“I didn’t see it then, but it turned out that getting fired from Apple was the best thing that could have ever happened to me. The heaviness of being successful was replaced by the lightness of being a beginner again, less sure about everything. It freed me to enter one of the most creative periods of my life.”

This quote by Steve Jobs tells us what it was like for him to be fired from the company he co-founded and how he felt during this period of time in his life.

Steve Jobs has been referred to as a person who is legendary, futuristic and visionary.

Jobs have also been described as the Father of the Digital Revolution, Master of innovation and Design Perfectionist.

Steve Jobs was born on February 24, 1955 in San Francisco, California.

Steve was put up for adoption while still young and was later adopted by Paul and Clara Jobs.

Many years later, he met Stephen Wozniak who would later become one of the Co-founder of Apple alongside Steve Jobs.

When he got to the right age for college, Jobs enrolled in Reed College but decided to drop out after only one semester.

After a while, Steve took interest and understood Wozniak’s brilliant invention could be sold to software hobbyist, this was basically for those who wanted to write software without having to assemble a computer kit.

For this reason, Jobs had convinced his long time friend Stephen Wozniak to start a company thus being the birth of Apple on the 1^st of April in 1976 spending the next few months assembling boards for “Apple I” in Steve Jobs parents’ garage.

Jobs had many up and down during his time at Apple; nothing was harder then when he was pressured into leaving the company that he co-founded.

He went onto found NeXT to compete with Apple only wanting the best software and hardware for his computers.

Jobs later became a Co-founder of Pixar in 1986 and made 5 times more than Apple then what he had in the 1980s after the successful release of Toy Story.

In 1996, Steve Jobs coincidently returned to the company he Co-founded when Apple decided to buy the company NeXT from Steve Jobs.

Pixar and Disney later join forces and Steve Jobs became a board of director at Disney owning 7% of the company’s total stock.

Apple now has become one of the richest and most well known company because of their popularity which is leading the way of Digital Technology with their iPhone, iPod, iTouch and iMac etc.

Unfortunately in 2003, he was diagnosed with a rare form of pancreatic cancer, that could be removed by surgery but he refused to until he finally decided to have his surgery in 2004.

For the next 5 years he looked healthy while doing public talks and promoting his products but later due to the resurgence of his cancer, this made him decide to put his affair into order, as of August 24 2011, he officially resigned as CEO of Apple.

Steve Jobs unfortunately died in the following few months on the October 5 2011 at home surrounded by his loved ones.

Although Steve Jobs still had many ideas and innovations, he was taken from us too soon but his legacy will live on through Apple and the products he created and revolutionised.

“Better three hours too soon, than one minute too late”. This quote by William Shakespeare demonstrates that it is better to arrive a lot earlier than to be even a single minute late.

Everyone understands the concept of time and how valuable and important it is but a lot of us take time as something for granted. People forget that time is precious.

People often become restricted and confused when they start planning out their daily life.

Time management is just simply the process of planning out and exercising control of your daily schedule by having a set amount of time for certain activities and sticking to it, this is so you can increase your effectiveness, efficiency and productivity.

Time management helps us accomplish many things by allocating time to them, like projects, goals or school tasks.

A schedule is a plan or timetable that you have set for yourself to carry out your daily tasks.

If you were to explain a schedule, it would operate in a similar way to a map. This is because it provides you with information about where you need to go and the way to get there.

So, if you didn’t have a schedule you may take a wrong turn! This means you might not reach your destination. When you get lost, it may take quite some time before you will be able to find your way again, this usually makes a person arrive late to their intended destination.

By having a schedule, you can look see what you need to do each day. You’ll know what you are suppose to be doing during certain time, but if you aren’t, then you would know exactly what to in order to get back on track.

How to Make Schedule:

The first thing you should do when making a schedule is to first write down all the things you have to do on a piece of paper for a certain day, week or monthly basis.

Once that is done, sort all the work you have to do for the course and allocate it into a certain time and estimate how long you think it would take to complete the tasks.

For those students who are still studying in high school whether it may be VCAL or VCE, it is a daunting prospect once to transition into adulthood and start a new chapter in your life.

You can choose University, TAFE, an apprenticeship or just take time off from study and work, the choice is yours!

A lot of people expect that after high school it’s going to be like the following:

• Easier or Hard depending on what they choose to do
• More time to do your own things
• Go University or Tafe
• More freedom
• Having more fun and going out with friends
• Get a job and earn money
• Get the driver licence and be able to drive

People often stress about their Atar score and that their life is over if they didn’t get the right score. But this isn’t the case. This is because there are many pathways you can take.

Unless you’re one of those few that just goes with the flow to where life takes you and wasn’t expecting much.

When I finish high school, I honestly didn’t know what to expect, many others like myself were thinking how much their life is going to change such as if you are going to stay in touch with friends and what course they are going to do.

My life right now consists of studying full time and working 6 days a week while studying at home whenever I have free time as well, while at the same time whenever I can, I go out with my friends and just have fun and enjoy life when you’re still young because that’s what life is all about.

