Saturday, December 4, 2010

6 Reasons To Put Love Before Your Career

6 Reasons To Put Love Before Your Career
One man's take on having it all: career, love, family, and success.

By Brian Fairbanks May 20, 2010
Back in February, YourTango contributor John Bowe posted a piece called "Work vs. Love: A Man's Case for Putting Work First," arguing that it's best for us all to go solo until we've made a living, regardless of how it hurts our romantic prospects in the meantime.

As a fellow (male) writer, I'd like to contend that he's dead wrong. Love doesn't have to interfere with your career; it can actually support it. YourTango reader BookMama asked Bowe, "What if you have more than one dream in life: a partner who loves you, children, and writing or whatever your career is?" My answer would be: Pursue them all, all at once. Here's why:

1. Relationships don't interfere with your career; dating does
In my experience, it's dating that gets in the way of writers and other ambitious people. Dating can become a serious time suck if you're doing it remotely right and going out at least once a week. The phone calls, the IMs, the discussions with friends—it all adds up to a good deal of work and greatly reduces the ability for career people to focus on their professional lives.
Personally, getting past the constant going-out-and-meeting-people and arriving at the one-person-only relationship phase is integral to my concentration and momentum as a writer.

The bottom line is, if someone truly cares for you, they will understand when your projects are more important than your plans to take them to tango class. (A simple "The money I'm making from this design will help pay for next semester lessons, I promise" certainly helps.) The New Way To Have It All: First Baby, Then Love

2. Living with someone and being creative is better than living alone and being creative
Picture this scenario: you're working on a long-term project that's taking up all your time and energy. You have no significant other at the time and are too busy to date. You sink into depression and become easily distracted while the deadline looms. If you had a boyfriend who came over and brought you takeout, wouldn't that help turn things around?

Your girlfriend or boyfriend can talk you through tough creative patches or keep on your case to apply for a fellowship you're being pessimistic about. Sure, building a career and a marriage ended in disastrous results for greats like Sylvia Plath and Norman Mailer, but it wasn't the writing that caused those relationships to collapse. If you are going to fall in love, why hold back in favor of your career when your Facebook page is about to have its first fan?

3. Marriage won't distract you
The main issue I have with Bowe's perspective is the idea that a dream would have to be shoved aside to let someone else join the team. If a marriage involving a creative person is going to work, both partners need to support—not hinder—each other. The couples whose dreams of glory fall by the wayside are probably made up of people who would have given up sooner or later anyway.

As for Bowe's worry that marriage equals having kids, who are obviously going to greatly diminish your "me" time, I've found that ambitious people tend to find a way to get things done between diapers or parent-teacher conferences; they're going to make it no matter what "gets in the way." Why I Chose To Be Unmarried And Childless
4. There's a reason "richer or poorer" is in those marriage vows
Considering the stiff competition and difficulty of having long-term success in artistic careers, it's good to remember that, like many of the best things in life, love isn't about money. It's about sticking with people, regardless of whether they ever make it, and being grateful that at least you're together and working through it.

5. Do we really have a choice?
Bowe says he recently fell in love for the first time in 15 years. I want to know: Would he have changed his views on love vs. career if he had met someone undeniably special along the way, or if he hadn't lucked into love now that he's decided he's ready?

To look at it another way, everyone falls into a Jennifer Aniston-sized love rut once in a while, and that is the time to focus on other things like family, the debt situation, and maybe changing jobs or cities. But to give up entirely on dating and focusing only on the career until you're 45—is that even possible? Love doesn't care if you're working on a novel or done with a screenplay and now looking for love. You can't force it, so there's no point in saying, "I'm just going to pretend not to have feelings until I'm well-established."

6. Long-term outlook
I agree with Bowe that it's extremely difficult to create a career as an artist with kids—especially without the dough to go out and schmooze while Mary Poppins does the tutoring. In fact, it's hard enough to make a living as a writer being single and not dating at all. But even if he's right, if being alone does make it easier—is that what we really want? To wake up at 45 with successful careers after ten or twenty years of being alone? I, for one, would rather strive for balance. And then if I do achieve success, there will be someone there to celebrate with.

http://www.yourtango.com/201069923/6-reasons-put-love-before-career/page/3

Angel of Love

Thursday, December 2, 2010

Know How to Get Rich - The Considerations You Have to Look Into in Order to Build Wealth

Know How to Get Rich - The Considerations You Have to Look Into in Order to Build Wealth
By Dan Cavalli

If you want to know how to build wealth, you have to understand that it is not an easy undertaking. While a lot of people are thinking that they will get rich, only a few of those who have this line of thinking are actually able to create wealth. The reason for this is simple. It is that while a lot of individuals have the traits to help them build wealth substantially, they fail to recognize several considerations that will allow them to get there.

