A person is most happy when they are progressively pursuing a goal or objective. The happiest people are those who are always on their way to someplace.

You cannot reach a goal then stop your progress and still feel successful. If you stop striving, you are stagnant. Successful people always seem to find the means to get what they want. As the saying goes, “If they need money, they get money; if they need people, the get people; if they need ideas, they get ideas.”

It is also true that like attracts like. Act successful, do the things successful people do, and you will be successful. These actions develop confidence, belief in yourself and, most importantly, they create desire, which will enable you to pursue your goals regardless of obstacles, resistance, circumstances or the opinions and actions of others.

People who don’t really succeed in life, do so because they lack direction and motivation. Without a goal as a guide, you are like a ship at sea with no rudder. You will end up wherever the seas and wind take you; you have no choice.

Be the master of your own fate. Go wherever you wish. Become whatever you choose. Have whatever you desire.

From The Alpha-Netics Rapid Reading Program by Owen d. Skousen

When I was working on a consulting assignment on site with a insurance company, I discovered that many of IT workers are silently working for themselves during business hours, running their own part-time business and earning second income.

Working with a team of 9 IT workers, I discovered that 7 of them are actively doing their own business during work by spending about 25% of company time on average. What kind of business are they running? Let me give you a complete list of their lucrative activities person by person:

1. Jay, System Admin, Team Lead – He and his family has a real estate business in South America. Usually during before/after lunch or late afternoon, he spends quite some time on the phone talking on Spanish. I don’t understand Spanish so that I asked a friend at work. “Acquiring lands.” My friend answered. Jay is not afraid of letting us know his business. Sometimes he talk about it. He is proud of it.

2. Pamela, Help Desk – Pamela is a Mary Kay consultant, the direct market seller of lady’s stuff. I know this because I saw Mary Kay sticker on her car and catalogs with her contact info in the lunch room. Sometimes I over heard she talks about her business with her friends on the phone, such as “such such items are hot sale, I ran out all of them, have to reorder!” or “it’s slow this month.” It seems she makes good money from her side business and really enjoys it. But she never target her coworkers as potential customers.

3. Vince, Development Lead, Supervisor – Vince is a tech guru who follows emerging technologies closely. He is a blog fun and runs several blogs in various topics from sports games to hi-techs. I saw him several times writing postings during works. He makes money via advertising on his blog websites. “It’s small money, but a lot of fun.” He explained. I don’t know how much he makes from blogging, but the earnings may not be small, or he may have bigger plans.

4. Raj, Programmer - His cell phone could ring at any time during work. Then he answers and talks about schedules, locations, courses, and fees. He usually walks out of the office for continuing private conversation for about half hour. Then he comes back seeming as nothing happened. It is like a mystery but I finally get to know what he is doing. He provides tutoring service to high school students in evenings and weekends for preparing math test. Sometimes parents send kids to his home, sometimes he goes to student’s home. I don’t know how much he make but for sure his business in booming since his cell phone rings so often. Raj is a smart guy, he got degree from top India college (I think it is India Institute of Technology). To him math is a piece of cake.

5. Loral, Programmer – Loral is involved in business with Market America, a kind of MLM. She always wants to talk about it and tries to get others to join. As she said, her friend in Intel introduced her to this business. From my understing, the success of this business depends on how many people you get under you. It’s a team building effort. Loral just started it couple of months ago, I don’t think she has made any money yet. But I can tell she has great enthusiasm on it.

6. Michael, DBA – He and his brother Mark run an IT consulting business. They get all kinds of web development projects. A few months ago Michael got a small project for Mark from the same company thus Mark worked in our office for a while. Michael is always busy on his PC but I know he is not doing his job all the time because I can tell sometimes he works on Ruby on Rails, that’s his own project. The company’s internal projects run on Java/J2EE.

7. Dan, Systems Analyst – Dan’s wife is a local realtor, Dan is a big helper to her. This couple talk over the phone daily to discuss their business thus we all know they are making big bucks from the house market. They live in a up scale community that Dan couldn’t afford by working for the insurance company only.

