Paul Angone's Blog, page 20

The Twentysomething Nursery Rhyme (Part Two)

Read Part One of the Twentysomething Nursery Rhyme here. 

 

There was a twentysomething who was ready to move out of a shoe.

After talking with Alex Trebeck, she knew exactly what to do.

Since college, she’d gone from working at Starbucks, to a cubicle, every day shackled to a desk.

Then she realized her office chair was imprinted with her own butt grooves, and she felt nothing but unrest.

Enough! No more! My life is supposed to mean more than this!

I’ve wasted years. Writing emails. And honestly I’m really quite pissed.

Picture by L.C. Nottaasen - CC

Life is too short to be cc’d to death. {Tweet that}

I don’t want “…that sums up quarter one. Sincerely, Melinda…” to be my final breath.

I know my parents would say I’m ungrateful. Idealistic. Work is not supposed to be fun.

But there’s too many miserable people for me to be just another one.

So one day Melinda just did it. She quit. She followed the lure.

She couldn’t even spell it, but heck, she was excited to become an entrepenure entrapaneur antraprenure entrepreneur.

It was surreal to pack up four years into one cardboard box.

She knew her company wouldn’t miss her. They’d just chain up her desk to another data-entry-ox.

But that night she tossed and she turned, fear and excitement bubbling over like a science experiment.

What about her loans? Insurance? Could she even afford rent?

Visions of failure terrorized her, turning her face into a scowl.

But then she woke up to a cough, and there sitting in the corner was Mr. American Idol, I mean, the X Factor himself, Mr. Simon Cowell.

 

“Don’t look so shocked. Yes, it’s me. Who’d you expect?

I visit every person on the night of their great leap when they’re feeling suspect.”

 

“Mr. Simon…I think I made a huge mistake.

I can’t do this. I’m not talented enough. I’m clearly a fake.

I should’ve clung to that desk. It was permanent. It was safe.

Who cares if my butt was beginning to chafe.

I can’t do this. I can’t breathe. Oh God, I’m going to be sick.

Tomorrow I’ll plead to have my nameplate back. The dependable, yet dying, Ms. Melinda Vanwick.”

 

“Oh do shut up”, Simon said with a snap.

“Your excuses are deplorable. Your whining such crap.

So you quit your job. Big whoop. Any idiot can do the same.

I don’t mean to be rude, but if you don’t stop this right now then yes, you’ll go up in flames.

This won’t be easy, yes that’s most definitely true.

But playing it safe. Obsessed with comfortable. That’s all such horse sh–, sorry, horse poo.

There’s too many lifeless people too good at being lifeless for you to give them yours.

You know you’re on the right track when the sweat is gushing from your pores.

You’ve got talent. I know this to be true.

But talent means nothing if you’re not willing to crawl unglamorously through miles of horse sh–, sorry, horse poo.

You can’t win if you’re not willing to be embarrassed.

Those who go for it even when petrified, truly are the rarest.

Success is painful work. There’s thousands of hours of practice, and jerks like me telling you to quit.

But you’ll know you’re on the right track when you can look them in the eyes, smile, and say, ‘No thank you. Now please go shove it.’

Offices are overflowed with boring for Millennials to be threatened to join the ranks.

The world is full of insecure people who clamor for compliments and words of thanks.

You must be willing to walk forward alone with no one clamoring for an autograph.

You just take steps forward and refuse the temptation to look back.

If you don’t jump on stage, that’s when it’s guaranteed you’ll never win.

Just sit in the crowd whining that no one will give you a chance. Here let me get out my little violin.

No matter how the movies make it look–being brave is not sexy. {Tweet That}

Most won’t understand you. They’ll just stare at you with disgusted perplexy.

You’ll never know if you can do it if you keep trying to think it through.

Sometimes you have to put your thinker to rest, pack your bags, and just do.

I might be an ass, but I know a thing or two.

And if you’re brave enough to walk forward scared, soon, very soon, you’ll know exactly what to do.

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Missing the 90s? There’s an App for That!

It is guest-post Friday, and today All Groan Up is honored to welcome Alexis Caffrey with some 90s love in today’s tech savvy world. Enjoy!

I won’t say I’m stuck in the 1990s. Because stuck implies you want to get out.

I … appreciate the 1990s. Lovingly. They were my formative years, after all. And any time I see a Bart Simpson T-shirt or Saved By the Bell rerun (still love you, Zack Morris!), I go back.

