CMK READS : SIMPLE PRINCIPLES TO EXCEL AT YOUR JOB

If your friend ask you this random question: 
"Do you love your job?" 

What would be your answer? Or 
"Why do you love your job?

 I bet that would be an hour long teteatete.

I am a fan of inspirational books but I don't dig so much of How-To books.

I find them too procedural (obviously). That changed when I first opened this 

book randomly in a bookstore. Firstly, the PRICE! It's less than Php 100.

For 268 pages with simple chunk bite suggestions, it's definitely a keeper.

That's just the start, flipping through its pages goes beyond inspirational, 

for me, it's life changing and it makes me love my job more. 

I can't help but to share my post last year called

 Happy 1st Job post (click HERE) and yes the love affair is still counting.

DETAILS:

TITLE:  SIMPLE PRINCIPLES TO EXCEL AT YOUR JOB

AUTHOR: Alex A. Lluch

PUBLISHER: WS Publishing Group
PRICE: Php 95.00 

BOUGHT AT: National Bookstore, Greenbelt

Here are my Top 5 favorite principles from the book: 

"Book about working telling us to take a break? It's contradicting." You might mutter. If we'll look at it closely, I think it makes perfect sense. Too much of something is bad enough. Spice girls holler. There's a truth in it. Little breaks can rejuvenate you. Personally, I feel a different kind of energy when I get back to work even after a one-day leave. Much more energy when I go back to work from traveling! 

As short as a coffee cup break or as long as a 4-day out-of-country hiatus, point is you have to STOP for a while to rekindle the fire. Still talking about work here.

When I was a newbie in the corporate world, I dreaded to take the blame. Do you remember your fresh-from-college self when you thought you HAVE to put your best foot forward all the time? It's tiring. Most of all, whether you admit your share of the blame or not, your boss knows it anyway. Like it or not, he or she is there for a reason. And by experience, boss knows a lot about us than what we think they do.

On a personal level, people will be drawn to love you if you let them take the credit and you getting the blame. Just don't forget to be sincere and truthful when doing these things. We don't want to be a door mat or something. However, when taken using a correct context, this tip will let your co-workers love you more.

 I know what you're thinking. You don't like this idea either. HA! We're on the same boat, my friend. Not until I put my feet on my boss' shoes. Imagine you're the boss and your subordinate is here, humbly asking you for more responsibility. What will you feel? Is there such a thing as promote-able? This book is just so... clever!

Let's be realistic. Mistakes are inevitable. Specially if you're a newbie. But this should not give us a license to screw up on every occasion. Each mistake should be a learning experience. Now, granted that you made a mishap, have the courage (and humility, coupled with the right words) to say SORRY in a professional way. There's no template to put across these words. It depends on your superior's temperament, gravity of your offense, etc.

Don't be fooled into thinking your mishap will go away just like that. At the very least, find a way to let your boss know that you acknowledge your mistakes, you're apologetic, and next time you'll do good. With a good approach like that, who won't give you second chances?

A very tricky principle. Operative word: ALWAYS. It is about the money, sure. But not always. We work to earn our wages, sure. But to trample and go on a brawl just to get a 5% raise, well, this will take you nowhere sooner rather than later. 

If a promotion would mean less time with your family or loved ones, is it worth it? Only you can answer these questions. Whatever it is, just weigh the pros and cons of things. And remember that your well being is definitely more important than any money in the world! You'd rather have a healthy body, laugh trip with friends and sound prayer time in exchange for a little raise with tensions all around. Gawk. But then again, it's always your choice. ☺

Aside from its statistics that's always based on American data, I can't think of any wishful thoughts about this book. For less than a hundred, all these insights will be yours. Good to know that it's also relatively small, perfect for an hour long me-time at your favorite coffee shop! 

We're all a work in progress.

 We can start from there. 

And be better each day! -CMK