The Art of Continuous Learning

 

There was a time when learning had an expiration date. Many of us remember counting the days until we were finally "out" of school, university or any other place where studying seemed endless. Graduation felt like the finish line, and after crossing it, we believed we had learned everything we needed.

For some, studying more was a family tradition. Others pursued degree after degree because it was fashionable or their profession demanded it. And, of course, many simply wanted better opportunities in life. Ironically, today we even find people who are highly educated struggling to find jobs that match their qualifications…

The world has changed dramatically. New technologies - and especially AI - are transforming the workplace at a speed few ever imagined; knowledge that was valuable only a few years ago can quickly become outdated. In this environment, continuous learning is no longer an advantage; it is becoming a necessity.

Yet the most valuable learning may not happen in a classroom.

Personal growth depends on curiosity, investigation, reflection and the willingness to discover new perspectives. It requires having a vision of the future while remaining open to change. Sometimes the most important lessons come from developing soft skills: learning to communicate better, manage emotions, think critically, build meaningful relationships or cultivate inner stability through practices such as meditation.

The greatest learners are not necessarily those with the most certificates hanging on the wall. They are the ones who never lose the desire to ask questions, explore new ideas, and become a better version of themselves.

Perhaps the real art of continuous learning is not collecting more information or even knowledge. It is remaining open to learn throughout life.

A purpose for leaders of the self

 

What is your purpose?

If you are a very educated person, you will ask back: what???

Purpose is an inner guidance that makes the individual to do certain things and not others. As humans, we have a few of these, but purpose is the one with the most impact.

There are of course many different types of purpose, but I am talking here about a higher purpose, something that is not conditioned by a period of time and it serves as part of the inner compass.

Every time someone is REALLY following their purpose, naturally there will be satisfaction in life, all will be successful and the person will feel accomplishment at every step of the process.

However, if the person is not following that in terms of actions and behavior, or even attitude, then satisfaction will come only when there is visible profit, not everything will be successful and the person won’t feel accomplishment all the time.

Lastly, if the person is GOING AGAINST their purpose… Well, there will be dissatisfaction most of the time, even when there is success it will look like a failure and there will be the feeling this is not fulfilling my purpose in life.

Let’s work on a simple example: a new job.

If the job is aligned to the purpose – I feel my purpose is being fulfilled here – there will be enthusiasm while working, tasks will be fruitful and the person will feel they are progressing by working there.

If the job is NOT aligned to the purpose – I should be doing something else, I should be working somewhere else or in another thing – then there will be enthusiasm from time to time, but most of the time, the person will just do their job; the person will fulfill their role in the tasks, but there will be a lack of belonging and so they may be done in an automatic way, and they will be probably looking for another job right now!

If the job is AGAINST the purpose – What am I doing here? – there will be lack of enthusiasm and maybe an attitude of rebellion against it; this person perhaps will affect other people and the work climate, and finally they will feel stuck there and they may try to do their worse at their position.

So, what is your purpose? As it will impact your whole life, it is better you know it and you live it.

Finding a good job

Jobs, gigs, an employment…

For some, it is some sort of slavery… for others, it is a way of realizing the true potential.

What is it for you?

OK, there are some places or careers that shouldn’t exist, either because they are very underpaid or useless. But there is a way to make those meaningful.

There are other jobs that make you feel the best in the world… they can be made even more meaningful.

First, align your job with your VALUES, those qualities you don’t write into your curriculum, but they are what will link whatever you do with what you are. It does not mean you have to leave it, but reflect upon how to include them into your activities.

Second, what is your PURPOSE in life? If you are working, but that is not making your purpose clearer or greater, then you won’t find full satisfaction. If that is the case, it is time to rethink your work position, career or attitude; there is something wrong. Don’t leave it, just think, reflect and act.

The last thing is your FUTURE VISION: can you see how this present position contributes for you in terms of fulfilling your aim and goals? Part of the reason work is unfulfilling is the fact that you don’t realize how it fits in the picture of your life… Think of it, there is always something you can learn or assimilate even from a very bad job.

You do this and whatever you work will be good for you and for others.

