 Image credit: Thabang Madnsela on Unsplash In an age where the average attention span is thought to be worse than that of a goldfish, doing nothing could be the secret to happiness (and success). Never have those two little words “I’m bored” been uttered so much by all ages than in 2020. The Sun has more on why boredom could be the key to success...
0 Comments
 Image credit: Jason Yuen on Unsplash Every Christmas, Ryohei Ando gathers his family together for a holiday tradition. Just like their father did as a child, his two children will reach deep into a red-and-white bucket and pick out the best piece of fried chicken they can find.
Yes, it’s a Merry KFC Christmas for the Ando family. It may seem odd anywhere outside Japan, but Ando’s family and millions of others would never let a Christmas go by without Kentucky Fried Chicken. Every Christmas season an estimated 3.6 million Japanese families treat themselves to fried chicken from the American fast-food chain, in what has become a nationwide tradition. You can read about this KFC Christmas event over at BBC.com!  Image credit: Marleen Kuiper on Pixabay Dear Santa,
I've been a good dad all year. I've fed, cleaned and cuddled my two children on demand, visited the doctor's office more than my doctor, sold sixty-two cases of chocolate bars to raise money to plant a shade tree on the school playground and figured out how to attach nine patches onto my daughter's girl scout sash with staples and a glue gun. I was hoping you could spread my list out over several Christmases, since I had to write this letter with my son's red crayon, on the back of a receipt in the laundry room between cycles, and who knows when I'll find anymore free time in the next 18 years. Here are my Christmas wishes: I'd like a pair of legs that don't ache after a day of chasing kids (in any color, except blue, which I already have) and arms that don't flap in the breeze but are strong enough to carry a screaming toddler out of the candy aisle in the grocery store. I'd also like a waist, since I lost mine somewhere amongst the countless cans of pepsi I've drunk. If you're hauling big ticket items this year I'd like a car with fingerprint resistant windows and a radio that only plays adult music; a television that doesn't broadcast any programs containing talking animals; and a refrigerator with a secret compartment behind the crisper where I can hide to watch the football live on my phone for just 5 minutes. On the practical side, I could use a talking daughter doll that says, "Yes, Daddy" to boost my parental confidence, along with one potty-trained toddler, two kids who don't fight and three pairs of jeans that will zip all the way up without the use of power tools. I could also use a recording of Tibetan monks chanting, "Stop turning the taps on" and 'Leave the cat alone,' because my voice seems to be just out of my children's hearing range and can only be heard by the dog. And please don't forget the Playdoh Travel Pack, the hottest stocking stuffer this year for mothers of preschoolers. It comes in three fluorescent colors and is guaranteed to crumble on any carpet making the in-laws' house seem just like mine. If it's too late to find any of these products, I'd settle for enough time to brush my teeth and comb my hair (if I had any) in the same morning, or the luxury of eating food warmer than room temperature without it being served in a Styrofoam container. If you don't mind I could also use a few Christmas miracles to brighten the holiday season. Would it be too much trouble to declare ketchup a vegetable? It will clear my conscience immensely. It would be helpful if you could make my children to help around the house without demanding payment as if they were the bosses of an organized crime family; or if my toddler didn't look so cute sneaking downstairs to eat contraband ice cream in his pajamas at midnight. Well, Santa, the buzzer on the dryer is ringing and my son saw my feet under the laundry room door. I think he wants his crayon back. Have a safe trip and remember to leave your wet boots by the chimney and come in and dry off by the fire so you don't catch a cold. Help yourself to cookies on the table but don't eat too many or leave crumbs on the carpet, I've only just managed to finishing the hoovering. Yours Always.. Dad. P.S. - One more thing...you can cancel all my requests if you can keep my children young enough to believe in Santa.  Image credit: Dayne Topkin on Unsplash A survey has found that Brits feel most content when spending time with loved ones, having a cup of tea and sleeping! After a lonely and separated 2020, almost four in 10 feel at their most relaxed and happy when in the company of friends and family, and 27 per cent when having a hug. The Sun has more on this...
