people

You’re Not That Big a Deal

So you’re on a couple of thousand Twitter lists. So you write for on online social media news portal. So you got a couple of hundred Likes for your latest blog post.

So what?

In the grand scheme of things, you’re not that big a deal.

You Answer to Nobody But Yourself

When I was young and impressionable (and still trying to make an impression), I believed ? foolishly ? that I had to answer to people.

Whether that was my boss, colleagues or peers, I was under the impression I had to answer to them in all I did.

Now, before folks get the wrong impression, yes, it?s definitely important to have some form of hierarchy to get things done.

This doesn?t necessarily mean a boss/employee relationship, though ? think of it more like expertise and the wisdom to make the right things happen.

But the idea that you have to answer to someone because they say you have to? Screw that.

Just like trust and respect needs to be earned, so does answering to someone.

You want me (or others) to listen to you? Show me you know your shit, and show me you?ll use that knowledge to do things the right way.

Which brings us back to the opening statement.

People in positions of power may feel you have to answer to them, because their job title says so. But here?s the thing ? people don?t stay in companies for 25 years or more anymore.

People also see through BS faster, and know that ? thanks to social media ? it?s easier to be connected to someone that can help them make their next move than it was just five years ago, when an old boy network and a good suit was the ?in? to a new position.

What this means is that employees don?t need to take the kind of shit anymore that they used to stay silent about. Nor do they have to worry about a damaged reputation, since the truth always comes out.

Always.

Instead, now people can choose what really matters to them ? respect, reputation, family. Instead of answering to those that don?t deserve it, you now answer to those that truly matter.

Which, at the end of the day, is where the real rewards are anyway?

No One Deserves to Live In Fear (And How BACA is Helping Those Who Do)

When I was still living and working in the UK, one of my colleagues (who would later go on to become my girlfriend) confided in me about her abuse at the hands of her boyfriend.

Both mental and physical, the abuse was so bad that my colleague had taken to cutting herself (on her upper thighs, so the cuts were hidden from public view).

When a Song Lyric Changes Your Life

Music has always been a huge part of my life. From early years at my grandparents’ house listening to standards, to how I met my wife, my life has continuously been shaped by words and sounds.

Important timelines in my life I can pinpoint not by year or people, but by the soundtrack that was running through my head at that time.

Do You Want to Be a Better Person, Truly?

When I was younger, I did some horrible things.?Some, I didn?t know better because of age.

At least, I?d like to think so. For example, when I was four years old, I threw a tantrum fit while shopping with my pregnant mother. As she told me off, I punched her in the stomach.