What are the things that you have to be mindful of in order to learn how to build wealth? Here are some of the considerations that you may want to look into in order to get rich.

1. What are the things that you like doing?

If you will disregard the things that you like to do, you may be missing out on the opportunity to perform well and succeed in every aspect of the job. It will be better to look for things that you are interested in and pursue these possibilities knowing that you can do them well. You will be able to get the financial stability that you wish to have with a career that fulfills you as well as supports you.

2. What are the things you can do well?

It is also a must to look on your personal capabilities before creating a detailed plan on how to create wealth. You will be able to use your innate skills in accomplishing your objectives and will find ease in earning a living with the knowledge that you are somewhat good in whatever it is that you have to do.

3. What are the careers that pay more than the others?

As you consider the things that you are passionate and interested about, you also have to look for a relevant career that pays well. This is of utmost importance because you simply can't expect to build wealth without a steady source of income. You also have to make sure that the job you will be relying on will give you the ability to provide for your various necessities.

4. What are the requirements that will help you get there?

There will be requisites that you will need to have before you will be qualified for the career that you want to pursue. Because of this, you have to learn more about these qualifications to ensure that you will be taken in for the opportunity.

Once you have identified the things that will help you in your quest towards building wealth, you will have a clearer outlook on how to achieve your aspirations. You will also realize that creating wealth can be done without compromising your personal happiness and that you can get rich using your own talents and capabilities. This will enable you to look more positively in the things that you have to do. This will drive you to be motivated to pursue the getting rich part with the appropriate mindset and the right tools.

With a proper way of seeing the numerous considerations you have to take into account on how to build wealth, you will be able to reach your goals and get rich. By looking at the things that are your strengths in pursuing a comfortable life, you will be able to make the right decisions and follow your success in the best way that you can.

Article Source: http://EzineArticles.com/?expert=Dan_Cavalli

7 Easy Ways to Earn a Little Extra Money

7 Easy Ways to Earn a Little Extra Money
By Jamie Jefferson

In today's economy, every little bit of extra money helps. And you don't have to get a second job to add to your income. The online world makes a variety of opportunities available to you, whether you have a little bit of time to spend on a side venture - or a lot.

1. Sell your handmade goods. If you're a crafter, explore the world of Etsy to see if you can make extra money selling your handmade itemns. Spend a few hours exploring this site and see all the potential - from woodcuts to papercrafts, to knitted baby booties to ceramics to photographs. If it's handmade, chances are you can sell it here. And Etsy has great advice and ideas for helping you market your wares, as well.

2. Try your hand at direct sales. These companies have already laid the groundwork so you can work just a few hours a week. They are just for people like you who want to earn a little extra money without investing a lot of time or capital into a new business venture. And there are direct sales companies and opportunities in a huge variety of niches, from cookware to scrapbooking to lingerie to home furnishings to food.

3. Freelance. Whether your skills lie in writing or programming or graphic design, see if you can get some on-the-side freelance gigs. Check the online freelance sites, such as elance and guru, for opportunities and ideas.

4. Tutoring. Help students learn in a subject that you're passionate about.

5. Teach a class. Whether through a local community center or in a more casual setting, explore the possibilities of teaching other people more about a subject or skill that you have experience with.

6. Offer a service. What do you love to do? Teach piano lessons. Offer landscaping advice. Start a consulting service. Brainstorm ways to make your life experience work for you. It's important to not be intimidated by the process. You aren't launching a business - just trying to earn some extra money on the side.

7. Sell your old stuff online. Online auction sites (such as eBay) and online classifieds sites (such as Craiglist) offer unprecedented opportunities for you to take items you have cluttering around the house and sell them. When you're out of the items around your house, look for other items to sell: consider finding items from dropshippers, importing Asiatic items, or selling items that are unique to your local area.

If you have kids, you might want to make earning extra money a family project, with the money going toward a common goal, such as a family vacation. Everyone will enjoy the fruits of their labor, and it gives kids a great lesson in entrepreneurship and fiscal responsibility.

Take inventory of your personal skills and think outside the box to see if there's anything you can do to earn a little extra. Now is a great time to be enterprising.

You can also save money on the things you buy every day with these handpicked coupons codes and email savings alert.

Article Source: http://EzineArticles.com/?expert=Jamie_Jefferson