Sometimes when you think you got it all figured out, you know exactly what course your life is going to lead over the next few weeks (or more), God reminds you that it’s really Him that’s in charge, and something completely unexpected happens.

I guess that’s what happened to me over the last few weeks. Just as I finished working on the initial version of octop.us, and figured that from then on, I’d spend my free time working on that, I was faced with an opportunity that I simply could not pass up.

You see, both octop.us and this blog are projects I’ve created out of love, amd a way for me to experience new things, broaden my horizons, and just because I felt I had something to share with the world. Not that there’s anything wrong with making money off your site, I still may do that in the future, but it was just never my intention.

At the same time, my #1 goal professionally has been and remains making a living working for myself. And that means if there is an opportunity for me to reach that goal, I’m going to go for it, and prioritize it ahead of other projects, such as octop.us and this blog.

And now, such an opportunity has presented itself, and I feel I must go for it, if I don’t want to spend the rest of my days wondering what could’ve been if I did.

And that, my friends, was my explanation for not updating this site more frequently or working on octop.us (it’s frustrating.. there’s a thousand features just waiting to be implemented).

While I certainly don’t feel I owe anyone an explanation – after all, what I do with my free time is my own business, I know there are still users of this site, and registered users on octop.us as well. I haven’t abandoned either, but I must put them on the back burner for now, and concentrate on my opportunity.

So – I’m going to continue on this incredible journey called life, and post my progress as time allows

Wish me luck!

In the article “Some Community tips for 2007″ Matt shares some of the things that helped him turn MetaFilter into what it is now. I gotta say, some of those gave me some pretty interesting ideas for what to do with my website, and I can’t wait to start implementing them. Here’s my favorite one:

If I had to give a reason why most newspaper blogs are filled with cranky screeds posted anonymously, I’d have to say having a generic blank comment form is key. Most every community that I contribute to offers a comprehensive user profile/history page, letting members customize to their hearts content and allow their profile to reflect their personality. When I think of mainstream news, TV, and newspaper sites trying to solicit comments from readers, I’ve yet to find something close to even a basic community site. The New York Times requires me to register to read most stories, but their blog system gives me a blank generic comment form when I want to comment on a blog post.

I’d love to see a large paper like the NYT implement a real community system. Based on my existing NYT login, I’d love if I had a profile page on their site, tied to any comment I left on a blog or any article I wrote for the paper (I’m sure I’m in the minority here, but there are writers for the NYT that would also be active on the site). Let me list my blog URL and track any posts I make about NYT articles on my profile page (the NYT already has a “most blogged” feature on their site). Feel free to show me ads that would actually make sense (example: I don’t live in NYC, but I see NYC ads on the site — you might want to pitch me home delivery or general ads aimed at out-of-towners) based on my profile.

If you gave readers a real profile page on a real community system at a newspaper site, I suspect the quality of contributions would go way up. Of course, you’d still get trolls and griefers trying to game the system, but the remainder of readers would post more often and post better things. Heck, you could even let readers connect to their friends that also read the site and offer tools useful to members (like “your friends liked the following articles”) as well as gain additional traffic from repeat member visits.

This is so true. All of the community websites I like give their users something to customize, their own piece of land on their site, rewards for participation and a sense of achievement (MySpace takes it to the extreme by running a “who can create an uglier layout” competition, but that’s a different story.

I am definitely going to implement that on Octop.us. It’s going to be awesome!

Traditionally, the self-help industry’s standard advice has been to do your own thing. Books like “Rich Dad, Poor Dad” go into great detail as to why it is preferred to work for yourself. The personal development blogosphere has been echoing the same advice. And in fact, I wholeheartedly agree that there is no better way to achieve success and financial independence than to be your own boss.

However, I don’t think that people should be blindly accepting what authority dictates. Starting a business might have worked for the author, but it may not be the prescription for you. I think the smarter thing would be to consider the benefits and drawbacks of both, and then decide for yourself.

In his excellent book “Hackers and Painters”, Paul Graham discusses the concept of working for someone else as being unnatural. Throughout human history, people were always working for themselves (when they had freedom to do so.) It was only with the advent of industrial age that the notion of being an employee has been widely implemented. So, Paul makes an argument that being an employee is unnatural and everybody should start a business.

