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Showing posts from January, 2019

Why You Can't Change Toxic People

I have a toxic friend. She is smart, amazing, and fun! She does have an issue that requires medication and impacts her choices. There is much empathy for her plight and she has done a lot of damage to her own life. Toxicity is a way of thinking that is associated with fears the person has not dealt with. Such thinking causes them to over react and seek to gain advantages where they should not be. In the end people become alienated. It can be extremely taxing to deal with a toxic person. Over the years I learned that you simply can't change the way people think. As a matter of fact, most people can't even change the way they think either. These patterns were put in place throughout their lives and it is doubtful anything will change thereafter....unless that person is exceptional enough to self-reflect. Here are a few things you should consider. 1.) You can't control other peoples behavior but you can control yours. Understand that what people do and say is a reflectio

6 Attributes of Graduate Employability

Graduates need skills and abilities when the leave higher education and must have their first job. There are 6 categories of things students should think about developing. That includes a bigger perspective of how their behaviors and the market impact them. Human Capital: Sills and knowledge of people. Social Capital: Social connections and social class. Individual Attributes: Personal characteristics. Individual Behaviors: Chosen behaviors. Perceived Employability: How candidates are viewed in the market. Labor Market Forces: Open positions in that field. Clarke, M. (Feb. 23, 2017).Rethinking graduate employability: the role of capital, individual attributes and context. Studies in Higher Education,43 (11).  Retrieved  https://doi.org/10.1080/03075079.2017.1294152

Even "Beach Bums" Chime in on the Saints

Saints Were Robbed-Ocean Beach

Each Business Should Offer Something Unique-The Shack In La Jolla

Just a block or so from my kickboxing club is this little known place called The Shack. It is a locals bar not too far from the locals beach but a distance from downtown La Jolla. It offers an environment that is unique and warm. A distinct beach culture with surfboards on the wall and cheap eats and drinks. The Internet works great! Each business should offer something unique. Taco Tuesday is $3 per taco and $3.50 for a 16 oz Tacate. If your not knowledgeable of this beer...it is Mexican and popular in this region. The Shack has a great patio with fires and attracts a laid back crowd. Think of something your business can offer that is a little different than others and hedge that as a strength.

Pictures of a Foggy Beach!

Enjoy your day! :)

Do You Know When to Argue? Sometimes It Matters and Sometimes It Doesn't.

We are social creatures that hang out with our friends, live in tribal systems, and have families. Everything we know about ourselves is through the way others view us. In life, there are times when we should fight when our boundaries that are violated and other times we should just move on. It is hard to know when emotions get involved to know which is the best. I kind of put together a little cheat sheet for you.... 1. Get Ready and Argue! There are times when issues are repeated or so grotesque there is almost no option than to argue and hold your line. You may want to first try discussing the issue and seeing if the person is willing to cease the behavior before having a conflict. Sometimes they are willing and sometimes they are not. 2. Lets Just Be Subtle: Sometimes being subtle by backing off slightly, not hanging out, or just making a small comment is enough to sort of let people know that the behavior isn't acceptable. Most interactions work on this level and people re

Mountain in the Desert Painting-Keep Getting Better

I continue to work on improving my painting. Sometimes I sell a few for cheap. Its nice to sell a few and use some of that money to buy your supplies. Other times I just donate the money away. Here is the latest and greatest. My grass needs additional work. :) You can buy with free shipping for $39.99 I may not be the best but I'm trying!!! https://www.ebay.com/itm/173735952038

Innovation is What Improves Wealth in the World

Innovation is king in today's market. Countries that are innovative create new products and services others want. Much of American wealth was based on innovation and the ability to be "at the right place at the right time". The entrepreneurial spirit in the U.S. should be rejuvenated to ensure that the nation continues to maintain its economic status. A study of economic development in Turkey found there is a positive impact between R&D expenditures and R&D workers and economic growth (Bayarcelik & Tasel, 2012). As R&D departments, expenditures and other indicators of innovation such as patents rose so did the GDP. Why is this important? Creative Commons It indicates that countries should focus more on creating innovation. At the end of the day we as a nation need to have enough jobs to support our workers and economy. That won't happen unless our products are cutting edge and able to compete against the market. Industries that don't st

Great Respect for San Diego Life Guards

San Diego is a beach city that sees millions of people every year making their way around other vacationers frolicking on the beach through a minefield of balls, shovels and towels. Life guards will need an eye like a hawk in order to see through the bobbing heads to those who may be in distress. Within seconds they will need to be in the water and doing their thing and saving lives.  I always thought about getting a lifeguard certificate but then realized there was a significant time involved. Hats off to Life Guards!

