Tips for working in IT

I met an old friend of mine the other day, for the first time in about 8 years, meeting him by accident in Woolworths where he works. He told me that he'd just quit his job on a Helpdesk because Woolworths paid him more. Apart from being highly sceptical about that, I asked him a few questions and ended up finding out that he just couldn't handle the IT life.

I know it can be pretty tough, and it's not for everyone. I've spent around a decade in IT, and I've learnt a few things over the years about how to get along in the office. Here's a few of them - if you work on a helpdesk or in systems administration then maybe these rules will help you too.

1: Don't be the user's friend!

Don't share any of your personal life with them, because if you do they'll start thinking you're their friend. This is bad, ok? Because what happens when someone who isn't actually a friend thinks that you're their friend? They call you personally, bypassing procedures, and ask for special favours to help fix their problems. Being their 'friend' just gives you more headaches and more work. So Rule 1 - don't be their friend.

2: Forget about being too polite.

Sure, be civil and all that, because you don't want to annoy them. But 'brown nosing' politeness can be perceived as a sign of insecurity or weakness. You're the one in control, not them. They need you - you don't need them. So don't be too polite, or you could end up being someone's 'bitch'.

3: Never be always available.

This is very important. If you always drop everything in order to help someone, then that's what they'll come to expect. This doesn't do you any good, because then they'll get annoyed at you for not always being there for them. You have a job too, and you have your own responsibilties and tasks. The less you're available, the more they'll respect that you're a busy man, and then when you DO make yourself available to them, the more they'll appreciate it. Give yourself some space.

4: Don't accept a job without the proper process being followed.

If someone bypasses the helpdesk and calls you to ask for something to be fixed, ask them to log it with the helpdesk first. You'll fix it when it comes to you through the system, and that's all. Don't accept or encourage shortcuts, as this only encourages them to take advantage of your 'friendship' (see Rule 1).

5: Document everything that you do.

Users don't always tell the truth, and some of them will lie or speak with ignorance. If you haven't documented what you've done or why, then it's your word against theirs. Electronic documentation about what you do with a job helps cover your arse.

6: Don't make eye contact with those you don't want as your 'friend'.

Making eye contact with someone is a great way to encourage them to talk to you. You don't want to do this, because what will they talk to the IT support guy about? That's right - the problems they're having with their computer. Or they'll chat with you for ages, preventing you from getting back to doing some real work. If you can't avoid making eye contact with people, try going a different route where others don't go.

7: You are your manager's equal.

You're all human beings, and they were once in the same situation as you - being on the lower end of the ladder. Don't let their egos take control. Treat them like you would any other workmate. Call them 'man', 'mate', or even 'dude'. Don't put them on any pedestals and encourage them to believe they're better than you. Don't take any crap either. If they want to be a power tripping Nazi all over your arse, tell them to back off. Of course, make sure you're doing a good job. Which leads me to....

8. Do a great job! You have to make sure you're doing a bit better than just 'average' with your work if you want the respect from your managers and colleagues that will allow you to follow the above tips. Use your initiative to see where things can be improved and try to improve them. Make sure all your work is done within deadlines, and offer to do the work of others, as long as you know you can do it easily. The more you do, and the more you're noticed doing it, the more respected you'll be. This leads to promotional opportunities, allowing you to get more money and move away from doing the stuff you really don't like to do.

9. If you don't like it, do something else. This is another golden rule. If you're not enjoying your work, quit before they fire you, because your lack of enjoyment or enthusiasm is only going to show up in the quality of your work - or, more likely, your lack of work. Find a different career, or a different department where you'll be doing different work. It'll save your mental health, and it can save your career too.

I hope you've found some value in these tips. They're things that have worked very well for me over the years. All the best with your own attempts to follow them.

Do you know what you want?

Like many people you might be drifting through life, doing what you think you should be doing, but deep down inside you know you're not doing what you want to do. You're not even sure if you KNOW what you want to do!

Inside of you there’s like to be a state of confusion about what you want. The confusion goes something like this:

“I want A. But these other people think that B, C and D would probably be best for me. They know me pretty well, so maybe I should listen to them. And then my work wants me to do E... They know me pretty well too. But now I’m not so sure if I want A, B, C, D or E. And then there’s this whisper of F over here by another of my friends…”

And by the time you get to F you’ve forgotten about A.

Here's what you need to do to get past this confusion. You need to sit down with yourself, by yourself, and write down all the things that are important to you. Be honest with yourself - maybe for the first time in your life. Do it alone so that no one else can distract you or give you suggestions about what they think is good for you. Be honest with yourself in order to write down all the things that are important to YOU.

When you can work out what is important to you, you can then start working on a plan to bring those things into your life. And remember - you need to do this for yourself, not for anyone else. They're not the ones living your life. They're not the ones who are getting nowhere with their suggestions. You are. So start taking back control of your life.

You’ve been doing things other people want or suggest because you want to ‘fit in’ and be ‘liked’ or ‘appreciated’ or ‘respected’. But where has it gotten you? It’s gotten you nowhere, that’s where.

It’s time you started working on doing things differently. If the way you’ve been doing things – and the reasons why – hasn’t been working so far, then you need to start creating the discipline to do things differently.

Make the decision to start now.

Tips for a better life

1. Give people more than they expect, and do it cheerfully.

2. Marry a man or woman you love to talk to. As you get older, their conversational skills will be as important as any other.

3. Don't believe all you hear, spend all you have, or sleep all you want.

4. When you say "I love you," mean it.

5. When you say "I'm sorry," look the person in the eye.

6. Be engaged at least six months before you get married.

7. Believe in love at first sight.

8. Never laugh at anyone's dreams. People who don't have dreams don't have much.

9. Love deeply and passionately. You might get hurt, but it's the only way to live life completely.

10. In disagreements, fight fairly. No name calling.

11. Don't judge people by their relatives.

12, Talk slowly, but think quickly.

