I would like to write this article to encourage you to find work doing what you love. One of the keys to a happy life is job satisfaction and this comes from doing something you enjoy. As Steve Jobs CEO of Apple Computer says "the only way to do great work is to love what you do. If you haven"t found it yet, keep looking. Don't settle. As with all matters of the heart, you'll know when you find it” (Stanford Report, June 14, 2005).

Everyone is good at something; you just have to find it. Here are a few tips to help you find that special talent and how to engage it.

Everyone is born with a natural talent and/or a passion.

Thanks to the intrinsic design of DNA, we all have something special to offer the world. Our unique set of traits determines our strengths and weaknesses thus providing us with a range natural talents and skills. These natural talents may be tangible like fixing things or intangible such as problem solving. It can be something as simple as organizing files to something more complicated such as fixing computers. Either way, they are there and should be used to improve your life and the lives of those around you.

Finding your natural talent

1. One great way to find your talent is by writing down all the things that you enjoy doing. Maybe it was something you loved doing at school or as a child but haven't done in a while. Or perhaps it's something you find your self doing whenever you have spare time. Once you a list, circle 2 or 3 that stand out from the rest. You know when you have found something you enjoy when the simple thought if it makes you smile.
2. Another great way is to ask your friends and family what they think you are naturally good at. Commonly people over look their natural talents as they can't see them for what they are. They have spent so many years doing and comes so naturally to them that it is seen as "normal" or "common". What you are naturally good at may be a hard task for someone else. So ask your friends to list a few things that they think you are good at.

Things that stop people perusing their natural talents and passions:

One of the top reasons for not pursuing something is fear. Some of these include:

• Fear of failure (don't want to be laughed, embarrassed or shamed)
• Fear that being rich turns you into an arrogant and selfish person (only if you want it to)
• Fear that you aren't good enough (low self esteem and self confidence)
• Fear that you don't deserve to be successful (none of my friends and family are so why do I deserve to be)
• That the world is a cold place and you will not find the support you need (you have to believe in yourself first before anyone else will)

Once you have found your talent:

Once you have found something you are good at, you then need to explore your options.

The first thing you may focus on is the list of possible jobs and careers that require those skills. There are plenty of career expos and job agencies that are happy to work with you to find that special job. There might even be that perfect job out there for you that you haven't didn't even know existed.

You may wish to strengthen or perfect your natural talent by developing more skills in that particular area. This could include going back to school, completing short courses or any other training available. It is a good idea to search the internet or look over some of the subjects offered at your local university.

Finally, you need to find a way to make a living from using your talent. Your natural talent and/or passion may lead you directly into a profitable line of work or you may have to innovate and create ways of making money doing what you love. Explore and research your area of skills and find out what is the best way to earn from it.

Doing the work you love is about spending time doing something that makes you happy. You need to find the things you love doing and incorporate that love into your working life. Life is about quality and having a job that satisfies you is one of the important factors that add to that quality. So the saying goes "Good things take time". Be patient and don't give up.

Budget the time allotted for the task.

Ever notice how the time it takes to complete a task seems to fill whatever amount of time you have to get it done? It seems quite the crazy thing, but if you give yourself all day to clean the house, chances are it will take you all day to get the job done. Conversely, if you were to give yourself two hours to tackle a list of household chores you could probably breeze through them in that exact amount of time. Start budgeting your time by setting a limit on how much time you'll spend on any given project, task or activity. If you feel you've frittered too much time away at video games, start setting the timer. Too much TV? Plan your television time by looking at the week's programming schedule, picking a few shows to watch, then watch only those shows and turn off the set the rest of the week.

Do your most important work during the best and most productive part of your day.

Are you at your best at 10 a.m. but at your worst at 3 p.m.? If so, you then know how to decide which tasks to do during each of those time periods. The best rule of thumb is to match the job and what it requires of you, to the time period that is best suited to get the best results. If the task is extremely important for your career and there's a lot riding on the output, then that's the work you do at your most productive and most alert time period. Washing the dishes can be done when you're less alert, less up to task and maybe winding down for the day.

Make a list of the five things you can do each day that will bring you the greatest future reward and do them each day first and do them during your most productive hours.