Boat Bilge Pump Problems and Finding Solutions

Bilge pumps for boats are vitally important. My boat's bilge pump went out and with some heavy rain accumulated a substantial amount of water in the bilge. Concerned I turned on and off the manual switch on the panel and got nothing. I then went on to test the bilge directly to the batter. It turned on but stayed on as though the float was stuck. You may want to troubleshoot some stuff. 1. Connect to the battery directly. If it turns on you have a working pump. If it doesn't turn on you may need to buy a new one. 2. Check all wiring. In my case the wiring to the panel was bad and the wiring to the batter non-existent. The previous owner must have little to no electrical experience. I put in heavy grade battery wire directly to the batter and rewired to the panel. Now the switch works and the backup direct power source work. 3. Sometimes you can change the float and it will work. In this case, it was internal and unlikely to be taken out. I certainly tried. Some can

Be Like a Duck or Be Like a Bull-Life Choices

You can glide through life like a duck or you can knock everything down like a Bull. Both will be a different kind of life and both are sometimes necessary but neither is a great way to be all the time. The most advanced people can use both types of behavior when necessary. They allow the small things to go over their back while being able to step up to the bigger issues. The duck knows that the issue is there but lets the small things slide because getting caught into other peoples issues and behaviors has no advantage. It is best to navigate around these issues and keep going so that they can have peace of mind and accomplish their goals. The bull will charge and fight with every slight. There are times when it is best to not let issue go and stand up for them. To fight is very noble but only when you are actually being noble and it has some purpose. If it is all about ego then it has little to no meaning and you will simply look confrontational. Knowing when to be the duck and

How Cognitive Agility Helps the Military and Can Help You?

Almost all of us want a smarter brain that can do amazing things. We want to be flexible and capable to understand our world in a way that leads to the highest outcomes possible. Cognitive agility is the ability to bounce in and out of narrow and wide focus thinking. It can lead to greater performance and can be learned throughout our lives. Lets say you have an outward focus and you have a hard time with details. You would naturally be at a limitation in understanding how something operates. On the other hand, you may have a more narrow focus and love details but have a difficult time connecting larger dots. If you can bounce between the two you have high cognitive agility. According to a study in Journal of Special Operations Medicine, it is possible to train people on how to move in and out of focus in a way that leads to higher emotional intelligence and powerful decision making (Ross, Miller & Patricia, 2018).  Training people to have higher cognitive ability improves thei

Attracted to the Tropical Areas and Beach Life

Tropical areas, sun, sand and coastline sells! It sells because people like me are attracted to warm and tropical climates that are full of color and life. Probably one of the reasons why I like to sail. Something in the back of my head says, "sail off to some new tropical island". Well...practicality and need make that difficult for most of us. I must say that I love San Diego and its semi-tropical environment. Yes...you can find parrots hanging out on Shelter Island. Early in the morning you can seem them chirping away. Who wouldn't love to have a Corona near the beach and walk the coast line. People who live here are very spoiled and don't know it. They only need to go to Michigan where is -20 degrees today where most are hibernating. Most of my friend haven't seen the beach in years. They spend no time there. Enjoy your Friday and get out to the beach can this weekend!

Learn from Life and Then Put It In The Past

Creative Commons Life isn't easy! At least for most of us it is about struggle, adaptation and overcoming struggles. Some start out with everything and maintain a life of privileged, some create ease in their lives, and others go down the tube. One thing we can say is most of it has nothing to do with the money you have or the brands you wear. It is about learning from the world and then putting it in the past. We all have times where we were not happy, did not like the outcomes, or have been treated unfairly. It isn't wise to just ignore that these things happen but that we spend enough time with them to feel and learn from the situation. We then should let it go.... Feel: We all need to process our feelings for a short time so we don't get stuck. Give it some time, a few days, few weeks, depending on the situation and then let it go. Learn: Each situation has a learning lesson. Things you could have done better, things others could have done better, and possibl

