More and more people are realizing that their time is incredibly valuable. If you work long hours and get a short vacation, you quickly become resentful about the lack of free time in your life. This is a question of work-life balance; an issue that is particularly important in American’s lives, because they have such a small amount of vacation time compared to other industrialized nations.

    So what are some careers that do have a healthy work life balance? Yahoo! Education published an article called; The 5 Best Careers for Work/Life Balance. The careers are:

1. Registered Nurse
2. Accountant
3. Physical Therapist and Massage Therapist
4. Graphic Designer
5. Teacher

    These professions offer great flexibility in your schedule and are thus conducive to creating a very nice lifestyle. Other occupations I can think of are obviously owning your own business and being a freelance writer/blogger. There are also many other lesser-known professions that provide great work/life balance.

    Of the five professions listed in the article, the one with the best work/life balance by far is Teacher. No matter what your opinions of the profession are, it can’t be ignored that teaching is kind of an anomaly in the professional world. It is a stable job with good benefits and 3 months off a year. It is also the most conducive to family life, another issue that is often overlooked when comparing careers.

    Work/life balance is a huge issue, one that should be taken seriously. Life passes quickly; its important to be conscious of how we spend our precious time.

Technorati Tags: free time, work-life, vacation time, work/life balance, careers

    Lately, I have been reevaluating my personal physical fitness and what it means to me. I realize that it is one of the most important things in my life, and one aspect that is often neglected. Your body truly is your temple.

    I guess these thoughts have resurged from my recent viewing of a couple Bruce Lee movies. Here was a man that devoted countless hours to the training of his body and mind. He trained relentlessly, and could do anything with his body with lightning quick accuracy and force. He was a philosopher, and developed his own style of martial arts. His life goal was to show the beauty of his Chinese culture to the west, who had horrible stereotypes of Asians. He is an inspiration.

    I have stated in Daily Routine the importance of training your mental, physical, and spiritual dimensions equally. The physical dimension is the one that I neglect the most. I have started a daily training routine, and I already feel more energy and focus in other aspects of my life. I think every person who wants to be a complete human being should do the same. If you don’t discipline yourself, who else will?

Technorati Tags: physical fitness

    You can live your life with less money and be happier.

    I was raised in a culture that taught me that making money equals success. Now we all know this is not necessarily true, but it is still the unspoken norm. You do need to have enough money to have a “decent” lifestyle, but the idea of what a “decent” lifestyle consists of is a bit out-of-whack. After traveling around the world for a while and realizing how little most of the worlds population survives on, it seems ridiculous how much money we (in the developed world) need or demand to have a “decent” lifestyle. You will realize that if you can have a simple house, car or bicycle, and job - then you are incredibly fortunate. Yet most people want more!!!!! They want a BIG house, a FANCY sports car, a gold watch, and a swimming pool. They want to be a lawyer, a pharmaceutical sales rep, or an investment banker. Being rich means being happy right?

    The point I am trying to make is that you don’t need most of the crap you have or want. You have your life, food, shelter, family,friends, and your beliefs and experiences. This is your life; the only way a thing has value to you is if you assign it value.

    The tricky part is that most people create a sense of false needs surrounding them. They think that they really need certain things - but in actuality they don’t.

    When choosing or changing careers, the biggest motivating factor for most people is the salary. When Money Magazine or US News and World Report releases their annual “best jobs” report, money is always the #1 motivating factor. I say that this is crap! If you do it only for the money, you’ve already sold out. Do what you love and what inspires you, money comes second. If it is part of your personality to need a materially rich lifestyle, then fine, indulge yourself. But if you know what life is truly worth, then get your priorities straight!

Technorati Tags: less money, making money equals success, lifestyle, careers, salary

1. It’s a wonderful place. Highly recommended. An exciting and energetic culture, and beautiful landscape. The weather is incredible. The people are great. The Thai people and government want to encourage tourism.

2. Parts are really touristy. I suppose this could be a good or bad thing, depending on your opinion. As an example, most tourists go to the Khao San road area in Bangkok because it has tons of guest houses and it’s near a lot of the main tourist sites in the city. So when you walk down this street, about 90 percent of the people you see are Western tourists. At night, it turns into a big party with the feeling of a frat party/Euro club. In most of the other areas of the city, you rarely see a Westerner. The Khao San area is like a little bubble of tourism.