Is your to do list a mile long and you feel each day you're not only getting little done, you're no where near reaching your goals? If so, then pare down that list and make each day a "top five" day. Sure, you have to keep the house clean, wash clothes and dishes, but to get the most out of your day and your most productive times, center on the five things that will reap the greatest reward. You know what they are, now you need to get them on the list and do them. Every day.

Change the way you think about time.

You can think about time as money, but actually, time is more valuable than money. Consider this: you can always make more money. You cannot, however, buy more time. Now, if you're truly rich you can hire other people and buy their time and have them accomplish things for you, but let's assume that you're not Bill Gates or Warren Buffett. You have 24 hours to each day - use them well.

Re-evaluate your priorities and goals.

If you're continually in a loop of not having the time to get the things done that you should get done and need to complete, then it may be time to review your priorities (what's most important in your life? Does your schedule each day of where you allot that time reflect those priorities?) and take another look at your goals (where are you going and where do you want to end up?). If you are spending time on things and projects that are not priorities and are not helping you achieve your goals, then it's time to make some decisions about how you spend your time. It may be time to start saying "no" more often than "yes."

Time-management and time budgeting is difficult for most people. Those who do have this under control can accomplish great things and they do it in the same amount of hours that everyone else has. It how you use the time that counts rather than a problem of needing more.

Tough or nice, all who aspires wanted to run a company or business or group in a way that it produces quantity and quality while at the same time, the people you are working with feels inspired.

In summary, we all want to be an Effective Manager -- one who manages himself and the people they work with in a way that both the organization and the people profit from their presence.

An effective manager possesses three secrets that allows him to be the "ideal" kind of manager we all want and wanted to be.

The First Secret: Goal Setting

When setting goals, an effective manager write out each goal on a single sheet of paper using less than 250 words. He agrees on these goals and sees what good behaviour produces from these. Everytime these goals are read and re-read, it only requires a minute or so to do it. An effective manager then takes a minute every once in a while out of his day to look at his people's performance and see whether or not their behaviour matches the goals being set.

You might be asking as why there is a need to align a goal with that of your people's good behaviour. It is because an effective manager believes that "people who feels good about themselves produce good results".

The Second Secret: Praising

Praising means giving good feedback to people who deserve them. An effective manager monitors his people closely to catch them doing something...right! He praises people up front and immediately by telling them what they did specifically right: straight to the point. He also tells them how good he felt for the positive action they've done and how it has also helped the organization and the other people who worked with them. An effective manager allows his people to "feel" how good he had felt. He encourages them to do more of the same and concretely transmit this good feedback by shaking hands or touching people in a way that makes it clear he supports their success in the organization.

As the saying goes, "actions speak louder than words, but words with actions create a solid communication".

The Third Secret: Reprimand

Nobody wants to get reprimanded, but when situation calls for it, you would want to be reprimanded by no other than the Effective Manager. When an effective manager reprimands his people, he tells them beforehand that he's going to let them know how they're doing, and in no uncertain terms. Just like giving praises, an effective manager reprimands people immediately by telling them what they did specifically wrong and in no uncertain terms. He allows his people to "feel" how bad he had felt. But in so doing, he is not attacking the person himself, but the action that was made. He then reminds his people how much they are valued by shaking hands or touching them in a way that lets them know he is on their side. And most of all, an effective manager knows and allows his people to know that when the reprimand is over, it is really over and done.

Make no mistake about it; a thorough understanding of the differences between policies and standards is oh so essential to competitive resiliency, business continuity and the development of applicable, relevant policies for you and your organization.

Standards

From a generic point-of-view, standards usually originate from without an organization.

In areas with no official standards or regulatory requirements organizations are free to choose whether or not to voluntarily adopt the various standards and/or proposed standards (this is known as opt-in). In these cases the degree of compliance can also vary considerably from one organization to the next.

Conversely external factors such as the need to comply with legislation or industry-wide recommendations may conspire to force an organization to adopt specific standards.

Whenever legislation and/or other regulations are applicable failure to comply with their provisions will ultimately result in the imposition of punitive penalties. Depending upon the breach incarceration may result.

Policies

On the other hand and in marked contrast to standards policies generally originate from within an organization. The primary objectives and basic functions distributed and/or detailed/proposed via the policy format are generally intended to deliver positive benefits whilst avoiding negative effects at least from the organization's perspective.

