When you simply don’t have the drive or if you feel you’re on a dead end road, it just may be time for a change. One of the best ways to get motivated is to understand our innermost desires. Some call it taking pride in a job well done. Others think of it as perfection hunger. Whatever you call it, it may be useful to consider how others have chosen to share their thoughts on the matter.

• Be not afraid of greatness. Some are born great, some achieve greatness, and some have greatness thrust upon ‘em. — William Shakespeare
• You are never too old to set another goal or to dream a new dream. — C. S. Lewis
• Having a dream, living that dream, losing that dream, dreaming again and then having that dream come true again is one of the greatest feelings ever because I`m stronger. — Aaron Carter
• Nothing in the universe can stop you from letting go and starting over. — Guy Finley
• I know for sure that what we dwell on is who we become. — Oprah Winfrey
• That which doesn’t kill us makes us stronger. — Friedrich Nietzsche
• It is never too late to be what you might have been. — George Eliot
• What lies behind us and what lies before us are tiny matters compared to what lies within us. — Henry Stanley Haskins
• All our dreams can come true – if we have the courage to pursue them. — Walt Disney
• Life is 10% what happens to me and 90% how I react to it. — Charles R. Swindoll
• There are two primary choices in life: to accept conditions as they exist, or accept the responsibility for changing them. — Denis Waitley
• An obstacle is often a stepping stone. — Prescott
• The journey of a thousand miles begins with one step. — Lao Tzu
• The man who has confidence in himself gains the confidence of others. — Hasidic proverb
• Do not go where the path may lead, go instead where there is no path and leave a trail. — Anonymous
• Be kind whenever possible. It is always possible. — Dalai Lama
• After a storm comes a calm. — Matthew Henry
• A creative man is motivated by the desire to achieve, not by the desire to beat others. — Ayn Rand
• If you’re going through hell, keep going. — Winston Churchill
• With the new day comes new strength and new thoughts. — Eleanor Roosevelt
• Be miserable. Or motivate yourself. Whatever has to be done, it’s always your choice. — Wayne Dyer
• The will to win, the desire to succeed, the urge to reach your full potential… these are the keys that will unlock the door to personal excellence. — Confucius
• Always continue the climb. It is possible for you to do whatever you choose, if you first get to know who you are and are willing to work with a power that is greater than ourselves to do it. — Ella Wheeler Wilcox
• As a man sow, shall he reap. and I know that talk is cheap. But the heat of the battle is as sweet as the victory. — Bob Marley
• I don’t believe you have to be better than everybody else. I believe you have to be better than you ever thought you could be. — Ken Venturi
• Our greatest weakness lies in giving up. The most certain way to succeed is always to try just one more time. — Thomas A. Edison
• If you can dream it, you can do it. — Walt Disney
• Learn from the past, set vivid, detailed goals for the future, and live in the only moment of time over which you have any control: now. — Denis Waitley
• Even if you fall on your face, you’re still moving forward. — Victor Kiam
• Do you want to know who you are? Don’t ask. Act! Action will delineate and define you. — Thomas Jefferson
• When you reach the end of your rope, tie a knot in it and hang on. — Thomas Jefferson
• Expect problems and eat them for breakfast. — Alfred A. Montapert
• By failing to prepare, you are preparing to fail. — Benjamin Franklin
• Act as if what you do makes a difference. It does. — William James
• Either you run the day or the day runs you. — Jim Rohn
• Always desire to learn something useful. — Sophocles
• If you want to succeed you should strike out on new paths, rather than travel the worn paths of accepted success. — John D. Rockefeller
• Determine never to be idle. No person will have occasion to complain of the want of time who never loses any. It is wonderful how much may be done if we are always doing. — Thomas Jefferson
• Be gentle to all and stern with yourself. — Saint Teresa of Avila
• What you get by achieving your goals is not as important as what you become by achieving your goals. — Henry David Thoreau
• I’ve worked too hard and too long to let anything stand in the way of my goals. I will not let my teammates down and I will not let myself down. — Mia Hamm
• Opportunity does not knock, it presents itself when you beat down the door. — Kyle Chandler
• Things do not happen. Things are made to happen. — John F. Kennedy
• Problems are not stop signs, they are guidelines. — Robert H. Schuller
• Well done is better than well said. — Benjamin Franklin
• Quality is not an act, it is a habit. — Aristotle
• The harder the conflict, the more glorious the triumph. — Thomas Paine
• What you do today can improve all your tomorrows. — Ralph Marston
• Never complain and never explain. — Benjamin Disraeli
• Set your goals high, and don’t stop till you get there. — Bo Jackson
• You can’t build a reputation on what you are going to do. — Henry Ford
• Leap, and the net will appear. — John Burroughs
• The first step toward success is taken when you refuse to be a captive of the environment in which you first find yourself. — Mark Caine
• It’s always too early to quit. — Norman Vincent Peale
• Begin to be now what you will be hereafter. — William James
• Crave for a thing, you will get it. Renounce the craving, the object will follow you by itself. — Swami Sivananda
• Who seeks shall find. — Sophocles
• The hardships that I encountered in the past will help me succeed in the future. — Philip Emeagwali
• Setting goals is the first step in turning the invisible into the visible. — Tony Robbins
• When you fail you learn from the mistakes you made and it motivates you to work even harder. — Natalie Gulbis
• You can never quit. Winners never quit, and quitters never win. — Ted Turner
• The most effective way to do it, is to do it. — Amelia Earhart
• The secret of getting ahead is getting started. — Mark Twain
• Perseverance is not a long race; it is many short races one after the other. — Walter Elliot
• Perseverance is failing 19 times and succeeding the 20th. — Julie Andrews
• Ask, and it shall be given you; seek, and ye shall find; knock, and it shall be opened unto you. — Jesus