3. The majority of the Western tourists are German. I don’t know why. But there are so many Germans.

4. Most Thai people are amazingly kind and sincere. The only people I have had issues with are taxi and Tuk-Tuk (little taxi-like open air carts) drivers. Make sure the taxi driver uses the meter; don’t let them quote you a flat rate. Tuk-Tuk drivers will almost always try to tell you about a special “deal” or promotion, where they will take you and earn a commission if you buy something. Be wary if they tell you that they know a “secret” spot or special sale.

5. Thai Massage is incredible! Indulge yourself. It’s cheap. This massage is believed to have theraputic properties, and it feels great. It is deep, sometimes even a little painful. But you feel great. Massage runs about 200 baht/hour, or about 7 or 8 US dollars.

6. Thai food is some of the best in the world. Indulge yourself. It’s cheap. An average dish should cost about 60 baht, or about 2 Us dollars. If you like spice, you will be in heaven.

7. One strange and unsettling observation is the blind eye that Thai society gives to prostitution. You see quite a high number of Western men walking around with Thai girls, many of which are “for hire”.

8. Don’t book hotel reservations before coming here. I know this might seem “risky” to most, but I found that the options here are endless. New places are constantly opening, and very few of them have websites. Even at peak season, around Christmas and New Years, there are plenty of accommodation options available, even at the popular beach destinations.

9. Poverty is a big issue here, but not as glaring as in neighboring countries such as Laos, Cambodia, and Myanmar. Thais generally have a higher standard of living than other countries in the region.

10. Overall, traveling here is ridiculously easy. Anything you need you can get easily. You can basically come here with no plans and be absolutely fine.

    I will be in Thailand for the next 10 days, but the posts will still come in. I will share some of my experiences from this interesting land; surely a place that should be high on everyone’s vacation hit-list. It is a relatively safe place, which is tourist friendly, very cheap, and overflowing with rich culture and a beautiful landscape. I will be going to the island of Ko-Chang for 6 days to snorkel and trek through the jungle, and spend the rest of the time exploring the chaos of Bangkok. Thailand is really cheap, so it makes vacationing there easy if you have a small budget. A one hour Thai massage costs about 5 US dollars!

    One of the themes I like to explore is traveling on a tight budget. For example, I found a plane ticket to and from Thailand that is much cheaper than all the rest because the return flight leaves at 8:00 AM on New Years day. There always seem to be little deals like this out there that you can find and use to make your trip much cheaper. The reason budget travel appeals to me is that I don’t like to think that vacationing is only a privilege for the wealthy. If done right, you don’t need much money at all. I am staying at a beach bungalow that costs about 15 US dollars a night. And it is considered a “luxury” bungalow.

I’ll keep it posting; Bon Voyage!

Technorati Tags: Thailand, vacation, cheap, Ko-Chang, budget travel

    Most people complain that they are too busy and don’t have enough free time in their lives.  Most people have an unhealthy work-life balance, and it affects their life in negative ways. So creating more free time is a big aspiration for almost everyone. But some recent research has shown that most people are actually more happy at their jobs than when they are not working, even if they don’t like their job! 12 Tips to Improve the Quality of Your Free Time at lifehack.org is a great post that outlines the issue and offers some suggestions. The research was conducted by Mihaly Csikszentmihalyi, and it suggests that the quality of peoples time off is incredibly low. This is attributed to the fact that most people simply don’t know what to do when they are not at work! With out a structured environment, they tend to get bored.

    If you don’t know what to do with yourself outside of work, then you need to stop and really think. If you have become so conditioned that you don’t really have a life outside of your work, then wouldn’t you consider this a serious problem? I don’t care what your job is, there are just too many things to be excited about in this world to become bored as soon as you don’t have someone else telling you what to do.

    I offer this suggestion: Always and continually strive to maintain your identity. Maintaining your identity involves doing the things you love. Always fill your life with activities that excite and inspire you. Continually work on personal projects/personal development.