Tips on How to Organize Your Stuff For Improved Performance and Peace of Mind

Pulling Dinghy Out of Car. Organize! Keeping yourself organized, inside and outside the office, has significant advantages for your work flow and productivity. If your trying to do something outdoors you spend a ton of time finding the stuff you need. While messiness and clean desks are not associated with intelligence they are associated with how people process information. Whether you are an outdoor buff, have a garage full of junk, or working in the office you will want to organize your stuff because it speeds up your work time. The following tips might be helpful. When I have lots of outdoor things to carry around I have a hard time organizing things just because there are so much stuff. The same can be said for my desk that has paper and electronics everywhere. After not being able to find a place for my coffee cup or leaving behind important equipment I need outdoors I have decided to get organization. Here are a few tips on what to think about when organizing. 1.) Unde

How Not To Miss A Deadline by Using Your Calendar

Creative Commons Missing a work deadline is a business No No!!!! From our families, our own bad habits and in college many people learn to not get work in on time. We move the consequences further away and in the end being late is a habit. If you are one of those people who are just forgetful or learned to wait until the last minute you may want to learn to use your calendar better. Most email programs like Google, Office, etc... have a functional online app or access. Personally I like the ones I can put on my phone so its always with me when I need it. This allows me to check it, edit, or add anytime I'm out-and-about or in a meeting. Set a reminder on the date something is due. You won't miss the deadline if you get a reminder or are accustomed to checking your calendar each day. However, you will still not get the work done if you don't put some earlier reminders. Here are some tips.... 1. Put a reminder in on the day it is due. 2. Include any relevant infor

Pictures of San Diego Cali- Getting Back

Got back in San Diego and feeling the fun and friends. I left Michigan on Friday in -5 F and it took me until Utah to get the chill out of my bones. Upon return a  few friends and I went to Pacific Beach. PB offers lots of great tool top restaurants with a view of the sunset. We at at El Prez. Check it out!!! Enjoy the pics and Taco Tuesday. The Lobster ones are the best. El Prez 4190 Mission Blvd, San Diego, CA 92109 (858) 750-2512 https://maps.app.goo.gl/xBBZm

Pictures of Colorado and Utah -Cost of Living Rises

While traveling I snapped a few pictures of Colorado and Utah you may like. Colorado especially is of my liking. I talked to a local resident and they said rent for them is very expensive.  Most make $12-$14 per hour but rent is around $1,600 per 2 bedroom apartment. It would take someone working around $14 per hour 3 weeks of full time work pay for an apartment. That would seem to indicate someone will either need to work many more hours or will need to pair up with someone. While I love eco-tourism I have to admit it can have a downside for local residents that get out priced as people convert to rentals for vacationers. Consider Aspen  https://www.bestplaces.net/cost-of-living/aspen-co/austin-tx/55000

Are Higher Education Accreditation Bodies About to Experience Change?

Innovation and business stakeholders may have a bigger piece of the higher education accreditation pie in the near future. Pressure to change accreditation standards is brewing and there are a few good things in the proposal that are helpful. Education Secretary Betsy DeVos is discussing experimenting with accreditation to ensure that innovation isn't stifled in the process of ensuring quality. According to the accreditation proposal  ..... "This negotiated rulemaking effort is designed to modify the regulations that pertain to accreditor recognition in order to provide accreditors, and the institutions they accredit, with greater latitude to innovate; to create healthy competition among institutions and accreditors; to provide agencies with increased independence in their recognition and oversight responsibilities; and to reduce unnecessary regulatory burden and oversight redundancies." Read the summary   https://www.documentcloud.org/documents/5676150-Accreditation

Bring You Own Bedding While Traveling

Traveling brings you not only the opportunity to see new sites, climb new mountains, and ski radical slopes but also puts you into contact with less than stellar sleeping accomodations.  Unless you're going to stay in the Hilton you will likely stay in older motels abundant in recreational areas. Older motels have older mattresses that could contain bed bugs and other disgusting things. One of the ways to overcome this challenge is is to bring your own bedding. While sheets, pillow cases and blankets may be impractical to carry around while a sleeping bag might just be fine. Because I love the outdoors I usually have a sleeping bag in my car. Now I make sure I almost always have one. As a suggestion you may want to take off the bed cover. Few places wash them on a regular basis and instead use the "spot check" method.   If you experience unclean motel go ahead write a review. Some owners don't concern themselves with cleanliness issues unless it injures thei

Helping Republicans and Democrats to Compromise: Moving from Moral Disagreement to Practical Compromise