13. When someone asks you a question you don't want to answer, smile and ask, "Why do you want to know?"

14. Remember that great love and great achievemetns involve great risk.

15. Say "Bless you," when you hear someone sneeze.

16. When you lose, don't lose the lesson.

17. Remember the three R's: Respect for self, Respect for others, and Responsibility for all your actions.

18. Don't let a little dispute injure a great friendship.

19. When you realise you've made a mistake, take immediate steps to correct it.

20. Smile when picking up the phone. The caller will hear it in your voice.

21. Spend some time alone.

A true friend is somene who reaches for your hand and touches your heart. Share this message with your friends.

10 reasons you aren't rich

Everyone wants to be rich, but is everyone doing what they need to be doing to get there? What are the rich doing that you aren't? Well, here's a few reasons you aren't rich... if you start doing the opposite of these, then you'll start doing what the rich do, and you'll become one of them before you know it.

1. You care what your neighbours think. Keeping up with them wastes your money. Is it really that important to have better things than them? What could you save by putting it into the bank instead?

2. You aren't patient. Using credit cards to get today what you could save up for and get tomorrow costs you interest. This is money which you could have saved if you'd paid cash - or chose not to get it.

3. You have bad habits. Smoking, drinking, gambling... these cost money to maintain. Smoking increases your insurance rates, and causes other health risks which cost you money. Have a good hard look at what you're doing and see if you can work out how much money you'd save if you stopped doing it.

4. You have no goals. I once had someone say in a wealth building seminar, "If you fail to plan, then you're planning to fail." It's that simple folks. If you don't have anything to aim for, you're going to drift through life achieving nothing. You need goals to attain your wealth, with savings, investments, etc. And then you need to do what it takes to achieve those goals.

5. You haven't prepared. When you don't have any goals, you show that you're not thinking of your future. This is also reflected by not being prepared for bad things happening. If you don't have savings or an emergency fund in case of emergencies, what are you going to do when you actually have an emergency?

6. You try to make a quick buck. The desire to get rich quick will be the same as the desire you have to invest: if it doesn't give you instant rewards, you lose interest. Hello! This is the rest of your life we're talking about. If you don't think long term, you lose. Stop looking for quick bucks that don't work, and start looking for the slow millions that'll be there for you when you retire.

7. You rely on others to take care of your money. Because you have no money, you believe that those who do have money have more knowledge about it, so give it to them to invest for you. Unfortunately, the only reason they have money is because they take yours and use it for themselves. Listen to people's advice, by all means, but in the end you need to make your own decisions about your money and where it's going to be invested. It's your money - manage it wisely.

8. You invest in things you don't understand. You hear that Bob's made a lot of money from something, and you want to make some money too. If Bob can do it, so can you. Right? Wrong. Bob knew what he was doing, and researched it for months. He understood what he was getting into, and how to maximise his returns. You're not going to have a clue, and that's why you'll lose the money.

9. You're financially afraid. You're so afraid of losing your money that you avoid all possible scenarios where you might end up losing it. The result is that you don't lose what you have, but you don't make any more either. In order to make money, you have to risk losing it. Success comes from understanding what your risks are and minimising them so you benefit from the results.

10. You ignore your finances. You believe that if you make enough money, the finances will take care of themselves. If you currently have debt, you believe that making more than you spend will eventually resolve those debts in the future. By ignoring your finances, you have no control over them. How are you going to get anywhere? It takes planning to become wealthy, and when you plan, you need to be in control of all factors so that you can ensure your plan succeeds.

It's probably not just one of the above that's prevented you from becoming wealthy... it's more likely a combination of some of them. You need to take a long, hard look at the list and your own life, and see where you can improve what you're doing.

Being a millionaire requires you to start thinking like one now. How would a millionaire act? How would they manage their money? What would they be doing?

Start doing it.

Thanks to TheStreet.com.

How to find your passion

I talk a lot about doing what you're passionate about, but you might have some concerns about how to find what it is you're passionate about. Maybe these tips will help you.

1. Is there something you already love doing?

A lot of people are already doing what they're passionate about, but they don't realise that it's something they could possibly turn into a money-making venture. I work in IT with computers and software, for example. I got into this field because I love playing with computers and software, so working with them is, as far as I'm concerned, working my hobby. I love what I do, and I do what I love.

If you can list all the things that you love doing, that you're passionate about, then you've just completed the first step in finding out how to make money from something you love doing. If you love reading comic books, for example, then maybe you could think about opening a comic book store. The possibilities are endless - but you have to start by looking at what you already love doing.

2. What do you spend hours reading about?

Whatever it is that you enjoy reading is something that you could possibly turn into careers. It's said that if you read a topic for half an hour a day, within a year you're an expert on that topic. Look at how you can turn your expert knowledge into something that can make you money.

3. Brainstorm.

If you're stuck working out what you're passionate about, then start writing down all the things that you do or have done in the past. Anything that comes to mind, write it down. And then, when you've finished that, write out another list of all the things that you would love to do but never had a chance to do. Look around you for inspirations in what you read, what you do as a hobby or your current career, or even what you enjoy on tv. Write everything down, and evaluate them later.

Once you've written down everything you can think of, go through the list and do the same as in #1. Start exploring how you can turn some of these things you enjoy into passions that you can make money from.

4. Ask around. Get some feedback from other people about what they think you'd enjoy doing. You can get some good ideas from how others perceive you and what they think your passions are.

5. Google is your friend.

Search Google for websites or topics related to your interests, your hobbies, even any of your money-making ideas. Once you start searching, you'll be amazed at the amount of information out there that can help you learn more about ways of turning your passion into your career.

6. Don't quit your job yet.

If you find your passion and you get excited about the possibilities and the opportunities, don't hand in your resignation straight away! It's always a good idea to stay in your job while you research the possibilities available to you. If you can do your passion as a side job and build up the income from it for a few months or a year, then that's what you should do.

