Planning – QOTD (Quote of the Day)

“Planning is bringing the future into the present so that you can do something about it now.”

Alan Lakei

Schools Almost Out… What Are You Doing This Summer?

Schools out… now what…

In just a couple weeks school will be out. Students will have the summer free until school starts again in the fall.  Students are left with the perpetual dilemma of how to spend all that free time.  Here are a few suggestions:

1)      Work.  Let’s assume there will be 50 working days this summer.  50 days at 8 hours per day is about 400 hours of work.  At $7 per hour that adds up to about $2,800 (before taxes) income.  Even better is finding where to work.  Mowing lawns and watching swimmers is nice, but it doesn’t give much real world experience.  Working in retail, or a business, might give you the opportunity to see how a business works.  This ultimately will be worth much more to you than the money you earn. Aim for these jobs.  Ask questions.  Bosses will not be threatened by a high school kid.  Use it to your advantage.

2)      Start a blog or a youtube channel.  Unless you have a bunch of idiotic friends you can convince to crash their skateboards – you need to think about what you will put on these.  How are your writing skills?  Are you interested in anything?  Are you good at anything?  Do something about it.  Writing a blog is a great way to get writing experience – and anyone can do it.  Even if you watch movies – write reviews.  Hanging at the mall?  Write posts about what fashions are appearing in each of the stores.  Caring for dogs?  Start a page with hints and tips.  Even at a young age you should have plenty of knowledge to write about something. Try wordpress or blogger for free blogs.  Youtube offers another outlet.  Changing the taillight on your mom’s van?  Record a youtube video and post it so other will learn.  Blogging and creating youtube videos will enhance your writing and presentation skills.  This will help you in any job.  Doing these about items you enjoy won’t be a chore.

3)      Find a cause.  If you have time available, find a cause to support.  Humane Society?  Food Banks?  A particular disease?  Get in touch with the local chapter – make sure it is OK for you to represent them – then hit the street and go door to door (work in the organization only if you are not doing manual labor type activities – you want to learn and gain experience here. You can always find manual labor.)  Spread your message door to door and hand out small brochures.  Collect money if you can but don’t try to hard sell everyone – let them give if they want.  The goal here is to overcome shyness, practice making cold calls, accepting rejection, and moving on to the next task.  Just cornering somebody at their door is not a skill for making a living – it is called panhandling.  Getting somebody excited in your product, or your cause, and having them volunteer the money – is a skill.  You can gain this experience for free all summer.  By the end of the summer you will be an asset to any business who hires you.

4)      Make a goal.  Part of the problem with summer is that we have so many days, and no way to spend it.  We wake up each morning and look to be entertained.  The computer, tv, and games seem to satisfy this all for us.  Without a goal to direct our actions that time is wasted.  How big a loss is that?  Compare what you have to what I have as a working adult.  I have about one hour free each day to pursue “me” activities.  If you don’t limit yourself to 8 hours per day – you probably have close to 700-800 hours available over the summer.  If you and I were to pursue the same task, what you could do in one summer would take me about TWO YEARS to accomplish.  Don’t waste this opportunity.

5)      Take a class.  This is dead last on my list – in fact – I don’t really recommend it.  The only reasons I might would be if: 1) You have found your life’s calling and every minute wasted is unbearable, or 2) You are trying to take extra courses in order to graduate from college early.  Otherwise, I think the other opportunities are better uses of your time for the summer.

Hope you have a great one 🙂  Leave some time to get a healthy tan and lots of vitamin D.

Goals – QOTD (Quote of the Day)

“I always wanted to be somebody, but now I see I should have been more specific.”

Lily Tomlin