I disagree. At least at one point in human history, there was an example of a very healthy employer/employee relationship that worked well for both parties – namely, the master/apprentice relationship.

In medieval/renaissance times, there were artisans – masters of their craft. For example, a town usually had a blacksmith, whose job was to make and repair horseshoes, ploughs, swords and everything else made of metal. If business was flourishing, blacksmith could not handle the load by himself, and some other man in the village might send his son to serve as blacksmith’s apprentice. Blacksmith provided his food and lodging, and taught him the craft. In exchange, the apprentice helped him in the forge. Eventually, after the apprentice matured and learned enough to go off on his own, he would open a blacksmith business if he were so inclined. (This, of course, is a perfect scenario. As we all know, in real life things don’t always work out as they’re supposed to)

A lot of personal development books and blogs describe the modern employee/employer relationship as master and slave. In my opinion, this is not always the outcome. If you start to think of yourself as your employer’s apprentice, you’ll see many benefits for yourself. Your employer pays your salary (provides food and lodgings) and lets you learn the trade and build a network of contacts. In return, you do work they require of you.

If you have high ambitions (and I imagine most of my readers do), working for others is probably not something you want to do all your life (I know I don’t.) But if you look at it as apprenticeship, and use it to gain real-world skills, it’s going to be time well spent.

In the same book, Paul Graham talks about the intangible skill to “get it done” – something that distinguishes kids from adults. It’s the ability to complete the work, no matter how boring and tedious, because that’s what you have to do. This is the reason employers are reluctant to hire college grads – most of them don’t have it. In college, if you don’t want to do something, then you don’t. However, that luxury does not exist in the real word.

Where else are you going to get that ability, if not working at a real job? If you open a startup right after college, are you going to have the strength of character required to complete mundane and boring tasks? Your chances are much greater if you get real world experience at a job, and only then branch out on your own.

Of course, starting your business part time while working a full-time job is not easy. But then again, what is? Succeeding in business world requires tremendous effort and dedication. If you can not pull of starting your business part time, then the future does not look bright.

I’m in that boat right now – working a full-time job, trying to start a business and work on this blog in my spare time. The proponents of “don’t get a job” movement will be quick to point out that if I didn’t spend best part of the day working for “the man”, my business would already be up and running. The reality of the matter is that if I didn’t work for my company, I would not be where I am today. I wouldn’t have the necessary skills, maturity and perseverance that are necessary to get anything done.

I’m not suggesting that every fledgling entrepreneur puts his or her dream on hold and brushes off the resume. I am, however, stressing that you should consider your options and think for yourself before following somebody else’s advice. Maybe you have matured enough and learned all necessary skills by the age of 14. Or maybe you don’t know anything about starting a business other than “it would be cool to …”

Whatever you do, decide what’s best for you. And then, hopefully, we’ll see an increase in number of successful businesses and happy people all over the world

(This is Part IV – the last one of the series. Here are Part I, Part II and Part III)

Once you get past the interview stage, the hard part is over. If the company starts talking to you about money, you can high-five or pat yourself on the back. They just gave you a sign that they could be (not necessarily are) interested in hiring you. All you have to do now is maintain a good impression that you left at the interview, agree on the money, and hopefully see what you’ve been waiting for – the offer letter. Here are some tips on making it happen.

Money negotiations

If a company decided to hire you, there are two ways in which your salary can be determined. One way is that the salary for the position is fixed. Usually, that’s true for big bureaucratic organizations such as US Government. In that case, there’s not much room for negotiations. The other case is when the salary for your position is flexible (as long as it is within the department’s budget.) That is where you’ll have the most freedom to negotiate your salary.

First you should do research to find out the average entry-level salary in your industry. Remember, the biggest weapon you can have during any negotiations is knowledge.

After you’ve done the research and found out what kind of money others are getting, you’ll be ready to actually negotiate. There are countless books and web articles written on the subject of negotiating, so I’ll be very brief: the most important thing is to not name the number first. When they ask you how much you’re looking to make, say you’re open to anything.