7. Give it a try first.

A good plan is to try it for a while until your passion is consistently, month after month, earning you the same amount as your job. When that happens, you can choose to give up your day job and focus on your passion.

You might find that you'll be passionate about it for a few days or a few weeks, but then after a while, you'll find something else to do. This will show you whether or not it's a passion or just an exciting idea. So you can disregard it and continue looking. That's why you shouldn't quit your day job!

8. Do as much research as possible.

You'll need to know as much about your passion as you possibly can. If you've been doing it for a while, you might already know all that you need to. But still, do more research. Work out how you can turn it into a career, and discover everything you need to know to make that happen. Learn about others who already do it. How much do they make? What do they do to succeed at it? How did they get started? What skills have they needed to develop? What tips do they have for you? You'll often find people quite happy to give you information and advice about what they do and how you can do it too.

9. Practice, and practice, and then practice some more.

Don't go into it with an amateur skill level. You want to make sure you're one of the best - if not the best - at what it is you've chosen to do. If you want to maximise the amount of money you want from it, then the more you know and the more experience you have, the better. Practice for hours and hours. Do it every day, as much as you possibly can. If it's something you love, you shouldn't have a problem with this.

10. Never quit.

If you can't find what you're passionate about, just keep trying. You're passionate about something, or you have been - even if you have to remember back to what you used to do at school. Keep searching for your passion, and never give up, even for months if necessary.

If you think you found a passion but it turned out to be a dud, that's fine. Cross it off the list and move on to the next one! Keep trying to turn your passions into careers. The more you love what you do, the more you'll succeed at it, and the more you'll earn from it.

There's going to be more than one passion in your life and throughout your lifetime. Don't give up trying to find it and make something from it. You're possibly going to have to work hard to find your passion, but once you do, the 'hard work' will be over. The rest of it will be a breeze!

Do what you love, and you'll never be 'working' again.

Thanks to Lifehack.org.

Important Qualities For Men

I believe there are 3 important qualities men need to have, and these qualities form the underlying foundations of everything that makes us who we are. Developing these qualities, if you don't already have them, will bring you success in your dates and relationships with women.

1. Humour
2. Confidence
3. Respect
   

Humour

We're often funny with our friends, but we find it difficult to be funny with women we're dating, especially first dates. Why? This is usually because we're not feeling 'natural' around them. We feel we're being analysed about everything we do, and that creates pressure. How many of us can be funny under pressure? Very few. How can you be funny when you feel so much is riding on how you look and act? Our attitudes about how we look to women affect how we 'perform' on a date. In trying not to screw up the date, we often... screw up the date! Being funny is directly related to having....

Confidence

Women like a confident man. They like to feel that the man they're with is in control; that no matter what happens, he is going to have a plan of action that will calmly deal with the situation. Women want to be with a man who knows he's a man, who knows what he wants, and isn't afraid of doing whatever he needs to do to get it. Of course, that leads on to...

Respect

Without respect, there's nothing. If you don't respect the woman, she's not going to respect you. And if you don't respect yourself, how are you going to expect her to respect you? Having respect for yourself means you take care of yourself. You appreciate who you are and the life you have. You value what you have achieved, and what you want to achieve. Having respect for others, especially the women you're interested in, means that you value their life, and their beliefs, and their attitudes. You value the contribution they make to other people and to yourself. You respect who they are and the rights they have as a person, just like you. As you treat yourself with respect, so shall you treat them with respect.

Putting It All Together

When you are confident within yourself, how you look to others doesn't matter. And really, how you look to another person is less important to them than how they look to you! As long as you treat yourself with respect, and dress and feel accordingly, they'll be happy. If being with you is not likely to embarrass them, you've got nothing to worry about! When you can feel good about yourself regardless of other people's opinions, then you can find the natural humour within you. You can laugh at the mistakes you make, and even at the mistakes other people might make. You can find humour in most things that occur, and this makes you more attractive. By not being hung up on how you look, and not caring if you're being analysed, you become a better person to be around. You're not uptight, you're funnier and more relaxed. This is your goal. To achieve the goal, you have to stop caring. Stop caring about what she thinks of you. Care only about what YOU think of you! If you think highly of yourself, then so will she. (Don't think so highly of yourself that you forget to respect and appreciate HER value! Thinking too highly of yourself is arrogant, and definitely not attractive.)

Summary

When you can respect her for who she is, then she will respect you in return. When you begin to develop confidence in yourself, humour will come more naturally to you. And the golden rule is: if you can make her laugh, she's yours. Women like to be respected, and they like to laugh and have a good time. They do NOT like to be around someone who is uptight. They want to be appreciated by a man who knows who he is and what he wants. Develop these qualities, and you will not only become more successful with women, but you'll also stop caring if you're NOT successful! Because if they don't like you simply for who you are, then you don't need them in your life anyway.

Top 10 Productivity Hacks

Not only am I a procrastinator, but I'm also quite often very unproductive. They go hand in hand. If you're the same, and you'd like to be more productive but not really sure how to get started, then these tips will be useful for you. I know they're useful for me!

1. Do what you're passionate about. This usually goes without saying, of course. If you're not passionate about something, then you're just not going to have any interest in it. So if you want to start being more productive, find something that you love doing, whether that's with your work or at home.

2. Get off the internet as much as you can. The internet is a huge waste of time when you have things you want or need to do. Checking your email, browsing the latest news feeds, chatting with a friend on IM... these waste your time and prevent you from pulling your finger out and getting to work. Close down your email and IM programs if you have to work on the computer, otherwise just close the computer. You'll be amazed at how much work you get done without those distractions.

3. Get the tough things out of the way first. You know what they are, they're the ones you've been dreading, that you just can't bring yourself to do. But you know you have to do them eventually... so just do them now. Get them out of the way first thing in the morning and you don't have to worry about them later!

