Big Words start conversations and open doors to new places.
Author: anwaryusef
Anwar Y. Dunbar is a Regulatory Scientist. Being a naturally curious person, he is also a student of all things. He earned his Ph.D. in Pharmacology from the University of Michigan and his Bachelor’s Degree in General Biology from Johnson C. Smith University (JCSU). Prior to starting the Big Words Blog Site, Anwar published and contributed to numerous research articles in competitive scientific journals reporting on his research from graduate school and postdoctoral years. After falling in love with writing, he contributed to the now defunct Examiner.com, and the Edvocate where he regularly wrote about: Education-related stories/topics, Science, Technology, Engineering and Mathematics (STEM), Financial Literacy; as well as conducted interviews with notable individuals such as actor and author Hill Harper. Having many influences, one of his most notable heroes is author, intellectual and speaker, Malcolm Gladwell, author of books including Outliers and David and Goliath.
Anwar has his hands in many, many activities. In addition to writing, Anwar actively mentors youth, works to spread awareness of STEM careers, serves on the Board of Directors of the Friends of the David M. Brown Arlington Planetarium, serves as Treasurer for the JCSU Washington, DC Alumni Chapter, and is active in the Dave Ramsey Financial Peace Ministry at the Alfred Street Baptist Church. He also tutors in the subjects of biology, chemistry and physics.
Along with his multi-talented older brother Amahl Dunbar (designer of the Big Words logos, inventor and a plethora of other things), Anwar is a “Fanboy” and really enjoys Science-Fiction and Superhero movies including but not restricted to Captain America Civil War, Batman vs. Superman: Dawn of Justice, and Prometheus. He is a proud native of Buffalo, NY.
A key focus of my blog is Health/Wellness. Cruises are popular vacation activities and destinations. With so much available to you once your excursion starts, it’s important to think about maintaining your health when you on the ship so you aren’t shocked when it’s finished. The following contributed post is therefore entitled, Staying Healthy on a Cruise.
A cruise can be a great vacation, but many people get off them heavier than when they started out. It is very easy to overindulge in delicious food and drink, and then you may not be quite so healthy as when you boarded. This does not have to be the case though; you can still have a lot of fun and stay healthy at the same time.
Take The Stairs, Not The Elevators
The large cruise ships are like floating cities and have elevators to get you from floor to floor. If you take the stairs instead, you will be getting some good exercise and not have to waste time waiting for the elevator to arrive. Walking to the restaurants and activities is also exercise you will not particularly notice, but is good for improving your cardio and strength.
Opt For The Restaurants
Most cruise ships will have several eateries. Some will be restaurants and other will be buffet style. In these, you pay the price and then eat as much as you want. This can make it very tempting to overeat, where at least in a restaurant you will have the size portion you are served. Dietary concerns are usually better handled in restaurants as well.
Be Active
Cruises have endless activities you can take part in, and as long as you are busy you will be less likely to be eating more than you should. There are generally fitness centers and exercise programs if you want to follow them, but there will also be dancing most evening, tennis games, swimming and many other activities you can enjoy.
Pamper Yourself
You will be able to have a spa, massages, facials and get your hair done. These things are all available on cruise ships, and they will make you feel good about yourself.
Seek Medical Attention If You Become Ill
Some people will not go on cruises because they are concerned that they will feel ill or have an accident. The ships do have medical teams on board, but if you are worried about something happening that they could not cope with, watch the Air Evac videos to put your mind at rest. It’s much safer than you might think.
Drink Plenty Of Water
When you are active and spending time ion the sun, your body will lose fluids through sweating. If you become dehydrated you will start to feel sluggish and not be able to enjoy yourself, in good health as you should. Drinking plenty of water can help to prevent this from happening.
Get Some Sleep And Rest
In between activities and pampering yourself, you need to make sure you get some rest too. Sit back and relax for a while to give your body chance to calm down, and at night try to still get your 8 hours sleep.
Getting the right balance of eating, exercise and rest is a vital part of everyday life, and you should try to maintain this while you are on a cruise. You will then get off the ship as healthy as you were when you boarded, and your clothes will still fit without having to leave the top button undone.