Take the focus off what you want, and try to make the conversation go to what they are ready to give you. Say that money is really not the number one priority for you, and you’re much more excited about the learning opportunity. If you’re hard pressed, name a range. A good possibility is that once the offer is on the table, it will be closer to the higher end of the range that you gave.

One last thing I want to mention about money negotiations is even though you’re talking about money, the interview is not over yet. If you’ve been on your best behavior so far, now is not the time to reveal your true identity as a maniacal psychopath. Wait until you get hired. J

Considering the offer

If you work hard enough and stay dedicated to finding the job of your dreams, then you will finally get a call that will make your heart beat tem times faster (sometimes it happens at the end of the interview while you’re still there, but don’t hold your breath.) Your hand may even visibly tremble as you press the “Talk” button. Feeling completely euphoric, you will not believe your ears when you’ll hear those magic words – “We would like to extend an offer.”

I was initially planning on advising you not to scream “Yes! Of course I accept, I’ve been waiting for this forever, when do I start!?”, politely thank the person and say you’ll think about it. But I know you’re going to do the former anyway – I certainly did.

But if you do decide to think about the offer before accepting, consider this: it’s not all about the money. There are other things to consider too – vacation, health insurance, 401k, etc. If you’re going to be in the situation where you have to choose between two offers, you have to take everything into account.

And so ends this series of articles. If you stayed with me through all of this, congratulations! You now know more about looking for a job after college than most graduates. Certainly more than I did at that time. If tips that I presented in this series will help even one person find a career, I consider my job well-done. As always, feel free to comment below or email me, as I’m always looking to hear from you. Good luck!

(This is Part IV – the last one of the series. Here are Part I, Part II and Part III)

While you’re talking to friends about job openings in their companies, and sending out resumes, you should keep in mind why you’re doing this. And even though your ultimate goal, of course, is to find a job, everything that I’ve described up to this point has been dedicated to one intermediate goal: getting an interview.

When does the interview begin?

Most people have a wrong impression of when the interview starts. They think that it begins with the question “So, tell me about yourself” at a formal sit-down with the hiring manager. In reality, your interview began a lot earlier, when the company contacted you – either by phone or email – regarding your resume. Everything you do from that point on will determine your hiring chances.

How to behave at an interview

One thing you always have to keep in mind about interviews is that appearance is key. Don’t listen to anybody who tells you otherwise. No matter how smart and talented you are, if you don’t act the right way, you won’t get the job. If you don’t dress sharp (unless they specifically tell you to dress casually) you’re not getting the job either.

Remember, you will be evaluated by people who are facing the prospect of spending the majority of their waking time sitting right next to you. And more often than not, they’ll have about half an hour to get to know you.

It’s not as serious as it sounds – use common sense and you should be all right. Dress in a business suit. Shave/put makeup on. Don’t pick your nose during the interview – wait until you go home. Speak clearly, don’t be arrogant or annoying. Don’t overdo the dressing part. Smile, use etiquette when applicable (i.e. hold doors for others). Don’t appear overly serious and nervous.

Another major thing to remember is to act enthusiastic. As I mentioned before, you always have to keep intermediate goals in mind. At the interview stage, your goal is to get a job offer. Even if you’re having doubts whether you really want this particular job, you should act like it’s your dream opportunity. If you’re planning to think long and hard whether to accent the job offer, you should still do everything in your power to get the offer in the first place.

Just about the worst thing you can do on an interview is to act like “I don’t really want this, and I’ll be doing you guys a favor if I take it.” Instead, you should be practically bursting with enthusiasm over the prospect of being hired at this place!

Asking questions

A major ingredient of being prepared for the interview is coming up with questions of your own. Asking questions about the company, the industry, the position, the team – everything relevant – shows the interviewer that you’re serious about this job. Put some thought into preparation, because a creative person that takes initiative is a trait that most companies look for in all their candidates.

What kind of questions should you ask? Anything and everything. Browse the company’s website before the interview and try to come up with some questions about it. Ask about the business, what technology they use, how the team works, etc. You should also ask as much as possible about the position itself, even if it’s just to elaborate on the job posting.