4. Avoid unnecessary work. You're only productive when you're working on things that move you towards a goal. Anything else is wasting your time. Get rid of the unimportant tasks from your to-do list, and start saying no to new requests that don't move you towards your goals.

5. Avoid ineffective meetings. Again, if a meeting isn't moving you forward on your goals, you don't need to be there. Read more about this here: 7 tips to avoid pointless meetings.

6. Get to work earlier. Getting there before everyone else starts allows you to get more work done before they all start providing you with distractions. In the peaceful quiet of the morning, you'll be amazed at how much you can get through before everyone else arrives.

7. Clean up your workplace. If you've got a clean and tidy workplace you can focus more on the tasks you need to work on, without worrying about finding something amidst the disorganised chaos of a messy desk. You can find more tips here: 4 tips to keep your desk clean.

8. Simplify the information that comes to you. Think about everything you read - email, blogs, newsletters, rss feeds, mailing lists, magazines, and more - and edit them brutally. How much is really necessary for you to achieve your goals? Keep them and get rid of the rest. You'll thank yourself for it later when you find yourself more productive than you've ever been!

9. Wake up early. Work out what you want to do in the morning before you head off to work, and build your morning routine around that. Exercise, eat breakfast, check email.... give yourself the time to do these things when you're without the distraction of phones and other people. If you can get the most important things done as early as you can, then the rest of the day's going to be a piece of cake.

10. Take care of the most important things first. These are the things that you HAVE to accomplish that day, which take priority over anything else. Do them first, so that 1) they're out of the way, and 2) you can get to the easier and less important things afterwards. If you leave them to the end of the day, you'll run out of time and not get them done. Change your habits, do them first!

Thanks to Zen Habits.

16 tips to get that dream job

If you're feeling a little stuck in your current job, or if you're looking for a new job, or if you haven't even had a job yet, then you might find some value in these tips on how to get your dream job. Have a look at Essential Tips For Getting That Dream Job where you can get all the information on these tips:

1. Talk to your contacts.

2. Make some new contacts.

3. Make your resume clean, simple and error free.

4. Read, study and practice How to win friends and influence people.

5. Do your homework on the company.

6. Do your homework on the interviewer.

7. Dress appropriately for the interview.

8. Be clean, and value your personal appearance.

9. Look the interviewer in the eye when you meet them.

10. Shake hands firmly (but not a death grip).

11. Cut the profanity and slang out of your language.

12. It's not about you, it's about them.

12. Get the interviewer's business card - or the card of everyone who interviews you.

14. If you can, note something positive about each interviewer on the back of their business card.

15. Close positively.

16. Send an emailed thank you after the interview.

Good luck!

10 tips to create a breakthrough in your working life

If you're just not getting anywhere at work then these 10 tips might help you out.

1. Refuse to accept conventional answers or comforting assumptions. If you want to develop then you need to sceptical of quick solutions without effort. They're usually 'band-aid solutions' that provide only temporary relief.

2. Take risks. Without risk there's no reward, so if you want the rewards, you've got to take the risks. What's the worst that can happen... you'll fail, right? Well, everyone fails at some point. You WILL fail at something, some time. So risk the failure so that you can get the reward? If you don't succeed, try again. The world loves someone who at least tries. The ones that don't, fade into obscurity, never having done what they really wanted to do.

3. Don't look for answers - look for questions. They help you discover more, and help you avoid getting comfortable. They inspire you to greatness.

4. Become a specialist in asking stupid questions. Lots of people are afraid of asking what they think is a stupid question, and they don't want to 'rock the boat'. As a result, however, they never get anywhere. If you can ask the questions that others can't, then you're going to discover what they never will - success.

5. Keep an open mind. You never know when an idea will come to you, or you'll meet someone with an opportunity that could change your life completely. Don't create boundaries by thinking you know what's good for you, and what you can ignore. Life doesn't throw neatly labelled opportunities at you, you have to look for them in the strangest places.

6. Be who you are. It's only the insecure that try to be like someone else. If you stick to your unique and authentic self, you're not going to stand out from the crowd. Learn from others, but don't try to be anything but the best you can be.

7. Make mistakes joyfully. The person who's afraid to make mistakes is the person who's afraid to do anything. You're not always going to get it right the first time, but if you never try, you'll never get it right at all. Learn to be happy, to experience joy, every time you make a mistake, because it's only helping you learn how to do it better, and eventually you will get it right.

8. Dare to let go. To become the best you an be it's important to let go of those things that you're holding on to, which are holding you back. Allow yourself to grow, to forgive the wrongs of your past, to break through your comfort zones. If you lack the courage to let go, you'll never make any breakthroughs. Don't hold on to your achievements. Let go of them and seek out new achievements. It's all part of the breakthrough cycle.

9. Ignore your inner critic. Your own negativity is your worst enemy. Listening to all those 'what if' statements won't help you achieve your breakthroughs. 'What if it goes wrong? What if I get embarrassed?' Anything that has a 'what if' attached is your inner critic trying to keep itself safe and avoid failure. But avoiding failure by listening to the 'what ifs' also avoids success.

Be successful. Achieve breakthroughs at work. Become the best you can be. You'll thank yourself for it!

Go to part 2.

Thanks to Lifehack.org.

Guide to personal finance

Many people don't know how to manage their finances, and they're in debt or just have no money, living from payday to payday. If this is you, then you could probably start changing your life for the better by managing your finances better. The young adult's guide to personal finance is a good place to start, especially if you're young, with plenty of tips that will help you. Some of my favourites include:

General tips
1. Maintain a budget to monitor how much and on what you're spending.
2. Pay yourself first.
5. Pay your bills on time!
8. Set financial goals for yourself.

Shop wisely
14. Compare prices to get the best value.
15. Cut and use coupons.
17. Avoid eating out all the time!

