Sunday, February 21, 2010

The Economics of You: Are You Ready?

   Today I read another eye opening article in the NY Times about unemployment and the economy.  Below is the link.  Take a moment to read this article because I believe that this is excellent motivation as to why we shouldn’t become complacent in our personal and professional lives.  We must continue to learn new skills to market ourselves and to remain current in the job market.  Regardless of the false sense of job security you may have with your employer nothing is guaranteed anymore.

          While the article reports that, “men have suffered the largest numbers of job losses in this recession,” it also reported that, “women from 45 to 64 years of age — whose long-term unemployment rate has grown rapidly.” You may be under 45, employed and think that you're safe from the rhetoric, but you're not.  You may be 45 or older and feel safe, but should be careful to not be overly confident.  Regardless if you’re married, single, engaged or just simply have a special friend, I believe that we should care for ourselves just as we care for our families. For those of us who have a significant other, at any given time, that person could no longer be a part of our lives.  For those who are single, I’m not telling you anything that you don’t already know- that your paycheck is the only paycheck and losing your income could make the difference in having a warm place to live or sleeping on the street or in a shelter.   

Wednesday, February 10, 2010

Dinner: A Quick Fix

If you have any form of a family living in your home, and you take some responsibility for meal preparation, then on some occasion (probably many) you’ve undoubtedly made your way home agonizing over what you were going to cook for dinner.  Let me first say that I am extremely grateful and thankful that I have a job, a home, a family, and food in my cupboard to prepare a meal. With that said, I always feel like I have to be the one to decide what’s for dinner and sometimes it’s frustrating.  I’ll ask my husband, what he’d like for dinner and his response is always the same predictable but pleasant response, “what ever you want to cook.”  Some days, I want to say, how about sautéed Alpo?  To give my husband credit, he’s trying to be accommodating by leaving the decision to me and not demanding steak and potatoes or a four course meal every night.

Friday, February 5, 2010

CAREERS: New & Changing

The other day I read an online newsletter, which prompted me to write this post. So for those of you who are thinking about changing careers or re-entering the slumping job market, check out monster's online journalism newsletter. I love this newsletter because it provides current but concise tips that can help you get up to speed on job search tips. Visit http://www.monster.com/?disRe=true  and click on the "advice" tab and begin searching for a topic of interest. You may not agree with every statement, so pick and chose what will work for you, but I am certain that if you've been out of the job market for awhile, you will learn a few tricks to help you along. If you don't have time to read the information right away; print it out- make a "career" folder and read it when you have short pockets of time.

Wednesday, February 3, 2010

LIQUIDATE FOR A BETTER LIFE

STOP! Slowly inhale through your nose... hold it... now slowly exhale through your mouth. Repeat two or three times. I am instructing you to do so because so many of you- I mean “us” are or at some point, have been caught up in the race of living. We begin our day by getting out of bed feeling fatigued. Immediately, our minds begin to race with all the “to do’s” of the day and before we’ve even brushed our teeth, we’re sighing with trepidation. This is ridiculous! We cannot be everything to everyone in our household. Understand that the world will not stop revolving if every item does not get checked off on your "to do" list is important.