Think of a policy as being a statement of organizational intent with the goal of formulating a deliberate plan of action to guide decisions and achieve rational outcome(s). As such the term may apply to government, private sector organizations and groups, as wells as to individuals.

Policy-Based Decision Making

The term “policy” is also used to refer to the process of making important organizational, management, financial and administrative decisions. This includes the identification of different viable alternatives such as processes, programs, projects or spending priorities. These alternative options are considered to form a pool of possible solutions from which the final selection will come.

One area where adherence to policy has considerable impact is in the making of a selection from this pool of possible solutions particularly when many of the candidates in the range are more-or-less equal prospects. In these situations it is often the case that company policy will act as the “tie-breaker” by influencing or even dictating which option wins by clearly defining and delineating the criteria for selection in each instance.

So it is; that generically speaking, company policy aims to facilitate the rapid attainment of specifically defined explicit goals while preserving organization-wide consistency.

Policy Compliance

Compliance with corporate policy is generally not negotiable and the individual at fault will generally experience some form of penalty. The type of penalty will vary from one organization to the next. The ultimate penalty for non-compliance with organizational policies would be termination of employment.

Policy Goals, Objectives and Targets

The possibilities here are endless so to provide a “big picture” view of policies I will make special note of a couple below. Some of the reasons for developing a policy include:

Exploitation - Policies may created to improve an organization's capacity to exploit the positive benefits (from their perspective) of any given scenario or situation as identified by that organization

Mission Statement - Regardless of the type of policy being implemented a clearly defined policy mission (mission statement) is always instrumental in maximizing a policy's capacity to perform and attain its goals.

Privacy - Privacy policies such as corporate privacy policies are widely used today and will generally include information pertaining to their collection, storage, updating, notification, security and eventual secure disposal.

Distribution Policies - Distribution Policies regulating the distribution and sharing of resources within the organization are another common type of policy to be found around the globe in a multiplicity of guises.

Security - Never forget the many elements of security. Policies will need to be developed and implemented concerning personal well-being, intruders, hackers, accidents, down-time etc.

Monitoring - Monitoring and evaluating the current policy status in order to determine whether or not your policy initiatives have/are effective is critical to the success of your overall plan. You can also learn a lot about what to do and where change will have the most beneficial effects at the best dollar/benefit. Policy adherence issues must be dealt with in real-time as and where they arise.

Policy Management

Adopting a life-cycle approach to business policy management has the advantage of ensuring that all business policy can proactively adapt rapidly in concert with the prevailing yet ever changing business, political, social and regulatory climates now and well into the future. One example of a widely accepted business policy management life-cycle is the Bridgeman/Davis Policy Life Cycle depicted below.

Policy Documentation

One fundamental aspect of policy and policy development that may be overlooked is the task of adequately and appropriately documenting the policy. This is true whether it be an organization specific policy, an opt-in standards-based policy or a regulatory required standards-based policy. Elements that must be included with all documentary policy statements include:

Policy Purpose Statement - Why the policy is being implemented & what it is supposed to achieve

Policy Scope Statement - Who and what the policy affects as well as any express exclusions relating to specific individuals, organizations and/or actions

Policy Time Statement - When the policy takes effect, its intended period of tenure and when it is scheduled for updating and/or termination

Policy Responsibilities and Obligations Statement - identification of who is responsible for what along with clear and unambiguous identification of governance structures

Policy Effect Statements - The specific organizational standards, regulations, requirements, modifications and/or behaviors that the policy is intended to address or create

Policy Change and Change Management Statement - The formal declaration of accepted process and procedure for the instigation of change to or of policy

Policy Background Statement - The origins, reasoning, motivation, and historical perspective for creating the policy in the first place. Any underlying, extenuating or extrapolated process will be clearly identified and stated here.

Policy Milestone Statement - Clearly defined and listed stages at which the policy is deemed to have progressed throughout its life-cycle. Many milestones will therefore be used for the purpose of providing management with the metrics by which they can determine the progress of the development or current life-cycle status of the policy. Milestones will also feature prominently in policy sign-off statements and the policy sign-off pages or policy sign-off documentation (if separate to the remainder of policy documentation).

Policy Definitions and Terminology Statement - Clear and unambiguous definition and explanation of the terminology, concepts, methodologies and processes contained within the policy

Policy Life-Cycle Statement - Detailed presentation of the specific policy life-cycle model applicable to the policy. Clear and unambiguous statement of all terms conditions and processes applicable to the policy during each and every stage of its life-cycle and development.