Monitor your money
22. Use cash instead of credit cards.
23. Get the best deal!
28. Never bounce checks.
30. Be selfish - never co-sign loans for other people.

Maintain your car
39. Drive safely.
40. Take care of your car.

The importance of insurance
45. You need health insurance.
46. Insure your home.

Making the most of your Education and Career
52. Know your worth.
53. Love your job.
54. Use all the benefits offered by your employer.

The art of investing
59. Invest your spare cash.
61. Plan for your retirement.

Everyone loves a few freebies
62. Get money that's owed to you.
65. Ask merchants for coupons and discounts.

Know your blog's readers

If you have a blog and you want to attract readers and keep them on your site, there's a few things you'll need to understand about blog readers. Here's 10 traits that are typical of blog readers. Understanding your readers will help you create a blog that attracts and keeps more of them.


1. They're always clicking, looking for something interesting. If they don't find it within 5 seconds, they're clicking somewhere else.

2. They don't like to be forced into doing things that they see no value in.

3. Their personalities are varied, and they don't fit into a common category of 'blog readers'. While they might enjoy reading blogs, they might also enjoy playing football, but that doesn't make them 'football players'.

4. Some of them are actually blog spammers. They're the ones that bring no value to your comments section, and are instead trying to advertise something. You don't need or want them, but they're there anyway.

5. They even have addictions. Maybe your blog could be something they can become addicted to... Finding out their favourite blogs can help you determine the content that they'll read more of.

6. They have to be hooked every time you write. Because they're always clicking (see #1) you have to keep their interest in every post. One post that's interesting doesn't make for an interesting blog, but if every post is, then you're going to have more readers hooked and addicted to each post.

7. They refuse to tolerate fakes. If you lose their trust, then you lose them. Be authentic with your posts.

8. They love lists, but not if they're unexplained or unresearched. Even if you get your lists from somewhere else, make sure you include an explanation of the list, maybe even a personal example of why the list is good for you and why you're sharing it. Make sure the list is worthwhile.

9. They have a voice too. Just like your blog is your voice, the comments they leave on your blog are their voice. Remember that they might know what they're talking about - since they do read a lot - and they might just be happy to correct you where you're wrong or mistaken on something. Listen to what they say, it'll only help you become better at what you're trying to do.

10. They'll be appreciative of your attempts to provide them value. If you show that you know what you're blogging about and the readers you're blogging for, they'll thank you for appreciating them, and hang around a bit more.


If you have any more tips of your own, please add them in a comment.

9 tips for financial improvement

There's a lot of things you can do to improve your financial situation that's just common sense, but so many people are too caught up in the drama of their lives that they're unable to see what the common sense solution might be. When something feels incredibly complicated, then they believe that only incredibly complicated solutions will fix the problem. It's just not true though.

What is true is that some of these tips for improving your situation will take discipline, and that's probably the hardest thing about them.

1. Always pay into savings first.
   There's a common acceptance that you should be saving 10% of your income. You should make this the first bill you pay from every pay check. Set up an autopayment from your bank that transfers 10% of your income into a savings account every time you get paid. Try to ensure that the savings account is a high interest account and that you can't wthdraw from it without at least 24 hours notice, to help break the cycle of impulse spending.
   
   
2. Control impulse spending.
   This is probably the biggest problem for most of us. Eating out, shopping, online purchases... Lots of small items added up equal a big problem. Start by analysing your bank statement over the past month. See where you're spending your money on eating out, etc, and start to limit your budget for those items.
   
   
3. Evaluate your expenses and work out where you can cut back. If you've been spending $10 a day buying lunches, maybe you can cut back by taking your lunch every second day. Start changing your habits. If, for example, you don't buy your lunch two times a week, that's a saving of over $1000 a year. That $20 a week could be put into a debt you have, which would make it go away that much quicker....
   
   
4. Eliminate debt.
   Credit cards, personal loans, hire purchases, or other debts... you need to get rid of them. The easiest way to do this is to list your debts with your smallest monthly payments at the top and work your way down to the largest monthly payment at the bottom of the list. Now look at the debt at the top. It might be $20 a month. Pay twice that amount! Instead of paying only $20 a month, pay $40. Pay even more if you can afford it. Once that debt is paid off and you have that extra $40 per month, put it towards the next debt on your list. Once that's paid off, put the total towards the next debt.... Before you know it, your snowballing monthly amount has paid off all your debts and you'll be debt free. Congratulations! This might take a few years, but your debts will be paid off much quicker with this method than with any other method. Instead of taking 10 years, it might take 5, and you can then use your newfound monthly wealth to invest in something that will improve your life rather than drain it.
   
   
5. Invest in your future.
   You might not think about retiring if you're young, but it's going to be important to you one day. The sooner you start investing in your retirement, the less you'll have to worry about it as you get older. The growth of your investments only increases over time, so the earlier you start, the more you'll have when you retire. Research your options, but do it now. The more time you waste, the less money you'll have, and you'll only be kicking yourself when you're old, unable to work, and have no money to support yourself with.
   
   
6. Keep your family secure.
   You need an emergency fund for... that's right, emergencies! This is separate from your savings account. Your emergency fund should be equal to at least 6 months worth of your wages. If you're unable to work, or you need the money for an emergency, it'll be there waiting for you to use, and your savings won't be impacted at all. If you have a spouse or other dependents, then you should ensure you have life insurance and a will, so that if something happens to you they - and your investments - will still be cared for. Do it today.
   
   
7. Pay bills immediately or by automatic payment through your bank.
   If you can get all the regular bills and expenses out of the way as soon as possible, then you'll have less on your mind to worry about. It also helps ensure your credit rating is secure, which is important when you want to invest more of your money. If you're late paying bills, then you become a potential risk to anyone that you approach for an investment loan. And you don't want that. Keep your bills paid!
   
