We are Measuring Time Incorrectly

Business and humanity have evolved alongside one another for quite some time. Needless to say, the daily pace of normal and professional life has picked up considerably, yet we are still measuring time the same way. Therein lies the problem.

On planet Earth, we base our time on a 24 hour day with a seven day week. 28, 30, or 31 days in a month, 365 days a year. We base all of our business hours on these measurements of time, and all too often, there is NEVER enough time anywhere, any day. People work themselves sick (or to death) as we toil under the constant watchful, unwavering eye of time.

Why don't we just measure it differently?

Look at the world how it is. With all the fast paced careers, people working multiple jobs, business owners. Those who are employed have no choice but to work and balance their personal lives, all the while still trying to enjoy it, but all too often? They miss the mark. What if...we had 35 hours in a day? What about sticking with a 5 day work week, but adding an extra day onto the weekend? What if a month was 40, or 50 days instead?

Imagine all the extra work and life that you could fit into your life? What if we just...had extra time!? Would you sleep? Spend more time with your family? Explore education? Hobbies? All I'm saying is change the way we measure time, but keep the same pace.

Unlikely as that may be, we are only restricted by time because of how we measure it. When you have free time, think about what I've wrote. How will you measure time? Or better yet, how do you? Think about it.

Meaningful Business Growth

I heard a terrific quote the other day, but I cannot remember who said it, or where I saw it. It's a pity because I'd really like to give them credit, but the saying basically went like this:

"Growth for the sake of growth is the same goal of a cancer cell."

Powerful stuff. This idiom can be applied over many different situations and over many different perspectives, but let's shift the focus onto business. Or better yet, business growth. In a typical mindset, an owner wants to expand their business. You know, more equipment, more customers, more assets, more more more! And it's good to be motivated! Don't get me wrong. But sometimes, that motivation can be toxic, and maybe not for the reasons you'd suspect.

Businesses that are not turning over a profit typically look at this solution first- more sales. More income is great! It helps you run the business more efficiently, give bonuses, treat your employees right, and let's not forget about building you that nest egg. But some businesses don't have difficulty with finding work. Yet they still push for the gain of more customers, more cashflow. And often, they will keep on expanding until they reach a point where they might have to close down. Wait...what?

Why would that happen? A business with a lot of customers, literally flush with work, is going out of business? Oh yeah. It's easier than you think, and it's because no-one thought to look at all the other problems. Every business has problems- Budget is no exception. But when business owners, CEOs, Presidents, you name it, get flustered over money, more often than not? That's all they focus on. Other problems get overlooked.

Is your pricing right? Is your overhead realistic? Do you have to put any customers to collection? Are employees too slow on the job? Are customers being treated well? How's the quality of our work? These are just a handful of the questions that sometimes never get asked simply because a business was focused too much on the wrong thing.

See what I mean by meaningful business growth? It doesn't always mean a new client, a fat check from a recent job, or even a bigger office. Business growth is a process, because a business grows in parts. If one part gets too big, the whole operation suffers, and if you aren't looking at the problem, well. I don't think I need to go on.

Make sure you know what's wrong in your business. What's right! Have a finger on your business' heartbeat because until you ask the questions and do the digging? You're just guessing.

Going the Extra Mile

There's a phrase that is certain to set someone up for failure: "going the extra mile." It is difficult to quantify what that mile is; especially in the metaphorical sense as it is applied to daily situations.

Working harder or longer is not a bad thing. The extra mile for you might be staying an hour later, or handling a project when no-one else would. But the meaning changes with the person, and their superiors. Is your extra mile as long as it needs to be? As silly as that sounds, it's true. How can we ever know if we are living up to the expectations of a boss? Ourself? There is no way to know. That's why I hate that phrase, especially when it is used in a business setting.

People will work until they die. Literally. I have this family member you see that keeps his nose to the grindstone. Works hard, doesn't slack off, and planned on enjoying his leisure years. As soon as he retired, he was dead.

What a waste.

Work is a beautiful thing. It supplies ourselves and others with invaluable goods and services, things that we could probably no longer live with, or at least live well with. But when your entire life becomes "the extra mile", you stop looking where you need to go, and simply focus on moving forward.

An extra mile, simply put, should be defined by you. Work is typically a group activity, or at least indirectly. I've said this before- it is pointless to work if you are not resting and enjoying your own life. If all you ever do is go the extra mile, you won't even be able to continue your career's journey. Only you know what you can and can't do. Don't let anyone tell you how to "go the extra mile" because what works for them, may not work for you. And that, my friend, is your discovery. And yours alone.

