Ten ways to get a Job!

Getting a job can be one of the most frustrating things you do but with some simple steps it can be a great deal easier-

1- Be yourself. Don't be overly positive as people will see straight through this and think you are hiding something

2- Make sure you CV is simple, clear, concise and interesting. Bullet points that relate to job descriptions will be easier than long paragraphs as many potential employers just don't have the time to sift through wordy CVs

3- Rehearse possible interview questions or at least read the job description until you are confident you know it well. Don't regurgitate your answers at interview but use your prepared answers to help you talk fluently to the interviewer which will make you look more knowledgeable and confident.

4- Be yourself!!!

5- Sign up to local job agencies as well as online ones. Showing your face to a recruitment agency is a much better way of gaining employment than searching the internet all day. Its who you know that's important as we always hear, but its true. You need to get your face in the door before you get your foot in. 

6- Hand your CVs to local firms and initiate conversation. Companies may not take you on but by talking to them they may let you know people who are hiring. Its about using your interpersonal skills to get noticed and obtain information. The more you do this the easier it will get and this will also help your confidence at interview because you are 'Pro-actively seeking work' not just seeking work on the couch.

7- Don't be afraid to admit weaknesses at interview or even on your CV. Potential employers are looking for human beings despite how it feels sometimes. Never pretend you are a robot who can do anything as this it not true and you are setting yourself up for a fall. Go in slightly humble then surprise them with your knowledge in conversation. This will be more impressive than boasting on your CV or at interview and then failing on the job (that will not help your confidence or prospects)

8- Volunteer at places you like like charity shops or even get involved with charity work at your local supermarket. Getting your face seen means that if you apply for a job at the supermarket, your voluntary endeavours will go in your favour. Employers always like to see personality so don't become an automaton. You are a human and deserve to be treated as such. 

9- Be yourself, yes its so important.

10- Use your skills. Go for jobs that match your skills. If you are a people person you may hate admin jos so don't apply for them. If you are shy then don't apply for sales jobs, its pretty simple if you really think about it.

Good luck, its tough out there, but be confident in yourself and something will turn up if you look in the right places and show the right attitude. But remember be yourself.

Ten ways to understand life

Life, the big question, Why are we here and what are the best ways to understand our place in this world. Here are ten ways to understand life:-

1- Life is so unfathomable but we do understand that life is the ability of an organism to keep producing new healthy cells so Life is a continuous renewal of our constituent parts until the cells are damaged beyond repair and which ever vital organ (that is each a collection of cells) dies first determines when life ends. The ability of the cells to use energy and react to the environment is common determinant of something being alive. So if we are full of energy and able to react to the environment then we are alive. If we are disconnected or not using our energy then we are not living. Scientists say that your attitude to life helps determine how long you live so the more positive and active you are the longer you will live, the more you sit around not reacting to the environment the less time you will live, so there seems to be a link to how we feel about life and how long we will have that state of being 'alive'!

2- Are we here to realise our potential? If so then life is what we make it. Are we living the life we think we are capable? If not then are we feeling low about it. So maybe life should be lived by each of us differently. We all have different skills so its time you used yours and took part in life. 

3- Are we here to become wise and acquire knowledge? If so then life is a lesson or series of lessons that we should take the time to learn from. Life then is more than existing, it is happens to us and we must react as best we can and learn from mistakes so that as we get older we feel we grow physically weaker but mentally stronger.

4- Are we here to do good and help others? Sociologists think so. People are usually happier when they take part on things that help others or improve things. Most jobs are designed to make things better in some way- An architect tries to improve our houses, a cleaner helps keep the streets clean for everyone. The world is better when we not only help ourselves but help others.

5- The Epicureans of Ancient Greece thought that life was about seeking pleasure and so did the Utilitarian philospoher Jeremy Bentham who said that life was about minimising pain and maximising Pleasure. This is why we are sad when we are in pain because we are not achieving the maximum potential of pleasure. So the more pleasure (mental or physical) the happier we are maybe.

6- Life is meaningless. The philospopher Neitsche said that 'religion was the opiate of the people' because it allowed the state to govern people and if things went wrong it was 'Gods will'. So he said that life has no meaning, that it is a chance occurance, something that cannot be understood because there is nothing to understand, it just is.