8. Ming, Database Designer – He doesn’t talk much thus I don’t really know if he runs any business. I only noticed he is online a lot on Chinese web sites but I don’t know it is for business or just for fun.

9. Susan, Help Desk – She doesn’t have to do extra work because her husband runs a construction business and makes enough money already. One day she said the good thing she comes to work is that she gets good health insurance coverage for her family.

That’s what my coworkers are doing in additon to work during business hours, – making extra money. That makes me wondering, how do they get started? why they need to earn a second income? how do they manage the time? how easy to maintain a part-time business while have a full time job?

Let me find out more and keep you posted.

Some 75 million Americans have jobs that require them to sit in front of a computer for many hours a day, says the National Institute for Occupational Safety and Health.

More than half of these workers will sooner or later be hit with a medical condition called computer vision syndrome (CVS) that could leave them with blurred vision, headaches and dry, inflamed eyes.

It’s true: America’s ever-increasing reliance on computers is taking a toll on the nation’s eyesight — with many workers reporting that CVS makes their jobs more difficult. But there’s good news. New “computer glasses” and common-sense precautions can help lessen CVS symptoms.

“There’s no longer any doubt that computer vision syndrome is a very real health condition or that it adversely affects work performance,” says VSP network doctor Stephen Glasser, O.D., of Washington, D.C., who specializes in treating the condition. “The important thing to remember about computers is that they represent a new kind of work environment that needs special attention.

“Because computers are self-illuminating, they can produce a great deal of harmful glare for the eyes. In addition, they’re usually positioned at a much higher angle, and at a greater distance, than traditional paper documents resting on an office desk. These three factors — glare, angle of viewing and increased distance — combine to produce the symptoms of CVS.”

How can you distinguish between ordinary eye fatigue and CVS? “The key to making the CVS diagnosis is the duration of symptoms,” says Dr. Glasser. “If you’re experiencing two or more symptoms daily, you can be pretty sure you’re struggling with CVS.”

The most common CVS symptom is blurred vision that occurs when you shift your gaze from the computer screen to distant objects. Dry, inflamed eyes are another common sign. Other symptoms include eyestrain, headaches, increased sensitivity to glare, discomfort from your contact lenses and neck and shoulder pain.

Although CVS is on the increase, Dr. Glasser says eyecare doctors have recently prescribed a new weapon against it. “We’re seeing the rapid emergence of new glasses specifically designed for the computer user,” he says. “Typically, the upper part of the lens will allow the user to see the monitor clearly, while the bottom part will help the user focus on the keyboard or on documents to be read.

“When prescribing these new ‘computer glasses,’ your eye doctor will take into account such factors as the type of lighting in your work area, the amount of glare and the distance between your eyes and the computer screen. By custom-tailoring your glasses for computer use, we can eliminate most of the factors that cause CVS.”

Here are a few other tips from Dr. Glasser to help prevent computer vision syndrome:

* Use artificial tears periodically if needed to lubricate your eyes.

* Make sure your computer screen is at least four to eight inches lower than your straight-ahead line of vision.

* Use an antiglare screen on your computer.

* Close your eyes from time to time and roll them to relax your eye muscles. Every 20 minutes take 20 seconds and look at least 20 feet away to relax your eye muscles.

Author: Tom Nugent,
Staywell Custom Communications

1. Age Discrimination

For mid-aged and 50+ IT professionals, I have bad news and good news for you. Let’s check out the bad news first:

Bad News

• (1) Age discrimination does exist in IT industry.
• (2) IT industry workforce is very young. You’ve seen fresh college graduates play all sort of hot skills and compete with you. When you get older, you’ll see more young kids around you in workplace.
• (3) IT industry is a changing world. IT experiences are built by continuing learning, but not by time. So your time with the industry does not add much value if you stop learning.

OK, that’s enough. So what’s the good news?

Good News

• (1) Everyone is getting older, you are not alone.
• (2) You can underplay your age in many ways.