A key focus of my blog is Financial Literacy. A key to understanding money is knowing the best ways to use what income you have, but also to eliminate waste. Incomes vary and there is less room for error the less you make. The following contributed post is thus entitled, Are You Putting Your Income To Good Use?
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With the number of expenditures most of us face on a daily basis, it’s hard to make a paycheck last for the entire month. But there might be more you could do to manage your financial situation. Are you putting your income to good use? Let’s talk about some ways in which you could spend your money wisely.
Tidy up your monthly expenses. The first way in which you should put your income to good use is to tidy up your monthly expenses. So many people unnecessarily waste their earnings on expenditures that they don’t need. Practicing the 30-day rule (avoiding buying a luxury until you’ve waited for 30 days) is a smart way to control your desire to splurge. Of course, even those of us who avoid luxury purchases might still struggle to cover the endless list of monthly bills. But you could save money in that sense too. You could insulate your walls and windows to reduce the energy needed to warm up your house and save money on your energy bill. You could use online vouchers to save money when shopping for food, new clothes, or anything else you need online. You could even put up a lodger to help cover some of your bills if you have a spare room in your house or flat. There are so many ways to tidy up your monthly expenses if you change your approach to spending money. Budgeting is the easiest way to track and manage your finances, of course.
Find worthwhile investment opportunities. Finding worthwhile investment opportunities is another way to put your income to good use. As we’ll discuss in the final point, saving your money is important, but you could really improve your future financial situation by letting your wealth grow substantially through investments. Perhaps you could look at the stock market, for example. You might even want to head here for some new build houses. Investing in property is very smart because it’s a market that always has keen buyers. After all, people always need somewhere to live. Whether you buy and fix up properties to sell them for a quick profit or you buy properties to lease them out for a regular income, there’s a lot of money to be made here. Still, however you choose to invest your money, just make sure you do your research to make low-risk and high-reward decisions.
Save on payday. If you know that you’re prone to splurging as soon as that paycheck comes through every week or every month then you should start saving on payday. That way, you don’t have to worry about triggers urging you to spend your money when you’re out shopping or browsing online. You can immediately transfer a portion of your disposable income to your savings account and any disposable earnings that remain can be your spending money for non-essentials. It’ll mean you don’t have to feel guilty if you do treat yourself to luxuries because you’ll know that you’ve already put something into your savings for the month. This is a smart way to start putting your income to better use. You’re allowed to treat yourself in life, but you shouldn’t do so at the expense of your overall financial security in the present or the future. That’s always the crucial thing to remember.
Two of the focuses of my blog are Financial Literacy/Money and Business/Entrepreneurship. In some ways the medical industry is a model of others and there is a lot that can be learned from it. It is constantly evolving and changing. The following contributed post is entitled, 4 Lessons You Can Learn From The Medical Industry.
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There are some things that we can learn from the medical industry that you might not have considered. For example, if you don’t take the time to look at this industry, you are not going to realize all the excellent ideas that they can give to other industries. The medical profession can inspire a few different lessons that we should all be taking notice of, and in this article, we are going to talk about a few of them.
Efficiency is what all business owners are striving for. Getting the best out of your business as quick as possible. For example, in the medical industry, they may require medical billing services to ensure that they are getting paid by insurance companies. There are companies who specialize in this area and provide the necessary service to ensure that this gets done. The same thing can be applied to other industries. There should be certain areas of business that are handled by specialists in order to ensure the smooth running of other departments. Without this, the entire system could end up folding in on itself, and this is not what business owners need.
Leaning On New Technology
Have you ever thought about what technology could benefit your business? If not, now is the time to start. Some business owners shy away from new technology as it can cost a lot of money, and it requires training staff to use the new equipment. However, if you look to the medical industry, you will see that they largely lean on new tech to develop their entire profession. This is something that your business should be doing too. You need to allow the change in order to propel your business forward and keep up with everyone else on the market.
Putting The Customer First
Have you ever been to the doctors and felt like they had something more important to think about than your care? No, and that is what your clients should feel like too. Your customers should be the most important thing in your business, as without them, there is no business. You need to remember this and always make sure that the client’s needs are being met before anything else.
