….to bad when you’re little they don’t tell you that you don’t get them for free when you grow up !!

photo via a really dope photographer

If you are a fan of Entourage, the creators of the show have just developed a new series for HBO, How To Make It In America. The show is about a group of twenty-something “hipsters” (I abhor that term) trying to figure out life. There are some pretty interesting characters in the show portrayed by a somewhat well known cast, there are definitely a lot of familiar faces in this one.

Needless to say, I love the show, at least based on the first episode. While I have been HUGE Entourage fan since Season 1 episode 1, I think there is potential for me to like this show more. People may hear that last sentence and think I am nuts, but I feel like more people my age can relate to this show. While Entourage definitely depicts the life every under 40 male desires, I think this show depicts the life a lot of us actually have on some level. It illustrates that hunger to want something more but not knowing how exactly to get there. It shows how a lot of people my age don’t grow up wanting to get the monotonous 9 to 5 with the “great” big company , and hour long commute that comes with the big house in the burbs.

I think one of the best lines in the show that characterizes exactly how I feel and what the show is about occurs when one of the characters asks the rich father of one of his friends’ for some seed money to start a new business, Rich Dad replies: “You keep coming to me with these crazy ideas, and maybe some of them might be good, but everybody’s got ideas but nobody wants to put in the work, don’t tell me what you’re going to do, show me what you’ve done”. I think, at least I hope, that line summarizes what this show will be about, two guys who decide to stop talking and start doing.

I think this show has the potential to be the My So Called Live of this generation. O well, don’t take my word for it, check it out and let me know what you think. Oh yeah, they score major points for the “real” hip hop sound too, and for the hip hop heads, Kid Cudi has a small part in the show, which will probably get bigger as the show progresses.

Show via HBO via youtube
(Heads up, chances are the video won’t work, because you have to sign into youtube in order to watch it, but once you press play you will be given instructions)

When I heard that quote on some television show last week, it really spoke to me. This is such an awkward period in the lives of people in their mid to late twenties that can easily be defined by one word..confusion. For the last few months I have been beating myself up wondering what I am going to do with my life. After I exhausted all wondering, then I began to look at my friends and wonder, why is it that it seems that everyone else has seemed to figure out this thing called life but me? Why is it I absolutely dread going to work, but a lot of my coworkers don’t or at least don’t wear their dread on there faces. After actually talking to some of my friends I found that I am not the only one, a lot of people are going through this thing called the quarterlife crisis, which I wrote about in one of my first posts on this blog that I have neglected for the last few months.

I think the biggest question that I a lot of people in my generation have is, what do I love doing? I guess that is why I love stories about people who found their passion in something completely different from what they were classically trained to do. How can one figure out what one loves to do? Live. Going to work every day at something you merely tolerate for a check is not living, and it is not going to help you find out what you love doing. I am not completely crazy and I realize external factors such as bills and families can make it hard to just up and quit your job and start finding yourself, but I guess that’s where side projects come into play, and just trying different things you in your spare time that you think may be interesting. All the while working on these side projects, you can keep busy and perhaps uncover your passion.

One of the hardest thing is figuring out where to start, what projects to take on, how to get them off the ground. That’s the stage I’m at now, first step in my process has been pretty simple, start a list of things you think you might want to do, or things you do already when you have spare time or things you would do if money was not an issue. Take it from there.

Hopefully eventually you (and I) can get to the point where we find what we really love doing and never have to work another day in our lives.

“How can you tell if a member of Gen Y hates his or her boss?”

“You can’t. This is a non-confrontational generation. They change politics by voting, not screaming in the streets. And they change the workplace by quitting, rather than complaining. This is a generation that enjoyed mutual respect with their parents and their parents’ friends. Gen Y at large feel uncomfortable being openly confrontational than other, less cared-for generations.”

Not saying I hate my job or anything like that, I’m just saying that this quote was pretty good at explaining my generation’s “apathy”. (Please do not think I think that my generation is as apathetic as previous generations would like to think)

Student Loan Debt.