Why you are discriminated

Before we jump onto strategies, we need to find out why IT professional may be discriminated by age. If you were a 50+ IT guy, your boss and coworker might think you:

• (1) Less productive.
• (2) Over paid.
• (3) Lack of new skills.
• (4) Not fit in.
• (5) Higher cost.
• (6) Health problems.
• (7) Less energetic
• (8) …

Whether or not they are true, they are the reasons of age discrimination. One thing for sure, age discrimination is illegal and morally wrong. If you are discriminated, you can always grip the legal weapon to fight. That’s of course beyond our topic here. In the following sections, let discuss some of the easy-apply strategies to avoid age issues in workplace and in job hunting.

2. Strategies in Workplace

By doing the following, you can greatly down play your age in work.

• Talk about new technologies – Don’t talk too much on mainframes and JCLs, instead, speak Java, .NET, and XML web services.
• Keep yourself look young – dye hair, have new hair style, dress good, you’ll look younger, feel younger, and behave younger.
• Make friends with young co-workers. Learn their lifestyle and find common language with them.
• Retain your physical energy level. Do exercise regularly. A can of Red Bull Energy Drink could be helpful too.
• Learn new skills, catch up the pace. Remember, never too old to learn.

3. Strategies in Job Hunting

During job hunting, there are many effective ways you can down play your age:

Resume strategies

• Include only the most recent experience up to 10 years. If your way back experience has specific value, i.e., industry sector knowledge, we can present it in the summary section.
• Don’t show year and date of graduation in the Education section. Only list the name of college and the degree obtained. Include recent trainings and certifications in the Education section.
• Don’t over emphasize old skills such as mainframe, COBL, JCL, etc. no mater how you are proud of them. Present your skills with focus on new technologies – put a bunch of hot stuff related to your field, such as J2EE, .NET, XML, Web Services, VOIP, Wireless, or whatever.

Interview strategies

• Make yourself appear younger. A lot of cosmetic stuff available can help you achieve this goal fairly easy. Dye your hair if necessary. If you wear glasses, choose a fashion glass frame.
• Be energetic. There are several ways to upscale your energy level: have a sound greeting, make a firm hand shack, speak on a little bit faster pace, and listen with interest and quick response.
• Present up-to-date knowledge and skills. Talk about your recent experience; don’t refer your work back to 15 years ago.

4. Best Workplace for Aging IT Pros

If you are a mid-aged IT professional, you should consider finding a workplace that fit your lifestyle and secure your job for the rest of years till retirement. The truth is you become less competitive when you get older, so job security becomes more important than career growth.

I found that the best places for aging IT pros are, with no surprise:

• Federal agencies.
• State governments.
• Local governments.
• Traditional corporations.

I see a lot of old, happy faces there. They always told me how relax they are and they won’t worry about lay-off in bad economy. That sounds great.