When asking questions – listen. Don’t just ask to put a checkmark that you did. Make sure you listen to the person’s response and ask any follow up questions necessary.

Answering questions

While you’re going to ask a lot of questions, most of the interview will be spent answering questions from others. Some questions are going to test your knowledge or experience directly related to the job. Others will be more generic, probably asked of all candidates this person ever interviews. Most of these are fairly common and you should get ready to hear them everywhere. Do you work well in a team? What do you think about working long hours? Tell me about yourself. What are your biggest strengths and weaknesses? For some of those questions, you should have the answer prepared.

Sometimes you may also get “impossible” or “puzzle” questions. These are designed to test your ability to “think outside the box” and the most famous example is “Why are manhole covers round?” (So it cannot fall through the opening)

Job knowledge questions

With questions such as “Do you know…”, or “Have you done …” there can be only two possible outcomes – yes or no. If yes, then great! Otherwise, the answering gets a little trickier. If you don’t know something, do not guess or lie. Guessing will make you look incompetent and will only get the interviewer irritated. Lies will eventually get out, usually with disastrous results.

However, what you also don’t want to do is just flatly say “No, I don’t know / Never done it.” In fact, the word “no” should probably not escape your lips at all. Always try to add something positive to your answer. If you can’t think of anything, you can always say “While I haven’t had a chance to do that, I am a very quick learner and always pick new things up very fast. I would absolutely love the opportunity to learn that, I’ve been wanting to for a while.”

General questions

When you’re being asked questions like how well you work in a team-oriented environment, you should remember a few things.

First, this is not a B.S. question, no matter how much it seems like one to your cynical self. If it was one, people that are interviewing you wouldn’t waste their time asking it.

Also, you should remember your goal. Why are you at the interview? Because you want to pass, and you want to get an offer. It then becomes obvious that the right answer is yes, you’d love nothing more than an opportunity to work in a team with a hundred people, even if all you really want from a job is an office with a door that locks, and the freedom to snarl incoherently in response to all attempts to socialize. Why shouldn’t you answer that you’re a “lone wolf” kind of person? Because it will decrease the chances of you getting the job.

Every question like the one above should be answered positively. Otherwise, you are ruining your chances of getting an offer.

Tell me about… questions

A lot of interviewers like to start with a broad question like “tell me about yourself” or “why do you want this job.” Another popular one is “what are your strengths and weaknesses?” Or “tell me about your biggest project” In your industry, there may be other, more specific ones.

The only trick to those questions is to prepare. Figure out in advance what you’re going to say, write it down if needed, and practice your speech in front of the mirror. But what should you actually tell? Believe it or not, that’s not as important! When the interviewer asks you those questions, he or she mostly wants to see if you’re able to speak coherently.

One exception to the rule is the ‘weaknesses’ question. This is actually a trick one. The intent of that question is to get you to reveal something that would hurt your chances of getting the job. Don’t fall into that trap. Instead, prepare the answer that turns the negative into positive. For example: “My biggest weakness is that sometimes I get so absorbed in a task, that I forget my surroundings. I forget to eat lunch, go to the bathroom, or go home until it’s finished.”

Puzzle questions

Finally, there’s a category of puzzle questions. I won’t spend too much time on it, since most companies don’t ask them. But generally, those questions will sound impossible to answer – “How many gas stations are there in LA? How do they make M&Ms? “. Microsoft is the company that made those questions famous on their interviews.

Once you know the secret, it’s very simple to answer these questions. Just remember: more often than not, there is no right answer. I mean, there probably is one, but even if your interviewer knows it, he or she is least interested in hearing it. What they’re interested in hearing is your way of thinking. They want to know that you don’t give up when faced with a seemingly impossible task. So start thinking out loud. When you need a number, take your best guess. “Hmm, so there must be about 10 million people in LA, and ¾ of them drive a car… “ In the end, if you come up with an answer that’s not obviously, outrageously wrong , the interviewer will be happy with it.

And that is it for Part III. Remember, I’m always looking for questions and comments, so feel free to email me or post below. Part IV (the last one) coming up very soon!