Reflections and Motivations

Reflection on a year that's come to pass can be a difficult thing, but it always should be done in business. Motivation is a constant, however, that needs to be maintained like any other useful tool. Using both together makes for a good plan that anyone can be empowered by.

Work is hard, man. It is. No matter what you're doing, no matter how much you love it, work is difficult. And there are many times during the year when we work that we would have liked to do something differently.

Mistakes are invaluable. When we look back on what we've done incorrectly, we typically learn from these situations and come out much wiser on the other side. Not everyone does this, nor does every business. At the end of a year, I like to reflect on good and bad decisions made during the year, not just in business! But for myself as well. I mean, you are working at your job, so your own personal well being and growth is important, too.

So that's why I make a very simple New Year's resolution. Every year it's the same thing, it's the same broad goal that can be easily measured by any means I wish. My resolution? "Be a better person." And let's strip morality, personal flaws, habits. Let's strip that all away and just focus on business. When you work, if you're miserable for whatever reason, your work suffers. As you come to terms with your flaws, you learn how to use what you're good at much better.

Today is New Year's Eve, so I'll keep this short. Party hard, party safe, work harder, and evolve. Evolve as a person, and your business will follow.

Have a happy, healthy New Year, and don't hate yourself for your mistakes. Learn from them!

Dealing with REALLY Angry Customers

Customer dissatisfaction occurs for a number of different reasons, and just as varied are the reactions of our customers to said dissatisfaction. Hey, as long as business is run by humans for humans, there will be mistakes made. And sometimes, the mistakes will be yours to own up to.

Lemmie get one thing straight before I begin, though. The strategies and tips that I am writing about have developed over many different jobs with many different customers. I'm not singling anyone out! Anyway, let's get right into it.

The first thing I notice is that everyone approaches the concept of dissatisfaction incorrectly. Both sides of the fence too; both customer and client. Things go wrong. It happens. And in all honesty, a customer knows when they are in a business relationship that is just plain useless. But that doesn't matter right now. What matters is that both sides are currently divided- the customer is unhappy, and it's the fault of the business. When dealing with these situations, try to remember the following points:

1. Some customers will take mistakes personally. They just do. Instead of matching their emotion, get on their side. Don't trash talk the company you work for, but if you or your organization made a legitimate error that led to a customer's dissatisfaction, own up to it! Let the customer know that the whole business is on their side, and you are merely their guide towards compromise. Honesty.

2. Stay calm. You must never scream or insult a customer. Stay even. Keep your tone regular, and constantly remind them that whatever problems they are having can, and will, be solved. Some customers will get nasty, and swear or abuse you. Don't get mad! Simply inform them that if they are going to continue to talk to you in this manner, that you will hang up. And if they continue guess what?

HANG UP. Life's to freakin' short, man.

3. Empathy, not sympathy. In a perfect situation, a business knows whether or not its at fault for something that has caused a customer's displeasure, and that customer is telling the truth. This is not always the case, but let's pretend we live in a perfect world. You are not the customer's slave, and they are not just dollar signs. When you work on coming up with a solution to the customer's complaint, always keep compromise in mind. Make sure the customer knows that you want to work towards a solution that works for everyone, not just the customer. And not just you.

4. Same team! I can't emphasize this enough. You and your customer are on the same team. There is no "us versus them" mentality that applies here.You want them to keep on frequenting your business, and they want to get their issue resolved. Now that you've chosen sides, meet in the middle! There are myriad ways to deal with problems. Don't limit yourself!

5. Sometimes...people suck. It's true. Sometimes, you just come across someone that is just plain nasty, and no matter what you do, they are never happy and always a miserable chore to deal with. These aren't customers. These are bullies. And no matter how much their business is worth to you, you should never put up with outright cruelty. Do not be afraid to divorce from certain customers. Sometimes, it's the best and only choice for both of you.

In summation, just be a good human being to each other. Put yourself in their shoes, and try to understand the situation from their point of view. When you look at an unhappy customer and decide to be on their side, you'll get much better results than approaching such a situation in an accusatory, or defensive manner. People are people the world around, and on the most part, people want to be treated fairly, and with respect. That's it.

Go spread some joy, willya?

Worry Will Destroy You

Business and life are two things that intertwine and rarely support each other naturally.

Humans worry about everything. The ones that don't worry, typically have no worries or simply don't care. For the rest of us, we have to deal with it. Stress, worry, fear, name it. There are a lot of negative emotions that can be tied to business, especially if you are letting it completely dominate every aspect of your life.

