Since our economy and way of living rely on the free market, being unemployed sucks. If you or your friend is unemployed, these things could happen: Loss of income - No stable and reliable source of income means lower or zero purchasing power, you can’t buy goods and services. Social costs - Unemployment is related to poverty and property crimes. Loss of government revenue - The government can’t collect taxes or meet a required tax revenue since people are unemployed. Depression and personal problems - Long term unemployment can lead to lower self-esteem, stress, social stigma, loss of peace of mind, depression, and reduced mental health.   As an employed individual, you can help your unemployed friend. Ask your friend if he/she needs help and then offer a helping hand. You’ll be remembered for the good things you did. Generous people are happier than selfish individuals and that’s a fact. 1. Refer to a network You could have a close friend, a sibling, a fiance, and a relative who is employed in another company with vacancies. You can also refer your friend to your company. A network can help you speed up the hiring process of your friend. You can ask him/her to make a resume to send to your network. You could also assist in writing resume/Curriculum vitae. 2. Refer to a part-time job You could have a part-time job and you can refer him/her. These part-time jobs might be online jobs (writing, SEO, graphic design, programming, data scraping). Part-time jobs are quick and can provide a quick way to earn a side income to cover monthly bills, rental, transport, mobile, and food while looking for a full-time job. 3. Use a job search site If your friend is unaware or inactive in a job search site, you can join a job search account such as Oh! Jobs.ph. It’s a job search portal where you can look for a comprehensive list of local and international job vacancies. Making an account is free and also you can help in updating employment details.   4. Give advice and job hunting guide references Finding a job is not as simple as applying for a vacancy and showing up for an interview, you need to be ready before an interviewer, dress professionally, and answer questions properly. You might have a bunch of ebooks or physical books that you can send or lend to your friend.  References: Interview guide - Theinterviewguys.com   Guides from Rappler Dress guide -  Men’s guide   Women’s guide Researching the company - Wikihow 5. Empathize and be there You can add support to your unemployed friend by providing emotional support. Empathize and be there when they need someone to speak to. You can ask your friend or relative to go with them if they ask (of course - except in interviews).You could go with him/her to attend a job fair or networking event. Who knows, you may get new network, business and career opportunities too. Also, avoid saying things that may hurt his/her feelings such as:  You got tons of free time now. I don’t know why you’re taking so long to find a job. I got mine within 2 weeks. What’s exactly you’re doing all day? Just go with any salary (even if it's mediocre ones). 6. Offer your resume writing and internet/web skills You could be skilled or know some making resumes that include writing, editing, and formatting. You can give advice on how to format resumes according to commonly used types such as chronological, functional, combination and targeted. Offer to take a look at your friend’s resume as this can be helpful in catching typos and grammar errors (having a second pair of eyes works best for editing). You might be savvy on internet and web skills that you can offer your spare time making her/her some online and web-based resume. 7. Get fun together This is the time when you and your friend spend time together to enjoy a fun time without thinking about the worries of job application results and hunting.  Use this free time to visit nature parks and play video games. In fact, parks are boon to health and mental health. Gaming rooms provide fun and problem-solving practice. Several articles described the benefits of parks and games. Dine-in a restaurant or spend time with light drinks together.

You've done it. You passed the interview. Providence has smiled down on you and a company that is even more desperate to recruit staff than you are for a job has decided to recruit you into their ranks. Now that you have the job your next big challenge will be to keep it. Probation periods are essential to both the company and the employee, as they allow both parties to decide whether they are fit for each other. This “trial” commonly endures somewhere in the range of a month to half a year  –  depending on the organization that you are in.  According to research, almost one in five new hired employees sees to fail their probationary period right after starting a job. However, there are ways to ensure that your position is secured within your new role well past the initial probationary period.  Be impressive You can only have one first impression. Do it well. Be cheerful and show enthusiasm. It is great to show positivity all over your face and body language, as it will determine your attitude towards the pressure and tasks that are given to you. At all times, it is important to remain positive and open to learning. It is smart to dress wisely, as well. This just shows that you are more than serious and you take and respect the job seriously. Also, pay attention to timekeeping. Arrive a little earlier, leave a little later than your normal obligated work hours. Stand out and make a good impression. Be quick on developing a solid reputation as someone who is reliable and can deliver positive and great results with firmness and quality of work. Be accountable Yes, you will make a mistake. You will definitely make mistakes. Accept it. As the new guy in the team, of course, there will be things that are new to you and will take time to familiarise yourself with. Don’t stress too much, your management and bosses will unlikely be mad at you when you made a mistake at the job and still is finding your footing. But you should not take this for granted and always take responsibility for any mishaps you do. Keep in mind that in this probationary period your bosses will take a very careful look at your overall performance. They will most likely notice those mistakes you will make and how you react upon those mistakes. So, be proactive and firm about being able to bounce back from those problems you have caused. Be professional Avoid being late or worse, being absent. Absence and tardiness are some of the everyday factors of why managers fail the potential candidate for the job. And these two are some of the most “no, no” red flags for employers. Of course, there will come a time that you will get sick, or may sometimes attend an important matter, or maybe even get unfortunate in commuting that will lead you to be late for work. Just be professional enough to take time and keep your bosses informed. Let them know how sorry you are and you understand that attendance does matter. For in this short period of time, every move you make will show what will you be doing for the rest of your time in that company. For them, what you do in your first months at work, will reflect on your attitude in the long run. So, always make a real effort to be on time.  Be initiative If you really want to leave a mark and be a great asset in the team, maintain a good level of communication with your colleagues. Have the initiative to approach them. Ask for advice and tips on how things work. Have the initiative to help and offer assistance. Have the initiative to seek opportunities for growth. Have the initiative to ask for feedback to have open communication with them.  Have the initiative to do new things that you think will benefit and provide positive reinforcements to your company. Don’t be afraid to ask for assistance or mentoring from them if you need it. Don’t be afraid and just take initiative. Be calm, cool and collected Be calm, cool, and collected because as much as you want to be the man for the job, trust me, they too want you to indeed be the man for the job.  And naturally, you will feel the pressure, pressure in a way that you need to watch carefully every move you make. And that one wrong move can contribute to your demise. But keep in mind that it is not just about you proving to your bosses that you are indeed the man for the job. The job needs to satisfy your desires and live up to your expectations, as well. And if let us say, it does not, you are more than free to politely leave the offer on the table. It is a two-way road. It is about you and your employer.  So, regardless of whether you are a beginner who has just gotten his job or someone who is in the brink of execution, the probation period is one way for both you and the organization to identify whether the job’s for you or not.

