the air

Photo: Mark Jones

Once you succeed at a particular task or goal, do you ever think that you are on top of the world? Do you ever feel that there is nothing that you cannot accomplish? Too often, many people find themselves full of confidence once they accomplish the so-called “difficult” task. What you will not find is people challenging themselves to go further and not accepting their success as the apex of their life. So why do these people stay behind their success but fail to go beyond their own success? That is something worth asking yourself daily.

Afraid of failure

I remember reading a from a motivational book that many people are afraid of success. I never understood what the author meant by that until a few weeks ago. People are not exactly afraid of success; they are, in fact, afraid of “what happens” after success. This is the point where expectations increase and the pressure is on to re-produce the success. And it is at this point where almost everyone concerns themselves with failure. They feel afraid that they will not be able to replicate their success. They allow even the smallest setback as an omen for their upcoming demise. However, very few people look at the challenges and simply claim, my failure will be the success.

Failing is succeeding

We spend so much time telling ourselves how important it is not to fail that we almost always fail to even realize that success is built around failure. In my opinion, humans learn through mistakes. If one way doesn’t work, another way should work. If not, you keep trying another way until it does lead you to where you want to go. The best part is that humans have built this type of logic into robots too. Just take a look at the iRoomba vacuum cleaners. Sure, you can outline a boundary that defines the area. However, the robot “makes a mistake” by bumping into objects and automatically determines a way around the object. It will continue “bumping” until it finds a way out. Humans work the same way. Hence, if you fail, you are one step closer to success because you now know a way that does NOT work.

Success is just a stepping stone

Whenever you succeed, don’t waste your time thinking about how much you had to overcome and how it was such a great journey. The moment you succeed at something, begin planning for the future. Life is continually changing around us and your environment will change as a result. Hence, staying behind your success is a sure way to fail in the future. That’s why you have to start diversifying and looking for new ways to continue to succeed to ensure that your success arrives at a continuous pace.

What’s the difference between Will Smith and Martin Lawrence? They’re both actors and they’re both good at making people laugh. So why does one actor earn far more money than the other? Will Smith diversified himself by being a sitcom actor, an established singer, a serious drama actor, and an action hero. The same cannot be said for Martin Lawrence. Sure they both enjoy success, but by diversifying, Will Smith has ensured that he can enjoy success in different forms. He does not need to make comedy films to earn a reputation (e.g. Independence Day, I Am Legend).

Go beyond and win

To wrap it all up, the point is that you need to go beyond your success and ensure that you always succeed. Since life changes around you, it is logical to assume that you must continually change your ways to ensure that you continue to succeed. So don’t stay behind your success, stay ahead of it. If you disagree, why? How do you do things to ensure that success for you is not a limited resource?

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Earlier last year, in May, I decided to leave the Windows mother-ship and join the party in MacLand. Although the transition was virtually pain-free and did not interrupt my day to day activities, I realized that there was a need to continue to maintain a Windows machine nearby. Certain software, such as Arena, do not have Mac OS versions. Such software is sometimes required for college students, so it makes sense to have a Windows-based PC or access to a Windows machine. For a time, I did have an old Dell laptop that I used specifically for Arena. However, it really is a pain in the ass to deal with two machines.

Now that a new semester is about to start, luck has it, the old Dell laptop finally decided to call it quits and pass away. I tried to resuscitate it, and I was partially successful. Unfortunately, I could not get the wireless internet to operate. So I was at a dilemma, either find another laptop or attempt to use virtualization software. After doing some light investigation, I came across this software, Parallels, which allows Mac users to run Windows XP or Vista simultaneously with OS X.

Boot Camp, a software included with Leopard, allows you to install and boot into Windows when your Mac machine starts up. Here’s the problem I have with dual booting my machine; if I need to use Microsoft Word while working on an Arena file, I have to have Word for Windows installed along with Word for Mac. Now I’m just wasting hard drive space for two of the same applications for different systems. With Parallels, I can run Arena with Windows running along with Leopard. Now I don’t need multiple versions of the same application installed. However, there is a need to remember one key thing with any virtualization software that can run Windows: You need to have an anti-virus application installed.

The main thing to remember with Parallels is:

1. plenty of ram (I have 2 GB)
2. plenty of free hard drive space (I had 42 GB free)
3. install anti-virus application (I used Avira Anti-vir)
4. practice good habits

Good Practices and Good Lives

So what do I mean by good practices?

• Do not install any application that has a mac version available
• Windows is a Guest OS, which means that it probably won’t be as fast if it were installed natively
• Do as much work as you can on OS X and just the bare minimum using Parallel

Parallels is quite fast and setup is a breeze. The key thing to remember is that Parallels could and probably will slow your machine down. Parallels is a great way to have a machine that can operate Windows along with OS X simultaneously. However, I do not think that Parallels is a great solution for gaming or CPU intensive applications such as Adobe CS suites, graphic & video animation/rendering.