Work and life are also two separate entities. Even though they run closely side by side, it simply doesn't matter. Last time I checked, life happens first, and then you get a job. So why wouldn't we make our job have some kind of meaning in our life? Some importance? Even if you hate your job. Easier said than done I'm sure.

Many of us don't have too many options when it comes to working. Jobs are tricky nowadays, and a lot of companies are much less apt to risk wasting assets on training when applicants don't work out. So this means that some of us may not be working in a completely ideal situation. But this is okay.

How much of your life do you control? None? All? Some? Did you come up with this percentage? You control all of your life, all the time. But. There are many more things in this world than just you. Many outside forces you can't control. So what do you do? Simple.

Relish having no control.

Life occurs outside of our plans. Outside of anything that we may have prepared for, really, and it is up to us as humans, honest hard working humans, to endure. That's what we must do. Endure.

There are plenty of things to worry about. But I'll keep this entry short and sweet. Worry about the big things you have control over. Everything else? I plan on waiting to see what life has in store. Do you?

Why Haven't we Shortened the Work Week yet?

Hard work is a beautiful thing.

The ability, the willpower, the honesty. Work is something that is 9 times outta 10 unavoidable. So why do we make it out to be such a difficult chore? Sure, work isn't meant to be completely fun (is anything?), but there has got to be better ways as to how to deal with the work week.

I've wrote a couple of articles expressing my disdain about the length of the average work week, vacation time, rests, etc. But one thing I simply cannot understand is why we (for the most part) engage in an extremely strenuous 40+ hours a week? Should we work less? No- we should work smarter. Or both!

This is you, isn't it? (source)

Of course, I looked online to see what other people had to say, and I found many arguments for the shorter work week. The individual mentioned in this New York Times article talks about how a shorter work week was implemented at his firm, and in turn? They wound up doing better work! Here, see for yourself:

"For example, from May through October, we switch to a four-day workweek. And not 40 hours crammed into four days, but 32 hours comfortably fit into four days...

but there’s one surprising effect of the changed schedule: better work gets done in four days than in five...less time to work, you waste less time." 

(source)

Remember sleep? Me either. (source)

 

Humans work. That's what we do. Most modern culture has adopted insane work schedules because there is stuff to be done, and bills to be paid. But if keeping our noses to the grindstone has become so indicative of human culture, why not adopt a plan to optimize the very thing we let govern our lives?

Like I said, the idea of a shorter work week is catching on domestic and abroad. Gambia, a nation in Africa, tried the idea. However, they still work the 40 hour week. The UK, the Netherlands, all dabbled in the idea- take a look. And like with my previous example, a shorter work week with more rest makes for better work. Look at this quote taken straight from the article: 

"...Monday mornings people aren't so groggy - they hit the ground running. We have really tight deadlines, it's very collaborative, we try to squeeze as much into our days as possible."  (source) 

We all know it's true. (source)

Unfortunately, not all companies can shortern their work week. And if they do, they must be available for emergencies, but businesses with normal(ish) circumstances and business plans should be able to adopt this method. 

I've said it before, and I'll say it again. Humans have to rest. Work is good. Yes. It is rewarding, it builds character, it gets you money, it gives you confidence, the list goes on and on. But we always forget that there is so much more to life than just making the next buck, or working an extra day. 

Our time on this planet in finite. Why should we have to spend any more time tired and stressed than we have to?

Positvity in Business

Negative thoughts and outlooks are poisonous.

Many people like to hide under the guise of "being realistic." Sometimes, a situation is hopelessly screwed, true. But even in the worse calamities, one must find silver linings to keep pushing through. Determination, perseverance, and positivity. Three essential qualities that are indicative of a healthy mind to do good business.

Being realistic isn't always grim, like most people say. Especially in business. It is rare when you can't go back and mend the broken parts of your occupation, whether you're an owner, or an employee. There are many stark realities in this world, harsh truths, and difficult trials. But what's important is that we push through the bad stuff and focus on the good- where your business is headed, and how successful it will be.

Depression, anger, anxiety, and a whole host of other unpleasant feelings can cloud even the clearest mind. An owner that is may have surgical execution of goals and profit lines can crumble in the face of a big gamble, or failure. Failure isn't something to stay upset about. No-one likes to fail. But it's how we see failure that drags us down.