7- Buddhists and Jainist believe that life is about attaining 'right' desire, and that detachment from external pulls or passing things is the only way to contentment or enlightenment.

8- Hindus believe that in life there are four aims that anyone can have 
Kama (wishes, desires and sensual pleasure seeking)
Artha (Glory, wealth and prosperity)
Dharma (righteousness, virtue, ethical living, moral aims)
Moksha (release from rebirth in life)

9- Survival of the fittest. Evolutionary biology shows us that life is a constant struggle against the elements and other living things. Whether we are above that depends on whether you believe that we humans can transcend these notions and work together. It seems that up to now we still fight each other and the strongest countries prospers so life is a battle if viewed solely from this viewpoint.

10- Life is what we make it and how we see it. We become what we believe. We believe we are failures and we become failures, we believe we can succeed and we often do. So life is really an experience that influences itself. If we experience life being sad then it is sad, if we experience it happy then it is happy. This is a psychological perspective on how life and experience of life interact to produce who we are. 

Ten ways to wind down

Winding down after a busy day can be tough as our minds our often at their most active when we actually need to rest. Here are ten ways to wind down after a hectic day of work or other stressful activities.

1- Take a walk round the block. After a long day at work 5-10 minutes of gentle exercise will get help level your heart rate, tire you a little and make winding down easier. If you drive to work or even get the train, walking round the park or just round the block helps give work and home a psychological separation. Physical exercise also helps to relieve stress.

2- Read a chapter of a novel (not a magazine or non fiction). By escaping into a story you give your mind time to wander but give it focus at the same time. 

3- Meditate for 5 minutes before you leave work for home. By calming your nerves before you get in the car or train you enable your body to recover and take stock. This will help later on when you want to wind down properly.

4- Cook dinner. I know its so easy to get a takeaway or ready meal but cooking gives you a buzz when you cook a good meal and know you have saved money. Cooking yourself will allow you to eat excellent food at less cost than bland TV dinners.

5- Chat to a friend on the phone or plan your weekend. This will give you a focus and enable you to relax knowing that the future holds happy activities that you will enjoy as well as stressful one that you will endure.

6- Listen to your I pod (at home) and sit and enjoy calm or evocative music that you can listen to or even sing along to if you must. Don't fill your spare time with TV 24 hour news channel, this will really stop you winding down.

7- Make time for others. When we make time for family and friends after work we remind ourselves that there is more to life than just work. This helps us wind down

8- Have a bath and then settle in for the night. By having a bath as soon as you get in, you can either feel a burst of energy for the evening or enable you to relax depending on your needs at the time. It gives your aching muscles the break they need and means when you get tired later you simply have to crawl into bed, Perfect!!

9- Try to avoid loads of caffeinated drinks. This seems obvious but many of us have a coffee late in the evening and then wonder why we cant relax!

10- Go easy on yourself. As the line from the famous musical 'Jesus Christ Superstar' goes 'Let the world do without you tonight, everything's alright'. Peace.

Ten ways to get into Journalism

Journalism is one of those sticky careers with so many in roads its hard to know where to start. Your best way in depends on your age and what kind of journalism you want to work in. The 'Penguin Careers' guide states that 'most entrant into Journalism are graduates' but this is not always a prerequisite. Here are some useful ways to begin.

1- Study a degree in a subject that interests you. There is a growing market for specialist 'content' in magazines and newspapers so if you want to specialise then start now and build on your degree with relevant experience.

2- Be a generalist and write content on a variety of topics as a freelancer. Getting work relies on your ability to target publications with your work and get them interested in it. So gaining a broad CV of published content, be that, a blog, one off articles or writing features for writing competitions can get you the 'back story' you will need to impress top editors and publications

3- Approach your local newspaper and ask if you can write a 'local interest' story or a piece on something local that you are knowledgeable about. Getting the ball rolling is a key step.

4- If you have already been to University then consider a post graduate program run by the NCTJ (The National Council for the training of Journalists). These can be run be an employer or done at university or via distance learning and course offer an array of specialist qualifications that can help you carve a niche.

5- If you are considering a career change into Journalism then consider what transferable skills you have that could be used in your new career. For example if you are an engineer then consider writing for technical or trade journals where you're expertise will be greeted warmly be editors.

