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Time flies, we are already two weeks into 2014, 2013 is long gone and a year stretches ahead of us .

What are your plans, for 2014 ? To set goals and ambitions down in some formalized way can help you to keep track of them. Some methods are keeping a journal and writing them in there, or downloading a free bucket list template. If you truly cannot think of anything to inspire you, and being unemployed and or unwell can certainly zap energy, enthusiasm and inspiration, you can even find free bucket list ideas. Another good means of inspiration is to Google things to do before..in my case...you are 60, since I am now 54, and another search for inspiration is the possibly daunting....things to do before you die. Daunting perhaps, but it does inspire...

Of course there are going to be obstacles to some dreams, indeed that is often the reason they are on a bucket or to do list in any case, plans to travel, to go to University, to do a different job to the one you do, to become self employed..are often thwarted by the need to get a job...any job to pay the bills. However, to make realistic plans , and being able to tick some off, is great at focusing you. And ticking something off motivates you to achieve further.

The way to achieve at least some goals is to know where you are going and where you want to be , i.e., your goal may well be to get a job, but there is preparation to be done on the way, such as preparing your CV and finding out how effective it is likely to be. A good way to do this is to take advantage of the wealth of CV and Resume resources on the web, including free templates and free CV reviews .

Learn how to be comfortable and confident with the resources you have available to you right now, while you gain others. By this I mean, you may want a job for which you do not have the qualifications or experience...yet. You can get this , but meanwhile you have to pay the bills. Being able to put up with where you are now in life is especially important if you are on welfare benefits and have to meet the rules of e.g. The Department of Work And Pensions and The Work programme in the UK, because if you do not apply for enough jobs, any job...or take a job that they tell you to, then you get no money.

Most of all...get started....

Too late for New Year Resolutions ?? Not for your work goals !!

New year not off to a good start ? Freezing cold, flooded or fearing you are about to be in the non stop rain we are having, ? resolutions forgotten or abandoned already ?? Its not too late to get yourself some career goals for 2014....we still have fifty weeks left !!!

It's easy to make resolutions, under the influence of the glow of Christmas and a couple of drinks. However, back to the reality of the weather we have in January and trying to pay bills, and things don't look so rosy !!

It will help if the goals and plans are realistic to begin with, therefore try breaking them down into immediate, short and long term goals. Some examples may well be that you will begin a diet or be eager to provide yourself with work and an income, and get off benefits ...and yes, you can make a start, but expecting to go on holiday, or buy a home will be a goal too far too soon and will be a longer term plan . I keep in mind that I attended a course for budding entrepreneurs, where we were being instructed to make short, medium and long term goals for building a business. while we have a tendency to want a quick fix.

Short-term objectives are points which will be accomplished within the next few weeks or even few months...like having a de-cluttering clear out, ready for Spring cleaning. Such a plan is achieved bit by bit, e.g. one room at a time .Working through the stages completes the goal.

In the case of job searching, an example might be, to first make a generic CV, then build up a set of job specific CV's for the roles you're going to apply for. Getting a qualification ? that begins with finding the courses of study you need and would benefit you and what your future plans are and enrolling on a course !!

Long-term goals typically require a variety of steps and do not happen overnight. An example was my realisation that I might use my way with words to write and create an income. The process is quite similar to applying for a lot of 'normal' jobs...I apply and a few I get, and many I do not. I will not have an immediate or even quick financial gain, but it will grow.

Of course you may have listed your resolutions /goals somewhere, even just in your head, however career goals tend to be recorded more formally. This can be because you're a part of a government employment programme, such as being on Job Seekers Allowance in the UK, and have to record your job search activities.

Keep a record of your objectives/goals, and use the excellent and often fun on-line ideas to help you. Bucket lists are a popular in term of late. I started a bucket list and shared it in an earlier blog entry. However, finances and Job centre rules meant that I did not have time for it, but I do hope to develop it and see some achieved aims.....Enter a Google search for free bucket list templates and enjoy the ideas.

Of course, many people have got no alternative other than for work related goals to take precedence over personal ones, but you will adapt as necessary, and don’t be too hard on yourself if something does not work out....celebrate your achievements !!

*** if you've got a web site or blog, get it up and running, place content on it regularly and monetize it with e.g. affiliate programmes, i.e. merchandising supporting your niche...children, computers, weddings etc. etc.....more regarding this in the months to follow....

6 Innovative Tips for Keeping New Year’s Resolutions

Some New Year inspiration from Samuel Pepys

photo credit: adactio via photopin cc

Samuel Pepys began his diary on this day in 1660 …..

Samuel Pepys (23 February 1633 – 26 May 1703 ) introduction to working life began as the son of a poor London tailor. Today of course for generations, he is more well known as one of Britain’s most famous diarists, with his diary kept for a decade from 1660 until 1669 .He gave vivid, personal insights into his life and the London he experienced and was a bit like a newspaper columnist of today, since he covered major political events but with personal insights into his own life and his accounts of the Plague (1665-1666) and i The Great Fire of London (1666) have been invaluable to historians .

He wrote about successes and failures, finances, friends and acquaintances, household crises, clothes and meals. Including his first-ever cup of tea . I think he would have made a great journalist on such subjects as welfare reform and the Bedroom tax !!!

I have a feeling he may have really taken to the world of computers, IT and blogging. He was President of the Royal Society as well as a top top naval civil servant. Regardless of having no maritime experience previously, he became Chief Secretary to the Admiralty and was significant in making the Navy a professional organisation.
Also a Member of Parliament ..he probably would have had a Twitter account too. Indeed, although he is no longer here to see it, his diary does now have at least one online version http://www.pepysdiary.com/….
and he is on Twitter ….https://twitter.com/samuelpepys

Clearly , how he earned a living was from quite a multitude of skills and talents and I can’t help but wonder with some amusement if had he been alive today, he might have monetized his blog with affiliate links selling journals and pens…and maybe even laptops !!! Had Amazon been around in his day, he might have set up affiliate links for feather quills….

Meanwhile, I hope that this insight into my imagination is giving some suggestions as to how you can start a blog today and begin to monetize it with links to products relevant to your niche (subject), such as in the case of Pepys…journals and pens …..
http://www.pepysdiary.com/diary/summary/ provides us with an introduction to Pepys and some background to his life before the diary which he started when he was 26.

In Dec 1659 , he bought a notebook ,took it home to Axe Yard where He and his 20-year-old wife Elizabeth were living off Whitehall and fastidiously made margins on every one of the 282 pages. When I read this it reminded me of my school days and being taught how far in from the margins on a page to begin writing and indeed, covering my exercise and text books in brown paper to keep them clean. 

At school 1971

Samuel Pepys diary began on a Sunday ,on what was becoming considered as New Year’s Day, although formally the year still started on March twenty fifth, and he wrote in black or brown ink , using shorthand for privacy; and he kept the diary’s existence secret from nearly everybody, specially his wife, with whom he had a doting but tempestuous relationship.

The diary continued for almost ten years until Pepys was worried about his deteriorating vision , by which time it ran to at least one and 1 / 4 million words, an average of about 350 words per day, and the length of many a blog post.

For posterity, he preserved the diary. and left it to Magdalene College Cambridge, and it was initially printed in part in 1825.

http://www.pepys.info/bits.html