I've worked in many hostile situations at various jobs. Fortunately, the one I am currently doing is an exception to this type of experience, but I digress. I have worked many different jobs in my short span of life on this rock, and I can tell you, the negative, bitter people drag everyone down to their level so they can all share in the misery. And lemmie tell ya. If you are easily influenced by the moods of others like I am, all of a sudden you can find yourself bitchin' and moanin' with the worst of em'. Like I did.

Business is tough. Whether your raking in billions, or just clearing your first million in annual sales, business is a grueling, draining experience. But. It doesn't have to be. Work is hard. It's supposed to be hard- I mean come on. It wouldn't be called work if it was easy. But things don't have to be easy to be positive.

If you plan on having any success in your life, taciturn business practices and a grumpy personality will sink you. No matter what happens, no matter how bad things get, you must always stay positive in the end. If you start taking business too seriously, it will consume you alive, and leave behind nothing.

Stay happy. Stay positive. Make money.
Now go be awesome.

Happy Coexistence With your Job

Work is tough.

Many people all around the world do not like their jobs. Hell, I found a blogger that wrote an entry on how to deal with toxic occupations! Some tolerate, some enjoy, and everything in-between. Certain individuals may see work as a means to an end, like putting food on the table, or providing for a family. But here's a concept that I introduce to you:

What if we tried to live with our jobs, opposed to just going to them? Accepted work opposed to dread it? There is freedom in simply letting go, you know. Work is work and that is that, but what if we changed perspective a little bit, and saw our jobs in a new light?

Hate is an Ugly Thing (Source)

That's what I'm trying to do. Now, I'm not unhappy at my job. No I am not. But there are times when work gets to me, as I am sure it all gets to you. And sometimes, I carry with me an anchor of dread when I have to return to work on Monday after a nice weekend. But is this the right thing to do? Better yet, healthy thing to do? I don't think so.

Acceptance comes in many shades. 

We could all stand to be a little more Zen. (Source)

A different perspective on work can change many things. Sometimes, it reveals that there are aspects of your job that you enjoy that you didn't even know about! And in the other extreme, sometimes a different perspective can let you see that it's time to move on. There are all parts of simply accepting that work is work, and we must do it to survive.

Many people think that they have no choice but to stay at a job that they despise. This isn't true. They've accepted the "fact" that they can't do anything else but sit there and be miserable. There are even coping mechanisms that can be used to help deal with a job that someone may hate. But is this true coexistence? Or is it just a band-aid?

Job dissatisfaction is very common among Americans. And some choose to cope with the stress of bad professional situations in a variety of ways, not all of them healthy. So what would you rather do? Cope, or accept?

Above: Never the Answer to a Problem (Source)

Acceptance is a strange thing, you know. Typically, it has a positive connotation, implying that one is content with one's situation, and is ready to rest of their laurels. But this isn't always the case. We accept many things all the time! Like...being in traffic, or being sick, or getting a parking ticket. We accept that these things have happened, and then we decide how we want to deal with them. So...don't cope. Accept!

I hate it when people say, "I don't have a choice," or when they say it to me: "you don't have a choice." This is completely untrue. We have free reign to do whatever we want, whenever we want. The only thing that holds us back is how a situation will turn out for us. You can hate your job. You can hate it with all your heart, and you can believe that you have no alternatives. But is that really true? I don't think it is.

You ALWAYS Have a Choice (Source)

You are a human (hopefully). You have a mind, you have a heart (gag me) and you have the will to focus everything you have into anything you want. So with all that power at your disposal...

Are you really gonna just sit there and be unhappy?

Praise in the Workplace- Yes It's Important

Morale is the intangible asset that makes a business flow smoothly. Of course, money, resources, equipment and the like are all important too, but take a second to consider this. What is a company without its people? And I mean everyone, from the hourly worker in the trenches to the President/CEO in the branch office 1000 miles away. Sure, you can have employees, and sure they'll work for you. But how much will they want to work for you? How much will they take before they just give up?

Don't be that guy.   Source

Praise, attention, a simple thank you, good job, etc are absolutely invaluable to worker performance. I know because when I'm praised for doing a job well done, or being there when no-one else could be, I want to work harder! I want to get better, work harder, and really give it my all. Think this is all a load of new-age, touchy-feely, progressive crap? Read on.

Feeling...unappreciated?  Source

For those of you that just want the cold, hard facts, here ya go: THE FACTS. It's dry, but informative. I found myself getting bored, so I looked at another link instead. This one was more cut to the chase- it outlines the feelings and desires of an average employee, and basically tells you (the reader) what you may be doing to ruin their productivity and destroy morale all around the office. No matter what, overall employee morale comes down to management. Of course, there are some employees that don't want to do anything, or will simply have a bad attitude no matter what. But these people are the exceptions, opposed to the standard.