6- If you are at University then get involved with Student publications. If you want to go into TV then get involved with your Student Union and begin pro-actively looking for news worthy stories.

7- Keep up to date with the news, it can give you inspiration and allows you to reflect on issues in a timely manner which is crucial for relevant content. Why not try and get on the radio by interviewing local 'celebs' or inspirational people and getting their story (and hence your story) in the paper or online.

8- The more you write and submit work the more work you will get (if you are consistently good). Use social networking sites such as 'LinkedIn' to build contacts.

9- Be personable approachable and friendly. The more of a people person your are, the easier it is to conduct interviews, set people at ease so that they relax and tell you an interesting story. Don't get offended easily as you will have to deal with some difficult people when interviewing.

10 - Consider diversifying into Photography (if you have the eye and technical aptitude). This will help keep the money rolling in and is a nice compliment to writing as it is totally different. You can then look for jobs in travel journalism to combine these skills or keep them as separate skills. The choices are really up to you!! 

PS- Work hard and be enthusiastic. You can succeed if you can write well, are imaginative or technically knowledgeable. Remember that you are 'only as good as you're last article' so keep motivated and begin a career that allows you to do what you love (most of the time!!) Good Luck.

Ten ways to make the most of your holiday

Holiday's are vital for us to stay sane and function. We need rest, but we also need to be stimulated with stress free activities. Here are ten ways to really make the most of your time away or even holidays spent at home:-

1- Plan the time before you leave for your holiday. Try and get things ready before you need to rush to the flight or to get to a site before 8pm etc. There is no point starting a holiday stressed, this will mean stress will continue indefinitely.

2- Are you going to relax or have none stop activities. Maybe you should do both? By having time to relax and time to let go you relieve stress effectively. exercise will increase your metabolic rate which will help you feel more positive. Combining this with relaxing activities will mean you get the stress free time and healthy rewards of activity. This is important if you're day job is sedentary.

3- Book activities before you go. There is nothing worse than turning up to an activity park or even a beaty spa to find there are no bookings left. You have just wasted all that time and money getting there so make sure you have things to do.

4- If you have kids try and book them into some activities that they can do unsupervised so that you get some time to yourself.

5- Also having one or two activities where you split the family in two or each partner has time to themselves ensures that cabin fever doesn't set in and ruin you're holiday. Think the Shining holiday sun and not 'The Shining' the film for your holiday!!

6- Arrive with your phone off metaphorically or literally. Don't be tempted to answer business calls on holiday. If you have to check emails allocate one or two hours max per week to deal with business. Remeber this is a holiday. If you are a workaholic 'get a grip' or don't go on holiday. Why spend all your hard earned money on a holiday and then spend half of it attending to work issues. Consider leaving your phone or laptop or ipad at home.

7- Try and find time to appreciate the culture of wherever you go. Remember this may be the only time you ever come to this place, make it a trip to remember with vivid memories as well as lounging about. We all need time to lounge but don't just do that.

8- Why not spend one day exploring nature and really getting to grips with wherever you are including being in the UK. There is some stunning countryside near you wherever you are so go and find it and cherish the time with your loved ones and take a picture to remind you of the beautiful places you have been.

9- Don't just flash your camera though, why not get some pens and pads out. Have a coffee and get your kids to sketch the view. Any meaningful way you can engage with the landscape or city around you is to observe it and draw it. It doesn't have to be good, but by taking the time to draw something will en-grain it in your memory forever

10- Let your kids make choices. Let them feel like this is their holiday too. By giving them options and explaining the costs and benefits of each option you enable them to understand the value and cost of your holiday. They will then be more interested in it and may be you will have a more peaceful time (maybe, I make no promises!!)

Have fun whatever you do and remember its your holiday so do whatever you want and enjoy it, don't waste it.

ten ways to improve your memory

Memory is something we all have, but some of us forget to use it! How do we improve it, can we improve it? Here are some suggestions that psychologists think can help us do just that-

1- The brain as they say is a muscle so use it. Join a brain training website to get the neurons firing. We learn to forget by not using the paths in our brain that become habitual paths. That's why when we learn a skill but then don't do it for a while it takes time to relearn those memorised patterns that are in our brains

2- Try not to rely on you phone to tell you everything. Try and think and see if you can remember yourself. By not relying on search engines or databases on our phones we train our brains to demand more from our memory and this helps us to have more confidence in our memory. The more you ask of yourself the more you will get back.

