Archive for October, 2007 Page 2 of 2

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Responsibility Is A Sacrifice

Published at October 19, 2007 in Career/Work/Job, Responsibility and School/Teaching. 7 Comments

Jack was still sleeping, and it was already past 6 am. He’s late for school now, so his mother tried to wake him up. “Jack, get up! You’re late for school!” But Jack said, “5 more minutes, Mom…” and he returned to sleep.

Minutes later, his mother tried to wake him up again: “Jack, get up! You need to go school!” But Jack loved to sleep, so he turned his back on his mother and said: “But I still want to sleep!” He pulled the blanket to his head.

His mother, now displaying a ‘motherly demeanor’, said: “Jack, you have to get up now! You really need to go to school!”

“But I don’t want to go!”

To which his mother replied: “But you need to! You ARE the school principal!”

It was a fictitious story told to us by my high school teacher; I knew she was just trying to make a point. She said that being responsible is doing things you don’t like. When I was younger, I agreed with her. Jack didn’t want to go to school but he had an obligation, so he still went and did his job. It made sense.

Now, after revisiting the story, I think my teacher might have been mistaken….

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Playing The Waiting Game

Published at October 15, 2007 in Blogs and Blogging, Career/Work/Job, Money and Money-making, Observations and Opinions and Random Ramblings. 11 Comments

You’re in a financially unrewarding job you don’t really enjoy, and for some VALID reasons, you’re stuck with it. You feel you have two choices: either 1.) whine and attract sympathy from others, perform lackadaisically, then quit and find another unworthy job; OR 2.) stay, improve yourself, and do your best while waiting and looking for better opportunities. Option 1 seems to be the easier choice because it’s easy to blame others for our lack of progress instead of doing something worthwhile. But do good things happen to those who wait?

You’ve probably heard the news about the fascinating people on the internet popularized by their successful money-making stories. Ordinary people who became internet legends by blogging. And then you’ve asked yourself: “When is it my turn?” You want to be like them: lucky by doing nothing.

You’re wondering: why are some people so damn lucky earning lots of money sitting in front of the computer?

I’ll tell you a secret. I have read about their inspiring stories, too.

You know what I noticed?

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The Ability to Multi-Task

Published at October 12, 2007 in Career/Work/Job, Observations and Opinions and Personal. 7 Comments

A few people from work asked me to do a thing or two for them. I had to say YES, because: 1.) I was the only one who can do it; and 2.) It had to be done by today.

Normally, after I laid out my plans for the day, I would zone out everything and carry out my plan. If I get interrupted by favors indirectly related to my regular work, I would accept it and politely say “I’d finish it as soon as I can.“

But today was a lot different from my normal Friday, which is supposed to be lighter, compared to other days of the week. Today, I had to endure extended work and a couple of distractions. (I felt the need to sugar-coat the word “distractions” and use “challenges” instead, but, decided against it because they are what they really are: distractions.)

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Are You a Better Person Now?

Published at October 7, 2007 in Observations and Opinions, Personal and Random Ramblings. 5 Comments

I came across my old xanga blog (year 2003) that I had already forgotten, and began reading some posts. My style of writing and even the topics I wrote about then were something I can’t say I am proud of. I was using chat words like “idk” (for I don’t know), “lyk” (for like), and other words I now consider below English standards. I am a teacher, some of my students read my posts, and I was supposed to be a role model. Instead, I was the one getting hooked by these language trends. I should be the one changing people for the better.

So the question popped: “Did I improve over the years?”

And then my thoughts drifted to my other characteristics. Am I still ALWAYS late? Do I still spend a lot of time watching TV? Am I a better teacher now? Did I expand what I know about technology?

Am I a better person now?

Truth is I have high respect for people who always work hard to be better: may it be on the personal aspect or professional. They are people who are driven to success and they know how to invest on their future. I should know, because I see them everyday; I work with them; I talk to them; I read about them. These people who strive to be better are always hungry for knowledge and they embrace new challenges.

And they are the people I’m trying to emulate.

Am I a better person now?

I can say I’m a little punctual now, though it still needs improvements. When I notice I get distracted watching re-runs of sitcoms and old movies, I turn off the TV and switch the radio on and continue what I am supposed to do.

I am a better teacher, yes. I continually ask seasoned educators from my school for suggestions and observe how they teach. This year, our school principal made us watch a video of Harry Wong (link is for the book) on how to be an effective teacher, and it is very helpful. I can say I manage my classes A LOT better than the way I did 2-3 years ago.

Thanks to the internet, I am able to update my technology skills. And as for this blog, I see to it that I spend ample time to improve its layout and its content.

Improvement should never stop. So if this post has somehow enlightened you and you decide to be better, do something about it and do it now, because learning and improvement do not end as soon as results are gained.

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Loyalty is a Two-Way Street

Published at October 3, 2007 in Career/Work/Job, Money and Money-making and Observations and Opinions. 17 Comments

My friend Ernie (not his real name), a single father of two young teenage boys, is a loyal employee of a local video store for 5 years now and has an excellent record and good rapport with other employees. He works his butt off for his boss doing almost everything imaginable. Ernie comes to work early and is always the last to leave. He is a huge part of the store’s daily activities and doesn’t complain even though his meager salary is just enough to make it through the day… he said he was doing it for his family.

But that is about to change because his boss confronted him one day.

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