Great For College Student?

If you are a college student and a Mac user, I would highly recommend using Parallels. It comes in two versions, Regular or Premium for $79 or $99 respectively. I’m not sure if they offer educational discounts for students, but it is definitely worth asking them. I bought the $99 version and it was practically free for me since I had enough Apple store gift cards. It is definitely not cheap and I’m not very thrilled either because I’m a huge supporter of free software. However, if you need Windows (and many college students will), this is a small investment to make. Try it out and see how you like it. There is also VMware Fusion, which I did not use because I saw Parallels in action and I was inclined to use that instead. Let me know how they both work out for you if you do try it. I’d like to also hear your thoughts and experiences as well.

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For many college students, winter break is now winding down and classes are to resume very soon. For some it may be as early as today and for others, they still have time. One of the tasks that almost every college student shares is to be able to secure an internship for the upcoming summer vacations. And there is no better time to start looking for a job than now.

Avoid These Popular Mistakes

I have seen students make dozens of mistakes in their resumes ranging from poor spelling to incoherent text to useless information. At first, it may sound like an easy task to write up a resume, but once you start, you’ll quickly realize that it is a very time consuming process. Moreover, you’ll probably end up going through several revisions before you settle on an acceptable version. To keep things short and simple, I’ve listed three major mistakes that I think most college students should avoid at any cost:

• Mistake #1: Using default templates in Word, Pages, etc.
• Mistake #2: Incorect speeling
• Mistake #3: Not organizing the information correctly

Stop Using Pre-Made Crap

If you’re just starting to make a new resume, do NOT use those templates that are built into popular word-processing packages. Why? Employers crave creativity and when they see the same type of resume over and over again, your information no longer stands out. The biggest rule of every resume is to get noticed. They only way to get noticed is to design your own layout and add your personal touches. Think of it like this, your resume is an art piece and you are designing it. Would you like your art to mimic someone else or would you rather want your art to be unique?

Use Corect Correct Spelling

Nothing turns off an employer than reading a resume filled with spelling errors. It’s hard to imagine students making spelling mistakes given the fact that most word processing software have built-in spell checking abilities. The only reason I can think of this mistake happening so often is because of negligence on the part of the student. I don’t want to sound superficial, but if you are applying for jobs in the United States, be sure you know how to spell the following words correctly:

• color NOT colour
• labor NOT labour

Organize Organize Organize

Another common mistake is when students fail to use proper organization. That includes chronological dates, standardized placement of information, etc. In other words, use patterns to organize your information. Your resume should read like a short story and it would be an absolute shame if you cannot keep the events and detail in order. Here’s what I mean:

The image above shows a properly aligned and proper format for each listing. See how nice it looks? Now let’s look at a total disaster:

This example is absolutely terrible. There is no defined organization that is easy to understand. In my opinion, this needs a quick rework and it will look great. The key is to remember to make sure there is an organized layout and formatting so that it makes your resume easy to read.

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It seems like one the hottest topics in the world is Global Warming. No matter where you obtain your news, it seems that almost every news media in the world is writing about the harmful effects of pollution. Let’s face it, even members of our communities are pitching in to do every little part to combat global warming. So I have a proposition for you. Why don’t you trash all the paper in your life and move towards a paperless one? I started moving myself towards that and I can proudly say that my life is far more organized than it ever was.

What many critics of the “paperless office” concept won’t tell you is that the transition can be as easy or as hard as you make it. The transition can be done in phases and if you give it a chance, it can actually make your life far more easier to manage than ever before. Here are the key things I changed:

• I have a FranklinCovey paper-based organizer
• I have 3 digital calendars, all synchronized
• I only print documents if a hard copy is required
• I “jot” down notes on my computer

The Paper Organizer

While I’m on the move, I don’t necessarily have my laptop with me. For those times, I keep a FranklinCovey organizer with me (any organizer will do). This helps me quickly write down appointments, glance at my schedule, and quickly plan out the day. Since I don’t have a PDA, the paper organizer substitutes nicely. The only trick here is that every night, I update my calendars and task lists on my laptop. Needless to say, if I didn’t do this, it would totally defeat the purpose of a paperless based life.

3 Calendars Surround Me

The first question that probably comes to your head is, “why do I have 3 electronic calendars that are all synchronized?” The answer is simply, it offers me the greatest flexibility:

• iCal: the primary calendar
• iPod Touch: the mobile calendar
• Google Calendar: the web-based calendar

Most of my calendar events are created in iCal, the calendar application included with every Mac. Every night, I manually type in new events that I wrote down in my organizer; even if the event has already elapsed. This helps me maintain a record of all my scheduled events and pinpoint any meeting for future reference. By putting a copy of my calendar on my iPod Touch, I am able to keep my calendar with me no matter where I am since my iPod goes everywhere with me. I generally don’t create events on my iPod because it is unable to handle multiple calendars. Finally, I keep another copy of my calendar on Google Calendar. This ensures that I have access to my calendar in some form, even if I forget my iPod Touch and do not have access to my laptop.

