I’m going to She’s Geeky on Saturday, and I’ll likely twitter about it.
This’ll be the first time I’ve ever gone to an “unconference”!
If you’re interested, you can follow me here: twitter.com/senia
Month: January 2009
Where can you travel to learn about yourself?
Friday is question day!
Where can you travel to – to learn more about yourself? Reply here in the comments or on twitter with the hashtag “#Qofday”: see here for example.
Where could you travel to that would actually change, influence, inform, enliven your point of view?
What is a place that would make it easy to be more YOU?
* * * * *
My answer is:
- Japan again – and the quietness of the Shinto shrines and Buddhist temples
- Alaska again – and the nature that is so peaceful and so fresh
- Rome again – with all the gelato. I can discover more of myself in gelato :)
- Patagonia – for the hiking. My friend Chris has incredible photos from there.
- Small cities, small streets like Montreux, Switzerland, and other places I have not yet been to in Europe.
Are You Most Exhausted Because You Dabble in Attribution Theory?
The title is a little misleading.
It is in fact not because you dabble in Attribution Theory that you are most exhausted, but because you – and I, him, her, them – we are all acting using aspects of Attribution Theory every day. Here is a description of Attribution Theory:
We all have a need to explain the world, both to ourselves and to other people, attributing cause to the events around us. This gives us a greater sense of control. When explaining behavior, it can affect the standing of people within a group (especially ourselves).
When another person has erred, we will often use internal attribution, saying it is due to internal personality factors. When we have erred, we will more likely use external attribution, attributing causes to situational factors rather than blaming ourselves. And vice versa. We will attribute our successes internally and the successes of our rivals to external ‘luck’.
When a football team wins, supporters say ‘we won’. But when the team loses, the supporters say ‘they lost’.
It’s like Michael says, it’s almost as if we are psychologically wired to blame, and to be upset at people for not doing things the way we prefer things. It’s as if we are wired to be dissatisfied. And it’s as if not-blaming exists only as a conscious, specific task.
A Job Assessment Questionnaire
This post works best together with this other Job-Seeking Resources post from yesterday.
For both employed and unemployed job-seekers (you’ll see the answers will be different):
1a) How many hours are you spending each day on your job search?
1b) How many hours are you spending each week on your job search?
1c) How many resumes did you send out last week (by email or mail)?
1d) How many people did you speak to last week about a potential job for you?
2a) What are your one-two most important goals when speaking with someone about finding a job?
2b) When deciding what information to include on your resume, what are your criteria for including and emphasizing something you have done?
2c) What is the single best thing you can do to prepare for the interview?
3) What has been your favorite project you worked on in the past five years?
Twitter coverage of the CGU Positive Psychology Conference
The topmost lines are the end of the conference.
For the start of the day, start at the bottom. This was all from twitter.com/senia.
Senia
——————
End of conference! What we ask questions about, what we focus on is what we change, say closing panelists! 9:35 PM Jan 24th from txt
Csikszentmihalyi says, here is the eightfold path, three of which seemed to have disappeared. Ah, the fun of ppt fonts! 9:12 PM Jan 24th from txt
Yes! Freedom causes happiness. For proof, follow my dad, @publicani. He writes novels like the John Grisham of freedom. 8:58 PM Jan 24th from txt
Csikszentmihalyi speaks of each age making us more liberated… Yes! 8:56 PM Jan 24th from txt
For Nadya and @eve11, Csikszentmihalyi says myths and rituals liberated us in 10000 bc from the terror of death. 8:54 PM Jan 24th from txt
Csikszentmihalyi speaking! He got HUGE applause! We all love him. Plus we’re all psyched he won Clifton prize! 8:52 PM Jan 24th from txt
David Cooperrider: they don’t even have a room at the UN for talking together in groups. 8:51 PM Jan 24th from txt Continue reading “Twitter coverage of the CGU Positive Psychology Conference”
Publicani by Zak Maymin (link)
Job-Seeking Resources
Here are some job resources for you:
1) ASSESSMENT
- Listen to Live! with Lisa tonight for our questionnaire (Updated 1/28: Questionnaire is typed up here)
- Do a strengths assessment: for example, VIA Signature Strengths Questionnaire
- Write out several stories of when you most enjoyed your work
2) TARGETING TOOLS
- Meetup.com
- Alltop.com
- Job sites – especially industry specific
- Friends and colleagues – 48+% find their job through referrals
How else can you target your new job:
- Apply – apply to jobs
- Pre-apply – do informational interviews, group meetings
- Work – run a Meetup group, be a contributor to a blog, start a website or twitter account about your industry, volunteer in it. You can do a lot of work without officially being employed. And then – BIG BENEFIT – it’s not like you were unemployed for ten months. It’s like you were running community events on that field in your industry.