(This is Part III of the series. Here are Part I, Part II and Part IV)

Be a “front seater”… sitting in the front row, tells people your present, your confident and you’re involved. When you sit at the back of any room, it’s a visual and mental indication of your commitment to that subject. Confidence means you are in the heat of the action, in the front row. Not on the sidelines, of the back row. Come early stay late, it shows strength and confidence.

I couldn’t agree more. It’s very true in any situation I can think of – from family, school to business meetings. For the whole article, click here

(This is Part I of the series. Here are Part II, Part III and Part IV)

In 2003, I graduated from Stony Brook University with a bachelor’s degree in computer science. In retrospect, I could not have picked a less appropriate time to enter the job market. During my senior year, I met some recent computer science graduates driving trucks or working in a deli – the job market was so atrocious that they could not land an offer.

There were very few companies willing to hire recent grads, because a lot of people with 10 or more years of experience were jobless, and were willing to work for entry-level salaries. Those that did hire set impossibly high standards – 3.5 (out of 4.0) GPA, degree with honors, and years of real world experience in a big corporation – right after you graduate. My GPA was below 3.0 and I graduated with no honors whatsoever.

Nevertheless, with hard work, I found the career of my dreams. After coming home from my temporary job, I put in 4-5 hours daily into my job searching. At the time I wished there was a complete guide to job hunting, but there was none. With this article (split in multiple parts due to length) I hope to fill the void for that guide. If you’re not a recent college grad, you should still read on, because some of the items you will discover will come as a surprise to even the most experienced job hunters.

The single most important thing you have to realize is searching for a good job is a full-time job in itself. Fully expect spending a few hours job hunting, even if you have taken a temporary “McJob” to make ends meet. Make sure you’re ready, mentally and physically, for the search. The easy part ended when you graduated college.

Learning the industry

You should start by learning everything you can about the industry. If your goal is as vague as getting a good job in the fashion industry, you need to do a lot more research. At the very least, ask yourself the following:

- What are good and bad companies to work for in this industry?

- What positions are available that would provide greatest career potential?

- How is the market?

- What is the salary range I can expect for the entry-level position?

Doing research on good and bad companies can lead to some interesting discoveries. It may even make you reconsider your “dream job.” For example, as a teenager I loved playing video games and dabbled in programming, so it seemed only natural that I wanted to become a computer game programmer. However, when I started researching that industry, I learned that computer game developers on average are overworked (80-90 hour weeks with no overtime pay [link to EA Spouse blog]), underpaid, stressed out and generally unhappy. I decided that I wasn’t that interested in making computer games, and attained a job as a programmer in financial industry. Overall, I am satisfied with the outcome.

(make sure you research the job before applying)

When you consider different positions within the industry, you have to look at the big picture. You’re planning to make a career in this field. How do you envision yourself in 5 years? 10 years? For example, my friend had a tough choice out of college – either a job as a software developer for 40K/year, or as a Quality Assurance analyst for 50K. To a recent graduate, difference between 40 and 50 is immense. But my friend was smart enough to look at the big picture and realize that a developer has a much better career potential than a QA analyst. Now, 9 years later, he’s making far more money than he would ever be able to had he taken the other position.

Your next step should be preparing your resume and cover letter.

Cover letter

While cover letter is not as important (generally, managers and recruiters don’t pay much attention to it), a lack of it is noticed. Don’t put too much time into writing one; however make sure you that the one you send out is up to par. Make sure that the cover letter is personalized. Do not write one from scratch for every job application; instead, make a generic template and fill in the blanks. For example:

“Hi, my name is Frederick Hollingsworth and I’m applying for a position of _________. I believe my skills such as ___, ____ and _____ [here you list off the skills that the job posting mentions] make me a perfect candidate for this job. I’m very excited about this opportunity to work at ______ , because it would give me a chance to _______ [here you put a task that the job description mentions being part of the job ], which I really like. Etc…”

Of course, it goes without saying that you should not follow the above example verbatim.