3- Get regular sleep. This helps to boost blood circulation and keeps blood sugar levels stable which aid all our brain functions.

4- Exercise. When we exercise we reduce the chance of getting diseases that effect our memory like diabetes and cardiovascular diseases. Exercise helps protect brain cells.

5-A strong social network can aid memory as we have to keep larger networks of people in our minds daily. Having a good support network around you also helps improve your health which is vital to memory skills.

6-Have hobbies or interests. Learn new skills to strengthen your adaptability and ability to learn new things an retain them.

7- Enjoy yourself. Studies show that laughter can increase our ability to think freely which helps us access information, remember jokes, anecdotes and other social information that enhances memory skills.

8- Eat well. Eat healthy foods that are high in vitamins and omega 3 foods such as oily fish or peanuts. Moderate red wine consumption, low saturated fat diet and eating vegetables all helps stave off Dementia an related conditions.

9- Use memory walks or 'mnemonic devices' to remember things. so to remember specific things you can use familiar places to make a mind map. So if you try and remember say the word 'mobile' you think about your room, and something in it like your bedside table and link the two by creating a memory walk 'I walked in to my room and to keep mobile I paced round the room'  The word is now part of an event, which is much easier to remember than a word with no context.

10- Don't watch tv all day. Take part in activities, be proactive in your life so that you don't float through life as a spectator. By being involved in life you create stronger connections both physically and mentally that allow you to remember things quicker because you access them more often. This is brain stimulation rather than brain sedation (watching too much TV)!

Do you have memory techniques that work for you, drop me a line, I would love to know what everybody thinks. Talk to me people!!

Ten ways to be Healthy

Health is the most important thing we have as it enables us to do everything else. I know through periods of illness myself and major surgery that not having your health changes everything and makes you aware that without it your life wont function as you want it to. So here's ten ways be healthy-

1- Sleep regularly for 8 hours a night. Don't stay up when you know you are tired, discipline yourself to sleep when you need it.

2- Have some kind of routine. This can be flexible to an extent, but your body thrives off routine. It helps you stabilise your organs and like exercise keeps all your bodily functions working optimally.

3- Eat when you are hungry. Don't put off eating, thinking it will make you thinner or healthier, it just means when you eat your body will pile on the fat content or sugar content of the foods you do eat because your body stores these things more when you starve it, because without regular food it wonders where the next meal is coming from so stores more fat, sugar etc than it would otherwise do so.

4- Enjoy fatty foods, but don't eat large amounts in one day. Spread out your treats so you can have one everyday. Denying yourself nice food will mean you binge on them later and will put on weight. This is not healthy.

5- Walk everyday for at least an hour. Get your cardiovascular system working. Its like pushing a car. Once you get it moving, its easier to keep it moving. If you get your muscles and endorphines going they will serve you through the day. This is why daily exercise is so important because it promotes 'happy chemicals' that if topped up daily will serve you well later on. Health brings more health.

6- Don't neglect your brain. Stimulate your mind as well as your body to be healthy. Having a healthy mindset and positive influences on your life will help you be more active.

7- Have a strong social life. Social contact has been proven to lower stress levels over time and promotes health. People who feel part of a community are more likely to live longer than loners. 

8- Remember to top up your vitamins with vegetables with your meal and starting the day with an orange before breakfast or even a tangerine will help you regulate your blood sugar levels.

9- Eat a big breakfast. Eating fatty foods in the morning means you are less likely to binge later and you have more time to burn it off during the day. Eating a large breakfast also gives you more energy to exercise during the day. Remember to top up during the day though. Keep eating small regular top ups to avoid troughs in energy levels that can be dangerous.

10- Do some strenuous activity twice a week like cycling or running or even cleaning the house or a hobby such as DIY. Just make sure you push yourself. If you aint sweatin' your aint gettin' healthy. So in conclusion, a balance of moderate exercise and strenuous bursts will help build muscle strength and keep your heart and lungs strong.

Hope this helps, any suggestions people? Any healthy routines that you swear by? would love to know.