But I live in 2013. I know this.

Luckily, there are apps that can help take me back to a great time, an age of Full House, The Smashing Pumpkins, jelly shoes, and that Paul O’Neill poster that once hung in my room. (Go Yankees!)

Here are nine apps I have on my smartphone, from a girl who remembers how totally awesome it was to have a cordless telephone in my room (even if it weighed roughly the same as a bowling ball).

Original Photo by Status Frustration – Creative Commons

 

Nine Apps for Those Who Love the 90s

1. Tamagotchi L.i.f.e

I had the Tamagotchi Connection V1 hanging on my keychain when I passed my first driver’s test. Tamagotchi L.i.f.e replicates the handheld digital pixel-pets (mine was named Mikey) in that egg-shaped computer we had to care for. The app really does look and feel like the original!

2. Live Metallica

My parents never let me see Metallica live. I don’t know what the big deal was. But, with Live Metallica, I can download a show. I have three of my favorites saved to the app. I can stream the most recent show they’ve uploaded, for free. Mom still doesn’t get their music, but I do.

3. 90s Music Radio

It’s $.99, and worth more. This app gives you the hip-hop and rock hits that made the 90s the best decade ever. If you don’t want to install yet another music app, you can also check out the 90s stations on apps like Spotify and Pandora—in fact, it’s been reported that radio has made a comeback thanks to cool apps like the ones mentioned (live on Casey Kasem!).

4.

This free-play app feels so authentic. There are updated mazes for a new look, too. And I don’t mind the multipliers this game has to give my score a much-needed boost.

5. Fresh Prince Trivia for Android

Remember chilling out, maxing, relaxing all cool? I do. But how much do you know about Uncle Phil? Could you recognize a Will Smith pickup line? Fresh Prince Trivia has 700 unique questions about the show. You’ll wear your hat sideways with a pair of overalls after playing it (with one strap unbuttoned!)

6. Forest Gump Soundboard for Android

“Life is like a box of chocolates. You never know what you’re gonna get.” Classic quote, right? It’s also my notification sound for text messages.

7. AIM

In the days of gchat and snapchat, AOL lives on. With the AIM app you can chat with one or more friends, and seamlessly move the conversation to your desktop. It also integrates Google Talk and Facebook chat into the app. Obviously you can get by without this $3 app and rely on good-old text messaging to communicate, but it’s worth installing just to have the little yellow AOL running man icon on your phone screen.

8. Nok Hockey

Who can forget playing Nok Hockey for hours in their basement? This time around, your finger replaces the red plastic hockey stick, but that troublesome diamond-shaped goalie will still be blocking your shots. It may be 99 cents, but it’s worth it to beat your best friend one more time: the app allows you to challenge another player. Game on.

9. Andie Graph

Remember when you had to beg mom and dad to spend $80 on that graphing calculator that you needed for trigonometry? Now it’s free (kids are so lucky these days). You have to download the ROM separately, but the Andie Graph serves the same function (and has the same look) as your old TI-82. Forget trig, we’d download it just for the nostalgia factor.

This just sort of reinforces my idea that things really were awesome back in the day. So awesome, there’s an app for that.

I’d love to hear from you in the comments below:

What 90s Apps did I miss? 

Alexis Caffrey is a freelance writer with a focus on technology, new media, and design. In a former life she was a graphic designer based out of New York, NY. She actively (some would say obsessively) follows entertainment news and pop culture. You can reach Alex via her email.

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Behind the Curtain of Following Your Dreams

Today All Groan Up is honored to welcome the talented and wise writer Dana Sitar. Anyone who wants to follow their dreams needs to read this post. 

 

No generation has been more encouraged to follow our own path and pursue our dreams than millennials.

The 80s and 90s we grew up in were all about ME, so as grown-ups we’re naturally focused on How can I make MY life/job/existence better? Luckily the internet makes everything seem possible and allows us to be almost anywhere anytime, so twentysomethings are increasingly taking this road-less-traveled and following our dreams.

Awesome. But also…

Motivational articles and books that focus on You can do it! often glaze over how difficult this road is, so I’d like to share some of my honest experience from building my business online and living a nomadic lifestyle around the U.S.

Photo by Sethoscope - Creative Commons

 

13 Truths Hiding Behind the Curtain

On the other side of leaving your old life behind

is wanting it all back, (just maybe a better version accepted with a wiser heart than you had before).