Resume

There are a bunch of excellent books and articles written on this topic, however some items are usually omitted, such as:

- Leave off your hobbies, marital status, and all other irrelevant information. References shouldn’t be on the main page either, put “References available upon request” and have them ready in a separate document.

- Focus on what you did, not what the job consisted of – i.e. “Baked a thousand cakes a day” instead of “Worked at a bakery which produced a thousand cakes a day.”

- It’s very important to try to put as much relevant experience on your resume as possible. Try to imagine that you’re an employer in your dream industry reading the resume. If you’re looking for bright young people for a fashion designer job, are you more likely to appreciate seeing a candidate working at Wendy’s over the summer, or participating in fashion design show for a project in college?

- Your objective should clearly reflect what you’re looking for. Don’t put something generic like “Find and interesting job that fits my skills.” Be specific. Put “Looking for an interesting and challenging position as financial analyst that would allow me to utilize my quantitative skills.”

- If you’re applying for two different jobs (for example, accountant and financial analyst), you should have two different versions of your resume. At the very least, you should put different objectives and tweak your skill list.

(lying on your resume is not a good idea)

However, there’s one thing you should be aware of – don’t name your files something like “resume_accountant.doc” and “resume_fin_analyst.doc”. The employer/recruiter will suspect foul play (even if there isn’t any) if he gets the resume by email, attached as a file called “resume_accountant.doc.”

Instead, create different folders on your computer, called “resume-accountant”, etc, and inside them, always call your file “resume_YOURNAME.doc” (UPDATE: Per Tiffany’s comment below. Thanks!)

- Make sure there are no time gaps in your resume. If they exist, then be ready with a good explanation. There’s nothing that employers like less than seeing a resume with gaps between jobs (or between college and a job). What do the recruiters assume? Usually, the worst – that you did absolutely nothing in that time frame. Not fair? I know. To avoid this situation, you have to put something in for filler. If you have a good explanation of what you were doing at that time, like volunteering at the hospital – definitely post it. If, however, your explanation is that you sat on the couch watching “The Biggest Loser” reruns, you should probably bite the bullet and leave the gap there … which brings me to my next point:

- DON’T LIE ON YOUR RESUME. Truth has a tendency of eventually coming out, and even if it doesn’t for a while, lies are going to bear down on your consciousness.

There’s a plethora of advice on how to prepare your resume, so devote some time to it. Your resume is the first impression the potential employer is going to have of you, chances are you don’t want to make it the last.

Stay tuned for Part II, where I’ll cover most efficient ways of looking for a job (you might be surprised by the results) … coming soon!

(This is Part I of the series. Here are Part II, Part III and Part IV)

]]> http://www.alexanderkharlamov.com/2007/01/04/how-to-search-for-a-job-after-college-part-i/feed/ 8 http://www.alexanderkharlamov.com/2006/12/06/how-to-save-money-become-smarter-and-more-successful/ http://www.alexanderkharlamov.com/2006/12/06/how-to-save-money-become-smarter-and-more-successful/#comments Wed, 06 Dec 2006 04:12:46 +0000 alex http://www.alexanderkharlamov.com/2006/12/06/how-to-save-money-become-smarter-and-more-successful/ “See, the sad thing about a guy like you is in 50 years you’re gonna start doin’ some thinkin on your own and you’re gonna come up with the fact that there are two certaintees in life. One, don’t do that. And two, you dropped a hundred and fifty grand on an education you coulda got for a dollar fifty in late charges at the public library” – Will, Good Will Hunting.

I love reading. I read a lot. And ever since getting my first apartment a few years ago, I nurtured a dream to build an extensive personal library. I envisioned vast walls filled with most fascinating books, and every one of them would be special to me. The dream was born from thinking fondly back to childhood, when I used to spend a lot of time in my grandparents’ apartment. My grandfather was a prominent scientist, and his library was FANTASTIC. He had books on every possible topic – history, philosophy, archaeology, paleontology, biology, languages, science fiction, mystery novels, classics, poetry, books in Russian, English, German, Ukrainian … I credit much of how incredibly smart (and modest!) I’ve turned out to spending time at my grandfather’s library.