Finding hope

Many times, things don’t work. A few times, you will feel like in a very dark tunnel. What to do?

There are plenty of things to do, but there is one thing that must be present.

Hope.

And there will be times in which hope will be hidden behind many layers of fear, uncertainty, lack of courage… And so on…

Still, even when hope seems to have been disappeared, it is there… somewhere…

In those cases, a few tips can help:

• Be patient with yourself.
• No matter what happens, don’t give up.
• Talk with very positive people.
• Avoid people who tell you, you can’t.
• Don’t read bad news or bad books.
• Read A LOT of wonderful articles that show you things are WONDERFUL.
• Smile a lot, even when there are no reasons.
• Work hard, enjoy even harder.
• Be a friend to others.
• Take cooperation from your friends.

Then, hope will come to your mind and will shine like a sun within that dark tunnel.

New Year 3 – Self-empowerment...

You may not know, but the reason you fail to fulfill your purest and highest resolutions for this new year is that you lack power.

Power is what makes you overcome the different barriers that life usually places on us. It is therefore important that you generate a routine of self-empowerment. I share mine as an example:

• Every day I wake up to experience raja yoga meditation for almost an hour. Meditation may not be your thing, but there are several things you can do such as praying, reflecting or walking in the middle of nature, with a clear purpose.
• A short while later, I study daily; it is a spiritual class which objective is to give me elements to change my life and live it better. Instead of receiving news, usually bad, focus on receiving a knowledge that uplifts you.
• During the day, I meditate and reflect on the daily class or other similar sources of knowledge; it is important for me to maintain this state of consciousness. Looking for the continuous flow of knowledge that uplifts you is fundamental in your work, even doing breaks for your self-improvement.
• An important thing I found out and included in my routine is to serve others in some way. Volunteer service generates an enormous amount of power.
• Finally, I OBSERVE MYSELF DAILY; I see what I could change and find out what I couldn't. Self-observation, even if it is not followed up with decisions or changes, may transform reality.

Religions and rituals

I never thought I had a religious experience, until many years late in my life, but still there was something that amazed me: Jesus Christ, who founded the Christian religion, was not a Christian…

Fast forward and I am exposed to a new notion in relation to religion by the simple word dharma. And it means much, much more than just religion: the lifestyle, a form of relating the others, a mission in life… In that sense, Christ was the first Christian.

That simply made so much sense! Religion is more than rituals and scriptures, priests and hierarchy; religion as dharma is how someone lives according to a set of principles and values, instead of how to pray or which cloth to wear.

And that applies in all aspects of our life. Let’s take for example our approach to the work: am I working just because of money or because of my diploma? Am I working according to my vocation and the energy it generates in my life?

Much of our lives we just live as a ritual… it is time to identify our dharma and align our reality with it.

First world, is that hard?

I was born in Brazil, I have lived in Chile for two years and I am in Colombia for the past 26 years. I also travel a lot and I have stayed long times abroad, particularly in India, but also in England and the U.S.

And I realize that if someone lives in a first-world or third-world country is difficult to understand I don’t live in either of them… I am living in the middle, and since I was a child.

Particularly during the dictatorial military period in Brazil, I didn’t like the idea of belonging to the third world, the reality of the time; it was around then that the term developing countries[1] got popularized and Brazil was quickly classified like that.

Initially it just sound like a polite way to say the same – and it still has that ring in it – but along the years, what I have seen is that by developing in a proper and integral way, a country can reach the first world. That is a firm belief I have that any country could be a first world country, and so giving their population a better life. This is why I am posting this.

I lived in Chile just after Pinochet has left, so it was still underdeveloped. By seeing its growth and the fact that now it is part of the first world club[2]… I don’t want to get into the debate (is it or not?), but I have seen sure signs even when I was living there that may be useful for other countries:

• A respect for taxes. I was really surprised when I bought something in the streets and I got a boleta (invoice), as street business is often informal. Later, I would have a glimpse of this that comes from a good use of tax-payers’ money and a nice system. For instance, a common way of taxes evasion is to enter the country with a product in the bag. Once, I went from Buenos Aires to Santiago with a friend who had several books in her bag; at the time of customs, she went straight to the agent and showed the books and the invoice. As books don’t pay tax, he just looked at it and he allowed us to go. Even when there is the need of paying, it is quite easy and fair. Quick summary: by educating people to value paying taxes and by using them in a proper way, a country develops.
• Training. There is a system that motivates companies to do training as the value can be discounted in their taxes declaration. As I was a trainer myself, that came very handy and I do miss a system like that, living in Colombia. By giving opportunities for others to be trained and learned different skills, a country develops.
• Awareness of opportunity. Chile is the land of opportunity and if a foreigner goes there and dedicates himself or herself, it is possible to climb very high; although I can’t say if it is like that for nationals, it looked as it is. Although it is a relatively small country in terms of population, this gives a big advantage in relation to neighbor countries. By changing the perception instead of lacking to an opportunity, a country has a better chance for development.
• Work, work and work. Chileans work very hard and it has been helping the country at the time of climbing the ladder of first world. But it is not only hard working, as I would include Colombians in that category too; Chileans are often very much success-driven, which creates a nice dynamic in the country in general. Stimulate work, but direct it towards attaining success.
• Little corruption. That is the most impressive part of living in Chile… Little to say about that, really, just check corruption indexes[3], and it comes just after Uruguay in the whole Latin America.  It really stimulates the economy to know people won’t use their power for personal advantage. And maybe that is why people do pay taxes. Very simple: educate people to not get tempted by corruption and the country will develop even more.

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[1] More about this: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Developing_country

[2] Check this updated webpage: https://www.investopedia.com/updates/top-developing-countries/

[3] Transparency is an organization that watches on this. Check their report: https://www.transparency.org/cpi2018?gclid=Cj0KCQjwoebsBRCHARIsAC3JP0LljKEMfPQThn-eICRMPMfw1Ktqf-053RPAQsFHqbEIwQ194VfJZCwaAn1sEALw_wcB

The real reason why you work and why it is magical

My first job was THE WORSE! I was clearly unprepared for the labor market, so I had to get whatever was available. I never mentioned it in my curriculum and I just did it to earn some money. Don’t ask!

But along the years, I’ve noticed that even the most magical and interesting jobs, well, they were not that good, demanding too much from me or making me go through long times of boredom.

It was much later that I started to understand my work as a way to fulfill my own purpose in life. In fact, it provides me with invaluable tools and helps me to refine my own self.

In fact, my realization was that you can choose the way you see your work and it is not much as the work in itself, but the attitude and awareness whilst working. It enabled me to work with a smile for some very interesting project or the worse initiative.

Try this: don’t see WHAT you do, instead focus on HOW you do it… Go deep within, check your thoughts, feelings and emotions; think about the real reason you are there working.

Although sometimes it will give you money, other times just learning, but if you have the right focus, MAGIC will happen and that work will give you a very deep satisfaction.

What are you waiting for? Go and work!

This is a series of posts on MAGIC… I hope you have enjoyed them all.

Problems and our inner dialogue: the need for reflection

How do you work? How do you improve your productivity? What is the way of dealing with children? Why to forgive others? 

There are many questions in people’s minds, creating lots of internal noise as we try to navigate the troubled waters of present society, making things even worse. Before, it was much simpler as you can see by these possible answers…

I work as I was told to.My productivity is fine, thank you very much, and I will stay at this company until my retirement no matter what.I speak, my children obey.Forgive others??? Are you mad? They should be killed. I just need my family.

Those were the simpler times and although many people would cringe when hearing some of this, it was like that in our civilization for millennia.

Now, in these very complex times, we may just sit down and cry over past times, or learn new ways…

I do my best in my work, learning as much as possible. I fail and I win, that is how it works. Sometimes it is boring, but I have to live. Will they fire me? I endeavor to improve my productivity. Or not… it all depends if I like my job or not, if my boss is nice to me or not, the money... If it is OK, I will make my best. My children… sometimes I hit the target and I am able to satisfy them. Other times… not so lucky. Wow, it hurt. It really hurt. What that person did… but I need them in my life. What would I do without friends or family? Maybe I can just ignore them and keep some distance. Forgiveness? That’s too divine for me.