There are times when you feel more stress about your studies because you don’t have the constant nagging of your teachers telling you to do something, but rather it’s up to take charge of your life and study of your own accord. As they say “more freedom means more responsibility”.

Unlike high school, there is a lot more flexibility with your schedule without all the restriction that comes with high school. You also get to work and it gives you the satisfaction of knowing that you’ve worked hard to earn money to pay for all the necessities of life.

I speak for a lot of people when I say that after graduating from high school, we feel happier and content with our life and enjoy it much more than ever before!
In the words of the Dalai Lama: ”Remember that not getting what you want is sometimes a wonderful stroke of luck.”

As the title suggests, I’m going to be writing about Gen Y and will be discussing the stereotypes that Gen Y are often labelled with and proving that we aren’t as people say.

Gen Y is known as the Millennial Generation, this is because they were born between the early 1980s and late 1990s; although still quite young this Generation is just starting to make their mark in the workforce.

I, myself, am a part of Gen Y and I’m here to tell you that the stereotypical myths about us aren’t as true as them seem.

One of the stereotypes of Gen Y that annoys me is that we are all bludgers who apparently don’t commit to our jobs.

But according to a survey in the national youth magazine “jmag”, 85% of respondents from Gen Y who are working full time currently want to stay in their current job for next couple of years.
Considering this statistic, it does show that we (Gen Y) are devoted and committed to our jobs and that we aren’t just slacking off.

I currently work at Consider This Training and I’m fully committed to my career because I enjoy what I do.

Gen Y is also said to be the selfish and apathetic, but according to the survey above, 51% of Gen Y actually donate and are involved in charity or volunteer work.

So, I don’t really see how Gen Y can be known as being the selfish generation, because all the Gen Y’s I have come to know are actually quite caring and would help out the community or donate money to charity.

Just because of the generalisation that has been put on us, it has made it harder to find a job in the workforce. These stereotypes are giving Gen Y young professionals a disadvantage when applying for jobs.

Employers need to recognise and see that these generalisations are holding us back from our true potential.

These employers should be able to us an opportunity to demonstrate what we can contribute to the work force instead of overlooking us because of those Gen Y myths.

Hello, I am currently a student of Consider This Training doing a Business course.

When I first started my business course late last year, I didn’t know what to expect from the course, as I was studying hard for my VCE, but what I found out after doing the course was like nothing that I had originally expected

I had a great time studying at CTT because the teacher was so fun .

We just got to be ourselves so it didn’t feel as though it was just about the work, which made it that much more enjoyable.

The teacher I had for business was Penny Votzourakis who has heaps of experience working in the business/retail industry for many years.

She happily shared her knowledge with us and gave us tips; I thought that was really valuable because of the insights she gave us into the real working world. You don’t usually learn about this in school and don’t know what to expect once you do start working.

I also made new friends during my time at CTT, as we were working and helping each other in class during group discussion and activities.
After completing the course, I started my work placement at CTT under the guidance of the National Marketing Manager and I’m really enjoying what I’m doing.

I’m so passionate about marketing; I really enjoyed learning about it and actually getting tips from someone who is in the industry.

I also get practical experience such as actually designing marketing materials.

The staff at CTT are really friendly and they will help you out as they want to see you do well.

I appreciate everything that I’ve done at Consider This Training and I don’t regret a single thing during my time here.

Have you heard the saying ”knowledge is power” well it’s not power its potential power. If you learn something new and then do nothing with it it’s like you have never been taught. Knowledge is not enough get yourself to follow through.

You can do as many courses as you like go to seminars but if you don’t take action immediately not only do you lose the knowledge but the motivation to do so. To get the success from the course you must take the steps and action them consistently. Put what you learn into action, so many people have gotten the results and you probably will too as well… if you put in the effort.

You would make an educated effort. Once you add in a little determination and then stick to it then you become unstoppable.  Repetition is the key. The teacher will give you 25% of the information the other 75% is up to you. So that’s why so many people buy courses, books without implementing anything they have learnt buy more.

So what can you do?

1.        Get into a course this month. Read what is required and prepare before you start.
2.        Once you are there write lots of notes and have a column on the right hand side with the actions that you can implement immediately.
3.        Turn off the TV and computer and write down all the great stuff you have learnt.
4.        Review your notes and write down all the action steps to take immediately.  Don’t over think it as Nike says “Just Do It”
5.        Measure the results you achieved from taking this action.

Happy learning!

Build your business 5 steps at a time…

I was reading a book summary from new book” The bare foot Executive” by Carries Wilkerson. The one point that really stood out for me was so easy to do, so why don’t business owners do it?

Do five things per day for your business. Jack Cranfield calls it the “Five a day Rule” and John C Maxwell calls it the “Law of five.” Whether it is to right five follow up notes, make five phone calls, write five articles, brainstorm five ideas, speak to five employees and thank them for their contribution, five power point slides, create five new contacts, create five new product  idea’s or even read five pages of a book on development it’s about doing five of something!!!