Following your dreams is realizing everything you’re missing while you go after everything you ever wanted. {Tweet that}

On the other side of being a minimalist

is just wanting to hold something that’s yours. To be in a space no one else will barge into, expect you to leave, or alter as they see fit. To own something of value you can hang on a wall and see every day, not pack in storage for safe-keeping.

On the other side of location independence

is a deep dependence on any small bit of “normal” that touches your life — it might be something healthy like calling your mom every Sunday, or it might be the unhealthy comfort of a bar stool in every town. Either way, you’ll crave it desperately every minute you don’t have it, and when you go just too long without it, you’ll break down into a kind of crazy you didn’t know you had.

On the other side of frugal living

is debt and sacrifice — the stuff people give you that you can never repay, and the stuff you go without because you’re tired of asking for more.

On the other side of independence

is a pervasive loneliness. Whether you have a network of family, friends, and colleagues who stay in touch and send their love or you’re all alone in the desert, eventually living only for yourself by your own rules starts to have low points.

On the other side of living your passion 

is a constant hum of uncertainty and insecurity. You’ll never actually know if you’re good enough or if you’re doing any of it right.

On the road less traveled there is a conspicuous lack of guidelines and signposts. {Tweet that}

On the other side of blazing a trail

is leaving everyone behind you. Most of the people you knew don’t want to be on this path, and the ones who do are bound to trail in your footsteps. You’re going to spend a lot of time alone if you want to stay ahead of the herd.

On the other side of finding yourself

is finding that you’re more like your mother, father, sister, aunts, uncles, cousins, and high school classmates than you ever wanted to be. You may not be stay-in-your-hometown-and-work-at-the-bank similar — but maybe you’re not so move-to-California-to-join-a-commune different, either.

On the other side of being 21 and full of possibility and wonder

is turning 29 and hating that you now believe most of what every cynic tried to tell you eight years ago.

On the other side of a road trip

is an inevitable destination. You may be able to skirt “settling down” for now — or forever — but eventually, you’re going to long to know where you’re headed.

On the other side of everyone gushing, “I wish I could do what you’re doing!”

is someone living a stable, warm, well-fed life you dream about while you follow your dreams.

On the other side of creating something epic 

is a pile of crap you’re afraid to throw away, in case it’s the best you can do.

On the other side of achieving the impossible

is a niece whose first steps you didn’t see, a dad whose birthday you always miss, and a friend whose wedding you won’t make it to.

But on the bright side…

Well, simply put, it’s worth it. That’s all. Doing it, even if only to learn you don’t want to do it anymore, is still worlds better than never doing it at all.

Plus, you’re not going to listen to this. You’re going to follow your dreams anyway, because you’re young and you’re smart enough to know that I have no idea what I’m talking about. And you’re better off learning all these lessons on your own special path, not vicariously through mine.

We’d love to hear from you in the comments below: 

What lesson have you learned while following your dreams? 

Dana Sitar (@danasitar) is an author and digital publishing coach in the service of entrepreneurial writers and writerly entrepreneurs. She encourages a community of budding writers to Stop Dreaming and Start (friggin’) Writing at WritersBucketList.com and shares the good and the bad sides of following her own dreams at her after-hours blog BetweenTwoTowns.

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[video] How to Live Out Your Dream Job

 

What is the secret to actually living out your dream job every day?

How do you find your passion?

For those of us who feel we are destined for more than the 8-5 encased in a cubicle, how do we truly chase our dreams?

Is there truly more than this?

I answer these questions and more in this new video below that I originally presented for the QuarterLife Conference. And the video is ten minutes long. I know ten minutes is like 100 years in Internet time, but it’s worth it. The video is like distilling my book 101 Secrets for your Twenties into a few free minutes of awesome.

Our twenties are setting the course for the rest of our lives. It’s imperative we go down the right trail or risk being stranded in the Rocky Mountains with dysentery and a rattlesnake bite like a bad game of Oregon Trail.

If nothing else, watch the video to hear me tell the story about meeting the Mayor of Starbucks...

If you like this video and want me to bring a message like this live to your group, check out the many topics I cover and how you can book me to come speak to your school, church, business, etc. My passion is to empower college students and twentysomethings (or anyone trying to understand them) with overwhelming amounts of truth, hope, and hilarity as I narrate the twentysomething story. Let’s collaborate.

Snag FREE chapters from my book 101 Secrets for your Twenties.




