“Sae Hae Bok Man E Bada Se Yo!” That would be Korean for Happy New Year.
I want to thank you for reading my little blog and wish you all a successful new year.
It’s interesting as I look back on how I started Landing on Your Feet and how it’s evolved. I really don’t know how this evolution will progress. I’m confident that this little blog will become more and more useful and user friendly as it grows. And frankly, I still have no real clue as to how to run a website. After nearly a year, I’m still pretty much learning as I go.
Still, watching this site go from an Alexa ranking around the 18 million spot (just how many blogs are there in the world) to around 337,000 today, I really want to thank each of you who spend some of your precious time reading my little blog.
It goes without saying that if you have any ideas or suggestions for making this site more useful, please send it my way. I would be most grateful.
Part of trying to make this site more informative was to stopping writing my own articles. Frankly – what do I know. There are tons more experienced gurus’ and writers’out there anyways.
I would much rather have you learn – maybe get an aha moment – from a Phil Baker or a Kevin Donlin.
So, I try to look at sites that have good information and bring back here for you. I bring articles from some really cool authors here for you to consider.
And in line with that, I welcome any and all of you to participate on this site. Just shoot an article my way and I’ll post it – of course – you’ll get full credit and link back to you.
As for the new year…
If you’ve been unemployed for a short time, or for a while…take a deep breath This is going to be a year of success. How do I know? Because life moves in cycles. The train track is circular, and hard as it may be to believe, the train will circle back to you. Sometimes the return trip is a long one, I get that, but return it will.
I once heard a speaker say that the difference between the winner in a boxing match and loser isn’t in who gets knocked down – but who gets back up. With all due respects to her, that isn’t necessarily the difference.
But I get her point. We all get knocked down and sometimes, it comes out of nowhere – it’s not of our choosing. But getting up is our choice. As is not getting up.
It’s so easy just to lie there.
It’s so hard to get back up.
It’s our choice, and really there is no choice – we have to get back up.
In my life, I have been up and I have been down, and up, and down. I’ve earned north of 6 figures and have also basically put my young family in near poverty (that was painful and humbling).
But life is a cycle. And if you don’t get up, you could miss the train as it comes back around.
Getting back up is not easy, but I have some suggestions that might help. Give it some thought…
1. Read – Read 30 minutes every day. First thing in the morning or before you turn the lights off. Read. Enrich your mind. Read authors like Og Mandino, Harvey Mackay, Stephen Covey, Denis Waitley, Brian Tracy, or Zig Ziglar. Get a library card. There are so many great authors out with books that will enrich and edify you. Think of it this way – you shower every day to clean the daily grime of living off your body. Well, you need to clean your mind from all the daily negativity of the naysayers and such. Reading 30 minutes a day is like taking a shower for your mind.
2. Keep a journal – That’s right, keep a diary – it’s not just for young girls. Write 15 minutes a day in your journal. Jot down your to-do list for tomorrow. Jot down who you saw or who you met. Keep this journal with you. Throughout the day, an idea hits or a name pops in your head, jot it down.
3. Exercise – 30 minutes every other day. Walk – run – jog – lift – sprint – pump iron – it doesn’t matter what, just take care of your body and keep yourself strong.
4. Sleep – Get your rest. You have enough stress without becoming sleep deprived. A rested mind is a sharp mind.
5. Lay off the sugar – Eat healthy. It’s just as easy to eat healthy as it is to eat poorly. I don’t believe in supplements, but…if you need to, take a good multivitamin and/or fish oil supplement. You have an obligation to yourself and to your family to be healthy.
6. Join Toastmasters - You’re unemployed, you have time. Toastmasters normally meet one night a week for 1 to 2 hours. Best time you will spend. You will learn to be a better speaker, a better communicator, and a better person by becoming involved with them.
7. Volunteer – Be a driver for Meals on Wheels or help clean cages at the local humane society. It’s good for the soul.
8. Go to church – or volunteer.
9. Talk to God – but don’t bargain with God, just chat. God’s a good listener.
10. Don’t keep secrets from your spouse – you have enough stress in your life.
So, there’s my 2 cents. For what it’s worth, I hope it helps.
I want you to get back up – I want you to win.