Showing your customers that they are valuable to your business is one of the most important aspects of owning a business. You should always ensure that they are being put first, and not being left behind for some other purpose.
Expanding Income
If your business is currently struggling for cash, have you ever thought about getting sponsored from others in your industry? Medical businesses often get sponsored by pharmaceutical companies, and this is something that could benefit you. Find a person or a business who is willing to sponsor you and come to an agreement with them about the terms of the sponsorship.
We hope that you have found this article helpful, and understand these four lessons that you can learn from the medical industry. Take this advice, and your business is going to run better than ever!
Two of the focuses of my blog are Financial Literacy/Money and Business/Entrepreneurship. The construction sector is a key aspect of the economy. It is impacted by other sectors and it impacts other sectors. The following contributed post discuss some potential things that can happen in 2019 and is entitled, What Construction Companies Should Know in 2019.
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If you’re in the construction industry, staying up to date with trends that could turn things around is a must. Many industries change year on year, so here we’re going to be talking about what construction companies should know in 2019. Let’s get right into it:
Green Technology Is Becoming More Popular Than Ever In Construction
People are beginning to realize that something has to be done about the planet. We are fast using up resources, so being as eco friendly as possible is essential, especially when the construction industry accounts for about 20% of global emissions.
You will find that more and more buildings and plans are incorporating green technology into the construction process, and this is great because green construction is a way of building projects in an environmentally responsible and resource-efficient way. A focus is being put on environmentally friendly buildings and focusing on the longevity of the building, which can only be a good thing for the future of our planet.
Sustainable construction can include the preservation of the environment, an efficient use of resources, with an eye to social progress and culture. Even making small changes and considerations, such as ensuring the natural light is able to reach the middle of the building, thereby reducing electrical costs can help.
Better Safety Equipment There has been a rise in standards in safety over the last few years, and careless construction working just won’t do. There are a high number of accidents and deaths associated with the construction industry, so a push for better safety equipment has been inevitable. Now, we are finally getting somewhere. There are smart work boots that can connect to Wi-Fi, send their GPS coordinates, and will even tell if users have fallen or are tired. Things like this will eventually be commonplace.
Project Management Solutions Project management solutions are a huge trend this year. Today, you’ll find that there are many more — and better — construction software options than there were a few years ago. You are able to keep all documents related to the project in one location, which can help subcontractors and contractors get paid at the end of a project, amongst other things. You can even pay attention to the more minute details, such as how many pipe clamps you have or need.
Augmented Reality Augmented reality is set to change many industries, including construction, for the better. Just one way it will do this is by providing more accuracy and clarity. Workers will be able to use AR to show the entire project before it even starts, saving a lot of time and money. Details will be finalized before the project has even begun, making for a more more efficient project overall.
Self-healing Concrete Self-healing concrete being used on roads, buildings and homes could become the norm. When self healing concrete comes into contact with air and water, it then produces an outer protective layer. Overall, this will save the construction industry a lot of time and enable them to create safer and more durable buildings for us.
The first principle of my blog is Creating Ecosystems of Success and a key focus is Health and Wellness. Creating a healthy workplace for our employees is critical. Mental health is particularly important. The greater the better the mental health of your employees, the more productive they’ll be. The following contributed post is therefore entitled, Promoting Better Mental Health in the Workplace.
The way your employees feel when they are at work con Impact on your business. It can affect productivity, communications and safety issues. Promoting a good atmosphere for them to work in will help with a good mental attitude in the workplace, and as an employer, you should be taking steps to make sure this is the case for your staff.
If you fail to do so, depression and anxiety could mean a lot of extra sick days, which will make your business less successful and harder to run. Your employees can be your most valuable assets and investing in them is vitally important for the future of your business.
Create A Healthy Workplace
This is easy to do by sometimes making just a few simple adjustments to your workplace and the way you treat your employees. Make sure that the environment they are in is a healthy temperature and that the air is fresh, Just these two things are a great start to making them feel better about themselves.
Do not expect them to work all day in your workplace and then go home and do even more work. Most people spend about one-third of their life in work and that is long enough. Expecting them to work a 60-hour week or to deal with emails and queries from home is not only unfair, but it will also make them feel discontented and that their efforts while at work are not appreciated.