Grab a piece of 101 Secrets for your Twenties and weekly All Groan Up inspiration and awesome. All. For. Free. Enter your email below.

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The Secret to Being More Successful

 

What if I told you I know the reason why you might not be experiencing more success?

And it’s because of two simple mistakes, that if fixed, would guarantee success from Day One.

I fully expected to walk straight into a crazy-successful twentysomething life with accolades, salaries, bonuses, a big-old-fat-book-deal, and a plethora of people who wanted to learn my secrets to success, all by 23 years old. Maybe 25 if I really hit some serious setbacks.

Instead my twenties felt lathered in UnSuccess.

Nothing went according to plan. My twenties felt like I was sitting on a suitcase on the side of the road just hoping success would drive by and pick me up. Can you relate?

But then a secret to success hit me like a tennis ball to the face hit by Serena Williams–it hurt, but it woke me up.

The Secret to Being More Successful

Let’s start with the video below. Pay close attention. (If you’re reading this by email, you might need to click to the article on All Groan Up to watch).

Pretty crazy right? The video above is an example of the scientific theory called Inattentional Blindness.

Inattentional Blindness def – “The failure to notice an unexpected stimulus that is in one’s field of vision when other attention-demanding tasks are being performed.”

You’re literally blind to the moonwalking bear because your attention is focused elsewhere.

Same for us and success.

The #1 reason you’re not experiencing more success – you’ve never decided what you’re actually looking for.

How can you expect to catch and hold something that you can’t see?

So many of us are blind to success because we’re focused on the wrong things.

We complain about a lack of opportunities as they pass right in front of our face.

We can’t see success because the wrong things are holding our attention. 

We had a dream of making a difference or braggable amounts of money, but we didn’t have a strategic plan on how we were going to get there.

Success was just going to kind of happen.

When the only thing that happened was anxiety, fear, and depression by an apparent lack of it.

As I write in my book 101 Secrets for your Twenties,

Success is the most subjective word in the history of subjective words….If you don’t define success, it will stay an unidentified flying object that you’ll never take a picture of.

Don’t believe me? Go out, stop ten different people, and ask them how they would define personal success.

You’ll get 9 1/2 different answers.

Success is like a chameleon, changing colors depending on the environment.

You must define success for your own life.

How can you pursue success if it’s an urban legend you’ve only heard stories about?

I wrote before on All Groan Up about nostalgia being a sneaky enemy of success. Now it’s time to create a vision for success. Literally write down a few sentences on your definition of success for your life.

Now that you have your vision, here’s one more important MUST to achieving success to make sure your definition becomes an encouraging lifestyle, instead of an overwhelming once-in-a-while.

The Key to Achieving Success

When you’re defining success in your life, remember that success is not only in the positive outcome.

The heart of success is in positive, consistent every-day-ness.

Success is in the hours of hard work, the good decisions, and perseverance that leads to the positive outcome.

Success happens in achieving small obtainable goals, each one a new thread in weaving a great work.

Really the billboard moment when people pat you on the back for “achieving success” is not really true success. The positive outcome really is more a product of success, not actually the success itself.

Success happens in the details.

If success is only in the final outcome, then you’ll rarely feel like a success and the positive outcomes will be rare and few between.

If you’re able to cultivate the success of the every day, then you are a success, not just experiencing random spurts of it.

If you define success and take one step towards it today, you are a success.

Don’t just experience success. Be a success. 

I’d love to hear from you in the comments below:

Share your 1-2 sentence definition of success. 

Snag FREE chapters from my book 101 Secrets for your Twenties.




Grab a piece of 101 Secrets for your Twenties and weekly All Groan Up inspiration and awesome. All. For. Free. Enter your email below.

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The Next Big Thing at All Groan Up

This has been the most difficult blog post I’ve ever had to write.

I’ve tried for two weeks and have come up only with anxiety attacks and “I swear I’ll to it tomorrow.”

The thing is I’ve been wanting to write this exact post for years, so why now is it so difficult?

Well, I guess this feels extremely personal to me and I feel naked.

Two. Once I put this out there, I guess I feel there is no turning back. The finality feels slightly like I’m trying to breathe into a balloon.

Three. The old insecurities and fears that I thought I’d stared down enough times to have them turn tail and run, found friends and are doing their best to make one last epic final stand.

Well, enough. I have news. Big news. Exciting news. And I need to tell you another big secret.