When I just moved out, I was quite naïve about capacity of a Brooklyn studio apartment and size of my wallet – I thought they were both limitless. Naturally, I bought every single book I could get my hands on. As it was bound to happen, soon enough I ran out of both. And that would’ve been fine, since both can be found if you want them bad enough. But here’s the thing – I noticed that out of all the books that I got, I didn’t like about 70%. Either they were boring, badly written, made me feel like killing myself and vowing to never read the author again (hello, Dostoevsky!), or some combination of all.

And out of the other 30% that I did like, almost all were “just ok” – not bad, an interesting read, but certainly nothing I would ever want to pick up again. Eventually, those books turned into fancy bookends, taking up shelf space at worst and making me look sophisticated at best (“Oh wow! Is that Borges?” – “Yes, but I wouldn’t recommend it unless you want to end it all rather sooner than later.”) I was getting quite frustrated with this, and my frustration reached a peak when I bought four books by Neal Stephenson. A hundred dollars, four thousand pages, and half-a-bookshelf later, I decided that those books were ok, but nothing special. Clearly, there had to be a better way. And then it dawned on me. According to a rumor heard whispered once in a dark hallway, I could have easily gotten all those monsters from the mysterious place one block away from my job – the library! I decided to look into it.

One big concern I had with the library was that I envisioned the way it works just like it used to in my high school days. You come in, look at fancy titles for a while, find section that you need, spend half an hour browsing through all titles in that section, then finally realize that the book you’re looking for is not there, and leave. In today’s crazy world people don’t have enough time to talk to their family, much less spend an hour at the library to search for a book. That is the exact argument I’ve used to convince myself over and over when I went on Amazon to buy the book I wanted for $10: my time is more valuable. I can’t afford to spend that much time at the library, there are more efficient ways to spend it, and an hour wasted is certainly worth more than $10 to me.

The only problem with that argument is while it might have been true in 1999, most libraries don’t operate like it’s Stone Age anymore. For example, New York Public Library has learned to make our lives hundred times easier by fully taking advantage of this wonderful new invention called The Internet.

The way it works now is like this: you login to NYPL website, and search for the book you need. If it’s not there (some books aren’t, my success rate has been about 90% so far), you’re finished and need to buy it. If it is found, you can request to have that book available for pickup at a branch closest to you. Then when it does become available (and how fast that’s going to happen depends on the book’s popularity and how many copies does the library have), you get an email notification. After that, you go to the branch, pick it up and that’s it! The whole process takes about 10 minutes, depending on how fast you walk.

Of course, if you need the book right away, that’s not an option, since there’s no telling when it is going to be available. You can go to the library and try your luck painstakingly going from shelf to shelf, Stone Age style, but I wouldn’t recommend it. Your time is worth far more to you, just go on Amazon and order the book there. So this method doesn’t work for school assignments, and any other books that you have to read by a certain deadline, because there’s no guarantee you’ll get it soon, or at all (I’m still waiting for Arthur C. Clarke’s “Songs of Distant Earth”, which I requested back in August.) But that’s an exception rather than a rule. The library fits PERFECTLY for those of us that have a list of “books to read someday.”

If your friend tells you that you should read “Master and Margarita” by Mikhail Bulgakov (ok, that friend is me and you really should), you add it to the aforementioned list and forget about it for the time being. Then, during a particularly slow day at work lunch break, you open your list of “books to read”, head over to your library website, and request it. Two days later, you get an email that it’s available, and you go pick it up. It’s that simple.

If you get into the habit of getting your books through a library, you’re going to save a ton of money over your lifetime. Moreover, you’re going to notice that you start reading more, which makes you smarter, which in turn, has a high likelihood of making you more successful. For example, Mark Cuban attributes a lot of his success to reading the right books. I think your humble local library is a great tool for getting ahead, and it’s a shame few people ever use it. With this article, I hope that changes at least a little. So what are you waiting for? Think of a book if you’ve been meaning to read for a while, go to your local library website, and start searching!

You all know the scenario: inspired by reading, seeing or hearing how great and useful something is, you decide to incorporate it into your life. Be it going to the gym, learning how to play golf, writing a page of your novel a day, it’s going to make you healthier, make your life better, it’s good for your teeth, etc.