3) ACTION STEPS
- Resume
- Put in those things relevant to getting called in for a job, and only those things
- Put in those activities that you want to do, not those you don’t want to do!
- Interviewing
- The one thing to know in a job interview
- Prepare specific (situation-action-results SARI) examples like this
IN THIS ECONOMY:
- How to get a job in 2009 by Charlie O’Donnell
- In this economy, we’re all entrpreneurs by Charlie O’Donnell
- Follow-up to “everyone becomes an entrepreneur” by Fred Wilson
- “How to use Social Media to land your next job” by Mack Collier
——————
I wish you all the best and I wish you the most beautiful fate!
Am on radio about job-seeking in this environment at 8pm ET
I am on the program Live! with Lisa, and you can listen live at http://wstcwnlk.com/ (there is a big “Listen Live” button).
We’ll be speaking about job-seeking in this economy, and positive psychology lessons to apply in seeking a job and in job interviews:
- What to do when unemployed to stay current in the industry (mastery steps)
- Whom to network with and how (self-regulation)
- What to include on a resume (our mind as a cognitive miser)
- What to highlight during the job interview (storytelling)
The Most Exhausting Thing
This is a question for you.
What do you find to be the most exhausting thing?
- Working out physically to exhaustion
- Studying and tiring out mentally to exhaustion
- Getting into a fight with a friend or colleague to emotional exhaustion
I think it’s the last option – the emotional upheavals – that really tire us and exhaust us. What can we do about this?
Should we ignore heavy emotional items? Should we swim through them? Should we take a lighter attitude toward them?
What works for you?
And which was the most exhausting for you from this short list?
Update (1/29): Are you exhausted because of attribution theory?
Happy New Year for the Year of the Ox!
Happy New Year for the Year of the Ox!
Today, Monday, Jan 26, is the first day of the Year of the Ox!
I love beginnings.
I love the nice swish they make as they land like a leaf off a tree right in front of you.
Swish. Swish. Swish.
One of my Year of the Ox goals is to be able to touch the rim on a basketball hoop.
Bonus points if I can hang on the rim!
Good enough if I can hang on the net!
The Year of the Ox is an excellent year!
Many great wishes to everyone who will turn 12, 24, 36, 48, 60, 72, 84, and 96 this year!
I hear this is your year.
I love the Ox for many reasons.
From wiki:
The Ox is the sign of prosperity through fortitude and hard work. This powerful sign is a born leader, being quite dependable and possessing an innate ability to achieve great things. … dependable, calm, and modest. … Ox people need peace and quiet to work through their ideas, and when they have set their mind on something it is hard for them to be convinced otherwise…. very logical mind and is extremely systematic … tremendous imagination and an unparalleled appreciation for beauty. … speak little but are extremely intelligent. When necessary, they are articulate and eloquent.
People born under the influence of the Ox are kind, caring souls, logical, positive, filled with common sense and with their feet firmly planted on the ground. Security is their main preoccupation in life, and they are prepared to toil long and hard in order to provide a warm, comfortable and stable nest for themselves and their families. Strong-minded, stubborn, individualistic, the majority are highly intelligent individuals who don’t take kindly to being told what to do.
The Ox works hard, patiently, and methodically, with original intelligence and reflective thought. These people enjoy helping others. Behind this tenacious, laboring, and self-sacrificing exterior lies an active mind.
The Ox is not extravagant, and the thought of living off credit cards or being in debt makes them nervous. The possibility of taking a serious risk could cause the Ox sleepless nights.
Ox people are truthful and sincere, and the idea of wheeling and dealing in a competitive world is distasteful to them. They are rarely driven by the prospect of financial gain. These people are always welcome because of their honesty and patience. They are reputed to be the most beautiful of face in the zodiac. They have many friends, who appreciate the fact that the Ox people are wary of new trends, although every now and then they can be encouraged to try something new. People born in the year of the Ox make wonderful parents and teachers of children.
It is important to remember that the Ox people are sociable and relaxed when they feel secure, but occasionally a dark cloud looms over such people and they engage all the trials of the whole world and seek solutions for them.
They are solid.
Dependable.
Loyal.
Supportive.
Staunch.
They believe in you.
HAPPY NEW YEAR!