When you’re searching your soul for new resolutions, consult your enthusiasm. And, while you’re at it, think about the origin of of that particular term. Enthusiasm is rooted in the Greek en Theos which means God within!

When we align our objectives with the Divine will, when we strive for the attainment of a worthy goal, when we begin our work with a well defined plan, and when we have ability to work together with others effectively, we have already achieved the trajectory for success. For we know that “all things work together for good to them that love God, to them who are the called according to his purpose.”
All service is sacred in the spiritual world. Our celestial associates appreciate our efforts because they know there is no such thing as menial work. One minor change in perspective can turn the necessary but mundane task into an exhilarating, even fascinating, experience. The key is in seeing the parts within the whole or the forest from the trees.
Good management always involves three main processes: The probative, the directive, and the perfective. These become cyclical once any initiative comes to life.
We think of the probative as the assessment phase. It involves questions such as: “Should we be doing this?” “What resources, both human and material, can be brought to bear?” and “How can we best convey our findings to those who will be engaged in planning?”
The directive includes developing and refining plans in light of prior findings. Working even the best of plans usually involves some amount of improvisation the first time through. This is why managers are often selected on the basis of “Who’s best qualified to wing it.” They also possess a core skill set that includes an understanding of team dynamics, attention to an appropriate level of detail, and effective communications.
Perfective phasing is also known as the Virtuous Cycle. This includes a debrief, a post-mortem of sorts. “What went well?” and “What didn’t go so well” are at the top of the list for questions asked. Individual team members are encouraged to share their experiences, to reach a deeper understanding of any lessons learned, in ways that might benefit the whole team as well as those who depend upon them.
The cycle then repeats as the assessors consider the lessons learned in light of any additional and available resources that may be of value.
Whether you jump on a shovel for a living, or manage a multi-national corporation, this assess, direct, and perfect routine can help you. It applies to self-discipline just as it does to corporate governance. Self-mastery is a pre-requisite to the effective management of others.
At the Aevia Institutes of Management, we believe that developing an Appreciation for the Enduring Value of Individual Advancement (AEVIA) also benefits the organization, the nation, and the world. That’s why our management curriculum has an initial focus on such basic skills as managing your time. Your first step in the successful pursuit of a management career begins here:

In the 1930s, after a prolonged nonviolent struggle, Sweden and Norway “fired” the top 1 percent of people who set the direction for society and thereby created the basis for something different. When the 1 percent was in charge, both countries had a history of horrendous poverty as hundreds of thousands emigrated to avoid starvation.
Under the leadership of the working class both countries built robust and successful economies that nearly eliminated poverty, expanded free university education, abolished slums, provided excellent health care available to all as a matter of right and created a system of full employment.
The Swedes and Norwegians paid a price for their standards of living through nonviolent struggle. There was a time when Scandinavian workers didn’t expect that the electoral arena could deliver the change they believed in. They realized that, with the 1 percent in charge, electoral “democracy” was stacked against them, so nonviolent direct action was needed to exert the power for change.
In both countries, the troops were called out to defend the 1 percent; people died. Award-winning Swedish filmmaker Bo Widerberg told the Swedish story vividly in Ådalen 31, which depicts the strikers killed in 1931 and the sparking of a nationwide general strike.
In Norway labor seized the three largest banks, fired the top management, left the stockholders without a dime and refused to bail out any of the smaller banks. The well-purged Norwegian financial sector was not one of those countries that lurched into crisis in 2008; carefully regulated and much of it publicly owned, the sector was solid.
Society’s high level of freedom and broadly-shared prosperity began in both countries when workers and farmers, along with middle class allies, waged a nonviolent struggle that empowered the people to govern for the common good.
Consider the Source – Sweden
Consider the Source – Norway