    I find it important to also view your identity from a paradoxical standpoint. While it is important to maintain your identity or what it is that makes you you, it is also important to realize that identity is self-constructed. The Buddhist view is to discard the identity and focus on the true inner self, which is completely separate from your personal ego or identity. I believe that these two objectives can be fulfilled together, thus leading to a more true and sustainable identity. By becoming more in touch with your inner self, you will be able to discern which activities you pursue are beneficial or not.

    So, if you find yourself bored with your free time, then sit down and ask yourself why you are bored. Is it really that there is nothing to do of interest? Or is it an issue with your perception/lifestyle?

Technorati Tags: free time, work-life balance, time off, lifestyle

    Many people are bored with their life. They can’t figure out what to do with their lives, and can’t see anything that they are good at or worth pursuing. We live in a very materialistic society that values monetary success above all else, and many people find this reality fake and depressing. Many of us have probably gone through a stage like this sometimes in our lives.

    To dispel these thoughts, we need to think about what it is that really moves us. Think about all the times you have really been “touched” on a deep emotional level. Times that you have had a surge of emotions or inspiration. Times you have cried with joy. What caused these feelings?

    Many times, after we experience a deep emotional reaction, we dismiss it as just a result of the circumstances. But what we need to take into consideration is that there are ways about our inner self that we may never understand. Was our powerful reaction related to some sort of inner connection, “calling”, “past life”, “destiny”, inner gift, or simply a neuro-chemical reaction? Whatever your beliefs, don’t underestimate the importance of your emotional reactions; it does matter and it is important.

    Think about all the times you have really felt deeply about something, and write them down. You will probably be able to see patterns and re-occurrences. From this, you will be able to discover what it is that inspires you. Trust me, if you can do this, it will GREATLY improve your life on so many levels. Especially if you can apply this inspiration to formulating a sense of individual purpose and applying it to your career or life work.

    Find what it is that inspires you, and work towards applying that to your everyday life. This is called manifesting your true potential.

    If you have ever written a resume and focused on highlighting “strengths and skills”, you know what an incomplete piece of information it is. It focuses on your marketable skills, which are fine for simply attaining employment; but it doesn’t address MEANING. That you must do yourself. It is a lifelong search of the utmost importance.

    By simply pinpointing what it is that activates our deepest emotions, we can realize our true nature and apply it to everything in our life; thus creating a richer existence. We can have a deeper spiritual life, healthier relationships, more rewarding careers, and more personal happiness.

Technorati Tags: life, materialistic society, inspiration, career, rewarding careers, personal happiness

    How do you go about finding your dream job? Or is this an elusive question that is just a wishy-washy fantasy? Actually, it’s not. It can be done. It takes a little bit of work, but it is well worth the effort. To find our dream job, we have to know ourselves very well. The late Barbara B. Brown did some groundbreaking work with brain scientists to discover how to best gather information about yourself. Her work is analyzed and built upon in Richard Nelson Bolles best-selling book What Color Is Your Parachute? Barbara Brown (and the brain scientists) found that there are three things that you can do to know yourself better and help you make important life decisions.

1. Put everything you know about yourself down on a piece of paper.
2. Use some kind of graphic to organize the information about yourself
3. Prioritize all the information.

    Richard Nelson Bolles goes through this process in detail, as well as presenting his personal “graphic”, which he calls “the flower”. It involves different subcategories of information, such as your transferable traits, interests, values and goals, favorite people environments, salary and level of responsibility, working conditions, and geographical location. He claims to have used this process for the past twenty five years with great success, helping people find their dream job/career. I have personally taken the time to do this exercise, and found it to be of great value.

    You will find that the exercise of writing down information about yourself really can have drastic results. After you have written down your information, made a graphic, and prioritized it; next look for patterns and similarities. All of a sudden, your path might become clear. Say for example, you find that your true goal is to help the environment. Then you take the next logical step and figure out how you can most help the environment with your personal skills/gifts. This is your dream job!

    If you have any other ways that you find useful to find your dream job, please comment below. Also, there are some good thoughts in the following articles: The Secret to Finding Dream Jobs @ jobmob, How to Find Your Dream Job @ 30 sleeps, and the Dream Job Blog.