Time to Make My Leap

I have officially quit my 8-5 job in marketing– a job I liked that was surrounded with amazing people, to fully pursue what I’ve been unable to stop doing for the last eight years.

To empower twentysomethings with authentic strategies for success by offering overwhelming amounts of truth, hope, and hilarity as I narrate the unfolding story of my generation, and for my generation.

I am now a full time writer, speaker, and solopreneur.

The Story

This last year has been the most intense, exciting, and exhausting years of my life. It started with 21 Secrets for your 20s going viral and led to the release of my debut book 101 Secrets for your Twenties–a book I had about a month and half to write, and have almost killed myself over in the process as I tried to make it the best it could be and give it a chance to succeed.

Plus throw in children of the 10-month and two-and-a-half year old variety, and things have been slightly busy.

I thought after the release of 101 Secrets for your Twenties in July that life would kind of slow down back to normal. But it hasn’t.

I’ve been amazed with more radio interviews than I can count, social media shout outs, life-changing emails from readers, plugs on Huffington Post and countless other websites, more opportunities to travel and speak, a recent article I wrote for Relevant Magazine going viral and being read over a million times, and basically the ability and path to pursue my passion –

To tell the twentysomething story in an honest, hopeful, and hilarious way that is beyond what the “experts” are saying.

To create community and a sense of togetherness.

To give inspiration, insight, and challenges.

To authentically share our struggles and victories as well.

I’m going all in with this because I believe our unfolding story needs to be told right.

What I’m Doing Right Now

I’m going at full-speed as we speak. I just flew from San Diego to Georgia and am leading a week-long workshop right now at the amazing Center for Global Action where I’ve had the honor of working with 55 twentysomethings as we create their brand, define who they are, clarify their vision and guide them into the future with strategies and secrets to truly being successful in their twenties. It’s been amazing.

Leading a workshop at the Center for Global Action

I’m next going to a conference in Atlanta called Catalyst, and then flying to Indiana to do a keynote speech at Manchester University.

Everything keeps going faster and faster and I’m trying to keep up. It’s like holding onto the top of an Audi on the highway — exhilarating and terrifying.

The Next Big Things at All Groan Up

I have big ideas coming for All Groan Up. I want this conversation to grow. I want interaction to be more authentic. I want to offer more tools and resources to help twentysomethings truly succeed. If you have anything you’d like to see on All Groan Up, I’d love to hear from you as well.

Also if you’d like me to come speak at your business, church, or school, check out my speaking page to see the range of topics I can cover and what people have been saying about the experience. I’d love to chat with you about how I can be of service.

Thank You!

Thank you for your support, encouragement, and inspiration over these incredible past few years. None of this happens if it wasn’t for the amazing community here at All Groan Up. I love what we’ve built together here and am excited to see what we’re going to do next.

Let’s tell and live our story right! Who’s with me? 

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Life Will Never Feel Like It’s “Supposed To”

Below is an excerpt of Secret #6 from my book 101 Secrets for your Twenties  

When is my life going to feel like it’s supposed to?

Dan landed an amazing job right out of college.

Stacy knew she was going to marry Frank, her soul-mate, two minutes into their first date.

Heather is on the cover of Mom’s Inc. taking care of her three kids, whilst knitting sweaters for kids in Uganda — all with perfect hair.

Why can’t my life be more like theirs? When am I going to experience the success I am supposed to? I’ve asked that question exactly 4,399 times and now at 29 I think I’m catching a whiff of the answer.

Never.

Life will never feel like it’s supposed to.

Because what the heck is “supposed to”? Does Jersey Shore, The Office, or Modern Family tell me? Is it our Facebook friends? Our parents? Brother? Sister? Job? Who holds the blueprint for my life — down to the amount of kids, salary and size of my house? Who decides “supposed to”?

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Not living up to “supposed to” stokes my Quarter-Life Crisis and prompts me to eat a tube of raw cookie dough while watching House Hunters – cursing all the happy couples who have an extra $650,000 lying around.

Why am I searching for “supposed to” like a mad scientist who’s given his life to finding the Loch Ness Monster? I’m ready to turn that channel.

The single greatest truth about being successful in your 20′s and 30′s — There is no “supposed to”.

“Supposed to” is a lie. A fairy tale. It is the stealer of peace and productivity. It is the leading cause of Obsessive Comparison Disorder with everyone who “has it better.”

