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.