Tag: Alabama Army National Guard

New blog for learning how to live again

The concept of this blog has its roots in my own personal journey through life. This blog is meant to capture observations and facts on searching for employment, securing a job, being the best employee you can, understanding what makes up a career, learning about the definition of a vocation, and how you can create a living legacy through the course of your life.

My personal journey started like most high-school students fresh out of college. I wanted to escape the confines of small-town America. I wanted fortune. I wanted to be recognized for my contributions to society. The problem was, I had no guide, no mentor, and no clue what it would take to achieve any or all of my goals. It should be no surprise that two quarters later I was failing at Auburn University. One tour in the Alabama Army National Guard, great mentors at The University of Alabama at Birmingham, and one semester sitting at the feet of an unassuming Nobel Laureate, I finally started fulfilling the most miserable decade of going from job to job. From 1996 through 2001 I burned through some 30 or so clients at five different employers. At the end of 2001, after watching watching planes take down the Twin Towers and seeing the ashes of the north side of the Pentagon, I realized that we were entering a new era, one that we have never seen before. This new era is one of transition from the service economy of the 1990’s to the global economy of the 21st century.

For my generation and those that follow after us, we will have to compete on the Global Stage for jobs. Our success won’t be defined by the assets we amass, but rather by the level in which we are able to manage the resources of the Global Economy in such a way as to reduce global hunger and poverty so as to reduce the probability that extremist ideologues will destroy all that our ancestors fought so hard for us.

As I’ve matured and gained enough wisdom to start sharing, I thought it best to take time out periodically to share what I have learned. Call this sharing something like virtual mentoring. Inspired by reading Dan Miller‘s 48 Days To The Work You Love, John Maxwell‘s Mentoring 101, and the late Coach John Wooden‘s A Game Plan for Life: The Power of Mentoring, I decided to start capturing all of the nuggets I have learned from the School of Hard Knocks in the hopes I will be able to prevent others from having to earn their degree there.

Though not as effective as real mentoring, I should be able to share enough information to teach people how to find a job in a very crowded marketplace during the worst economic down-turn since the Great Depression and possible gain some peace at the same time.

Feel free to contact me as you see or don’t see topics of interest. I welcome your feedback and hope to hear from as many of you as possible.

Kind Regards,

Devin.

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