Make sure they take their breaks and have somewhere that they can socialize for them. Some social interaction is a great way of relieving stress and they will return to their workstations more alert and ready to work.
Some experts, including Cynthia Telles of Kaiser Permanente, have spent years researching and dealing with these matters, and their opinions are very highly respected. She has been involved in several programs that aimed to improve the mental health of employees in all walks of life.
It is thought that in the US, one in four employees suffers from mental health problems to some degree and that most of them suffer in silence. This is in part because many of them do not recognize the cause of their problem and think it because of aging, the menopause or any one of a number of other things. Some workers think it is normal to feel this way and you need to help them identify when the way they are felling is not part of normal stress.
Helping them to recognize the symptoms and the triggers is one of the most effective things an employer can do for their workforce. You could invite a mental health expert to your business to give them a talk on what to look for and how to deal with it. There are confidential mental health screenings available and sometimes a questionnaire about their habits and symptoms can be very enlightening for someone that has been trained in these matters. There are also free online screening tools that you could encourage them to use.
The whole point is that a happy workforce will be more productive and produce a better quality of work. The time taken to ensure that none of your employees are suffering from mental health problems because of their job, or that none happen in the future, could save you a lot of time, effort and money ion the long run.
Assist Them With Their Treatments
Most mental health issues are very treatable, but they may need some time to seek the help they need. Letting them leave work for weekly therapy sessions that are during business hours for example, could prevent that employ from being off work long-term while they are treated.
Most employers would not have a qualm in calling for help if an employee becomes physically ill while they are at work, but those same bosses will totally ignore mental health issues. There is still something of a stigma attached to mental health problems, but many of them could have been prevented to start with. To the sufferer, they are just as bad and sometimes worse, than a physical illness and they deserve the same care and attention as someone who is having a heart attack while sitting at their desk.
If you any idea that a member of your staff may be becoming depressed or anxious while they are at work, speak with them or get someone else trusted to, and suggest that they seek treatment before it gets even worse.
A key focus of my blog is Financial Literacy/Money. The greatest investment, many people will ever make is their home. Once you’ve made the purchase, transforming it into the optimal space for you is a key for your wanting to stay there long-term. The following contributed post discusses this and is entitled, House Proud: Finding Ways To Love Your Home.
With the price and scarcity of modern homes, most people don’t feel like they get the chance to live somewhere which they will love. Being forced to make compromises based on money or space, people are left looking at their home as if it is a simple tool, and this couldn’t be further from the truth. To help you out with this, this post will be exploring some of the work which can go into giving yourself a greater love for your home. With all of this in mind, anyone should be able to adapt their space into something which works better for them, even when you have a complicated lifestyle.
What Do You Do?
As you start this journey, one of the first things you will need to explore will be the hobbies and interests which you like to invest your free time into. These parts of your life are some of the most important to you, and it makes sense that your home should reflect this, with companies like SATP being able to push you towards creating a place which enables you to throw yourself into your hobbies. For example, if you really like to fish, you could look for a place which has a river on the property. This will give you the chance to spend far more time doing something you love.
How Does It Look?
Function isn’t everything when you’re trying to improve your home, and style plays a big role on the way that people feel about spaces like this. Instagram is a great place to go when you’re looking for inspiration for areas like this. Millions of people post each day, and this means that there are loads of photos to go through all the time. While changing the colour of your walls will be a little bit awkward, the work itself won’t be too hard, making it worth putting some time into doing some decorating for yourself. It will make you feel very proud inviting people into a home which you really like.
Collecting Memories
Of course, in reality, a large part of the way that a lot of people will feel about the spaces they visit will be based on their memories. When you’ve spent loads of time with your family at home, it will be easy to feel calm their, and you will constantly be reminded of the time you’ve spent together. This area is the easiest of them all, with friends and family being the perfect tools when you’re trying to build some positive memories. A camera can be helpful with this, but it will be important to make sure that you don’t miss out on real memories as a result.
With all of this in mind, you should be feeling ready to take on the challenge of making your home into something you can love. There are always loads of routes which can be taken with work like this, though a lot of people will ignore them, simply accepting their space for what it is.
