Do Think More About the Future or the Past?

You can tell someone’s age by how much they think about the future or the past.

When we’re kids, time is slow, like moving through water. It’s a huge milestone to be six years old, then six and a half, and then seven. A two-month summer vacation lasts a lifetime. When you’re nine, a twenty-year-old adult is just old, and a grandparent has been around since the beginning of time. It’s going to take forever before we can grow up and be free to do whatever we want without the approval of our parents.

I’ve noticed that teenagers and people in their twenties talk about the future as if there is a lot of time ahead of them. They have post-secondary education goals, first career-related job discussions, and first romantic relationships. They ask questions such as: How do I start my career? How do I know if he likes me? What should I put on my resume? Where should I travel? The world is new, and people want to try things out and explore them. Some act like they are invincible because they are young. Others dwell on their first heartaches: a breakup with their high school crush. Pain from not getting into the college of their dreams. Anger at not being trusted to drive their first car or host a party with their friends and no parents. They have memories of childhood, school, and first-time life experiences.

People who are in their forties and fifties seem to speak equally about the future and the past. They realize they shouldn’t waste what time they have left. Either they are at the peak of their career and financial stability or they plan to get there soon. Their children are grown or will be grown up. When they’re middle aged, they think about retirement plans. At this time, they’re fighting the aging process while taking care of aging parents. Behind them, they have more memories and years than they did in their twenties. They remember friendships and romances that didn’t work out. They’ve survived divorces. They painfully remember missed chances: it’s harder to learn new languages, play a sport, or learn a new musical instrument. They’ve been to weddings and funerals. They fondly remember what it was like to be young and invincible back when they didn’t hear of so many tragedies. Most importantly, they feel empowered by their life experience.

Seniors talk about the past a lot. They reminisce about how life used to be, how much things used to cost, and all the wonderful memories of the people they had known and the places they had been over the years. Their memories are like a finished book that they can open and read. They value the preciousness of time because the chances they had to accomplish what they could are mostly behind them. Seniors in their 90s and older value each additional morning because they don’t know how many more of them they have remaining. Time is more important than money, because when you’re a senior, you realize that a decade can pass in one eye blink.

So, to return to the question, “Do you spend more time thinking about the future or the past?” I think it depends on the individual, but certainly, your age affects how long the path stretches ahead of you and how far it goes behind you.

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Do You Think About the Future or the Past?

Santa’s Top Skills Revealed

This interesting and timely article dropped into my mailbox: a blog about the soft skills needed to run Santa’s worldwide business. Soft skills are skills such as leadership, active listening, critical thinking, and multitasking.

Here are just some of the highlights from the longer article about what skills Santa uses to run his global gift operation.

Leadership skills: he directs talented elves and a herd of magical reindeer and coordinates with families during one night of operations.

Multitasking skills: Santa can’t miss that one deadline per year, so he has a lot to coordinate, from tuning up the sleigh to reading all the gift lists and managing the toy shop.

Active listening skills: Santa listens carefully to all the children so he gets the details for their wish lists right, and he asks questions when needed for the best interaction possible. He pays attention to body language and the way the child is feeling.

Santa possesses many soft skills that are needed to run such an important gift operation.

For more about these skills, check out the original article.

Is AI Good or Bad for Writers

In a previous post, I wrote about the advantages and disadvantages of AI. Today, this very charged but relevant topic will get a part 2! 

Recently, I read a discussion in a writing group about the impact of AI on writing jobs. The overall consensus was that jobs for writers are and will be affected. Topics that AI can’t write well will continue to be written by human writers. However, pieces that AI can generate are the most likely to replace human writers. For example, Top 10 lists, entertainment pieces, generic communication, and basic research for writing projects. 

The type of writing that AI cannot reproduce requires human contact and a knowledge of technological advancements; for example, writers who produce how-to guides about the use of new technology. AI may not have access to the knowledge or vocabulary to explain how to operate such technology. 

Similarly, AI cannot interview people and produce a piece of writing that includes the opinions of those interviewees. This human interest angle cannot be replicated with AI unless those interviews are already in the public domain. 

Tech companies that aim to increase the number of clients they serve need to generate tech-related content at a speed that is too fast for humans to achieve unless they employ several humans working around the clock. From a project management perspective, that would be a headache, especially considering that they must hire content specialists who demand a high price tag. It would be more cost efficient to employ a smaller staff of writers who can check the authenticity of the AI while increasing the company’s output to serve more clients. In other words, writers who are tech savvy will be one type of writer who will thrive in an AI world. 