That is a present possible inner dialogue.

Now, let’s put some silence in between… Let’s put some reflection between the question and that inner dialogue and see what happens.

Of course, first we need to understand reflection very well. It can be in the form of journaling, meditating or just talking with a good friend, but it means I take the situation as if it is my own reflection – I put aside too much judgement and I accept who I am, what the situation is, and I develop it internally, talking with myself and reaching to some conclusions; not final conclusions, but at least my hair is combed; that is, the situation is clearer in my mind.

By putting some silence, the inner dialogue could go like this, at least at the beginning:

How do you work?…SilenceLet me think deeply in relation to my work. If I don’t like it, why am I still doing it? No, I like it, it is just that there are times I don’t like it. What can I do to make those times more pleasant? To change my boss or even to change my job is not possible or at least it is not instantaneous. Maybe a better attitude is on my reach, so by changing the way I think, I am sure the results in my work will change too… How do you improve your productivity?…SilenceI understand productivity as gaining more by doing less. Often I just focus on one of the sides of that equation (doing less), but let me think it in a different way: What am I attaining by doing this work? There has to be something and this is why I am here. By understand it I can refocus my actions, thoughts and energy towards that. If I work thinking of my achievements, I am sure I can produce much more and much better… What is the way of dealing with children?…SilenceI like the saying that parents are the bows, but children are the arrows. I am just taking care of them and by doing that, I am creating a strong bond, but one day, they will be on the air. The difficulty lies in that they have issues and I am aware I am not really qualified to deal with them. What can I do? Well, I can be a good parent, I am a good human being and I can at least provide them with a space and time, so that they can solve those issues. I can be present… Why to forgive others?…SilenceIf someone does something bad to me, it hurts, and many people have hurt me. If I am honest, I have hurt many people too and I would love to be forgiven by most of them at least. I would love them to look at me with no hatred, with some understanding of my mistakes and situation and hopefully a few of them would even extend their arms and embrace me again. If it is so good for me, I just wonder how good will it be for them if my eyes don’t show any hatred, I am able understand them and look at them in a different way, I can even hold a few of them…

Try this and see the results yourself.

Every day is a holiday - Reason 34

Oh, yes, a leader works, and works hard.  But he or she knows how to celebrate too as it refreshes the leader and helps to trigger more creative ideas.

Normal people seem to love to queue eternally in airports or in unending traffic jams to take a holiday and to escape their normal lives once or twice a year.  We are not saying leaders don’t go through that, but it isn’t with the intention of ‘escaping’, because each day is her or his ‘holiday’.

Every day there is a triumph to be accomplished.  Everyday there is a moment when you, a leader, experience victory, and then it is time for celebration, a little daily holiday.

A celebration can be to make time to sit on a nice park bench on a sunny day, to enjoy a tasty mango or to read a book that has nothing to do with job, because a leader has no particular day put to one side to enjoy life’s pleasures.

(Excerpt from the book 82 Reasons to be a Leader)

Your generosity is required at your work

According to reports and observations, sometime ago, life and work were completely separated… Every Monday, you would give up on your life until Friday when you would resuscitate. Of course, along the years, people had glimpses of life during the evenings, but still it was not enough…

A few decades back, someone had the strange idea that work is part of life. Even without proper confirmation, people started to assimilate that concept by changing the rules of work and being be more humane there.

Even crazier, someone talked about values and love AT THE WORKPLACE CONTEXT. Absurd, right?

Anyway, nowadays it is considered by many that work is part of life and so, there is no real separation between both. That means all that love and dedication you have your family, or all that fun and sharing you have with your friends, you should also have something similar for your job, enterprise or work project.

It is a change of attitude that is not yet registered in our general culture (take Dilbert for instance). But it is growing and dominating the general landscape of society.

A good worker, a good employer or an excellent entrepreneur is valued not only for his or her achievements, but also on how they behave in relation to the whole community. It is expected some volunteering work or donation, some care about animals or plants, or at least a different behavior, with more values there.

A few years ago, while working at a company with a team, our leader started to have some headache. With no questioning, the rest of us took over her duties and responsibilities and we all insisted she should leave and go home, since she had an operation just a few weeks ago. That was just one case among many I have been seen.