Steps

1. Sit properly in a good chair designed for deskwork. Your back should be straight, and your head should be looking directly into your monitor. If you have to look down or up, you need to adjust the height of either the screen or your chair. If you keep leaning forward, first get your eyesight checked. If your eyesight is fine use a loose belt or string to tie yourself to the chair. After a while your posture will improve and you’ll no longer need this restraint.
2. Maintain an ergonomic body posture while typing. Keep your legs bent at the knees so that the knees are only slightly higher than your hips. Feet should be flat on the floor or on a step stool of some sort.
3. Stand up every half hour. Walk around a few steps, stretch your legs, and give your eyes a break from focusing on your computer screen. This will also help prevent blood clots from developing in your legs. Blood clots are very common among middle age people, who generally use the computer a lot.
4. Roll your head around your neck periodically, but avoid rolling your head all the way back. Do the motion slowly clockwise for 1-3 iterations and then repeat in the opposite direction.
5. Roll your wrists regularly (this will help prevent carpal tunnel syndrome if you spend a lot of time typing).
6. Recognize that people tend to hunch in front of the keyboard. To counter that, perform the following exercise: open your arms wide as if you are going to hug someone, rotate your wrists externally (thumbs going up and back) and pull you shoulders back. You will feel a stretch in the scapula area.
7. Contract your abdominal and gluteal muscles, hold them there for a few seconds, then release. Do this all day long while you are in your chair.
8. Stretch your arms, legs, neck and torso while sitting. This will help prevent you from feeling stiff.
9. Take advantage of the downtime created by rebooting or large file downloads to get up and try something more ambitious such as doing a few push-ups, sit-ups, and/or jumping jacks. Beware of your snickering co-workers though.
10. Acquire a hand gripper. They are cheap, small and light. When you have to read something either on the screen or on paper, you probably won’t be using your hands very often so squeeze your gripper. It is an excellent forearm workout.
11. Acquire an elastic band (also cheap, small and light) and use it to do the actions mentioned in step 8 (i.e., when stretching your arms, do it by pulling apart the elastic band). You will not only stretch but it will also work the muscles slightly.
12. Take a few deep breaths. If possible, get some fresh air in your lungs.
13. Invest in a large size stability ball or stability ball style desk chair, and sit on it with back straight and abs firm. The actual stability ball is more effective, however the chair is a more viable option for use in an office environment. Sit, bounce or do basic toning exercises while watching tv or talking on the phone as well. Use the actual ball form in moderation when typing, as this is probably not the most supportive seating to prevent carpal tunnel and tendonitis.
14. While sitting, lift up your legs on the balls of your feet and set them down. Repeat these until your legs are comfortably tired. Then repeat it again about 10 minutes later. Do this whole routine for about an hour or so. This will exercise your calves.

Tips

• Don’t neglect the health of your eyes! It is detrimental to your eyesight to focus at one thing for long periods of time (i.e. your monitor) so take breaks to look out the window and focus at something at a farther distance away to maintain good occular health. Also consider purchasing an LCD screen which is easier on the eyes. Optomologists recommend following the “20-20-20″ rule–For every 20 minutes spent focusing on your computer screen, spend 20 seconds focusing on something else 20 feet away.
• As long as something is moving, you will be helping to keep yourself in better shape. Constant movement will burn calories and contribute to cardiovascular health. While exercising at your computer is helpful, it is not a substitute for going to the gym or conducting a regular exercise program.
• Don’t sit still. Fidgeting is a good way to keep moving. Even something like tapping your foot. But don’t make too much noise–however you fidget, the repetitive noises may bother other people.
• Always have water nearby to drink.
• If you’re all alone, try shutting off the computer for a bit and exercise. If you’re on a cell phone call, get up and do stretches, or leg lifts, anything to keep moving during down time away from the desk.
• Try exercises that combine opposing muscle groups (flexors and extensors, e.g., biceps and triceps) to get a good workout. Clasp your hands together with palms facing each other. Pull up with one hand while pushing down with the other.
• Play music while working to provoke body movement and relieve stress. A smaller instrument will be more convenient.

Warnings

• Your body needs more exercise than just what you do at the computer, but following these steps will contribute to a healthy, balanced lifestyle.
• Do not sit at your computer for a long time. Take a break after every 15 minutes.
• Steps 7 and 8; if not done in moderation, may cause you to start sweating, which may not be a pleasant sight or odor in an office environment. Keep in mind you are doing these to prevent stiffness, so save the enthusiasm for the gym.

Info source: WikiHow

http://www.wikihow.com/Exercise-While-Sitting-at-Your-Computer

Sample Answers:

“No, working overtime or irregular hours would not be a problem. I’m very flexible and willing to work whatever hours are required.  In my current job, I worked overtime often when we need to meet the deadline.  I am willing to do whatever it takes to get my job done.”

Sample Answers:

“Yes. I am willing to consider relocating for this type of position. Could you give me more information on that possibility?  Does your company provide relocation assistance?”

Sample Answers:

“Yes. I actually enjoy traveling and would have no problem with taking trips for business or training purposes. How much travel is required in this position?”