For me it must be to action five something’s that will help grow my business.  If you consistently discipline yourself and five is just such an easy number. It feels achievable as this becomes easy then the number increases.

So  I tried this!!!

Well I’ve been going for a few weeks now and seeing the fruits of my labour. My sales have increased and my business is growing. I am now increasing my five to six, it now just is part of my daily habit each day in the morning I decide what will be the five (now six) things I will do today that will increase my business success.

I am excited about these results hope you are too…

Here’s the deal: we think it’s really important that people finish what they start. This is especially true when it comes to finishing courses that affect their careers. We thought really hard about what we could do to reward people for finishing a Certificate with us and we came up with this rewards scheme*:

Complete a Certificate II and get an IPOD Touch

Complete a Certificate III and get a Laptop

Complete a Certificate IV and get an IPAD

We are really proud of this reward scheme because it’s really important to celebrate the completion of your goals.

And what better way to celebrate than with a cool, new gadget?

The best part is that you could also be eligible for government funding. For example, you could invest as low as $187.50 for a Certificate III and also get a laptop when you graduate! This offer may sound too good to be true, but it is 100% true. Since we started this promotion not even 2 weeks ago we have had a 200% surge in enrolments.

We are looking forward to handing out these laptops to our graduates – we’ll keep you posted and publish photographs of our new graduates with their new laptops in the near future!

If you want to take advantae og this offer, just call (03) 9091 3150 or email miam@cttraining.net.au.

*Conditions apply: Successful graduation means CTT has deemed you have met all the requirements of accreditation and fully paid your course fee. This means you will have attended and participated in all classes, completed all assessments and activities to a satisfactory standard and undertook the required amount of hours at work placement. Reward not given until certicate has been awarded to the graduate. Gifts are not transferable or redeemable for cash or other items. Please see specications of each gift – pictures are only indicative. **The laptop is not supplied with a microsoft o-ce license but is available for purchase at a discount. ***While stocks last.

There’s a guy called Craig Ferguson in the United States who has his own late night talk show. You may have seen him because his show is on TV here too. He’s a very funny guy and I think Craig’s show is fantastic. On top of his stand up comedy, ridiculously funny puppet monolgues and cheeky demeanour, what I really enjoy about his show is the opening song (which Craig wrote). Some of the chorus goes something like “Tomorrow is just your future, yesterday…”

I’m sure Craig meant nothing to deep about the show’s opening diddy; it’s definitely a fun and upbeat start to his show. But as a keen student of human behaviour, I find “tomorrow is just your future, yesterday” particularly meaningful. This is because people don’t realise what they do on a daily basis can really affect their overall destiny. In other words, all those little decisions, actions and non-actions have an overall cumulative affect on their life’s direction. As a life coach I find it particularly surprising that people do not plan their life  – they spend more time planning outings and holidays than planning their financial, career and relationships goals.

The net result is people that are haphazard in their actions, which means their results are haphazard and mediocre too. Tomorrow is just your future, yesterday. If you read Craig’s story on wiki, you’ll see that he has worked hard for his success. He has paid his dues. Craig’s success is no accident. Under that cheeky veneer I’m sure Craig is an astute, clever, ambitous man. Having wrote that song, Craig really understands the value of hard work and does not underestimate how he can create his future.

Success is there for you too. But it rarely happens by accident. It may seem like that, but really, success occurs because you have taken the time to prepare for it.

What exactly did you do yesterday? Did you spend at least part of your day doing something that would have a real, lasting effect on tomorrow?

Skills Victoria is running a Facebook competition to find out what job you’d love to have and why. If you’re 13 or over, go to their facebook page and tell them in words or video what job you’d love to have and be in the running to win a pair of 2011 Toyota AFL Grand Final tickets.

The competition is open from Saturday 20 August to Friday 23 September.

Blues’ star is preparing for a job he’d love to have.

Andrew Carrozzo know what he’s doing. Apart from being a star Blues player, he’s preparing for a great life after footy as an electrician and business owner. Carrazzo has completed his apprenticeship in Electro Technology at Box Hill TAFE. He was thinking ahead.

“I understand that football doesn’t last forever, and when my playing days are over I don’t want to have to wake up one day thinking what ‘am I going to do?’ It’s important to have a skill in a particular area that I’m interested in.”Carrazzo has used his qualification to reach his goal of owning his own business, Clap Electrical Services.Lots of his teammates are also planning for their futures. It’s something the club encourages.

“David Ellard and Jeremy Laidler are completing a building and construction course together.” Just like on the footy field, Andrew takes pride in the detail of the job.

“On the field, I’m a smoother, the shepherd, taking pride in the small details to help us win.” It’s the same with his work. “I suppose the detailed work of being an electrician appealed to me. You have to be careful and take care of every little thing because people’s lives are at stake.”

Andrew Carrazzo’s prepared for a job he’d love after footy. What job would your students love to do and why? Students over 13 years of age can enter Skills Victoria’s Real Skills Facebook competition to be in the running to win a pair of 2011 Toyota AFL Grand Final tickets.

They can go to here and tell them in words or show us by video what job they’d love to have and why.