There is a logical background that favors the company: by showing mercy on an employee, the rest of us felt motivated to work even harder, with the certainty something similar would happen to us if we were the ones to get sick.

But, beyond logic, by integrating work with life we opened a door for deeper reflections on human behavior and communities in general. Qualities as generosity, solidarity or patience are now important at places we normally don’t associate with those values.

Yes, being a good person is not enough to get a job or to keep one, but being a bad person is enough to lose one.

So, think about that, reflect on the invisible power of being generous, showing solidarity or expressing patience with another co-worker, customer or provider. It is important for your own career and the community where you live. And work, of course…

Gentleness makes bitter things sweeter

When we enter into an organization, we have some functions that we have to comply, but the trickiest part is the link with other people. After all, we didn't choose them to be our partners, to be with us sometimes more than our own families, and still we have to relate to them and get the job done.

A few years ago, a friend told me a story. She was working in an office and one of her co-workers used to collect money for celebrating each other's birthdays. After a while she started to get upset with him as he was very persistent with the task. At some point, he approached her and even before talking to her, she reacted saying she was too busy. He said he was just coming to her because the day before it was his birthday and he had a piece of cake for her...

There are many ways to deal with other people in an organizational environment, but no matter the technique you chose, be aware of a simple recipe that will make you way towards others easier:

• When you see someone for the first time, greet the person before asking something or ordering something... Greetings open others' hearts and enable them to comply with your requirements easily.
• Keep a memory of other people's circumstances: their families, last time they were sick or some course they are taken. Ask them about it, enjoy their success, and be empathic with their failures.
• If someone has made something bad for you, you feel hurt and yet you have to work with them, look for a mediator who helps you to deal with that. Don't keep grudges, they are bad for you.
• If you have to talk to someone in an environment of anger or restlessness, by being gentle you can decrease the resistance of the other person and facilitate the talk.
• "Please"'s and "thank you"'s can help to make the work environment even lighter. Try and use them as many times as you want.
• Smile, and don't get tired of smiling at others. Appreciate what they have done, forgive and respect their mistakes. Celebrate their conquests as if they are your own.

And the wonderful thing is when that small recipe becomes part of you, part of your personality, your own ethics. It is then when you will be able to change your environment and transform your life.

Honestly...

Many years ago I was quite involved in the topic of values. I used to work on values in both ways, as a volunteer and professionally. At that time, I've met a very interesting person who worked with UNICEF. She told me something I've never forgotten: "the main challenge in relation to values is that people nowadays only learn anti-values."

And that is true. As I browse today's news, corruption and lies make the headlines. Nobody talks about people who stick to their own honesty; after all, honesty does not sell newspaper...

But honesty does create families, it strengthens friendship and it even impacts in our economy through its close cousin, trust. In fact, honesty is natural; a baby cries when is in need of some attention, there is no way the baby will fake that... The opposite, dishonesty, is learnt along the years, watching and observing others.

In an organization environment, honesty is crucial. Dishonesty can get you a customer once, but it will make you lose it forevermore. Dishonesty can avoid a reprimand by your boss, but when you share that with your co-workers, even though they congratulate you for your cleverness, you will love them as true friends; after all, if you lied to your boss, you can lie to any of them.

Even though honesty is not something that shows often in someone's curriculum, it is becoming a very valuable asset for the company. Peter Senge, in this masterpiece, The Fifth Discipline, talks about the practical effect of honesty in a company that sold computers. By sticking to that value, they saw their sales dropping - after all, other companies, using dishonesty as a tool, lied to their customers and were able to get their orders. Later, however the company started climbing and never stopped.

I am not saying you are not honest, but reality is today's people seldom are... From "white lies" to blunt corruption, honesty is living among us and inside us. It has become part of our way of life in such a way that an honest person is not fully honest... it is just that he or she is more honest than others.

OK, how can you develop honesty as a skill? First, let's understand a few of its benefits in the work environment:

• Solid relationship between co-workers, and the different levels of organization.
• Trust builds from honesty, so that the company has more loyalty from their customers.
• It is easier to deal with crisis, as everyone knows what everyone is doing and their capabilities.
• Tough decisions are less complicated as honesty provides the right environment for that to happen.