Somewhere, someone’s dream is coming true. Is it your dream? What is your dream life look like? Have you ever thought about it? What is a success for you?  Success can mean different things to different people. For some, success might be financial achievements, perhaps becoming a millionaire. For some, it might mean accolades. For athletes, it may mean trophies, medals or placements like championships. For some, being successful might simply mean achieving a state of wellness, health or happiness. And whatever it means to you, always remember, that all of them have the same recipe, a recipe for success. SET GOALS You probably never met a successful person without a vision, or who don’t set goals. The chances of you finding what you want without a clear target to move forward, are right around zero. For your mind is like a GPS where you typed in the destination where you want to go, and it takes you there.  The number one reason people don’t get what they want is that they don’t know what they want. Thus we must define exactly what it is that we want. I say, Identify your “WHYs”, your reason for doing what you are doing right now.  TAKE RESPONSIBILITY Your success and failures in life are your responsibilities. If something doesn’t work out, you should not blame others or a situation. Instead, you must learn the lesson and move on quickly. It is believed that your energy should solely be focused on the present only.  Don’t make excuses as to why you aren’t where you should be. Everyone suffers setbacks. everyone has the opportunity to either blame others and situations OR to focus on moving on. Regardless of what has happened, you decide what you do now. Take what you can get and move on. HAVE SELF-DISCIPLINE  Discipline is one of the most essential traits of being a successful person, which with constant practice will have positive reinforcements to your future. It is said that it is much easier to have discipline if you have clear goals and a meaningful purpose. Something that is more important than meaningless distractions. WORK ON YOURSELF Always be obsessed with self-development. There will always be more room for improvement. This doesn’t mean you are never satisfied. it’s just that we as humans, it is in our nature to want to grow and learn new things.  Be open to learn new things and develop your mind. It can come from mentors, books, blogs, etc. Pretty much learning, like learn a lot of stuff about the things you want to improve on. As to what people say, “the more you learn the more you will earn, financially, intellectually, and spiritually.” READ Make reading as your common past time. In a world where people can’t sit for 2 minutes without becoming “bored”, or picking up phones to go on social media, be the person who loves to be alone in a quiet place, who read or listen to something that will benefit their mind, and their future.  And if you’re not a reader, try to listen to audiobooks. Gain new skills, new learnings, new strengths. MANAGE YOUR TIME Time management is essential. Others usually get stressed and overwhelmed when there are too many tasks to be done. Prioritize the most rewarding task first, and leave the unimportant ones to last. Plan in advance, like for days, weeks, months ahead, and know what needs to be done to complete the job and reach the goals. TAKE RISKS Know when to take risks in order to get where you need to go. The risk for the life that you want, or stay with the one you don’t want. Play to win, don’t play to lose.  Because oftentimes people are afraid to take risks because of fear of failure, but the greater failure would be that of regret of what could’ve been.  KEEP GOING Keep on going after suffering failures and setbacks. Those things are inevitable and are a NEED. Yes, FAILURE IS A NEED. Everyone will suffer failure and setbacks, and many of them might even lose everything. Most quit but you must never quit.  Keep going, as the greatest version of you will be formed through these adversities. Knowing that your success story is being written in every moment and decisions you make. FIND A WAY Find a way to win. Whatever life throws your way, you deal with it, smash it, dodge it, whatever it is your way, you must find a way to win — whatever it takes. It is the “whatever it takes” mentality. The confidence in knowing that whatever happens, you will give it your all and leave nothing on the table. FIND A WAY TO WIN! DO WHAT YOU LOVE In a particular saying, if you’re not doing what you love, then you can’t really claim yourself as a success. Earning tons of money while doing what you hate for the rest of your life no matter how great the compensations are, is not a successful living. It is torture. If you need to suffer doing something you don’t like in order to have a life that you love, do that. But never lose sight. Your life purpose. Your happiness. Do what you love every day, and you will never work a day in your life.  