I do keep a copy of my calendar on my cell phone, but I happen to leave my cell phone at home quite often, so I don’t necessarily think of it as reliable. Furthermore, I maintain separate calendars for my courses so that I can further see how my day is scheduled and plan more efficiently.

No Wasteful Printing

I do not print documents unless I need to submit them in paper format. Even if I am working in a group, I will always make my comments and markups in electronic format. This cuts down on my printing expenses and ensures that I reduce paper waste. Just this past semester, I introduced my groups to the robust reviewing features found in Microsoft Word. All my group members were surprised at how easy it was to view the different changes we all made to the document and quickly accept or deny the changes. It doesn’t matter if your word processor of choice does not have those robust reviewing features. Just make sure that you can peer edit your papers electronically in some form. Another great thing that has helped out is the ability to “print” documents in PDF format. This way, I can have my papers electronically “printed” so that even if I have to pass my document to someone else, all they need is the free PDF viewer to view the document.

Make Notes Electronically

We all have a need to make a quick note somewhere. Why not do it directly on your computer or your paper organizer? I have several “post-it” like notes on my desktop that help me remember things. Every time I need to jot something down, I just use my computer to create the note. Now if I’m in a complete hurry, I’ll use the “scrap” section of my paper organizer, but I never waste my time with sticky notes. They not only make my desk look messy, but they are prone to falling down if the adhesive does not adhere well.

You may never have a truly “paper-less office”, but you can work towards reducing waste and improving efficiency. By just making the alterations I mentioned, I was able to accomplish more work in the same amount of time. Furthermore, my desk was starting to appear more cleaner and more organized. The changes won’t happen overnight and some may not even work for you, but there is no harm in trying. Give it a shot and let me know how it works for you. What other changes do you suggest that would improve efficiency or organization? What are your thoughts on the paperless office concept?

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Every college student wants to be successful and they all want good grades. Whenever they hear about a fellow classmate acing an exam or an assignment, they often credit that student as being smart or naturally gifted. You would have to be a complete idiot to think that every student who does well is smart. In fact, anyone can play the game and beat the system if they knew some of the dirty secrets of a good student.

1. I procrastinate because I enjoy it

There are literally dozens of articles published on the web that discourage students not to procrastinate. If you start an assignment or project early, what do you really accomplish? Sure, you could argue that you’re not up late the night before it’s due, but what if the assignment itself is complicated? I’ve procrastinated countless number of times and more often than not, I’ve earned great grades on those tasks and I’m satisfied. Here’s the trick: if you only need a 90% or better to get an A, why waste energy to get 100%? I succeed because I do the bare minimum to ensure that I get the A. Am I wrong? My grades would argue no.

2. When the going gets tough, the tough get going

This is probably the biggest key to any good student’s success. I’m sure you have heard of the saying “when the going gets tough, the tough get going.”But did you know that there is a steep price to pay for success? When I have to get my work done, I make sure that I get the work done no matter what. If that means I cannot sleep for two days straight, then dammit, I will be up for 2 days straight working on that assignment. You have got to be willing to sacrifice anything and anyone for your success. Would you rather attend your girlfriend’s birthday party or study for that exam? Just remember, you paid for your college education, you didn’t buy your girlfriend. So get your money’s worth.

3. Good students always use their resources and aren’t shy

No student was born with Calculus already learned. The fact is that if you don’t seek out help or take advantage of the resources at your disposal, you’re not going to succeed. That means, go to your professor’s and teaching assistant’s (TA’s) office hours. Ask your friends, your classmates, or those who have previously taken that course for assistance. Remember, people may laugh or poke fun at you for asking for help, but in the end, it will be you who has the last laugh when they see the awesome grades you earned. Ask questions in class, no matter how stupid it is. The only stupid thing you could do is to not ask any questions. Who cares if your question is dumb or your answer is wrong? If you at least attempt to ask or answer, it shows you have courage and the guts to learn the material. So don’t be shy and use and abuse your resources.

4. Stay ahead or you’ll lose

If you procrastinate like me, then you better be damn good at staying ahead of the course schedule. That doesn’t mean you need to read ahead. It means you should know when the deadlines are for every assignment, exam, projects, etc. Why? If you know what is due when, then you can prepare accordingly so that you are not caught off-guard. I’ve seen so many of my fellow classmates surprised in class when the professor hands out quizzes or collects assignments. Many professors are notorious for not announcing any deadlines, so know your schedule inside out. Face it, all those kids who do well (I mean those who don’t cheat), all know what is due and when. If they don’t, you should take the upper hand and be their role model.

Those are just a few of the dirty secrets of a good student. But what are your secrets to success? Maybe you have your own dirty little secrets? Share them in the comments so that we can all be dirty good students.

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