Today’s young adults are faced with a much different environment once they embark on their journeys into the real world. I often talk to my uncle about financial stuff and he loves to brag about how when he graduated college, which he paid for by working at the school, the college he attended owed him money; this not the case for many of today’s graduates. A 2004 study found that about 25% of graduating students carried over $25,000 in student loan debt, which did not include parent incurred debt. If you were already starting out with that much debt, why would you want to go deeper into debt by adding on extra expenses? There is absolutely nothing wrong with trying to knock those student loans out early or at least reduce some of that principal before taking on unnecessary debt.

Uncertainty About Your Future.

Almost every friend I have that bought a house or condo or rented an apartment out of college regrets the decision. At this stage in our lives we tend to be very unsure of what we want to do in many different facets of our lives, especially professional. The ability to be flexible in your pursuit to find out what you really want to do with your life is an extremely valuable asset to have. Prematurely moving out greatly hinders this flexibility; it is extremely easy to get sucked into remaining at a job you hate or in a field you detest just to make ends meet. There is nothing wrong with staying home for a little while to try to lighten the debt load and gather your thoughts. This is a perfect time to figure out exactly what you are working towards and how to get it; it can be hard to figure out what you are working towards when you are working to pay rent/mortgage, utility bills, student loans, credit cards, and all the other expenses that we tend to over indulge in as adults.

A Way To Sift Through Possible Mates (Mainly A Reason For Guys)

Some people may not feel me on this one, but in talking to a lot of my friends we have often found that a woman’s reaction to this post college living situation is a great personality indicator of what type of person she is. It is true that there is a such thing as a scrub; there are men who are living it home because they do not want to grow up, if you fall in this category, this post is not really aimed at you. However, there are men that are living at home with a plan, there are guys that are saving money to start a company, erase debt, and trying to develop their lives in a manner that align with their definitions of success, if a woman can’t understand that you are living at home for a higher purpose, chances are she is not the one for you. This is a great indicator; it doesn’t take months and months of courting and pointless conversation or anything. It’s quite simple, if she has a problem that you are working towards your master plan, perhaps she does not need to be around when your master plan comes to fruition. An intelligent woman will recognize that you are being fiscally responsible, not cheap. If a woman realizes that you have goals, and you have charted out a path to reach them, chances are she may possess or appreciate some of the same fiscal and entrepreneurial qualities you do. I will reiterate, if you do fall into the scrub category, don’t be mad that the lady in question sees that.

I am by no means advocating being a deadbeat and remaining at home forever in an attempt to facilitate some never-ending quest to avoid responsibility and find yourself. I also do not condone living at home just because you are cheap and don’t want to grow up. I only support living at home if you are doing so in an attempt to work towards something bigger, or helping out your family. I tend to think student loan debt is the biggest reason to remain at home for while. I can also condone it if you are working on some entrepreneurial pursuit or if you actually have a plan for the money you’re saving, aside from being cheap. If you are debt free and just living at home so that you can afford to drive a Benz and pop bottles every weekend, get off your ass and move out, you fall in the scrub category.

Recent events that have occurred in my life have begun to dredge up old thoughts I used to have a lot of when I first got out of college. There have been more than a few times that I would wonder why is it that every time I am actively working towards accomplishing some goal something comes up; be it a family emergency, a car accident or a friend that may need help, or whatever. It always seems that right when I think I am on the right track something derails the plans. Today it hit me, I felt like I had one of those “AHH HA” moments this morning as I was drinking my protein shake and listening to the marvelous new Mos Def album while driving to serve out my daily 8 hour sentence.

What was the epiphany you ask? It was this…Sh*t Happens. There are only two things in life that are certain, death and uncertainty. No matter how much you plan and plan, there is always something that can derail the plan. When you look back at most successful people in the course of history there is some tale of strife or hardship that they overcame. I am not talking about people that have inherited success, I am talking about success achieved through blood, sweat and tears. I tend to think that at the root of EVERY success story some hard work and unplanned hiccups occurred. While some people may have had their success handed to them, somewhere along the line, maybe generations back, there was someone who had to put in the work to bring a vision to fruition.