   
8. Be on the lookout for opportunities to grow your net worth.
   Do whatever you can to increase your net worth, either by reducing your debt, increasing your savings, increasing your income, or increasing your investments. Or all of the above! Look for new ways to make money, or to increase the money that's available to you. Calculate your net worth each month and do what you can to make it grow. You'll feel great about it!
   
   
9. Read about making money.
   The more you can learn about how to make money and improve your life, the better off you're going to be. And don't wait until tomorrow. Start now. Educate yourself - you're the greatest investment of your life.

4 tips to keep your desk clean

If you're like me, then your desk is always cluttered with papers, bills, books and other miscellaneous items that you just haven't gotten around to dealing with yet. Some people call it 'organised chaos', 'cause it's certainly chaotic but at least you know where everything is, right?

But the problem is, you might know where things are, but how aware are you of the urgency some things have? If they're lying in a disorganised mess and you don't get around to looking at them for weeks, then you might miss the due date for a bill. Or you might miss the deadline for a project. Or you might miss the vet's appointment and your pet dog dies due to your neglect.

Sure, the last one's a bit of a stretch, but I'm sure you get my meaning. Sometimes you just need to keep on top of things, and leaving papers lying around for weeks or more is certainly not the right way to do it. So here's a few tips to help you get yourself organised.

1. Put everything on your desk into a single pile. Put it into an 'in tray', or in a big pile next to your desk. Make sure your desk is now spotless of all paperwork, etc.

2. Start dealing with each item in that pile. Now that you've got your life piled up into one big pile, start dealing with every item, one item at a time. Start at the top and work your way down. Don't change the order of them and don't put an item back. Do what needs to be done with that item, and then put it away somewhere. Your options are to trash it, delegate it, file it, do it, or put it onto a list to do later.

3. Do this every day. The end of the day is a good time, but it can also be good to start at the beginning of every day and keep the processes going throughout the day.

Once you've finished processing all of your items, your desk will be clean, your life will be organised, and you'll be on top of everything on a daily basis. No more unpaid bills, and no more unfinished projects, and your pet will still live! All of these are good things to aim for.

4. Your to-do list needs to be kept up to date. This is an important part of the process. Every item that can't be done immediately and gets put onto a to-do list needs to be done as soon as you're able to. Just like your desk and your in tray need to be kept clean, so does your to-do list. Those items which are on the to-do list also need to be in an 'action' tray, so that you know you have to action them. As you action them, cross them off the list.

Leaving things to do later is procrastination. Anything you put off is just going to pile up. Deal with them immediately, and take action.

It's going to take time to get yourself into the habit, but if you're sick of a messy desk and you want to get your life organised, you'll do it. It's only going to make things easier for you. And once you're used to your desk being clean and tidy, you won't want to break that habit.

7 tips to avoid pointless meetings

I'm sure you hate pointless meetings that just suck your time and your energy. Well, you can check out a few tips from the Instigator Blog to help you avoid them:

1. Make sure the meeting has a clear purpose.
2. Avoid suspense.
3. Document what's going on.
4. Avoid distractions.
5. Have an agenda.
6. Avoid regular meetings if there's no agenda.
7. Schedule something critical right after.
   
   

6 Rules for Effective Writing

In today's world, if you want to be understood and to have your ideas spread far and wide, using effective language is extremely important. George Orwell, author of '1984' and other works, had 5 rules for effective writing. If you follow these rules, you'll separate yourself from the multitude of others who use ineffective means of writing, and you'll stand out.

Visit Pick The Brain to get the information about each of these tips:

1. Never use a metaphor, simile, or other figure of speech which you are used to seeing in print.
2. Never use a long word where a short one will do.
3. If it is possible to cut a word out, always cut it out.
4. Never use the passive where you can use the active.
5. Never use a foreign phrase, a scientific word, or a jargon word if you can think of an everyday English equivalent.
6. Break any of these rules sooner than saying anything outright barbarous.

These rules are easy to memorize but difficult to apply. Although I’ve edited this piece a dozen times I’m sure it contains imperfections. But trust me, it’s much better now than it was initially. The key is effort. Good writing matters, probably more than you think.

Getting your spouse to support your entrepreneurial dreams

Cubicle Nation has a great article on how to get your spouse on the same page as you when you want to develop a new business. The tips provide remedies to the following issues:

1. They don't understand your business idea because you haven't explained it in a way that makes sense to them.
2. They don't have enough information about your business to decide if it sounds viable or not, so they assume that it isn't.
3. They have deep fears about risk and money that don't have anything to do with you personally.
4. They think differently than you.
5. They have seen you start and stop many projects in the past and are not confident that you have the follow-through skills to pull off the marathon of entrepreneurship.
6. They don't know what the exit or backup plan is.
7. They are afraid you will leave them if you get too happy and successful.
8. They are bitter that you get to have fun while they are sacrificing as a corporate drone.

6 tips to avoid procrastination

I've been procrastinating a long time, in a multitude of different ways. It's usually based around having to do something I don't necessarily want to do. But if something greatly interests me, then I'm quick to get to it! We can't always do only the things we want to do, however. Often, we need to do the things that need doing. We need to stop procrastinating about them, and just do it.

Lifehack.org has a few tips on how you can break the procrastination habit, which I thought I'd use as a foundation to provide my own thoughts on it.

1. Do it now

Turn your habit into a 'do it now' habit instead of a more negative 'I'll get around to it' habit. This is something I've been working on myself. When I know something needs doing, do it immediately - where possible. It helps you avoid following the same patterns of doing it later. If you can, schedule everything you need to do, and do it when the reminder pops up.

2. Commit yourself

To help you change your habits, you really do have to be committed to changing them. Instead of saying to yourself, "I think I'll change tomorrow," or "I'd like to change but you can't teach old dogs new tricks," say instead "I WILL change! I WILL stop procrastinating, and I WILL start NOW!"