Is AI good or bad? From this focus on the impact of AI and the writing fields, it is clear that AI will replace jobs. Some writers won’t find work for certain types of writing projects. But AI will also create and maintain jobs. The trickle-down effect of AI is thus both harmful and beneficial. 

What do you think about this topic?

5 Tips on Working for a Virtual StartUp

Nowadays, it’s possible to go to an office address and find that the company you’re looking for doesn’t physically exist there. At all. Technology has enabled the employees of an entire company to work from home. 

Some of these companies are startups that are 100 percent virtual. These companies are great if you hate commuting and love working in your own space. But, as startups, they also have their drawbacks.

Keep these five tips in mind if you’re thinking of working for a 100% remote startup company. These tips can improve your success at working for such a company in the long term.

1 Believe in the mission and vision

Look into the company’s mission and vision before you go to your job interview. The company’s goals should completely line up with yours. Of course, you want to work for a company with a purpose you believe in. With a startup, it is even more crucial that you aren’t working for the paycheque. Here’s why.

Startups are start-ups. The journey can be bumpy as the company experiences growing pains. Roles for each person may constantly change. Policies and procedures may frequently update as the company tries to determine what works and what doesn’t. Even the company’s products and services may change as it adjusts to become a better fit for its ideal customers. 

If the company’s goals are goals you fully support, it makes the constant shifting and adjusting easier to bear.

2 Be flexible and open to change

If you’re going to work for a startup, you absolutely must embrace change. As the company grows at a rapid pace, more people will join the team. Roles and responsibilities will shift. You may find yourself working with more team members or find yourself managing a team. You may have more tasks on your to-do list. Or you may have fewer, more specialized tasks as your role becomes more defined.

Procedures may also improve and change over time as the company experiments with different types of software. Instead of tracking your hours on a simple spreadsheet or table, you now need to learn to use customer management software (CRM software) such as Salesforce. Instead of casually mentioning in a chat that you finished a task, you’ll need to write your update in a project management tool, such as Trello, Asana, or Click Up.

3 Take initiative

A startup company is still figuring out many things. Just picture a company that is settling into its office on moving day. Office equipment and office furniture are everywhere as people try to figure out where everyone will sit and what will go in each room.

Some startups don’t have a human resources (HR) department or a clear line of authority. In these cases, you may need to be more assertive than you’re comfortable with. For example, if the person you report to is disrespectful to you, you’ll need to figure out who you could talk to about your boss. Similarly, without an HR, you won’t have someone to speak to about disrespectful treatment by a coworker. You will also have to take the initiative about getting a raise because the company is still figuring out what the pay raises, bonuses, and benefits should be.

4 Be prepared to put in extra hours and effort

Working for a startup could mean working extra hours and putting in more effort. Depending on how established the startup is, the company may require you to work longer days to get procedures set up. They may be short staffed, so you’ll find yourself taking on the role of more than one person.

At some companies, they will appreciate the extra effort and reward you with a promotion, such as a change in job title or responsibilities, or better pay. At other companies, particularly those that aren’t well organized, your extra effort will be required but will go unnoticed. They will expect you to work weekends and evenings in addition to regular office hours.  

5 Invest in yourself

If you’re working for a virtual startup, you may feel a bit disconnected, especially if you’re a social extrovert. You may only know the person who brought you into the company after the job interview. You’ll also know the people who you work with regularly. But everyone else will be just a name in a chat group. You don’t get to meet people casually in the hallway or during lunch break. 

The people you work with may not remember to introduce you to key members of the team or remember to show you how to use the software you’ll need. 

It’s up to you to reach out and remind them of your skills if you want a promotion or pay raise. Your supervisor may not remember these details, especially if the team has been growing and your supervisor has changed and there is no HR department. 

Learning new skills is important, especially when it comes to technology. No one from the IT Department is going to knock on your door to help you set up your computer or connect to your internet. If you lose your internet connection or your computer breaks down, you lose your lifeline to your virtual job. 

Key Takeaways

Not all startups are the same. Leadership affects how the company treats its employees. If there is strong leadership, the startup will grow quickly while providing the support that each person needs. People will feel acknowledged and appreciated for their work. If you’re considering working for a virtual startup, be prepared to put in extra effort and be ready for rapid and constant change.

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