Complaining About The Unexpected is A Waste Of Time

In a previous post I wrote I gave some examples of people that did not allow the wrenches that were thrown into their master plans to completely derail plans. I am starting to think more and more that one of the key things that separate the successful people from the unsuccessful people is the ability to cope and keep moving in the midst of unexpected events. Many people complain when something happens that was not planned for, but what good does that do? Kanye West once wrote, “Never complain without offering a solution”, and that rings so true. If you can not offer up a solution that will allow you to change what you are complaining about, you will just complain endlessly, because you are not addressing the root of the complaint.

I realize that I complain a lot about hating the 9 to 5 lifestyle. I also notice that I tend to complain about unplanned strife and allow it to stress me out and make me depressed. How is this wasted energy I exert on complaining benefiting me in the long run? It isn’t, these complaints are not helping me in the least bit. Perhaps I should spend more time working towards achieving the goals necessary to lead a life I am happy living; I should spend more time developing habits and means that will allow me to just deal with unplanned events, in a manner that will not bring me down and completely discourage my productivity.

What do you think? Have there been things that have occurred in your life that you have wasted tremendous time complaining about rather than working on ways to overcome these obstacles and putting yourself in a position to better deal with them in the future?

Here are some tips that I have come up with to try to maintain and emerge triumphant in this recession:

1. Start cutting back on unnecessary expenses. This one is pretty simple, if you are out of work, you need to start conserving your money, you have to make that money stretch. Go to parks, museums and free shows for entertainment. Remember, you do not have to spend money to have fun.
2. Get Out. You know how everyone says you need to get out when your girl/boy friend dumps you, getting dumped by a job is no different. Do no stay in the house, you have to remain active. Yes, you should spend your day actively searching for a job or working on your personal venture, but go to the library and do it. If you have a laptop go to a park that has WiFi (many major city have some). Notice, I did not say go to Starbucks, or Panera Bread etc, when you are in that setting you will be tempted to buy something, this is a CLEAR violation of rule # 1.
3. Exercise.. Lack of a job is not an excuse to let yourself go; plus scientific studies have shown that daily excurses helps to relieve stress. Also, exercise can help you look better, good looking people tend to be a little better received than people that don’t look good. Physical fitness is often times synonymous with discipline and hard work, these tend to be things that employers like in potential new hires.
4. Volunteer. Just because you cannot find a job, does not mean there is not work to do. There is absolutely nothing wrong with finding an organization that needs services you are qualified to offer. Sometimes volunteering can eventually lead to a job within the organization. One thing volunteering can do, aside from helping out a good organization, is inflate you resume, and help you gain experience.
5. Learn more and sharpen skills. Realize that the competition for jobs is fierce. Brushen up on things you are weak on. Investigate any free training opportunities that may be available. A lot of cities have Offices of Employment Services that have listings of free and paid training services, take advantage of these services. If you can afford to spend the money you may want to take some specialized training, you might try to get a certification or two. If you cannot afford to take paid classes, this is perfectly understandable, but not an excuse; read books, if you cannot afford to buy books, go to the library. Do everything you can to strengthen your skill set, it can only help.
6. Re-brand yourself. Make no mistake, when it comes to finding a job you have a dual role; you are both a product and the salesman of that product. It may be time to investigate a new marketing strategy. You may want to investigate redoing your resume, either paying to have a professional redo it, if you can, or get a resume-writing book with lots of examples and give your resume a facelift. Work on your sales pitch, practice your public speaking. TAKE HEED to tip # 3, looking good can not do anything but help when it comes to finding a job.
7. Start a business or personal project. What do you have to loose? If you are already unemployed or unhappy with your current job, starting a business is a win win situation. If you are unemployed this will give you something to work on and possibly make money from. Furthermore, you will be able to improve your skills and learn new things, which may in turn help you in your job hunt, while possible providing you with a way to gain some income on the side even when you do find employment. This is such a great tip, I plan to expand on it more in the near future.
8. DO YOUR BEST TO STAY POSITIVE. It is hard in these times, but getting down does nothing to help.
]]> http://www.isit5oclock.com/recession-depression/feed/ 0 http://www.isit5oclock.com/lurking-supervisors/ http://www.isit5oclock.com/lurking-supervisors/#comments Fri, 31 Jul 2009 05:55:57 +0000 M.Wanzer http://www.isit5oclock.com/?p=418

So today I am deciding to vent about something. Something that has bothered almost every since I started working, but especially since I started at the new company I am at. What is this something you ask? It’s The Lurkers. The Lurkers are the people at your job that just happen to always be right behind you, the lurkers are the ones that seemingly appear from out of nowhere whenever you least expect it. Throughout my post collegiate career I was fortunate enough to only have to deal with two; all I can say is…I can’t stand The Lurkers.

