Hire a vet!

I am anti-war but pro-soldier: I don’t care how you feel about our government or the wars it wages; I do care however, about the good people who answered their nation’s call and took up arms to support our freedom. Recently I read this on the Huffington Post:

There are about 22 veteran suicides each day, a rate higher than previous estimates, based on a report released by the Department of Veterans Affairs earlier this year. Many veterans who take their own lives are over 50, but the hundreds of thousands of veterans returning from Iraq and Afghanistan also struggle to adjust to civilian life while dealing with the mental and physical effects of war on top of a weak job market. Adam Legg, a 30-year-old Naval veteran, found that he couldn’t even get a job at McDonalds after returning from tours in Iraq and Afghanistan in 2009, according to ABC News. “When you feel like you can’t take care of your family, feed them, shelter them, it’s a very, very dark place. A feeling of uselessness that maybe they would be better off if you’re not around,” Legg told ABC. Some troops don’t make it home before taking their own lives. Military suicides reached a record high of 349 in 2012, and former Defense Secretary Leon Panetta has described the situation as an epidemic.

via Veteran Suicides Outpace Combat Deaths, Child Gun Deaths INFOGRAPHIC.

My brother-in-law Jim is a vet who is also a practicing psychotherapist on the front lines; he serves returning vets 40×50 year in and year out. If you’re not Jim, you can connect to vets and those who serve them using this website; TEAM RWB…

Consider this:

Me? I’m blessed to know a vet and I thank God for him, his family and the sacrifices they have all made in the close to a couple decades I’ve known him. His name is Tim O’Neil and you’re a fool if you don’t connect with him on LinkedIn and snap him up before someone else does! For Tim and all the other vets out there, here’s a collection of LinkedIn resources to get started. I also pledge $1,000 worth of consulting services [more if needed] to help him land the job of his dreams. What will YOU do to help a vet? Comment below…

A dynamic page of resources for those looking to take advantage of LinkedIn…

http://storify.com/livingbusiness/linkedin-thoughts-tools-and-tactics

June 12, 2013 3

People Want the Real You

Interesting how when I’m thinking about something — like how I need to get more ‘real’ [curate less/create more] — Google Reader delivers all kinds of great information along those lines. I redid the look and feel of my blog this weekend with more transparency in mind. Then I find this from Chris Brogan this morning:

There are many ways in which we somehow tumble into being someone other than our true self:

We are worried about how the culture around us will react.

We lack enough self confidence to not care what others think.

We perceive that our livelihood depends on the way we dress and speak and act. (And it certainly does to some extent.)

We’ve tried being ourselves once ever in one specific situation, and someone said something unkind about it and now you’ve decided that this singular experience is now the “avatar” of any time you might ever decide to be yourself in the future, so why bother anyway? (phew)

Sometimes, we really can’t be ourselves. If you are a nudist and a fry cook at McDonalds, you’ll probably find it hard to express that particular passion (besides – ouch!). Other times, we probably could be ourselves, but maybe we’ve forgotten to do so for some reason. Most times, though, it’s because we’re chicken for some reason or another.

Men, for instance, hate showing their weakness. Women sometimes have to struggle with the “when men do it, they’re considered ‘tough’ and when women do it, they’re a bitch” problem. Most people hate to show their ignorance. These are all valid and true feelings. But I have to ask anyway: what’s stopping you from being who you really are?” Go to the source to get the rest:People Want the Real You.

After almost 5,000 posts, here comes the ‘real’ me…

September 17, 2012 0

You Already Are that Which You Want To Be!

The desire that you have in your soul to become whatever you want to become is real. It’s a part of you that is calling out to be seen, heard, felt and acted on. Whatever you want to become, know this: you ALREADY ARE.

So stop trying to become it. Instead, act as if you already are it and watch how magically life unfolds.

Instead of pining or buying into doubt – start TAKING ACTION as if you already are what you want to become.

In other words – BE WHAT YOU SEEK!

Start putting yourself in places and environments that are in alignment with your dreams. Want to be an actor? Get your ass to LA or NY and start doing what actors do. What to be a writer? Start taking actions that writers write and be in environments that writers are in. What to get in shape? Put yourself in health and fitness environments. Stop hanging out at McDonalds and start hanging out at the gym. Don’t bring unhealthy food into the house.

Our environment, far greater than anything else, dictates the quality AND trajectory of our life. If you want to be a painter, go be with painters and start creating rituals that a painter would have. If you want to start a business, be around other entrepreneurs, absorb news on entrepreneurs and get busy taking risks like entrepreneurs do.

Also, and this is VERY important – surround yourself with people who already have what you want. If you hang out with people who have never achieved the dream you’re dreaming – they are probably going to give you bad advice. Most people aren’t living their dream – most people are living their nightmare and so they will give you advice on how to live your nightmare, too.

Environment plays a major role in how your life will turn out – so does the types of people you are hanging with. If you want your dreams to come true, start hanging in places where they already are and with people who can help guide your way. It’s possible to achieve your dreams; you just gotta make sure you are on the side of making them come true, instead of doubting that they exist. Show people who are living their nightmare that it’s totally possible to live their dreams by showing them yours. Be a light.

Know that you already are the dream and start taking action until you produce the result in real life. Keep going. Try until it happens and don’t stop until then.

via thedailylove.com

November 10, 2011 0

: Image via CrunchBase

Sweta of GlobalThoughtz has an interesting blog post on the topic of corporate blogs…

“How do you follow your favorite company? How do you come to know about their latest launch or what’s cooking in their labs? My answer to this would be their ‘Corporate Blogs’. Not only does it give me a constant update about the company I like but also makes me feel connected to them. It gives me the feeling that they are listening to me.

Today as a consumer, I have several products to choose from for each of my need and certainly my choice is driven by my affinity to a particular brand. Just like Internet presence had become crucial a few years back, corporate blogs are absolute necessity now. After all we live in the world of Social Media.

Its not just web companies that need to engage their consumers with their blogs. Few of the most loved companies in the world also house must read blogs. One of the best example of corporate blog is Official Google Blog, not only does it provide an insight into the company but also provides useful information to its readers. Corporate blogs such as McDonald’s Corporate Social Responsibility by McDonald’s, Check Out by Walmart and Fast Lane by GM have made these most loved companies even closer to their consumers. The Social networking sites Facebook and Twitter constantly update their users with their blogs The Facebook Blog and Twitter Blog.” Source: Why a company must have a blog.

Here’s the real payback, however, and the real reason why these corporations do it: HubSpot says that companies that blog get 55% more visitors, have 97% more inbound links, and 434% more indexed pages [which are valuable from a search perspective]. Better yet, customers who are engaged by a corporate blog and social media spend 30% more than their disconnected counterparts, according to MarketingSavant Dana VanDen Heuvel…

I guess you don’t really HAVE to have a blog, but at a time when many companies are fighting for their economic survival, I think it’s good to know there’s a good, fast and cheap tool that delivers these kinds of results. Question? Feedback? Leave a comment or use the contact page…