 Image credit: Gundula Vogel on Pixabay We all have to live in this world that runs on money and, for as long as that is true, that means that we do need to take our money management seriously. However, there are a lot of people to whom any potential financial issues, even small ones, can become a heavy weight that can drag them down, paralyse them, and prevent them from chasing what they want, whether it’s to invest in a business, buy assets, or otherwise. If your financial anxiety is dragging you down, it’s time to think about why that is and see what you can do to let that weight go. Get to know where you’re really at If you feel like you’re constantly on the back foot when it comes to your finances, it can help to gain a little perspective. Indeed, you might be right that, for instance, you owe more than you own. But you won’t know and thus you won’t be able to accurately implement any solutions until you get an actual idea of the situation. Put a list of all of your assets together, all accounts owed to you, and any debt you owe. Subtract the debt from the assets and money owed to you in order to get your net worth at the current time. Make some plans for the future Anxiety is mostly a sense of fearing the worst possible outcome when it comes to the future. These outcomes in your head are rarely based on real logic but more a kind of fear. However, that doesn’t mean that common sense solutions can’t help you dispel them. If you’re worried about being destitute in the far future, then make it a priority to put together some retirement savings as soon as you can. Put together annual savings goals after figuring out how much you need to put aside each year for a healthy retirement, and stick to those financial goals as well as you can. Don’t forget to budget By far one of the most useful pieces of financial advice that anyone can ever offer you, and one that can transform how you look at your money situation, is to put together a budget. A budget effectively looks at how much money you have to spend in any given period of time and helps you find out where you should be spending it. For instance, the 50/30/20 budget involves putting aside 50% of your money ahead of time to pay for the essentials, such as your home, groceries, bills, and so on. 30% of that is for discretionary purchases, such as new clothes, nights out, entertainment and so on, and 20% is for financial planning, such as saving towards emergency funds or investing. You don’t have to follow that specific example, but having a set plan for where your money is going and then ensuring your money does just that can offer a sense of security. Searching for those discounts and savings is a great way many people can help their budget spending. Couponing websites can help customers find coupons for retailers such as Kohls and many others. Websites that offer home improvement coupons (see this website as one example) help you to make big savings on your next purchase!  Image credit: Chris Pastrick on Pixabay Start building from scratch again You might be feeling a little low because a recent cost, such as a car repair, home repair, or major bill has knocked your finances for six. Your savings might have had to have been recently emptied, setting you back more than a few steps in your future plans. However, that doesn’t mean that it’s all pointless. There’s a good chance your situation would have been worse had you not had those savings to rely on. It’s time to pick yourself back up again after life knocks you down and get started with your savings once more. So long as you are a step in the right direction next week compared to where you are now, you are doing your financial health a world of good. Don’t get paralysed by debt A lot of us owe some sort of debt or have done in the past. When your debt is at its highest point, then it can feel almost pointless to think about what life would be like without it. However, the only bad decision to make when facing more debt than you can currently pay is to ignore it. You could get in touch with your creditors to talk about repayment plans and let them know about your situation. You can also look to other solutions, like debt consolidation that can make it easier to pay off the sum of what you know. However, the longer you wait, the more your debt will build. Take the time to research your options, but don’t put off the situation. Put some protections in place In future, you want to prevent yourself for having to raid your savings or to fall in debt. There’s no way to prepare for absolutely everything the future might through your way, but investing in a few protections can do you a world of good. Informally, having an emergency savings fund could help, but in a more formal sense, you should take a look at what kind of insurance you might need to protect your current lifestyle and assets.  Image credit: Jan Vašek on Pixabay Address your habits
Do you have some bad financial habits that either fuel or are caused by your financial anxiety? If so, they can keep you from building the financial protections that can serve as a long-term cure. There are a host of habits that can be destructive to your sense of money security. Overspending is an obvious one, but cost-tracking apps can help you identify cases of overspending so that you’re less likely to do it again. Excessive frugality and hoarding can be just as financially unhealthy since they often involve sitting on money that could do more good if you’re saving it for a specific goal or using it to pay for some manner of security. Take a close look at your financial habits are and learn which ones you should curb. Being conscious of your finances is all well and good, but if it’s getting to the point that it’s stopping you from taking action, it’s time to rethink your money situation. Hopefully, the tips above help with that.  Image credit: Geralt on Pixabay If you imagine being a teacher, you’ll probably think about teaching children. After all, this is the usual way of things, and it’s how things are most often done. Children need to learn, and they attend school where a teacher gives them the information they have to know.
Yet this is not the only form of teaching; there are many more. One of these forms of teaching is adult education. Adults who feel they want to gain more information about a specific subject, or who want to enhance their education in general, can sign up to classes and be taught by another adult, sometimes on a one to one basis, so that their knowledge base is shored up. For the teachers in this situation, it is very rewarding. Of course, teaching children is terrific, but there is something special about teaching adults and seeing the direct impact your teaching has on their lives and careers. Why is it so rewarding to teach adults? Read on to find out. You Will Learn When you teach adults, whether you’re teaching art classes, science, or helping them learn to speak English online, among many other options, you will be using your vast wealth of knowledge and passing that onto your students. However, in return, you will also learn a lot. Adults who have gone back to school or signed up for additional classes will have much life experience behind them, no matter what age they are. As you get to know them better, you will discover things that you never knew before. This is not something you can usually get when teaching children, but when teaching adults, not only will you teach but you will learn. Action Is Taken Children have to attend school even if they would prefer not to. It’s not their choice; it’s the law. Adult learners do have a choice, and if they have chosen to attend your class it’s because they want to, not because they are being forced to. This means they will be more interested in what you have to say and will engage in your lessons much more fully. When this happens, you can see progress being made as it happens. You will start the work in class, but a fully engaged and interested adult will seek out more information or practice what you have said in between lessons, so by the time you see them next, you can see that action has been taken, and the lessons you are teaching are making sense. This is incredibly rewarding. Changing Lives The biggest reason why teaching adults is rewarding is that you are changing lives. Someone who wants to learn, someone who has chosen to learn, will have done so for a reason. It might be because they never finished high school. Perhaps it’s because they want to make someone proud of them or be proud of themselves. Maybe they want to do more in their career, and they know they need a better education to do it. Whatever the reason, once they have learned what they need to learn, their lives will change, and you will have made that happen. It’s not everyone who can say they can do this regularly, but as a teacher of adults, you definitely can. Invest In Educational Marketing For those who are keen to make a real change to adult learners, it’s important to get your name and business out there for everyone to see. The right type of marketing can be effective in getting more adults enrolled onto the course you’re providing. Companies like n-roll exist to help those who are looking to provide more students with the knowledge and skills they need to excel in life. Educational marketing can be a great investment to make in order to appeal to more adults who are looking to learn later on in life. |
Author - Chris
Author, Editor, Creator of Learn Develop Live Archives
July 2023
Categories
All
|
RSS Feed