Policy Sign-Off Statement - Provision for formal signature sign-off as the policy progresses through each of its life-cycle stages. Some of the milestone points where authoritative sign-off will be required will include initiation, identification, design, drafting, revision, re-evaluation, approvals, implementation, maintenance, continuing review redevelopment, redrafting and change implementation and eventual replacement and/or decommissioning.

Policy Milestone Sign-Off Page Statement - Provision of a formal sign-off page(s) intended for use as that section of the policy document where the required signatories must formally apply their signature to indicate currency and formal acceptance.

In 1980, the Sherman Act was instated to protect both businesses and consumers. This economic legislation ensures fair pricing while still allowing for open competition through the restriction of price fixing. Price fixing is defined as “an agreement among competitors to raise, fix, or otherwise maintain the price at which their goods or services are sold” (Price Fixing, Bid Rigging, and Market Allocation Schemes 2). Some examples of price fixing include the holding of prices, eliminating discounts, adopting a standard formula for computing prices, and not advertising prices.

Price fixing can also be used to discriminate against other small businesses. Setting a price only within a certain area in order to eliminate competition or create a monopoly is illegal. Many states have also adopted a “Below Sales Cost” law. This law states that they may not sell goods below their cost with an anti-competitive intent. Price fixing is harmful to individuals, small businesses, and corporations (Price Fixing: What is it? 2).

I agree with the current laws that are in effect against price fixing. If price fixing were allowed to take place in the marketplace, there would be a dramatic rise in prices in various products. Gas stations would collaborate, causing the price per gallon to rise overnight. If the local market was flooded with price fixing in products such as gas and food, there would be no choice but to purchase products at an inflated price. If large companies sold products at a price lower than cost, smaller family owned businesses would fail within weeks. Thanks to the Sherman Act, there is still fair competition in the marketplace, but it is not so fierce that newly developing businesses crumble under the pressure.

The Sherman Act is strictly enforced today under the Federal Antitrust Enforcement Department. In 2000, a settlement was made with three of the United States' largest music retailers. These retailers followed a practice known as “minimum-advertised pricing” (or MAP). Through MAP, these retailers subsidized ads by retailers. In return for this, the stores agreed to sell CD's at or above a certain price, providing them with an unfair advantage over consumers. The companies agreed to pay $67.4 million and distribute $75.7 million in CD's to public and non-profit groups to settle the lawsuit (USAToday.com 2).

Ensuring fair competition is essential to maintaining low prices in the marketplace. Although competition itself is not unethical, it is unethical when companies work together to intentionally and unnecessarily increase profits at the expense of the consumer. Without the Sherman Act, prices would skyrocket in every industry. Thanks to the Sherman Act, we can be sure that we are being charged fair prices in our local market.

Just as there are a million different ways to get to Rome, there are a million different ways to become financially free.

I have always been interested in MLM and Network Marketing and always run into people who like to tell me, it's a pyramid scheme, only the people on the top make the money and whatever else those “nay Sayers” like to throw out there to justify their failures and doubts. I don't really listen much to peoples opinions, because most of these people will also tell you that life is unfair and you have to work hard to earn a living; when you mention financial freedom, they'll go “what's that?” That's something that was designed for the rich…well; I don't need to continue on because these are the people who are poison to those who want to advance. They mean well, I'm sure.

I realized that most of these people are broke. They don't take risks, they play small, and they are victims to circumstances. They blame and complain. When they run into an opportunity, they see someone else trying to get them for their money. Why is that?

We were taught to have a job, to go to work, provide, take one week vacation a year and probably sit around the house, fixing the roof, because money is tight and that's the way it is. Great life isn't it? Not so much.

What's my point? I've known so many people like those. My family. I am pretty open minded; I've tried a few MLMs. Yes, I just “tried” I didn't do it. I didn't follow through with it. I failed miserably quite a few times. It didn't work for me. One day I sat down and took a real good look at what I'm actually doing and why I am where I am. And boom. It hit me. I didn't care about the product. I wanted to make money. Yesterday! Fast! Now! My heart wasn't in it. I am a musician, what am I doing selling life insurance?

