A collection of Thoughts

Stuff I found today.

A Hamster with a Hat



A really cool Hip Hop Website, I like it's simplicity. Blip.fm is Ego DJ based. HipHop DX is crowd sourced filtering, we will see more of this in the near future.

The definitive guide on how to use twitter. You'd be daft not to read this if twitter is still a bit alien to you.

Hot on the heels of Google buying a Mobile Ad Platform, Apple buy a Mobile Ad Platform. If these two are moving into Mobile in a big way, maybe you should too ;o)

Nobody told me Eminem and Lil Wayne did an amazing track? Awesome.

The Key to finding Work: Motivation

Youth Unemployment has recently reached a Record High. The problem appears to be at least partially systemic. We need a boost, a leg up or some help as a Generation

Why is Life After Uni like Treading Water?
The strategies for becoming truly effective at job hunting take time to learn.

When you watch a child learn to walk, the start out very shaky and unsure... but for some reason they just keep trying. They are driven to complete the evolutionary imperative. They learn through trial and error and playing. They are rewarded for effort and quickly achieve.

Now take a young adult fresh out of university facing the job market. They are scared to take the first step and fear failure. Despite being an indictment of our education system, it also shows a key flaw in becoming an adult. We lose our will to fail, to play and to try. It has been proven that if you reward achievement you create students who fear failure. If you reward effort you create students who are less likely to.

How can you Get closer to the Job you Want?
Firstly you want to Identify your Passion & Make a list of the type of jobs you can tolerate. Could you work in an office? Do brands excite you? Maybe you prefer to create?

With most industries people can open the door, but they won't do that until your visible to them. Without Passion and Focus it is very difficult to ever progress from the child on Shaky legs scenario. The sad fact is most people don't try to improve their CV or Career until they are out of work. You may not always be passionate about the work in front of you, but if you can see the path in front of you & break that down into achievable steps you are much more likely to get there.

Such is Life
To find a blog post talking about how to get motivation means two things 1) The Author probably should have been doing something else 2) Nobody is around to give you a kick up the ass, so you gotta do it yourself.

Hard Work brings rewards. Open up that CV Document, do a Google Search and see how you can improve it. Ask anyone who will listen if they know about your passion & when you're done buy yourself a really tasty cookie!

Goals for 2010

Inspired by @Chrisbrogan and his prolific nature of setting wildly ambitious targets and then hitting them, it seemed wortwhile to list a few goals for the Record. Someone on twitter earlier mentioned that "2010 is starting like a fairytale, with the snow".

Behind every fairytale story there is a tremendous amount of hard work and slog involved. A few names? Simon Cowell, Duncan Bannetine, Alan Sugar, Steve Jobs, Mark Zuckerberg. All of them achieved success in different ways at different times. Yet they all share a passion for what they do, and understanding of what they need to do next, and the drive to be the best.

Do you?

Goal 1: Move the blog to wordpress. End of January
Why? It's not essential, and it would mean an outlay on webspace once again, but it also gives me access to create the kind of online presence I really want. Moving from beginner to intermediate in the blog world.

Goal 2: Read 52 Books this year. Year End
Why? Despite my youthful rebellion against books, I've always been an avid reader. Maybe it is something you have not taken to. Books sound like the most boring and nerdy thing in the world... but one day I promise you, if you are on a journey for success a book will help you get there.

Goal 3: Achieve financial Target. Year End
Why? Like many under 30, money management isn't a strong point. I can't exactly plead ignorance either. I know how banking works. If you don't it's worth getting educated on the difference between Credit and Debit. Direct Debits may seem like a pain, but they are worthwhile in the long run. Maybe you are like me, and lack a little dicipline

Goal 4: Attend 10 Conferences / Tweetups
Why? People are the real spice of life. Amazing things happen when you make the effort to get out there and enter their world.

What are your goals? I gave myself 40 points for setting 4 pretty tough goals there.

Points make prizes 1000 Points for every Goal Achieved.

How will you do?

How do you make 2010 your Year?

Identify your passion. - Target - Jan 31st
The key thing here is not to get bogged down in "What should I do with my life". Instead focus on what you've already done, what you liked about it. Make a list of the top 10 things you ever did. Here's a sample:

For Example
What?: Visited Vegas.
Why?: Got an invite at 2am and by 7am was on a flight.
How did it make you feel?: Alive, happy, free.
What about the experience would you like to repeat?: The travel, meeting people, doing business outside of the office confines.

Repeat this exercise for anything that stands out when you look back on your life. From there you can build a picture of what lights your fire.

You are now a step closer to making 2010 your own.

Points Make Prizes

• + 10 points for every example you create (Maximum 100 pts available)

Plan to make 2010 Yours - Get a Network - Ongoing Task
You now know what you are good at. What are you not good at? This is a harder question to answer than you might think. Who out there will give you a fair appraisal without pulling punches?

The beauty of humanity is despite our inability to be great at everything as individuals, we can use networks to achieve amazing things. You need a network to make 2010 yours

You can get a job by happening to meet the right person, and getting lucky. But you can create your own luck by knowing who you need to meet, where they hang out, and who can introduce you. What is your plan? Who can you network with to get where you need to be?

A couple of good ways to get noticed:
Boost your CV / Resume with Social Networking
Find the kind of job you dream about

Points Make Prizes

• +1 Point for Every Twitter follower
• +5 Points for everyone you meet (Maximum 100 Pts available)

Plan to make 2010 Yours - Get a Mentor - Target Feb 28th 2010
Find a Mentor. One of the great joys about having achieved success is spotting talent and helping them achieve too. Giving away your knowledge to those who can use it, is about the most rewarding thing you can do.

A Mentor can give you feedback, will have a network, and will be able to help you build yours. These people can open doors for you, but you have to walk through it. Who is your mentor? Is there someone in the Network you have built?

Points Make Prizes

• +100 Points for Finding A Mentor (Maximum 100 Pts available)

Plan to make 2010 Yours - Make something happen - Target March 31st
This may sound quite vague, but taking action is the key to progress. How can you use that?

• Organise an event
• Travel
• Attend conferences
• Help people in your Network
• Read about your passions
• Make Lists / Set Goals

It's when you get out there among people, that things happen. As much as Social Networking opens the door, face to face seals the deal. Many of you will have done much if not all of the above before... but 2010 is an opportunity to attack this thing.

• What is your Passion?
• Do you Have a Network?
• Do you Have a Mentor?
• What can you Make Happen?

Points Make Prizes

• +1000 Pts for creating an event
• +100 Pts for Attending events
• +10 Pts for Every Book Completed

Have a Great 2010! Remember this is something ongoing, a little competition never hurt anyone, but consistency is more important than what you achieve tomorrow. Think long term and make things happen. Good luck and please let me know how it goes.

Read this post tomorrow, and comment on how many Points you got!