Two of the focuses of my blog are Financial Literacy/Money and Business/Entrepreneurship. Often times the key to running a successful business is being aware of the details. The following contributed post discusses this and is entitled, The Surprising Impact Of “Finer Details” On Your Business.
As a business owner, your primary focus will always be on the “big picture” – which is exactly how it should be. Entrepreneurs have to think ahead, consider the future, and establish broad goals and aims for their company to achieve in order to grow and succeed, after all.
However, there is a hidden downside to focusing on the “big picture” – you can miss the finer details of your business.
What are the finer details of a business?
Whatever type of business you run, there are finer details for you to consider:
• If you own an offline retail store, you’ll have to think about which brand of point-of-sale system you use, or the material of the carrier bags you provide • If you run a borehole drilling company, you’ll need to consider inflatable packers on https://www.aardvarkpackers.com/products-list/inflatable-packers/ and decide if they are suitable for your project, or which size of injection cone you always need to have to hand • If you own a medical practice, the finer details might be the type of instruments that you choose to use, or which brand of surgical tape you prefer to use • … and so on.
Simply put, the “finer details” we are referring to are not the be-all and end-all of your company; they are the small decisions, the seemingly-minor choices that have relatively little bearing on the big picture you may feel you should focus on. However, the impact these finer details may have is far mightier than you may initially believe.
Why are these finer details so important?
The reason that finer details are so important is simple: they’re not actually particularly “fine” at all.
While finding the right inflatable packers or deciding on the material of the bags you provide in your store may seem somewhat irrelevant in the grand scheme of things, it only takes a hiccup with one of these supposedly-rather-small details to cause issues for your business. Let’s say that you have decided to provide plastic bags to customers of your retail store; a seemingly-small decision that you make in an instant.
However, what if your customers have been reading the likes of https://www.onegreenplanet.org/whats-so-bad-about-plastic-bags/ and are thus concerned about the impact of plastic bags on the environment? In such a scenario, there’s a chance that that small, seemingly inconsequential decision, could actually cost you customers or harm your business’ reputation.
For every finer detail, there is a potential downside such as the example above; a scenario in which a finer detail could interrupt your business’ productivity, alter your customers’ perceptions of your company, cause a loss of efficiency, or simply make your business’ operations more difficult than they need to be.
So what can you do?
Admittedly, finding time in your schedule to focus on every fine detail in your business is going to be challenging – like most business owners, you likely already feel that you’re constantly short on time as it is.
However, what you can do is review the finer details your business relies on. Every three months, take an afternoon to review all the details of your business, asking your staff for their input in areas that you do not deal with yourself. It’s also worth surveying your customers and asking them to identify any areas of the business they dislike, or problems that they have experience.
If an issue is identified with one of the finer details of your business, you can then make a change before the impact becomes overly damaging.
In conclusion
Focusing on the big picture in business is essential, but every once in a while, it’s also worth focusing on the very small, very fine picture too.
Hello. Thank you for clicking on this link, and I hope you enjoy this essay. Writing a book was the genesis of my blogging and becoming a video content creator. I have published part one of my book project entitled, The Engineers: A Western New York Basketball Story. It is currently available on Amazon in eBook, hardcover, and paperback formats. Shortly I will be selling signed hardcover and paperback copies on my online store entitled Big Words Authors. You can place an order now if you want a signed copy. There is also a page discussing the book. Please consider visiting it to learn more about the project and see promotional content I’ve created surrounding the project. And now on to our feature presentation.
Disagreements are Welcome
One of the principles of my blog is Creative Thought and a key focus is Education. I’ve been thinking about this topic for a while now, and with Black History Month here, the time has come to put pen to paper, as they say. It’s a sensitive topic, and it may upset some readers, but I think that it’s a conversation worth having and a question worth asking. If you disagree with me here, that’s okay and it’s actually a good thing. Please leave a respectful comment below this piece. With that out of the way, let’s jump in.
Whose job is it to teach Black History? One of my most vivid memories of high school is my mother, and I believe other black parents, writing a letter to the Principal of my high school about a Black History Month program which he may have cancelled during my brother’s senior year. Around that time, and probably since, there was the sentiment that there needed to be more black history taught in the United States’ schools.