I will admit that my mind drifts at times, probably because I have very little passion for the work that I do; this is probably why I am great prey for the Lurkers. I have noticed that the Lurkers tend to have impeccable timing; they can always show up when you are chopping it up with a co-worker, or when you are reading an article on the web that has nothing to do with your job. Yes I will concede that I probably should be doing work (for explanation of why I am not busy see this post), but that is not my problem with The Lurkers, my problem is that they don’t say ANYTHING or if they do it is of little importance.

My first encounter with a Lurker was on my first project with my new job. The Lurker in question was the project manager; it just so happened that he was my age. This was a poorly managed project, so there were a lot of times when there was simply no work to do. Anyhow, I happened to be on this project with a friend of mine; during our frequent periods of idle time we would converse, not about work, but about random stuff, technology, fashion, business, real estate, etc. While, my friend and I sat next to each other, the lurker sat down the hall; he would always appear when we were talking, he would not say anything, he would just stare; almost as if he wanted to say hey guys get to work, but was scared to or felt he couldn’t say that because he knew we had no work to do. I mean, I would have had no problem with him taking part in the conversation, but he just wouldn’t do it, he would just stare. I hated it. His staring would cause this uncomfortable silence that would just screw up a perfectly good conversation; my friend and I would wind up retreating back to our respective desks and continue doing absolutely nothing, since there was nothing to do in the first place. While this experience was a mere nuisance, my next encounter with a Lurker just flat out pisses me off.

The only other lurker that I have encountered is on my current project. This guy is a strange character to say the least. I have noticed that he just tends to pop up directly behind me, and just stand over me looking at my computer screen; this has occurred so frequently that I have been able to sense that he was behind me. Sometimes he will actually say something, usually to the affect of, “How’s it going?” or some other shoot the breeze type comment. I would not mind holding a conversation with him, but I can’t condone the lurking. He randomly appears behind me at least four to five times a day, it’s almost as if he is trying to check to see if I am doing work. I would like to point out that there has not been a task on this project that I have not finished ahead of schedule, yet, there he is watching over me like I am a child; I really cannot stress how it irks me. Even when he comes by to check on my progress and I inform him that I have finished, he will still come back later, sometimes as soon as 15 minutes, and lurk.

You may be wondering what type of people these Lurkers are, or why would one lurk, I have a few thoughts based on my observations of the two I have encountered. I have noticed that the Lurkers tend to be young; they tend to be smart as well as socially awkward. Surprisingly, today my current lurker took some class in which he got a Myers-Briggs assessment; how ironic that his results said that he tends to invade peoples personal space and waste their time. I have also noticed that lurkers tend to be in their first managerial role, and they have been used to being an “underling”. They probably are so happy to finally have someone to boss around, that they feel they must constantly crack the whip, but rather than be blunt about why they are constantly checking in on you, they just lurk. Please don’t misconstrue this, I have no problem holding a conversation with someone, I have no problem shooting the sh*t with people I don’t have much in common with, I like making new friends, and finding similar interest with people, I am not anti social; It’s just the damn lurking that makes me sick. If I was someone that did not have a habit of finishing his or her work on schedule I might get it, but I don’t have this problem, so I just do not understand why I am constantly the subject of lurking.

Am I crazy? Is this all in my head? Has anyone else ever had to deal with an awkward lurker in their workplace?