I enrolled my friends, people who are just like me. I surrounded myself with people just like me, broke, frustrated and skeptical, looking for the quick fix. I took a break and gently asked the universe to give me a sign. A new opportunity. I opened my e-mail and a guy I met a while back at the Millionaire Mind Intensive send me an e-mail saying “call me” with his number. My “programs” (old beliefs) told me, it's not you, another thing you'll fail at, don't do that again, you're not good at this. Just a waste of money and time. Great story isn't it? What did that story do for me in the past?

Let's see? It got me nowhere. I'm exactly where I was a year ago. My friend who got me into one of the MLM companies is doing fantastic. I could've been there, but I am not. And that's okay. The product wasn't resonating with me. I decided to be open minded and approach it through a different pair of lenses.

I realized, all the times before I always thought about one thing and one thing only. Money! I need to make money, not in a year, now! I didn't really like the product, but I thought I could Sell It. Yet I didn't.

I checked out the new opportunity and really liked everything about it. I decided to not try but do it this time around. Here's something that made all the difference.

1. I didn't approach any of the people I've approached in the past
2. I found something I'm truly passionate about
3. I'm being about helping others first and see the money as an extra bonus
4. I challenge myself to do things different
5. I am following a system a plan
6. I'm going one step at a time instead of trying to skip a few trying to race to the top

I think a lot of times we stop ourselves because we don't see how it is possible for us. It seems too big, too complicated, and too scary. Yes, only when we are uncomfortable is when we are growing. I dare you too, to do something different.

I don't profess to be an expert on the subject nor do I think of myself as a professional writer (far from it). However, there have been numerous times in the past few years when I have been dismayed by the obvious errors in both spelling and grammar in many of the media to which we subject ourselves, rendering at least a few of these confusing.

Advertising is here to stay, and is one of the largest and fasted-growing businesses there is to be involved in. It relies on effective communication. It should always rely on effective and accurate communication. I have seen, and can understand the odd error creeping into a quickly-prepared document which was subject to a deadline, that the spell/grammar checker was confused by and that didn't get proof-read afterwards because of time constraints. I can understand that happening, and accept it.

However, if the anticipated audience for the document or advertisement to be written is large (e.g., Internet, television, newspapers), then greater care must be taken to be accurate in the communication presented. Usually, where money is involved (as in an item's price), an advertisement is reviewed very well before publishing to ensure that there is simply no way for the ad to be interpreted differently or incorrectly.

In those commercials that are only leading rather than offering, I have seen poor grammar and blatant spelling errors. The company advertising in such a way has already lost an important part of my interest at this point. It's about respect, I suppose. For me, it is simple to spot the "good" advertisements. They are the ones that capture my attention, provide me with significant relevant information, are clear (to read or hear), not misleading, and don't prompt you to spend money you don't have. I believe this would be a progressive move for advertisers; a move that would create respect for the companies financing the commercials rather than a disdain for the methods employed in leading the consumer on.

Having said that, I do enjoy commercials (TV especially) that are creative and entertaining. These don't usually result in a sale to me but are enjoyable nonetheless.

There is an increasing number of consumers who do their research on the Internet for almost any significant purchase. These consumers are choosing to see the appropriate advertisements for the item in which they are interested, on their own schedule, and to whatever depth of investigation suits them. Most of these consumers have already made a decision to buy the item at some time and are educating themselves before buying. Some may buy on-line. Many do. This seems to make so much more sense than having a TV spew glamour or temptation at you incessantly with the hope that there may be something relevant that gets through to the potential buyer. I do keep in mind, however, that many advertisers display a web presence through a hyperlink address on the TV ads. This at least gives the interested consumer a chance to get in-depth information at leisure.

In my past investigations on the Internet, I happened across Triond. I was surprised to see how simple the designers/creators had made it to become involved in sharing what we have learned and captured somehow through our life experiences. I believe in the Triond method, even though it is driven by advertising revenue, and in which I take part, thank you, because it represents a desire to improve somehow on what we have accomplished so far. In the quest for writing the piece that captures the attention or provides some interesting fact or technique, so do the writers become more proficient, more painstaking, more accurate and better able to communicate effectively.

And that is the key.

With poor communication, many troubles have plagued our world. Why not then, strive for an accurate sharing of our feelings, our knowledge and our goals. Can it be wrong?