Bursting with enthusiasm, you set bold goals for yourself, faithfully following your new schedule. Until one day, you miss it. You might have a perfectly good excuse, but it really doesn’t matter. You missed a day, and then another one. You know where this is going – soon enough you stop doing that activity altogether, felling pretty bad about yourself. You might make up elaborate excuses as to why it didn’t work out. You might do the opposite and get depressed, thinking that you’re a weak-willed person, since you can’t follow through with something that is beneficial for you.

Does any of this sound familiar? It certainly does to me. With my lifestyle being for the most part, sedentary (a big change since college, when I had a part time job doing student security that required walking outside for 8 hours), regular exercise is important, since dying of a heart attack at 40 is not an option.

Over the last few years, I attempted jogging, exercising at home, going to the gym, etc… with varying results, at the longest lasting four months. I was even able at one point lose 25 lbs, gain muscle, and feel pretty good about myself. And then… I got sick, so I stopped. After getting better, something else came up, and lo and behold – I was back to my schedule of not exercising while steadily gaining all the weight back.

So what happened? I tried to analyze the situation from many angles. Two or three times a week, I was putting in a big effort, finishing work at 6, then heading over to the gym, home by 9 PM. I would then skip dinner, because eating before bedtime counteracts the exercise. So what happened? In my mind, I understood the reason for exercising, and had no problems psyching myself up to go… but wait a minute!

Why did I have to put in effort – i.e. force myself to go? Isn’t going to the gym supposed to be exciting, not a chore you drag yourself through? And isn’t it supposed to provide you with energy instead of draining it out of you?

That’s when I realized my problem. I was excessively tired after work, dragging myself to the gym, and resenting every minute of it. Plus, I was coming home at a late hour, and didn’t have the time or energy for anything else. So, the problem was right in front of me – going to the gym after work just didn’t fit into my schedule!

Having understood that (not that the realization came immediately… it took a while), I decided to try out a different routine by going to the gym at various times of the day. I also considered different gym locations, in Brooklyn where I live and in Manhattan where I work. I tried a few combinations, but what ended up working for me was going to the gym close to my job in the morning.

I got up early, and went to the gym. Upon finishing my workout, I was filled with such incredible amount of energy that I came to work pumped, ready to take on the world. In the starting weeks I got tired by the end of the day, however after some getting used to it, the fatigue went away. Most importantly, it just felt right. I didn’t have to force myself. I didn’t come home later than I normally did. I did have to sacrifice something – I had to wake up one hour earlier, but I came home at the same time as before.

Now, I know some of you are saying: “there’s no way I can do that, I can’t wake up that early, I have to drive to work for two hours, etc.” That’s a valid point; it’s not the intention of this article to tell you that going to the gym early is the right way to live. My point is: make sure the time fits your schedule. Make sure the place is convenient for you. Do everything so the activity becomes a normal part of your day. Banish the thought that you’re doing something extraordinary. If you get into the territory where NOT doing the activity feels weird – you’re golden!

Here, for instance, this very website. I wanted to start this blog for a long time. But I never got to it, not because I considered it less important than my other projects, but because I could never find time for writing. Call me old fashioned, but I can’t write at the computer. I need pen and paper; otherwise it doesn’t feel like ‘real’ writing to me. I can’t write at work, for obvious reasons, and at home there are always more important things to requiring my attention. So what’s the solution? I started writing on the subway, during my daily commute to and from work.

Actually, I’m writing this on the subway right now! I don’t have a PDA or a laptop; instead I use a trusty old pocket-sized spiral notebook. My total commute time is just under two hours every day, so I get to do quite a lot of writing.

If there’s one thing I’m trying to say in this article, it’s the following: you CAN find a way to introduce any activity in your life and practice it regularly, eventually making it a habit, as long as you find a way to fit it in your schedule. You don’t have to force yourself to do something you’re uncomfortable with. All that is needed is to make an effort to figure out HOW the activity could fit into your schedule (use trial and error if necessary), and incorporate it into your routine.

Good luck!