Because no one has it all figured out. No one holds their first child with all the answers. Not many walk right into their passion from the graduation stage. Not everyone gets married like they’re “supposed to” or climbs the corporate ladder full of broken rungs.

If we keep trying to live other people’s lives, who’s going to live ours?

As I first wrote in 21 Secrets for Your 20s, being twentysomething can feel like death by unmet expectations. However, you are right now, at this moment, exactly where you need to be. You’ll just only be able to see that five years from today.

Let go of “supposed to”. Tie an anvil around it’s neck and throw it out to sea.

 If we’re always trying to live like we’re “supposed to”, we’re never going to freaking live.

Snag FREE chapters from my book 101 Secrets for your Twenties.




Grab a piece of 101 Secrets for your Twenties and weekly All Groan Up inspiration and awesome. All. For. Free. Enter your email below.

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5 Career Lessons from Sesame Street

Today’s guest post on All Groan Up is from Reyna Ramli. Enjoy!

“Grownups never seem to understand anything by themselves, and it is tiresome for children to be always and forever explaining things to them.”- Antoine de Saint-Exupéry, The Little Prince.

We all loved Sesame Street. With its outlandish characters, lessons of caring and sharing and subtle political messages (what?), it was as much a staple of our childhoods as apple pie and grass burns from falling off the water slide.

Now you’re a grown up (yes, sorry, you have to be) and you’ve entered the workforce, here are five of the valuable Sesame Street lessons that you can apply to your own career.

5 Career Lessons from Sesame Street

1.    Opportunities (like friends) come in all shapes and sizes.

Do you remember Kermit’s song, “It Ain’t Easy Being Green?” Kermit taught us that it’s okay to be nerdy, awkward and green. His best friends Big Bird and Snuffleupagus were hardly cookie-cutter characters, yet they all learned to get along and they each brought something new and unique to the group.

Sesame Street Career Lesson: Opportunities are like friends – if you never look beneath the surface, you’ll never know what gems might lie inside. So accept that meeting request to the unpromising out-of-town startup, despite the fact it’s a pain to get to and nobody’s ever heard of it. You might be missing the opportunity to work with the next Apple.

2.    Never underestimate the power of a helping hand from a friend.

One of the most often-stated values on Sesame Street is that we all have the power to share our spoils and help each other out. Ernie and Bert taught us about the many benefits of learning to share – whether that be sharing your room, your things, or your successes.

Sesame Street Career Lesson: Learning to share in business means not keeping all the glory for yourself. Spreading the praise liberally around your own team, or working collaboratively with a rival firm rather than against them can bring big gains in terms of goodwill.

Photo by the USO - Creative Commons

3.    Always listen to others

Big Bird was one of the most beloved character in Sesame Street because he represents the child in all of us. He sees the world through the eyes of an innocent, and doesn’t understand ‘adult’ concepts like guile or sarcasm. Kids love him because he genuinely listens when the kids on the show talk to him.

Sesame Street Career Lesson: Try to listen with an open heart when someone in your company comes to you with an issue or a concern. The more approachable you are, the more likely you are to learn of problems before they become big problems.

4.    Earn respect through honesty

When the actor who played Mr.Hooper died of a heart attack, it would have been easy for writers to brush this under the carpet. Instead, they made a boldly controversial move: they revealed during the episode that Mr.Hooper had died. Rather than getting letters of complaint, the episode was widely praised for helping teach kids about death.

Sesame Street Career Lesson: When things go wrong in business, it’s tempting to sweep them under the carpet. But by coming clean with customers or co-workers, you lay the foundations for a stronger, more trusting business relationship.

5.    Don’t mistake wealth for success in life.

The Cookie Monster is everyone’s favorite because of his single minded quest for one thing: cookies! His obsession with this delicious treat consumes his life, although he will eat other things – plants, lamps, posts, and at one point he even tries to eat Kermit!

Sesame Street Career Lesson: Be like the Cookie Monster. Although he is not rich, so long as he has cookies, he is happy. Ask yourself what your ‘cookies’ are – whether it be mentoring, little league coaching, raising a family or raising a startup from the ground – and make sure you indulge as often as possible for a healthy work-life balance.

Reyna Ramli is a writer for CyberCoders.com, technology company that is dedicated to match skillful job seekers with great companies. When Reyna is not writing, she enjoys cooking, working out, and reading fashion blogs and magazines. Follow Reyna on Twitter!

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