Our government may be failing to fulfill its full potential. Democracies foundation is based on the ability of people to publicly discuss and debate issues in an effort to create general consensus. While consensus is helpful it rarely happens. In today's political environment, politicians have been voting strictly on party lines. This may be encouraging encampment and general dysfunction of government that in turn causes other problems when great solutions are squashed before discussion. Moving from morality to practicality should be of major concern for political leadership to end Washington dysfunction. Creative Commons Politicians often vote based on values that may not be open to compromise. According to a study in Neuroethics, moral foundations have a significant influence on political disagreement (Sauer, 2015). When people vote on moral lines they sometimes fail to see practicality as an essential need of governance. To move beyond moral codes to compromise it is som

Training Your Horse to Slalom from Walk to Canter

Three rules I think of when trying to train a horse to slalom between poles. I think of walk, trot, canter. Of course there are lots of little rules but the slalom is really about mobility of the horse. Are you able to use the horse the way you need with the dexterity needed for the situation. Can you move around obstacles without risk or running or injury? The goal is to continuously increase your timing and improve upon your horses flying lead changes. WikiHow has some pretty good tips for flying lead changes  https://www.wikihow.com/Do-a-Flying-Lead-Change I'm a firm believer that someone should start slow in most cases and then move faster. When you start slow you protect your horse and yourself form making mistakes. Yes....people do make mistakes and I don't want to be one who loses out on an expensive (maybe not that expensive) horse. One must also take into consideration the need to ensure that you as a rider have the hang of it as well. Your horse should be foll

Why Self-Paced Virtual Training Is an Effective Solution to Military Budgets

Education and training is moving forward quickly and changes just about every day. While we once used paper books we now use e-books. Where training was typically covered in face-to-face settings there has been increasing use of online training methods. Research has shown that the use of self-paced virtual training increased military effectiveness. It is also cost effective and helps in balancing budgets. Research into the use of self-paced study with multimedia interactivity led to improved cost effective training (Wang & Egudo, 2018). When self-paced programs used sufficient technology, had parallel vs only sequential learning, and were developed well can teach military students the technical skills they need without as much cost as traditional methods. As I see it there are three advantages which include: 1. Portability 2. Budgets 3. Accountability This can be important in situations where troops are moving around a lot or need to update their skills while located out

Painting Under the Blazing Sun

Painting is about expressing one's emotions and values onto canvas. It could be just a moment in time, or something that transcends time. This painting in particular is about the contrast between hot and cold. The desert is hot but in the distance is the mountains that have snow. That even in the hottest places on earth we only need to go up to reach a different environment. While I can never pretend to be the best painter in the world, and I have experienced the knocks for liking things like painting in a lumberjack sort of place of growing up, I find that it is an enjoyable experience. It contains within it the ability to connect with one's emotions and understand what truly motivates our inner life. Painting, like poems, like music, like acting, and like other activities is about development. It is about creating a refined sense of understanding of the world. It moves beyond our daily tasks and into something that pushes society forward. These are creative activities t

How to Improve Firm Performance Through Understanding CEO Personality

A company's success depends on the business leader's personality. Each decision becomes an extension and projection of one's inner core experiences. Whether we are discussing global policy or the internal dynamics of the business the CEO and their personality will percolate throughout the entire economic system. Helping business leaders and investors understand the powerful influences of CEO personalities on business decisions and their potential outcome. Personality Influences Innovation and Business Management Outcomes For example, we may want to look at small and medium size businesses and their leaders to determine if personality somehow impacts firms success. Based on the personality traits of CEOs they found that certain traits like conscientiousness, openness, agreeableness, and willingness to learn influenced company outcomes (Man-pil, Bong-ihn,& Joon-ho, 2017). More specifically, conscientiousness and openness to experience lent itself to innovation while a

Why are Short Videos Effective for Marketing? 5 Tips for Creating Videos that Sell!

Video content is quickly becoming a popular method of marketing products and ideas to a content hungry class of people. In an effort to improve marketing returns, companies are putting together short video clips a few seconds to a few minutes long with rich content that attracts interested customers. Thus far the strategy has been effective and leads to higher sales revenue. For example, researchers found that short clips (i.e. trailers) increased the amount of people watching movies. They were motivated by their emotional connections to the content. The study tracked web-based facial-expressions to determine viewers real time intentions to watch movies (Xuan, Shi, & Teixeira, 2018). Well constructed short video clips predicted the emotional intentions to watch a certain movie. That leads us to the question of why such online marketing videos work? Companies are finding that these videos are a cost effective marketing method of reaching their audience in a way that inspires t