If you feel you can develop honesty in a higher level, these are some steps that can help you:

• Accept all your flaws and imperfections. As someone said, "perfection exists only in a cv". Don't try to be that right now, enjoy your present stage and don't deny any of that to yourself.
• Get someone you can really trust and always be honest with that person. No matter what, don't hide and don't pretend; that person is the best friend you have, cultivate her or his friendship.
• Any time you tell a lie, or in any other way you break your own honesty, at least be clear about that to yourself. If you don't feel the courage or don't have the time to mend whatever you did, sit down, reflect and meditate. Whenever you feel like, talk to someone about what you did, ask for advice, try and follow it.
• If you make a "heroic" honesty act, give a prize to yourself! Go and spoil yourself with some nice ice-cream, chocolate or a day at the beach.
• Generate spaces of dialogue in your company or family. In this way, little by little you will feel open about telling others what is really happening with you.
• If there is any punishment after you have been honest, talk to the person who did that later. Explain your reasons and listen to their own reasons.
• Love yourself. When you love someone, you can't even think of lying to them...

By practicing this skill, slowly it will become part of your own personality, your own personal ethics. Then, it will be as natural as breathing.

The art of enjoying work and leisure (The 16 celestial arts)

Here I am... while writing this blog I watch people coming back from vacation.

Most of my friends post their great experiences by travelling and knowing different things around the world. But there is one funny thing about this coming back.

You know I live in Bogota and jokingly I say it is the only city I know the weather is psychological. That is right: if people are happy and full of joy, sun is shining; if people are grumpy, clouds, rains and even hail can happen. I live here for 20 years and I seldom saw a cloudy holiday... but when people start to work: clouds, rains, thunders...

Let's be honest: normal people don't like to work. Yes, people like to earn money or to use their skills. Some people find pleasure in helping others or cooking. But then we took all of that and we framed it with a label: WORK.

Work has become an antagonist in our lives.

• "Why are you so afraid?" "Well, you know, both my parents used to work all the time..."
• "Honey, I need to talk to you." "I just came back from work, give me a break, please..."
• "You can't stay like that, come on, call Jim right now and open your heart!" "No way, he is working, if I do that he will be so upset..."

I feel one of the beautiful things about being spiritual is the wholeness of your own self; you really can't dismember yourself into pieces and try to live happily with that. You are you, no matter if you are working, touring, cooking for your kids, enjoying the company of someone you love or meditating. You are you.

The art of enjoying work and leisure is the art of smiling, being happy no matter what, stay peaceful despite the situations and really enjoying life completely. When you allow yourself to be your own self, to be beyond any limitations, then you will be able to tolerate and live with all limitations. They will turn into good friends in your self-progress as human being.

And work won't be something hard and difficult that you don't like, but a part you want to play as it is part of your role in this world drama.

Why can't you separate house from work?

Can you remember your daddy? Most daddies I know now, who are friends of mine, they made their best effort to leave job behind them and just enjoy the freshness of an everyday growing family. However, a couple of months ago, one of them was telling me about a "torture" performed by his wife: when she arrives home, she tells him everything that happened at her job. EVERYTHING. Jokingly, he said it was like she was taking 8 hours to tell him what she went through her own 8 hours...

Well... is it really possible to leave aside job and just go and be a good dad or mummy, husband or wife? Or is it better to share with a partner or children what is going on at their job?

I have to tell you... No, you really can't leave aside your job, but you can do something...

We are whole people, with several areas to work about. We have our careers, hobbies, friends, families, our spiritual path, health concerns, and a big etc... What we do normally is focus and refocus; sometimes the refocus is too intense, and we end leaving something away for good, or forgetting something.

One proof of that is history: for centuries, people used to live at the same place they used to work, along with everything they used to. If the person was rich, even his or her place of devotion and health would be the same...

By trying to split ourselves in pieces, we get into a subtle form of stress, which takes up the form of boredom, dissatisfaction or the sense of being in a pressure cooker. In fact, traditionally family and friends were a big source of comfort when something went wrong at the work, and it is still there for those who are at school or when health is an issue.

