, focusing on losing weight and using my new found free time to undergo some personal development.

I feel that econstudent.org should remain a resource for econ students and for general discussions of economics. By having this blog it will also allow me to separate blog posts that focus on political philosophy from the less controversial posts about generally accepted concepts in economics.  This blog which will soon be www.justincampbell.info. Will be the place where I share my thoughts on the recruitment, personal development, health and fitness and any other issues I wish to discuss. Of course this blog really is not for you the reader as it as a tool for me to learn. I hope in the coming year that this blog will prove as helpful to my personal development as econstudent.org has been to my development as a student of economics.

To start with I will list my recent personal achievements:

1. First was completing my masters of economic studies with a grade point average of 5.22 and an overall percentage of 70% This is significantly better than my GPA from my Bachelor degree.
2. Reducing my weight from 99kg to 85.8kg a weight I have not been since I was 23. In the next six months I hope to reduce this weight to 78kg.
3. Meeting some wonderful new friends especially those I have met through the libertarian movement.
4. Succeeding in my current career as an employment consultant by helping my clients find employment.  

My goals for the next 12 months:

1. Continue my weight loss journey by reducing my weight to 78kg.
2. Start a new career in an area more relevant to my education. 
3. Complete a diploma of financial services
4. Build stronger relationships with my friends and to meet new people.
5. Become a more generous person.
6. Become more financially secure and successful. 
7. Continue my informal studies in economics and develop www.econstudent.org
8. Partake in at least one cultural, political or education event a month.