Planet Mark's Blog. Thoughts, News And Strategy For Poker Tournaments Of All Size

Movitation, Gratitude And Some Horrible Previous Jobs!

A mixed business(ish) post today with a few different thoughts combined. The idea came from something one of my colleagues said yesterday about enjoying the now and reminding ourselves how lucky we are… well, I say colleague – I am actually a guest in the office shared by 2 different companies – a software house and a real-estate management firm… … The gratitude comment came from the real-estate guy, a great salesman and sharp business mind who is always working on ways to improve his business. He pointed out how the key people in the office are all learning from each other’s strengths – even though our business interests are different. We have an IT wiz (and I mean proper wiz!!), a entrepreneur who is simply great with clients and turning their needs into business solutions… myself from a corporate background with 4+ years experience online (I’m rapidly discovering that this is very valuble experience indeed)… and not forgetting the juniors / graduates here who have both enthusiasm and their own perspective on business to share. Anyway, strange how life works when a chance meeting results in a free desk in an office and feeling part of a great team again… even though I am fully independent in my own business area. Who knows what joint projects the year may yet hold!

Motivation. My high levels of motivation since the new year show no signs of slowing down – in fact I’m generally a little disappointed when the week finishes and another damn weekend starts! One change I made this year is to wear a business shirt during the day once again. Only a small thing, however I feel more professional in a shirt – and so find I work a little better too. I also continued with the ‘5 things’ to-do list on a weekly, monthly and daily basis. Instead of just scribbling down a list of things to do I make the header in my notebook. ‘5 things to do today which will bring me closer to my goal of reaching $xxk per month by the end of 2012’ (I usually write it out in full each time, though sometimes abbreviate). What I find this does is focus my mind on long term profits right at the point when I am prioritizing my actions. By sticking to 5 key things (broader on a monthly basis, more specific each day), I am able to push aside the less focused actions and make sure I complete the important ones… there will often be more than 5 things to do of course, only these take a lower priority. Not for everybody of course… works nicely for me though!

My Crazy World Of Past Jobs Probably mentioned my IBM days and Gillette days before that before… Wanted to skip the corporate nonsense and list some of the less than entertaining jobs I have ended up doing in the past… I have always been a hard worker, out of necessity as much as anything (left home at 16 to make my way, blah blah etc etc!).

Anyway in reverse order of horror: #5 – Burger King: My first real job, the day after my 16th birthday back in 1987 I reported for the horror of a job in a city-center BK. First cleaning the floor, then making the burgers then quickly onto the horror of the tills… got fired for suspicion of being part of a scam involving charging people for ketchup, giving them their meal and pocketing the difference… never even got a chance to so much as protest my innocence, welcome to the real world Mark!

#4 – Kodak: Fast forward to the 1990’s and I was trying to pay my way through university. This was a summer job, at night, in a regional photo developing center for the south east of England. I was a ‘photo grader’ which involved watching 2 continual streams of photos wizzing past and working out if they were too blue / red / yellow – or scratched, or overdeveloped. I also stuck the little stickers on saying ‘your thumb is in the way, try removing it next time’ or 'its blurred, you moron'… a horror job which left my eyes and brain spinning for hours afterwards… paid well enough though.

#3 – Livers: This was another 1980’s job, my first with a ‘temping agency’ it involved standing in pools of blood in a refrigerated factory, on a liver packaging production line. The livers came to one end... were chopped into pieces - I was next estimating a pound of liver, putting it into a white tray, and then handing for the next guy in line to weigh and trim / add to... and so on. 6am start too… ugh. Only lasted a week and still remember the full time guy next to me asking if I was coming in for overtime on Saturday morning. When I flatly refused he looked genuinely shocked, held out his hands and said, ‘But, But Its Chops!’

#2 – Tobacco Kiosk: A humiliating experience in a town center Tesco, I worked selling the cigarettes wearing a smart blue jacket and little bow tie. Lasted 6 months, then one day the cashier in charge of distributing change had a random go at me for messing something or other up… so I walked to the changing room on my break and exited leaving my uniform on the counter on the way out. Security came after me and when he caught up could not stop himself from pissing himself laughing… wonder whatever happened to him – nice guy!

#1 – Hasboro: My number one choice for horror job of the past, again comes from the end of the 80’s via a temporary staffing agency. I ended up in a Hasboro toy factory for a couple of months (yeah, they still had 'factories' in England back then!). It was a production line job and a very strict one… a bell used to sound for breaks and the line would start without you if you were even a minute late back. The real horror was that I was spending my days there making a toy that I will never be able to even look at again without getting that sinking feeling in the pit of my stomach. Yes, I was putting together My Little Pony Crimp and Curl Beauty Salon sets… arrrrrrggghhhh. So, now I guess you know why I am so damn grateful to be able to run my own business! GL at the tables, Mark PS: I closed comments here, however you can comment / share this over at our facebook group: http://www.facebook.com/sngplanet

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