On the other hand, too much praise can be bad as well. In another article I found, praising employees too much can cause a number of adverse outcomes that hurt the productivity of the worker, and the company. According to the article, too much praise can inflate egos rather than encourage independence and confidence. The praise can also become empty and meaningless, more annoying than encouraging I would suspect.

Source

Giving praise is something that should come naturally, I think, and isn't a scripted event, or a policy in some in the tome that is an employee handbook. I found this article too, addressing some of the common myths, or misconceptions about praise. Evidently, some people just don't know how to tell others that they're doing a good job. And that's okay. Not everyone is demonstrative, but having that in mind, I want to discuss my final point.

Motivation is personal. A person cannot be motivated to do something well. They can be forced, intimidated, asked, but motivation is something that comes from within. Real, honest to goodness praise strengthens, and inspires motivation. Period.

Source

So if you deem yourself not as the touchy feely type, that's fine! Sometimes, all employees (including myself)  are looking for is a "thank you" when a report get done early, or a "good job!" when they've really worked hard and tried to make their work mean something. You don't have to give them a hug or read em' a poem, you know.

A simple thank you usually does the trick.

Stress and Working Yourself to Death

We all must work. Whether it is an honest job or not, we all work somehow. Many of us, however, work ourselves to the point where we can no longer work. Doesn't have to be physical. Some of the hardest workers I know barely lift anything over 5 pounds in their work day. But this is the point of this whole damn entry- most of us, and I mean as a nation (U.S.A.), work way too long, and way too hard.

Where does it end? With debt, cost of living, unexpected expenses, most people have to work two or three jobs just to make ends meet. Many other countries that we share the planet with set a maximum hour limit to a work week. America does not. We also among the countries that have the most of our men and women working over 40 hours a week.

There are no laws regulating paid sick days (a company does not have to offer them) and employers expect more and more and more from us on average as money and resources get tighter. The article listed in this paragraph begun to suggest that this type of cycle is more insidious than circumstantial: and that's not just me whining- there is only so much a human being can do in a day before work suffers. Before life suffers.

Here's a look at offered vacation days around the world that'll make you sad:

Source: http://20somethingfinance.com/american-hours-worked-productivity-vacation/

Don't understand the graph? Me either. So, I found this webpage that details it all. And I quote:

"This report reviewed international vacation and holiday laws and found that the United States is the only advanced economy that does not guarantee its workers any paid vacation or holiday."

Now of course this doesn't mean that NO-ONE takes vacation days, but what I found interesting is that Americans actually wind up giving back vacation days, i.e. not using them. In this article, it is stated that, "In 2009, harrumphs Expedia, Americans 'gave back' a total of 436m vacation days." That number has probably increased since then. If we do get offered vacation days, sometimes we don't take them to try and do more at work to get ahead. When we do take them, we typically don't use all of them, and sometimes? We can't use all our vacation days if they're not paid. We can't afford to miss work!

What have we become? Forget America for a second. What has a human being become? We just...work until death? Is that what we are? A tireless, bio-machine that simply goes to work, keeps working, and then expires without retirement benefits. People. We're not meant to live our lives this way.

Easier said than done of course. But. Yes, there's always but. But. I wanted to see what working does to your body. According to this website, "the latest findings discovered by scientists at the Finnish Institute of Occupational Health support results from a 2011 British survey that revealed that doing more than 11 hours of work a day raised heart disease risks by 67 percent." The article then suggested that poor diet, lack of exercise (these two most commonly associated with office jobs in my opinion AND from personal experience) creates a well? In a word? Fatal combination.

Then, being under the constant stress of working all the time, your body produces cortisol, which is good in short amounts, but when your bloodstream is flooded with the stuff 24/7, you can see all sorts of dangerous side effects, like increased blood pressure, and a compromised immune response. And then, you can enjoy a nice heart attack for all you hard work and dedication.

Source: http://www.umm.edu/patiented/articles/coronary_artery_blockage_000441.htm

But as Americans, we work more than most other 1st world countries. Which is startling. Aren't we always told that Americans have zero work ethic? Have no spine for true, hard work? Not all of us. Some? Sure. But not all of us. Not me. Probably not you, either. Here's what I found (quote taken from here):

"The UN International Labour Organisation said the average Australian, Canadian and Japanese worker worked about 100 hours, or 2.5 weeks less than the average American per year. Brazilians and British workers worked 250 hours, or more than five weeks less, while Germans worked roughly 500 hours, or 12.5 weeks less."