Picture this, you just got a promotion and you are so proud of yourself because you have finally gotten what you’ve been working so hard for. But your co-workers don’t seem to be so proud of you, that they may be even talking about how you have favoritism or unfair advantage. Or maybe you’ve been in a situation where you were really happy about personal achievement, but you find that people around you are belittling it. Or you’re working at a motivation to make a positive outcome or change in your life only to have your “friends” dismiss it as being unimportant.  Well, it’s nice to think that people around us, all they want is to help us succeed, but there will be times that you will encounter a phenomenon that people call “crabs in a bucket mentality.”  So, the “crab mentality” goes like: If you put one crab in a bucket, it can claw its way up and out and return to the wild. But something interesting happens if you put a bunch of crabs in the same bucket together. So, if one of them tries to climb out, the rest will pull it back into the bucket. And if the crab tries to climb out a second time, they will actually gang up on that crab and start picking it apart so that it can’t proceed.  So, this means that none of the crabs can and will ever escape the bucket because they are all working against each other. So, the phrase that best describes this is “If I can’t have it, neither can you.” Well, in real life, we are not actually physically trying to break each other down as crabs do, but we as humans, try to break each other’s spirits down when we see someone else is on their way to success. So, whether we are aware of it or not, our method of thinking, our behaviors, our decision-making processes are greatly influenced by the people we spend the most time with.  This means that if you’re always around people who make poor life decisions in the things that you’re trying to improve. You are at risk of being pulled down by them. But, if you are able to build a different type of network when that emphasizes self-improvement, then there you will be more likely to achieve the success that you are seeking. In our lives, we will encounter many types of people as we grow older. Some of them will greatly affect how we look at the world. So as to what the motivational speaker, Jim Rohn once said: “You are the average of the five people that you spend your most time with.” And by that, it is vital that in order for us to overcome the “crab mentality” we must surround ourselves with positivity and with people that want nothing but the success of everyone. That goes to show how and why it is important to surround yourself with the right people if you truly want to live a positive life and grow as a person. 

Productivity is one's capability of doing things and tasks quite efficiently. In other words, it is the capacity of a man to get things done, finished, and accomplished productively. It is more than simply checking off a to-do list. It is a unique ability to get things done smarter, faster, and cheaper. It is a known fact of being a game-changer for the people that are working. The ability to be productive is necessary for all of us. Every job, task, and responsibility requires a productive mindset to achieve a positive outcome. Relying on willpower and self-control will only get you so far. Both of these attributes are quickly depleted; in which case, the ability to remain productive quickly dissolves, as with any skill, knowledge without practice is worthless. Mono-Task How do you eat pizza? Well, you eat a pizza slice-by-slice, piece-by-piece. You don’t devour the whole damn food.  One of the most useful ways of improving one’s productivity is the ability to understand concentration. Concentrating only on one thing is one of the most efficient ways of improving productivity. The ability to multi-task was a life ever myth. Even research studies show that the human brain is not physiologically capable of processing multiple tasks at a time, most especially with complex tasks. Focusing on one task at a time is a better way of ensuring each task is done well. Focus on the moment (mindfulness) Practice mindfulness to continue to improve productivity. Awareness of your thoughts might seem like a negative when practicing productivity, but in reality, focusing your attention on the present moment will evidently help with concentration, reducing stress, and improving decision making and focus.  The benefits of practicing mindfulness will come naturally as you incorporate it into your work processes. Get some sleep It is essential for a brain to stay healthy, and sleeping is one of the many ways of doing so. Despite what other people say, everyone performs much better with a good amount of sleep each night. Sleep is not just for resting, but it’s also the time for the brain to repair itself; as it improves one’s mood and the ability to focus. Also, short periods of sleep show benefits in improving alertness and productivity, according to some UCLA professors. Experts say that a 20-minute nap is the “perfect” maximum time of a power nap for providing alertness and energy. Adding that this time window limits the brain to lighter stages of non-rapid eye movement sleep, which then makes it easier for someone to not get lazy and be back into work mode much less difficult and an extra bit of alertness. Read more For most people nowadays, reading a book is boring. They want their information fast and concise. And it feels like they neglect the benefits of reading itself and just proceed with an easier and unproductive way.  Well, it turns out that most of us are missing some productive boosting benefits that reading actually gives. In fact, there’s evidence that reading can help relieve stress, develop deeper focus, and enhance creativity—all of which can help to be more productive. Stress kills productivity (manage stress) Whoever says that people work at their best under pressure and stress is an absolute BS. It is more likely or not that they just procrastinated or are merely ignorant of the issue ahead. The work that was done under pressure is not your best. You only think that you did well is because of the stress hormones kicking in. Stress opportunities and occurrence will always be there. It will always be abundant. And so, rather than avoiding them, I say embrace them. And then only that is when Stress will not stress you out.