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Really Enjoy Your Life
 People
often assume that enjoying life is a quality you are either born with or
not. They don’t see it as a learned skill. People know that to gain
success in other aspects of life that they have to learn things, go to
school, study, get experience. When it comes to enjoyment, it seems that
people either think you’ve got it or you don’t, however, enjoying life is
a skill that can be learned just like anything else.
When asked in a survey several years ago, the majority of Americans (71
percent) said “a happy life” was the first choice of what they would want
for their children. Only 12 percent chose a successful career, which was
the second choice.
A lot of people believe that if they work hard, try to be a decent person
and do the “right thing,” that happiness will come. That’s not the way
life is. To be happy, you have to keep your focus on the joys that can be
found in everyday things, no matter what else is going on in life.
Here are a few tips to get you started on enjoying those little pleasures:
• Focus on enjoying yourself
every day. Try to avoid falling into the rut of thinking,
“as soon as…, then I’ll really be able to enjoy myself.” This rarely works
and it is a hard habit to break. Try to make happiness your goal by
focusing on small joys that are there for you to enjoy every single day.
• Throw yourself into the moment.
Stop thinking about what else you have to do. When there is something
really worth savoring, give yourself over to it totally.
• Find a mentor.
Do you know someone who always seems to get the most out of life? Someone
who seems to enjoy himself even in the face of life’s difficulties? Focus
on that person’s attitude. How does he or she enjoy himself/herself? Spend
time with this person and try to get into his/her mind-set.
• Read up on the art of enjoying
yourself. Seek out newsletters, magazines and books that
focus on this skill.
• Fake it. When
you have trouble enjoying yourself, try what a lot of people do in the
business world: fake it. This can get you started and create the frame of
mind where you can actually enjoy yourself.
• Appreciate things and people
for what they are. It’s a gritty and grand world out
there. Use your senses and your attitude to get the most out of it.
— Adapted from “Becoming an Enjoyment Expert,” by Jim Bird, on the
WorkLifeBalance website
Avoid Getting
‘Dooced’ While Blogging
 Getting
“dooced” is the latest techie buzzword for getting fired for blogging. The
word originated from Heather Armstrong’s blog called Dooce. Armstrong was
fired for what she wrote in her blog. She and others caught up in the new
“fired-for-blogging phenomenon” are getting the word out about the dangers
of blogging. The Electronic Frontier Foundation has published a bloggers’
guide with tips for blogging safely:
• Don’t write your blog at work. This is always a bad idea. Using company
equipment to write your blog could get you in a situation that would be
better avoided.
• Do it anonymously. Don’t blog with
your name or other identifying characteristics.
• Use a pen name or pseudonym.
• Don’t make your name easy to “Google.” That means, as stated above,
keeping things anonymous.
• Use blogging services that password protect your blog.
Remember, cyberspace is not some alternate universe. It is the real world
and it can cause real-world problems for you if you don’t protect
yourself. Blogs are a great new form of communication, and like everything
we say and do in the brick-and-mortar work world, you should weigh your
options carefully before acting.
— Adapted from Wagner’s Weblog from the
InternetWeek Newsbreak
e-newsletter
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