I always pondered this myself, and I wondered if this job should fall to our schools which in some instances are very, very diverse. My thoughts always settled on time and practicality. While the descendants of African slaves (my ancestors) were critical in the inception and then the construction of the United States, is there enough time during an eight to nine-month school year to cover every aspect of African American history? After all, the United States is now comprised of several races, ethnic groups and cultures.
Chinese School on the Weekends, and Do Black People Have a Culture to Pass on Along with Their History?
As I’m getting older, I’m becoming more of a Marcus Garvey-type in that I believe that we as black people can and should do for ourselves as much as possible, and not look to other groups as much. Thus we should be responsible for passing down our own history, or at least clarifying, correcting, and supplementing what’s taught in the schools. In addition to the practicality of time described above, I have two other reasons.
One is that other races and ethnic groups seem to take the passing on of their culture and history into their own hands. As discussed in my second vlogcast on my new Big Discussions YouTube channel, when I was postdoctoral scientist at the Wadsworth Center in Albany, NY, I was in a lab that was 95% Chinese. Likewise, my advisor and his wife were from mainland China, and their two children were being raised as first generation United States citizens. In casual talk my advisor’s wife shared with me that both of their children attended a Chinese school on the weekends.
That meant that they wanted their children to learn the intricacies of their culture and history above and beyond what they were learning in their respective school systems. Other groups seem to do the same thing: Jewish people, Arabic people, etc. I’ve observed that Arabic communities continue to retain their customs from countries like Pakistan, for example, even while their children are born here in the United States and are ‘westernized’.
This does of course bring to light the paradox that we African Americans face in that we don’t have a culture besides that which we were born into here in the United States. Some of us argue to this day that the United States isn’t our true home. Others feel that using the qualifier ‘African’ in front of American is an insult for us, as we have every right to be here. White Americans are also seldom referred to as ‘Euro’ Americans.
Telling Our Stories Accurately
My final reason for saying that we’re responsible for our own history is accuracy. After all, who would know our history better than us? Just like in the media, I think that he or she who controls the historical narratives, controls perceptions, personal identities, self-esteem, etc. Images matter and this is why the movie Hidden Figures was big deal for example. As a black scientist myself, I’m very passionate about shining the light on our historic black scientists such as Percy Julian, and astronauts Dr. Ronald E. McNair and Lieutenant Colonel Michael P. Anderson.
Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr. is one of the figures who is most synonymous with Black History Month. He is lionized and even romanticized these days and as we know, it wasn’t always that way. While we know that he was the figurehead of the Civil Rights Movement and that he opposed white racist elements in the south, what isn’t discussed is how he was perceived by other black people of his time in an open and transparent way.
Did Some Black People Want to Kill Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. Too?
A black elder from the Baby Boomer generation who grew up in the south, once shared with me that Dr. King had numerous black detractors as well, and there were in fact other black people who wanted to take his life. I was surprised to hear this revelation, as I’d never heard about it before. The same was true of Dr. King’s extramarital affairs which Dr. Michael Eric Dyson discussed in one of his books about Dr. King.
The point here is not to besmudge the great Dr. King, but instead to emphasize the importance of a balanced historical perspective–telling both the good and the bad. I suspect that generations from now, people will be unaware of Reverend Jesse Jackson’s disparaging comments about President Barrack Obama leading up to his historic election in 2008, and that they’ll only remember the picturesque scene of Reverend Jackson crying at Grant Park on election night 2017 shortly after Senator John McCain conceded.
I’m going to close by extending this world history. In my Global Studies courses back at Hutch-Tech High School in Buffalo, NY, I didn’t learn anything about The Moors–explorers and tradesmen from Africa who occupied Spain in the early 700s. I first heard about them from a friend from Buffalo who I’ll call ‘Kenny’, who was and is very, very passionate about African world history. We as African Americans probably could and should know more about mainland Africa beyond what we learn in class and see on the news and in the media–the good, the bad and the ugly.
