Tag Archives: inspiration

PURSUIT FOR HAPPINESS, SEARCH FOR MEANING

5 THINGS THAT COVID19 PANDEMIC TAUGHT ME?

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“This letter is to You. The You that’s had a rough week. The You that seems to be under constant storm clouds. The You that feels invisible. The You that doesn’t know how much longer you can hold on. The you that has lost faith. The you that always blames yourself for everything that goes wrong. To you. You are incredible. You make this world a little bit more wonderful. You have so much potential and so many things left to do. You have time. Better things are coming your way, so please hang in there. You can do it.”

Jodi Ann Bickley

This week was a tough one. I felt anxious, stressed, emotional and I suffered from insomnia and a headache. I always react like this on bad news, but usually shortly after I pull myself together and start looking for solutions and positive things.

I reminded myself that I lived through worse times in my life, I survived the war and there are no many things out there that can compare to that. I lived and worked on a cruise ship which is quite different from life on land. I left my family and friends and came to another country to look for a job, I slept on my friend’s sofas, I was without money, job and family. And still, there was always light at the end of the tunnel, so this shall pass to.

Reflecting on the previous 3 months in lock down, below I have listed 5 things that Covid19 taught me.

HAVING A GARDEN OR WEEKEND HOUSE IS PRICELESS

After everything that was happening since March, buying an apartment is not an option anymore. As there is a very high chance that this kind of situation will happen sometime again in the future living in a big city and a small apartment is not something that I want. Hopefully, in the next 5 years, I will be able to move to the countryside, have my own garden and be self-sustainable.

EVERY JOB HAS ITS END

Each time you take a job, be aware that it will have its end. Don’t restrict yourself that you only need to work in one industry field or build one career. In today’s world, you will probably have to change a few jobs if you planning to survive. This week we were reminded about this as my husband has been made redundant. He worked for the airline and we know that this industry was one of the most affected due to imposed travel restrictions. We were aware that this could happen but didn’t expect it this fast. Let’s see what the Universe has in the pocket for us next?!

THE WORLD WILL NOT BE THE SAME AGAIN

I don’t want this to sound like the end of the world prediction, but the fact is the world will not be the same as it was. I don’t know yet if it will get worst or better, but I am sure that we are entering a new decade that will be something we haven’t seen before. We need to adopt new skills, new approaches and innovation. One of the best things about this is that Mother Nature had some self-care time and there is a positive environmental impact. The ozone and ocean are healthier, the people reconnected with nature, the animals are taking over the land and the pollution is reduced. Finally, the skies are blue above China, the water is clean in Venice and you can see the Himalayas from Kathmandu. I only hope that it won’t get worst later when things pick up.

MATERIAL THINGS ARE NOT IMPORTANT

Your car doesn’t mean anything if you don’t have where to drive it. Your fancy clothes don’t mean anything if you don’t have where to wear it. Your newest gym equipment and membership are useless if the gyms are not reachable. Your newest watch, iPhone, makeup, perfume, you name it. Nobody cares what you have or how you look if they can’t see you.

Photo by Ivan Bertolazzi from Pexels

TAKE CARE OF YOUR HEALTH

We are all aware that our health is irreplaceable. Our immune system will be our best protection we will have against all diseases, viruses and bacterias that could harm us. You all know what you need to do: sleep well, exercise daily, meditate, control your mind, drink 2l of water, don’t smoke, don’t drink too much, socialize with good and inspiring people, don’t use too many harsh chemicals, go green and use natural products as much as you can. Try to spend time outdoors in nature and away from polluted cities.

Photo by Madison Inouye from Pexels

What did you learn during the lock down? Share it in the comments.

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CAREER THOUGHTS, FIND YOUR PASSION

How to enjoy your job even though it is not something you wanted to do?!

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“Look under your feet. The great opportunity is where you are. Every place is under the stars. Every place is the center of the Universe.”

Do you often think that somehow you just can’t find your way?! You don’t know what is your dream job and what is your passion while everyone around you is telling you that you have to do what you love, otherwise, you will not feel fulfilled?! As per many different research you are not the only one. Many people don’t like their jobs, but they still have to do it to be able to survive, support their families and pay their living expenses. And there is nothing wrong with it. However, even if you are stuck with the job you don’t like it doesn’t necessarily mean that you have to be miserable or unhappy. Furthermore, you know how they say “do the best you can with what you have, where you are“.

Photo credit goes to @kaboompics

So how exactly you can still enjoy your job although it is not something you wanted?

Firstly, you would need to change your mindset and instead of thinking how you are going to survive one more day from the “nightmare” think about it as something that you just have to do, a part of your daily routine. Try to see it more positively – maybe you will meet new people, learn or hear something new that might open you some other doors in the future.

Secondly, you are not your job so find time for your hobbies, sport or social activities after working hours. This will give you more motivation to finish your work so you can go and enjoy something you like. Now, don’t tell me that you don’t have any hobbies as that is just impossible today with so much choice. I have lots of different interest, however the hobbies I always go back to are yoga and blogging. Currently, as I spend more time at home due to Covid19 I do lots of walking and I am part of a book club with my friends so we can exchange our thoughts about different books. I have also decided to invest more time in my blog in the next 6 months, so these days I am spending lots of time reading, studying and exploring the internet.