A poorly designed position offers little chance of delegation as the individual is usually lacking the information they need themselves to perform their job; these people will find it difficult to delegate as they cannot pass on what is necessary when they don't have it themselves.

Some workplaces do not work to systems and get by on dysfunctional work design which makes delegation difficult.

Workplaces that don't work to clear goals make it difficult to pass on goals through delegation. The best that can be achieved in these instances is task oriented duties given to staff which falls sadly short of high performance work from effective delegation.

Communicating goals or criteria becomes difficult when a systems framework for the workplace does not exist. For those Managers and Supervisors who show initiative in trying to explain these in delegating, often face the peril of being reprimanded through rationalized feedback as a substitute for well developed plans and SMART goals

Often times the authority given through delegation is the start of a chain reaction of problems for the absence of clear responsibilities throughout the workplace and business. In these cases turf wars easily start where staff becomes afraid of taking delegated work.

When departmental plans and goals are poorly developed and communicated a Manager or Supervisor has little choice but to stick their neck out in giving advice in delegating, with little chance of recognition for their initiative. In these instances the good ideas in the advice offered is often stolen by those wallowing in the confusion of the workplace.

Focusing on results without consideration of the process fosters norms which create dysfunctional work habits. One desperate act after another in compensating for missing workplace systems only strays a business further from the desired sustainable business.

Some of the worst workplaces have come to be from neglect of sound skills development and practices which are substituted with compromised attempts at effective work. It is the like the dog chasing his own tail; so much energy, resource and opportunity is wasted.

Effective delegation is an integral part of a high performing work system but there are times when delegation doesn't have a chance.

Every business deal is important, even the small ones. There is nothing better than working on a small project, that on top looks like very little money, and turns out to be a gold mind. This can be especially true when breaking into a new market.

This is why writing down your goals for your company is so important. Each and every employee should have a goal in which they are working to reach, and they should receive a raise based on how well they did in reaching that goal. If your company is looking to grow you are looking for results.

That is why it is also important to manage your time wisely. If you do not have good time management skills, you won't be ready if something happens within your company and you have to put out a fire. If you are good about time management and the planning of goals, when you put out one fire, you will set up preventatives in case something similar happens again, or have a backup plan.

It is also important to compartmentalize goals for your company if you are serving more than one industrial market.

Tracking these goals is also very important. Such as you want to know if you want to know if any of your regular customers bought products from your new line. You may even want to reward them or get feedback from them.

As long as you have goals and are writing them down, you and your company can grow. That is the way things happen.

Fulfilling a task does not necessarily entail its completion. So many of us get part of what we have do completed; one might feel just as fulfilled by going part of the way. This is especially true of the technological world we live in where with convergent technology pushing us forward many of us have not been able to deal with multimedia systems when we used to handle one at a time. So completing a task by getting hosted on someone else's website is a way of getting your own website done. Another point in favour of the incompletion is that we often do not have the physical time needed to do all the tasks needed to complete a project. This most often occurs in the film making process where executive producers, in big budget films would not necessarily want any of their staff to handle more responsibility than needed to get a specific job done. Hence lighting technicians are there for lighting and the gaffer is there to help carry the equipment so that the lighting person can concentrate on the illuminating the plateau.

Time is a critical measuring tool of how well you have self-managed a situation especially when time is money. Hence again in the movie industry if the film schedule goes overboard then the producer will have to fork out additional money to keep a location or to satisfy the actors and technicians on the set. Anybody who has been on film sets knows how an air of desperation because of working late can often obscure the quality of one's goal. So quality is a needed consideration too in proper management.

Some may like to associate self-management with meditation exercises geared to relaxing the body and stimulate the mind's ability to concentrate. But I have been able to relax and concentrate without these exercises, which I feel, are extraneous. If one sets a goal in mind and concentrates enough on achieving it, that person is bound to establish a means to obtain it. That of course means that the person has to resist being distracted or swayed from alternate choices. Repetitive tasks are best done when brain activity levels are low like when starting up early in the morning or before retiring to sleep. The time-management involves setting goals and priorities of what needs to be done first, what tasks show follow and when as well as knowing how long an individual task should take. If as in the book writing industry you normally get your material together before writing a non-fiction book in a month then perhaps you might reconsider completing that book if you haven't had the time to get all the information together or the publisher has given you a limit.