Then you have to write it down on paper. Write down the habits you want to change, and how you're going to change them. Write down the new habits that will replace the old ones.

Once you've written them down, commit to doing them for a month, no less. It takes a month of complete and absolute focus to change years of bad habits.

Finally, tell everyone you know that you're changing your habit. Make sure that it's not just you that you need to answer to, it's everyone else. When you are committing to changing something that everyone else knows about as well, it helps you stay motivated to achieving your goals. You don't want to look bad in the eyes of everyone you care about, do you?

3. Monitor your progress

Before you start your month of change, take a few days to monitor your current habit. See how you spend your time and how you engage in your procrastination. Write down those things that you decide to do instead of whatever you need to be doing. You can even keep a tally of how often they occur. Write down the activity and put a tick next to it. Becoming aware of how you engage in procrastination can help you eliminate or reduce those diversions from your life.

As you move forward with changing your habits, you can schedule your bad habits if you want to continue doing them, but make sure they come AFTER the good habit. For example, if you know there's something you need to do - at home or at work - but you get sidetracked by reading RSS feeds and blogs and you don't want to actually give that up, then schedule that in for a later part of the day, AFTER you've scheduled in your important tasks.

Prioritise your life and the activities within it, and do them when they need doing.

4. Practice. And keep practicing

Make sure you do your new habit - DO IT NOW. Don't make any exceptions. If you get into the habit of finding exceptions, then you're just continuing the procrastination. If you make mistakes, however, don't worry about it. Just keep doing it. You never get anything completely right the first times you do them. Practice makes you better at it.

5. Reward yourself

When you start out you should reward yourself for the successes you have, as these little rewards help inspire and motivate you and make it worthwhile to achieve your goals. Write down the rewards you'll give yourself when you get to a stage you're happy with. For example, you might treat yourself to a coffee in a cafe when you've completed your first task without allowing you to be distracted and you DO IT NOW. You might treat yourself to dinner out with a loved one when you've completed an entire week avoiding procrastination and you DO THINGS NOW. Make it fun and worthwhile for yourself.

6. Always think positive

When you start thinking negatively you're providing barriers to your own success. Positive thoughts are encouragements to your success. "I can do it just this time...." is a barrier. Don't let yourself be sidetracked by thoughts and doubts that take you away from you doing what you want to do. You CAN do it, you just have to be committed to doing it now, and letting nothing stop you.

The only way to change bad habits is to decide NOW that you are going to change, and let nothing stop you. Then you will avoid procrastination and achieve all the things that you want to achieve.

DO IT NOW.

10 ways to improve the quality of your life

Thanks to Lifehack.org, you can find the rest of the information there.

1. Think daily. Meditate.
2. Get in the zone.
3. Do something bold every day.
4. Learn something new.
5. Debate something.
6. Spend time with a child.
7. Go outside.
8. Recognise what makes you happy.
9. Stop broken thoughts.
10. Don't stress about it.

The fear that holds you back

How many of us would like to do something but find there's all these 'what ifs' to consider? Most of us. It's 'what if something bad happens' that prevents us fom ever finding out 'what if something good happens'.

We avoid risk because of the fear of failure, rejection and embarrassment. We would rather 'save face' than risk making a mistake. But everyone makes mistakes. What's important is not how we avoid the mistakes, but how we learn from them.

Think of all the successful or wealthy people that you know of or heard about. Do you think they've never made a mistake? Do you think that the fear of making mistakes held them back from their achievements? Obviously not.

So how is it that they're successful and you're not? Because they move forward on their desires, on their goals. If they fail then they just find a different way to get there!

If one path ends in a dead end, find a different path. That's all you need to do.

77 Ways to Learn Faster, Deeper, and Better

You can read about the 77 ways here.

If someone granted you one wish, what do you imagine you would want out of life that you haven't gotten yet? For many people, it would be self-improvement and knowledge... Your quest for knowledge... can be an important part of your life, leading to a new job, better pay, a new hobby, or simply knowledge for knowledge's sake - whatever is important to you as an end goal.

...it's been said that the average adult only uses 10% of his/her brain. Imagine what we may be capable of with more advanced learning techniques. Here are 77 tips related to knowledge and learning to help you on your quest. A few are specifically for students in traditional learning institutions; the rest for self-starters, or those learning on their own. Happy learning.

How to drink more water every day

You probably know that drinking water is supposed to be good for you. It prevents dehydration, cleans out the body and promotes healing. Drinking water instead of coke can also help control weight. But how do you drink enough to make it worthwhile? Hopefully these tips will help you.

• Determine how much water you need
  
  This depends not on some industry standard, but instead on your weight and level of activity. Divide your weight (in pounds) by two. The resulting number is how many ounces of water you need a day. An average glass holds about 8 ounces, so if you're 200 pounds then that means you need 100 ounces of water a day, which means you need to drink about 12-13 glasses of water a day. A 2-litre bottle will hold 64 ounces.
  
  
• Carry water with you everywhere
  
  If you get into the habit of taking a bottle (or other container) of water with you everywhere, before you know it you'll be reaching for it without a second thought.
  
  
• Remind yourself every hour
  
  Try wearing a digital watch that beeps at the beginning of every hour. Use that as a reminder to have another glass of water.
  
  
• Get a water purification system
  
  Purified water tastes great, and might help make drinking it just that bit more appealing to you. Be aware though, that as you get used to drinking purified water you might find tap water leaves a bad taste in your mouth.
  
  
• Replace coke with water
  
  When you reach for that bottle of coke, just make a decision to reach for the water instead. It might not be as tasty, but it's better than drinking almost ten teaspoons of white sugar. It's also cheaper.
  

Some extra tips...

• Add some lemon
  
  If you find the taste of water is too bland or boring, or the tap water has a bad taste, try adding a slice of lemon or a tiny bit of fruit juice, just enought to slightly change the taste. I found a most refreshing mix is adding a slice of lemon and a sprig of peppermint. Beautiful!
  