We all work hard. But it seems that America is working the "hardest". And this is not a completely good thing. Americans, whether they were born and raised here, or immigrated from a different land, work way too much. Race doesn't play into it. Location does. Why America? Why do we demand so much for so little? Why are we not the only ones thinking this way? I have no idea. One could speculate, of course. Economy, ethics, greed, this list could go on and on. But the fact of the matter is we, humans, all work too hard. Life winds up becoming weekend to weekend, and if you work on the weekend, you may have no rest at all!

So what are we to do? I don't know.

Do you?

2013 Planning and Beyond

Happy New Years!

2012 was...not pretty for many people. It was a hard year for us all, actually, one way or another. But what is it about a new year that renews drive and passion? I don't know. But I intend to find out. Business is a routine. Of course there are exceptions, but there is a basic formula that most legitmate business follow. Provide Product/Service, Consumer Buys, You get Paid. Yes, this is easy. But there are a lot of tiny little ins and outs that I've never noticed before until I started working at Budget.

Routine is something we should all have. This routine helps us manage our lives and our business. It's a foundation, not a step by step guide. What's my point? Planning. Did yopu have a rough year? Are there things you want to change? Why keep it as a New Year's Resolution? Call it a business goal.

Mine is to be more organized. To have protocols, to be more observant. New Years Resolutions often get ignored because there are set as a goal to work towards. They're treat like an empty promise to ourselves. Don't let it be an empty promise. Apply it in your life. Make a goal, and follow it as you achieve and evolve.

Easier said than done. And no, I don't have a self help book that I'm going to plug and ask you to buy, either. All I'm asking is for you not to treat your resolution like an empty promise. Treat it like a goal you must obtain without fail. See how that works for you.

Hope you're enjoying the new year so far!

Frustration and Futility in the Workplace

Work is stressful. No matter how much you love your job, it will stress you out eventually. Even simple things, like losing a pen, or losing an important file. Having to reload the printer when its out of paper. We also come in contact with toxic people. Customers, co-workers, superiors. But work is work, right?

Wrong.

Work may be hard, it may be stressful, hell. Sometimes it may suck. But that doesn't mean that your feelings and thoughts don't matter. We all have difficult lives. One way or another, there is a struggle out there for everyone, but does that mean we should treat our very lives as a struggle?

Do you have to love your job? No. But should you try and find one that you do love? Of course. Why even live if you can't even try?

Frustration

There comes a time in all of our careers where things don't go so well. Don't get me wrong- Budget isn't closing her doors anytime soon. But, whether its lack of business, morale, hiring problems, et cetera, we all get angry and frustrated sometimes, no matter how much we love our jobs.

How much are you willing to take at your job? Are you in it for the long haul, or are you just balancing on a stepping stone? That's a scary answer I'm sure. Hell, it's a scary question too. But it's a question we must all ask ourselves if we are to be happy. Being in a job you tolerate or like can be rewarding. Can be.

In spite of your best efforts, sometimes there are road blocks, and other obstacles along the way that can stop you from doing you best. These road blocks can even stop you from caring. Being jaded and cynical in the business world is not a good way to be. Being naive and foolish is also a bad idea.

Like many things in life, business, a good one, is a delicate balance. You must take it seriously, but you must also be calm and lax about it. You must work hard, but you must also rest and slack off every once and awhile. This is your job. Maybe even your career. What's the point in doing anything if you can't enjoy it somehow? Because you stop living after a while of being stuck in a place you hate. You just...survive.

I am frustrated at work. We are having morale and hiring issues, and this is augmented by the fact that we had a very rough and very slow August (as was expect, summer is our slow season). And my stress can leak through and contaminate others very easily. As I try to claw my way out of my own negativity, the others around me must also be trying to better themselves and keep a positive attitude. Otherwise, why are we even here? What are we even doing? Why does it even matter? It fuckin' doesn't.

Sometimes, you're the only one that wants to make a change for the better. Or at least try to make a change. But you must also realize that just because others don't care as much as you do, don't listen to you enough, or ignore you too much, doesn't mean you have to yield to the status quo and become another mindless cog in the grave great machine of work.

We all get frustrated sometimes. We all wanna quit our jobs at least once in our lives. That's normal. But you must also ask yourself if your complaints are genuine feelings of anger and disgust, or just workplace Monday blues. Think about it.