Closing Thoughts
When I look back at my youth, one woman comes to mind in terms of actively spreading black history beyond the jurisdiction of our schools. Back in my home city of Buffalo, NY, Ms. Eva Doyle was actually my very first science teacher in the second grade I believe. As I got older though I saw that she was very active and passionate about the teaching and spreading of black history. She became a fixture in our local black newspapers and in the community in general and continues her work today, setting an example for all of us.
These are just some of my thoughts on Black History Month, and I hope that I haven’t upset anyone. In a way it’s funny that it’s the shortest month of the year, but at the same time it’s something that we as black people should be learning throughout the year. In today’s digital age, we’re very fortunate that vast amounts of information are available online to us via a simple Google searches and via video platforms like YouTube. It wasn’t like this years ago.
The quote at the beginning of this piece is a lyric from the hip hop track Black Star Line by a group called Brand Nubian I listened to when I was a teen. It was from one of Lord Jamar’s verses. This track was based on Marcus Garvey. Back in the late 1980s and early 1990s as opposed to modern times, hip hop and rap music had educational, social and political messages, and I learned quite a bit of black history from it. The visual at the beginning of this piece is from the 36th Annual Martin Luther King Jr. Birthday Celebration hosted by the Washington Inter-Alumni Council of the United Negro College Fund., which is regularly supported by my Johnson C. Smith University Washington DC Alumni Chapter.
The Big Words LLC Newsletter
For the next phase of my writing journey, I’m starting a monthly newsletter for my writing and video content creation company, the Big Words LLC. In it, I plan to share inspirational words, pieces from this blog and my first blog, and select videos from my four YouTube channels. Finally, I will share updates for my book project The Engineers: A Western New York Basketball Story. Your personal information and privacy will be protected. Click this link and register using the sign-up button at the bottom of the announcement. If there is some issue signing up using the link provided, you can also email me at bwllcnl@gmail.com . Best Regards.
The first principle of my blog is Creating Ecosystems of Success. Often times, success in our lives is greatly dictated and influenced by our mindsets and personal beliefs. Likewise, a lack of success is caused by mental programming. The following contributed post discusses this and is entitled, Unlocking Confidence In Your Daily Life.
Everyone would say that they would like to be more confident, as it is clear that it leads to a more productive and fulfilling life. But it is one thing to want this, and quite another to actually know how to go about making it a reality, and that is a distinction which can really make all the difference in the world. Nonetheless, everyone is capable is learning to be more confident, and it begins by focusing on what it is that you tend to do with your mind. The secret to being confident is understanding how to think about it, as well as how to approach hurdles and problems in your daily life, in a manner which breeds more and more confidence within yourself. In this post, we’ll look at a few of the mindset qualities which can help you to feel and become genuinely much more confident in no time at all.
Anything Is Possible
First of all, you will want to try and develop a sense and feeling of anything being truly possible. Although at first it might seem as though this is not true, or that it must be hard to think this way, actually it is not quite as difficult as you might think, and the truth is that most things are much more possible than people tend to think. The problem is that by assuming that things are not possible, you make it truer, and the same is true of the opposite. You can start with very small things for this, everyday annoyances which you would usually feel have no real solution. For instance, it is always possible to get out of a parking ticket – check out GetDismissed, for instance – or to get away with being given your coffee for free. Try it out, and see what you can manage, and then you can start to build it up.
Growth Is What Matters
Of course, you are going to face setbacks, so it is the way in which you approach those problems that determines how confident you are likely to feel and come across, and therefore what kind of a life you are likely to live. And you will find it considerably easier to deal with whatever problems you might have if you can focus more on growth than anything else. If you can say that a problem at least caused you to grow, then you will find that this leads to a much more positive way of looking at things, which in turn allows you to feel much more confident in yourself in the future, for you won’t be fearing failure quite so much. This is powerful, and it’s well worth looking into as best as you can.
Help Others, Help Yourself
Finally, there is much to be said for the process of helping others in your life. Apart from just being a nice thing to do, when you go out of your way frequently to help others, it tends to have an effect of making you feel better about yourself, and this will lead to an increased confidence in no time. This is hugely important, and it can’t be overlooked.