  
• Drink two glasses when you wake up
  
  If you drink two glasses of water in the morning just after you wake up, it helps wake the body up and rehydrate it after all that time asleep without any water. Kick-start your day with water!
  
  
• Water helps you look good
  
  It rehydrates the skin and flushes out all the toxins and impurities from your body, leaving your skin clearer, smoother and younger looking.
  
  
• Water helps you control hunger
  
  If you drink a large glass of cold water 20 minutes before a meal then the cold will cause your stomach to shrink a bit, which will make you feel full more rapidly. Also, drinking more water means there's less space in your stomach for food, so it helps you eat less.
  
  
• Vow to drink only water for one month!
  
  Once your body becomes accustomed to it, you'll find it difficult to NOT drink water! Also, by the end of the month you'll find that water tastes delicous, and you'll wonder why you took so long to change your life this way.
  

Warnings...

• People with some heart conditions, high blood pressure or swelling of the lower legs (edema) need to avoid excess water. If you have a history of kidney problems, especially if you have had a transplant, consult your doctor before increasing your fluid intakes.
  
  
• If you live in a place that gets hot a lot (eg. the desert) you will have to drink extra water.
  
  
• Don't drink too much water while eating, as it waters down your stomach acid and can cause digestion problems.
  

Automatically backup your computer

You can learn how to:

1. Backup your hard drive on startup without using any extra software
2. Backup your hard drive at scheduled intervals using AutomaticDailyBackup.bat
3. Backup your hard drive at scheduled intervals using Windows Task Scheduler
4. With the use of Xecutor, backup only the files you’ve changed on shutdown

You can read about them here.

Call me for support

Thanks to a new Skype feature I'm accepting calls via Skype for the following services:

Internet and Software Support
(US$0.50c / minute)

For over a decade I've been on the internet, playing with a lot of different software. I'm excellent at breaking things and then learning how to fix them, and as a result I'm an expert on troubleshooting and resolving internet and software issues. I've been employed in the IT industry for the same period of time in various areas, and am extremely comfortable in resolving just about any internet or software-related problem.

If you have an internet or software problem, or a query about how to use something better, then contact me and I'll help you fix it.


Personal Growth
(US$1.50 / minute)

With over 20 years of kicking and screaming as I dragged myself out of the rut of a troubled life, I've come a long way in understanding the ins and outs of personal growth. I've taken a lot of what I've learnt over those years and applied it to my own life, achieving a great deal of success in understanding life, reality and relationships, both intimate and professional. Using the skills and experiences I've gained from my own personal growth, I can help you succeed in achieving your own growth.

If you'd like to talk with me about where you'd like to improve in your life, then contact me and we'll work together on helping you achieve results.


Call me using Skype Prime (only):



If I'm unavailable, leave a voicemail with your email address and I will contact you with a time that you can call again.


The way it works is like this:

You call me using Skype Prime: download it here and make sure you have an account set up with PayPal so that you can pay for the services you're about to request. If I'm online we introduce ourselves and you tell me what it is you're calling about. This is free, and will cost you nothing. If I feel I can help you, I advise you of the per-minute charges for the support you're requesting, and upon your agreement I 'start the meter'. Your PayPal account is automatically debited per minute of the call, and my paypal account is automatically credited.

The call will last for as long as you feel comfortable with, and the meter will be stopped when you say so, or when the problem is resolved. If a software problem is not resolved within a comfortable time for you, we can arrange further information to be sent to you by email so that a solution may be completed by yourself, or you can call back another time.

For personal growth concerns, you might want to arrange regular calls for further coaching or follow-ups. I also recommend mutually agreeing to a maximum time limit so that your time and money is reasonably managed.


Disclaimer:

Please note that while I am not a professionally qualified technician or counselor or psychologist. I do have 10-20 years experience in those areas I'm offering support in. What I offer you has worked for me and for others that I've helped, but your circumstances may be very different, and any advice or support I provide may or may not work for you, depending on your personal circumstances and how you apply my assistance in your life. Thank you.

Making money

I've become quite interested recently in improving my financial situation (which has resulted in me doing this blog). I think that's because of how much money I've had to spend to move countries. If I hadn't moved then both my partner and I would instead be debt free, having paid all of our debts off and still having a bit of change (due to a redundancy package I was paid at my now previous place of work). However, if we did that, we wouldn't have improved our lifestyle and opportunities for greater income by moving to Australia. Already she has a job (as of last week) that is 25% higher than anything she's ever had in NZ, and I'm looking at jobs that are in excess of 50% more than what I was able to get in NZ as well. Using our money to improve our future earning opportunities has been a wise decision, and what we earn here will go to service the debts we left behind in NZ and get rid of them much faster.

I'm hoping to make use of a lot of knowledge that I've gained over the years, as well as what information I find on the internet and from other people, and present it to the readers of this blog. Everyone wants to know how to improve their financial situation, and a lot of people are out there looking for all the help they can get.

I hope that what I find of value will also be of value to others. Maybe even to you. Just remember, I'm not an expert. The articles that I post are simply what I think is good advice. I hope to provide information that will be applicable to everyone, in every situation, but I know that's not always going to succeed.

If you have any questions or comments on how something could relate specifically to your situation, please feel free to ask, and I'll do my best in assisting, even if it's by pointing you to someone or somewhere that can help you better than I can.

10 tips to burn fat faster

Here are some fat burning tips from Hormone Physicians. More information at their site, so please go have a read.

1. Increase your meal frequency


2. Break up your workout


3. Eat breakfast


4. Cycle calories


5. Drink lots of water


6. Exercise in the morning


7. Perform cardio interval training


8. Boost your metabolism by reading instead of watching tv


9. Drink green tea


10. Practice hydrotherapy