]]> http://www.isit5oclock.com/lurking-supervisors/feed/ 0 http://www.isit5oclock.com/helplessness/ http://www.isit5oclock.com/helplessness/#comments Wed, 29 Jul 2009 05:18:49 +0000 M.Wanzer http://www.isit5oclock.com/?p=410 **Note: This post is a response to a comment that was posted by one of my readers, Ralph. Ralph has a great site that deals with attaining success and maintaining a lifestyle that is conducive to success. Check it out @ http://potential2success.com/***

Last week I wrote a post about what causes people to become lifers. One of my readers, Ralph, added a pretty good comment where he included helplessness as one of the reasons people wind up becoming lifers. Ralph went on to describe the fact that some people feel as if they are not qualified, perhaps because of lack of education or other reasons, to do anything but the job they are doing so they don’t try to do anything else. I thought this was such a great comment, I felt like I should expand on it.

I have met a few people that feel like they are lucky to be in the position they are, and because of this they may not work to meet other goals they would like to set for themselves. Some people may think that because they lack higher education or come from a modest background they should consider themselves lucky to be where they are. While it is true that coming from a rich family or having higher education can make success a little easier to attain, just because one may lack those things does not mean that they can’t make an effort to try to work towards the life they desire. When I hear people say they don’t have an education, or that they are not rich and that’s why they cant’ truly be in the position they want to be in, I simply reply why not. History is littered with examples of successful people that lacked education, and/or rich parents.
Ralph’s comment really got me thinking and I decided to consult Google and find examples of people who did not let their perceived shortcomings hinder their ability to attain what they considered success.

Successful people that overcame adversity

• John H. Johnson – Here is someone that a lot of people may not be familiar with. John H Johnson came from straight poverty, even worse than we could imagine, because he grew up during the great depression. This man had poverty and blatant racism working against him; he went on to create Jet Magazine, Ebony Magazine and later became the first African American to be in the Forbes 400.
• Frank Lloyd Wright – One of the most influential architects in history. He authored more than 20 books, and designed more that 1000 projects, including homes, office buildings, and furniture. I was shocked to learn that although he held numerous honorary doctorates, he did not finish college; furthermore, even though he took college classes, there is no record that he even finished high school, he was admitted to college as a special student.
• Oprah Winfrey – This woman needs no introduction. While she is one of the most successful people on the planet, male or female, she is also someone who did not let “shortcomings” and adversity deny her the success she deserved. Oprah came from a extremely poor family, was sexually abused, she went on to become the youngest anchor in Tennessee, and later became the Oprah we know today.
• Richard Branson – This guy has always been one of my favorite entrepreneurs. Here is a guy that dropped out of high school and had dyslexia. He went on to start a mail order record business and that eventually turned into the Virgin Empire. He was able to attain success despite lacking education and having a learning disability.
• Bill Gates – Needs no description, he is probably one of the most famous billionaires that does not have a college degree, this guy dropped out of Harvard, would anyone dare say he made a bad decision?

.

• Chris Gardner – A movie was made about this mans drive to build a better life for himself and his son. Despite being a single father, broke, homeless and lacking a college degree, he went on to become a multi-millionaire. If you have not seen the movie Pursuit of Happyness, I highly suggest that you watch it and then tell me that a lack of money and education is a reason not to strive for something more.

The lifer mentality is to look at this list and say well those are anomalies, those are exceptional people, those are one in a million cases, or even say that those aren’t realistic cases, and it is that line of thinking that makes them lifers. Since most successful people are visionaries and dreamers, the successful person will look at this list not as an anomaly but as proof that success can be attained, in spite of perceived shortcomings.

]]> http://www.isit5oclock.com/helplessness/feed/ 1 http://www.isit5oclock.com/fresh-fridays-july-24-2009/ http://www.isit5oclock.com/fresh-fridays-july-24-2009/#comments Sat, 25 Jul 2009 04:03:03 +0000 M.Wanzer http://www.isit5oclock.com/?p=405 So I know I didn’t get up with you guys last week, I definitely dropped the ball. Anyhow I am back. Another Friday is here and its time for a release, its time to enjoy ourselves and reflect on the past week of servitude. Everyone has vices, one of mine is shoes, sneakers to be exact. I used to be on jordans and stuff but as I get older I am moving into the more casual sneaker look. I saw these and had to post.

VANS VAULT AKAT” BY TAKA HAYASHI .




available @ Bows And Arrows




Chukka Peacoat Wool Grey Vans Vault 09




also available @ Bows and Arrows

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