The first principle of my blog is Creating Ecosystems of Success and a key area is Career Discussions. In some instances individuals can become unhappy in their careers and at work. Is the only option to quit? Not necessarily. The following contributed post is entitled, Unhappy at Work? Here’s What to Do.
Work takes up a significant amount of your time and if you are unhappy, you must make a change. There is no point in going through life feeling like things could be better and doing nothing about it!
Being unhappy at work can have a massive knock-on effect on the rest of your life. If you are anxious and stressed at work, you will almost certainly be anxious and stressed at home. If you are feeling bored and uninspired at work, you can guarantee that your home life will be boring too.
The good news is that there is a simple formula to find your way to happiness once again. In just 3 steps, you should be able to see a much brighter future ahead.
Isolate the Problem
There are all kinds of reasons that you might be unhappy at work. Perhaps you feel that you don’t have enough of a challenge or maybe you are feeling overworked. It may be that you don’t get on very well with your manager or colleagues or even that you are being overwhelmed by the social commitments expected of you. No matter what it is, you should try to isolate the specific problem before you do anything else.
Often, people who are unhappy at work begin to internalise their worries and feel that they are to blame. Employees who are stressed out and overworked often feel that they are bad at their jobs and don’t realise that they could do an excellent job elsewhere. Similarly, if you aren’t getting on with your colleagues, you may feel socially inept. By isolating the problems you are having at work, you will be able to see that the problem lies with the job and not you. When you come to go for a new job, you will be able to see the warning signs and make a better choice.
Isolating the problem or problems is the best way to start working on a plan to make things better. If you are just focusing on the feeling of being unhappy and not the cause, you aren’t going to make any progress. The best action plan is based on facts not feelings.
Decide on an Action Plan
Stress and anxiety quite often stand in the way of working out an action plan but this is no problem in the long run. You just need to shift your priorities. Instead of focusing on what you need to do to make your job better, you should start by thinking about what will make your mental health better. Happily, the two things often coincide.
Breathe deeply and close your eyes. Let your mind drift for a moment but try to prevent them going into a spiral – follow the thoughts that interest you. Letting your thoughts wander is a great way to give your brain space to come up with more creative ideas and solutions. As problems at work pop up at the forefront of your mind, think about the possible solutions. You might even like to make a list you can look at later.
Some problems are easier to work through than others. For example, if you aren’t getting on with your colleagues, you might be able to talk to them about the problems you are having and clear the air. Similarly, if you want a greater challenge, you could ask to go on courses, move departments and take on more responsibilities as part of your role.
But other issues are more difficult to resolve and you may need to ask for professional help. If you are unhappy because you believe your company is acting illegally and you are planning to become a whistleblower, you will certainly need some help and should ask a lawyer for more information.
When you have a few solutions to try, you should put your plan into action. So, let’s say you are unhappy because you don’t get on with your colleagues and you don’t have enough to do. Start by asking your manager for more responsibility and suggest areas that you are particularly interested in developing. This is a good idea for several reasons but most important are that you can build up your CV and you will have less time to worry about your social issues.
Next, you should go through the process again, what is it specifically that is impeding your relationship with your colleagues? Would it help if you were to speak more clearly? Do you need to tread more carefully when you talk? Perhaps you are misunderstanding each other and there actually isn’t really a problem! Social issues at work take time to resolve but a candid chat is always a good starting point. Whatever you do – don’t gossip!
Make Positive Changes
Making just a few positive changes at work can have a real impact on how you feel. Positive changes can be as small as having a picture on your desk or as big as quitting and starting up your own business. The most important thing is that you are making the decision for the positive rather than simply escaping the negative. One of the most important rules in finding a new job that will make you happy is that you should always run to a job not away from a job.
Getting a new job is often the end goal for most people who are unhappy at work. Though it might feel like climbing a mountain every day, this is the main reason that you shouldn’t completely give up on the job you currently have. Continue to do your best and find ways to develop yourself so that when it comes to the interview, you will have plenty to talk about and impress the new company with.
As difficult as it is, try to keep looking at the positives. You might feel stuck in a rut but writing and sending off your CV will help to show you that you have plenty of skills and experience to work with. You won’t be trapped in this job forever.