Photo credit goes to @dpopbes (taken from Pexels)

Thirdly, try to find a higher purpose in your job. Maybe, your company is providing some products or services that are useful to the wider community. Maybe, you are an inspiration to somebody and you don’t know it. So try to be nice to people you work with and most importantly never take things personally. I have noticed that many times the problem arises as people start taking things too personally or they get offended and change their behaviour based on their feelings.

Finally, you have to believe. I love the following quote from Churchill: “There comes a special moment in everyone’s life, a moment for which that person was born. That special opportunity, when he sizes it, will fulfil his mission – a mission for which he is uniquely qualified. At that moment, he finds greatness. It is his finest hour.” This quote gives hope that one day we will find that special thing we like to do. In the meantime, work on yourself and your skills. Read good books, educate yourself, listen to TED talks and podcasts, follow inspiring people, do online courses. Try to keep up with new technologies, learn new skills, find yourself, mentor, study a new language, volunteer, help someone, meditate, and socialize with people who take out the best from you. And one day, sooner or later your time will come to shine. And all the hard work, invested time and hurdles will eventually pay off.

Stay safe everyone, and use your time wisely. 🙂

CAREER LADDER, CAREER THOUGHTS, SKILLS YOU NEED

Top 5 advice to young people

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Today, there are so many ways to improve your skills and knowledge. In the following post, I would like to highlight my top 5 advice to young people.

1. Learn some other language, preferably English. Why? Because English will open you many doors to travelling, studying and working. Because today it is it embarrassing to say that you don’t know this language. Thankfully, I had a chance to study English in elementary and high school so I had a good background. At the university, we didn’t have it so I decided to do an English course after the lectures. Later, I started meeting people through Couchsurfing network so I had a chance to work on my communication skills. Finally, after I went to work onboard the cruise line I had a chance to actively use it every day and to improve it.

Currently, I am also studying the Spanish language through Duolingo application. Duolingo is my favourite application for studying languages and it doesn’t require lots of time. You can set up an application to 15 minutes each day or longer. If you spend lots of time commuting you can listen to Spanish podcasts or you can read simple Spanish books. If you have more suggestions on how to learn other languages please feel free to share them in the comments section below.

2. Learn Excel and other MS Office programs. It doesn’t matter what kind of job you will do tomorrow, knowing how to use Excel will probably be useful to you. You can use it to prepare different reports, to sort and filter data, to calculate different formulas and financial analysis, to prepare charts and tables. You can also use it for calendars and schedules, for inventory, goal tasks and for the mailing list. So far I had so many different jobs and in most of them, I had to use excel on a daily basis. If you want to get skills to work as a financial analyst you can try the course on Udemy.

3. Volunteer. There is nothing you can compare with the feeling that you helped somebody or made their life easier or better in a certain way. There are so many organizations where you can volunteer and it won’t take lots of your time. You can volunteer with children, with elders, with food and clothes donations, for environment protection or something similar to your interest. Of course, you can also volunteer to help yourself as well. There is nothing wrong if you wish to learn something new or to develop your network further. I used to volunteer for the Feminist Organization in Bosnia which opened me the doors to a Peace Camp. At the Peace Camp, I met a girl who told me about the project called “Europen Rails of Peace” where I applied and was chosen to represent my country. During my studies, I did an internship in a PR agency and I participated in the project called “Women in Politics” where I met some pretty amazing and successful women. Recently, I was chosen to volunteer for Expo 2020 held in Dubai, however, due to Covid19 Expo was postponed to 2021.

4. This could be very easily the most important thing you need to master – Finances. If you master this while you are young, your life will be much easier later. Unfortunately, the schools don’t teach us how to manage our money, how to invest and how to save. Considering that I also made a few mistakes which I am still paying off, a friend offered to make me a financial plan and she changed the way I approach money. There are many things that we can do. Firstly, stop spending money on things like clothes, beauty treatments, the newest phone models, cars, cigarettes, alcohol, clubs, cinemas and material things that are just making more clutter around you and on your bank account. Before you buy something to think very well do you really need it or you just want it (usually it is the second one). And if you decide that you need it and want to buy it try to stick to the following saying: “Buy less, choose well, make it last“. Secondly, read books, listen to podcasts and watch videos about investing money and passive income. If you have some hobby or talent try to monetize it. You can also sell photographs, templates, or if you have IT skills you can make an application or work as a freelance. You can also teach the English language online. Currently, I am following Gillian Perkins youtube channel about finances, investments, entrepreneurship and start-ups. We can’t all be businessman buts we can all learn how to manage money, instead of letting money manage us.

5. Think Positively. If you don’t think positively, you will always blame others for your shortcomings and instead of solutions, you will see problems, and instead of thinking why you can or should do something you will think why you can’t do that. Try to stay away from the victim or “I can’t do that” mentality. There are lots of bad things out there, but there are many beautiful as well. Of course, there will be times when we will have lots of problems, stress, family deaths or diseases, however, it is important to understand that is simply Life. Don’t let negative emotions overwhelm you, because you will create a chain of negativity and you will chase away half of your friends as nobody likes emotional vampires.

What advice would you share with young people? Share in the comments.