Technorati Tags: finding your dream job, dream job, job, career

“The Art of Peace is medicine for a sick world. We want to cure the world of sickness and violence, malcontent, and discord – this is the way of harmony. There is evil and disorder in the world because people have forgotten that all things emanate from one source. Return to that source and leave behind all self-centered thoughts, petty desires, and anger. Those who are possessed by nothing possess everything.”

-Morihei Ueshiba; founder of Aikido, also called the “Art of Peace”.

    Having a martial art that you study continuously is a great gift in life. It gives you focus, discipline, inspiration, spirituality, physical fitness, and a limitless source of learning. I have been studying Aikido for some time, and it has enriched my life in many ways. There are many martial arts to choose from, which all stress different things and lessons. For me, Aikido is my chosen path, because I believe it to have an incredible spiritual dimension and philosophical foundation. Whichever path is taken, the true nature of Budo, or martial arts, is one of respect, reverence, and peace.

    The teachings of most martial arts can be applied to all aspects of your life, such as your career, family life, and personal development. It should have the effect of training your mind and body, and bring calmness and focus. Each tradition, whether it be Kung Fu, Aikido, Karate, or Kendo, has amazing teachings and a limitless amount of traditional wisdom surrounding the art. It can be a path that leads to a greater awakening of yourself and your potential.

“The Art of Peace begins with you. Work on yourself and your appointed task in the Art of Peace. Everyone has a spirit that can be refined, a body that can be trained in some manner, a suitable path to follow. You are here for no other purpose than to realize your inner divinity and manifest your inner enlightenment. Foster peace in your own life and then apply the Art to all that you encounter.”

-Morihei Ueshiba, founder of Aikido

    Often times people feel they need some direction. Studying the martial arts provides a balanced direction, one that includes the physical, mental, and spiritual dimensions. This is why we study martial arts; not only to learn self defense, but also to learn how to become more complete human beings.

    For some more insights on martial arts experiences, check out Rants and Raves, the Martial Arts Guide blog, and Aikido.com.

Technorati Tags: Morihei Ueshiba, Aikido, martial art, spirituality, life, career, personal development, self defense

    I have been living in Japan for the last year, and I have made quite a few observations. One of the most striking is that of the state of the Japanese landscape. It is sad, really.

    The Japanese have a long history of both a reverence for nature and an acute eye for beauty. Nowhere are intricacies of beauty observed with such intensity; as evident in Japanese art, tea ceremony, flower arranging, calligraphy, dance, theater, and martial arts. The native Japanese religion, Shinto, directly worships nature as a divine presence. Then how could this level of environmental degradation have happened?

    When driving or riding the train through the Japanese countryside, you will become aware of a few things that really stick out.

    Massive steel electrical wire pylons dominate the horizon. The Japanese have done nothing to blend the pylons into the natural environment, or place them underground. I can’t tell you how sad it is to look at an expanse of beautiful green mountains, that are topped with huge electric pylons.

    Concrete. This is the worst offense in my opinion, because of the nature in which it is used. Concrete encases the banks of rivers and streams, even in remote areas. I have even been to waterfalls that were made of concrete. Then there are the huge concrete erosion barriers that coat the sides of mountains. Yes, maybe it does serve a purpose, but it is taken too far. No regard is taken for the aesthetics of the land.

    From what I understand, the main reason for this over development of rural areas is the Japanese legislature system, which gives representation (and money) to areas based disproportionally high on land area, not population. Therefore, bureaucrats out in the countryside have more money than they know what to do with, and they need to show that they are using it. Therefore, massive public works projects are always taking place. It’s a shame they couldn’t put this money to better instead of covering the mountains in concrete.

    Then there are the forests. The native forests have been extensively logged, and in their place rows of cedars have been planted, because they grow quickly so they can be logged again. These “plantation” forests are quite places that seem almost devoid of life.

    Japan has been kind of a spiritual center for me, so this realization has been painful. It makes me think about the unhealthy price that is payed for rapid industrialization/modernization, and what measures need to be taken so it doesn’t get out of control.

    Madeline Brand of NPR has drawn some similar conclusions in her article Public Works Endanger Japan’s Environment.

Technorati Tags: Japan, Japanese landscape, environmental, unhealthy