But, to do what my friend's wife does... that is really torture!

A suggestion: work on the areas of your life through four different perspectives. I will be talking about that in my next post, but for now...

1. When you are engaged into something, like your work, just do it. Be flexible if some other area (your kids for instance) requested your attention, but otherwise, just be the winner you are.
2. After finishing something as a day at your job, take a short time for processing it. Instead of commuting or drink with some friends, sit down for a while and talk to yourself, understand what happened.
3. Look for something you have learnt that day, perhaps a good lesson of humility or a realization on how good you are at what you do. Enjoy that feeling.
4. Share the lesson, realization and whatever you acquired as an outcome of your day.

In that way, you will join the pieces of your life together, you will avoid boredom and the pressure. At the same time, other areas will be affected positively by that.

Try it yourself!

Looking for more than a job

For the beginning of the year I have a ritual I have been performing for so many years now: look for a new job. In my case, a new project or client, or perhaps a publisher for a book. Still, I have to look for a new job, no matter how I name it.

And that has been for 20 years... almost. It is not for the faint of heart.

Well, I did have a proper job for 3 months, in a good consulting firm in Bogota. It was nice to have some secure money at the end of the month, but it didn't last long. We got into an economic crisis and the clients ran away. Then they asked me to look for clients too, but if I had to go after clients, I would that for myself, not for the company.

And I had some long-term projects, which was also a kind of a blessing. I had the opportunity to work with the biggest company in Colombia and other big ones.

Still, most of the part, I have been looking for a job and to change that, I decided to start a blog to share many points of view and perceptions I don't share with companies and managers.

I feel the last 20 years of my life have been the most creative ones. Also, I traveled lots of miles during this time and I was able to create a beautiful network of people from whom I can learn and, from time to time, I can teach a little thing here and there. I can't regret.

When a person has a job, it seems the job has the person: it enslaves him or her, not allowing the person to think outside the box where she or he has to spend most of the years. Nothing against the job as it is not its fault. But why to allow the self to be chained to a chair?

What about consider any job you have - a fixed one or a very volatile like mine - as not a job, but a place to learn and to be able to be much more? What about think about the job as a way to expand our perception of life?

One of the best TV series you can watch - without sex and violence - is Undercover Boss. At one of its episodes, the company CEO was invited for some food at an employee's house. He was so touched to learn what that woman was doing he helped her with a promotion and some facilities: she was paying the house where they lived, helping some relatives who were not able to find a proper job and still able to smile and work in a very efficient way.

Expand your mind now about your own work, see your routine with student's eyes and see your co-workers as a disciple ready to learn something from others. At some point, be the master yourself and teach them the precious wisdom you have got until this moment. At other times, just enjoy being there.

Remember that job is a means for you to express yourself and to contribute to the society, but it will never be your master. And your life will just look like the life of someone who does not have to work...

Without the need of looking for a new job every year! Take care.

The What's of life

If you go back to the post former to this one, you'll see a nice picture there, and I would like to really go through it.

• What you Love - that is what really make you move, challenge life and comforts, and change your perspective. This is why many people say that the only way for you to never work in life is to love whatever you do. But, LOVE, from the depth of your heart, with all your senses and understanding.
• What you Do Well - there are things that you don't necessarily love, but you know how to do it well. I know a person who is excellent with equipment, but he does not like that. Still, your specialities, skills and talents help you to serve the community where you live.
• What the World will Need - well, a part of what you do and are contributes to the world somehow. If you are able to identify those aspects of your life that the world really needs today, even though people don't know they need that, then your life will be worthy to the world itself.
• What the World will Pay for - but there are things you can offer the world and, well, charge for it. They are important in a certain context and somehow they help people who appreciate that. And you are the best provider around!

So, now, I would like to ask you 4 questions:

1. What are you ready to do, it doesn't matter how many obstacles you will have to face to do it?
2. What are those things you do that people are satisfied and happy with that.
3. Do you know what you do that makes your heart deeply satisfied because you were able to help the whole world?
4. What are the main products you can offer to the world at this moment?

In the next post, we will talk about the intersections.