When confronted with any of the following three people—and you have found it impossible to change their ways, say goodbye. These people passive-aggressively block innovation from happening and will suck the energy out of any organization.
1. The Victims
“I wanted a happy culture. So I fired all the unhappy people.” — A Successful CEO
Victims are people who see problems as occasions for persecution rather than challenges to overcome. Just when you think everything is humming along perfectly, they find something, anything, to complain about. So if you want an innovative team, you simply can’t include victims.
2. The Nonbelievers
“If you think you can or think you cannot, you are correct.” — Henry Ford
The link between believing and succeeding is incredibly powerful and real. Great leaders understand this. They find and promote believers within their organizations. They also understand the cancerous effect that nonbelievers have on a team and will cut them out of the organization quickly and without regret.
3. The Know-It-Alls
“This ‘telephone’ has too many shortcomings to be seriously considered as a means of communication. The device is inherently of no value to us.” — Western Union internal memo, 1876.
The best innovators are learners, not knowers. The same can be said about innovative cultures; they are learning cultures. The leaders who have built these cultures, either through intuition or experience, know that in order to discover, they must eagerly seek out things they don’t understand and jump right into the deep end of the pool. They must fail fearlessly and quickly and then learn and share their lessons with the team. When they behave this way, they empower others around them to follow suit—and presto, a culture of discovery is born and nurtured.
Aevia — Consider the Source

In 1892, the U.S. government placed a help-wanted ad in The New York Times. The person sought was “a computer.” To be considered, the successful candidate would be required to pass an algebra, geometry, trigonometry, and astronomy exam.

Spanish debt has again been in the firing line on financial markets after a review for possible downgrade from credit rating agency Moody’s on Friday. It cited weak growth and hefty regional spending as key challenges for the euro zone’s fourth largest economy.
Spain’s prime minister called early elections on Friday, gambling that a summer jobs boom may allow his Socialists to snatch victory despite economic stagnation that has contributed to the euro zone’s debt crisis. Although polls suggest the conservative opposition will easily win the Nov. 20 vote, Socialists have narrowed the gap in recent months as the economy begins to show faint signs of recovery.
Most economists expect strong employment figures during the tourism season, a key driver of the Spanish economy.
Aevia — Consider the Source

Start with the basics
Questions that will guide your job search
• What am I good at?
• What do I really enjoy doing?
 
Define your skills
Your Unique Value Proposition (UVP) tells a prospective employer why they would want to hire you. To define your UVP ask yourself:
• What are my core skill sets (i.e. team building, product development, closing sales…etc.)?
• How have I utilized these skills in the past?
• How transferable are these core skills?
• What value add can I bring to an employer?
 
Structure your Resume
A Resume is not a mere chronological list of jobs
• Your resume is not an autobiography.
• Make your resume relevant to the opportunity. Make it adaptable and modular to show how your core skills are appropriate for the role you seek.
• Build your resume using your career highlights while underscoring your core skills.
• Your resume is a ‘value proposition’ that demonstrates how you can add value to the employer.
• Seek out advice on your resume and be prepared to take criticism – your resume is a means to a desirable end.
• Never add anything in a resume that you are not prepared to demonstrate or elaborate on.
• Stick to the facts – not opinions.
• Include testimonials with your resume. This is particularly relevant for candidates who have come from a management environment where delivery was key.
 
Get the Interview
Your resume has but one purpose, to focus a prospective employer on your positive attributes. Approach each opportunity as though it were your first. Avoid the ‘negative spiral’ of a frustrated job seeker. This becomes increasingly important the longer the search goes on. Enhance your chances of obtaining your ideal role by staying focused on your abilities, their fit and their function within your prospective new role:
• What are your major career accomplishments?
• What were the ultimate ‘outcomes’
• How did you achieve these successes?
• Is the core activity replicable?
• What challenges did you overcome along the way?
• Which of your core skills were utilized?
Don’t forget to obtain testimonials and references to validate these achievements.
 
And finally
Listen to others. Always be prepared to take advice. Make yourself available for the best opportunities by being proactive and demonstrating tenacity.

Ordinary intuitions about integrity tend to allow that integrity is both a formal relation to the self and that it has something to do with acting morally. How these two intuitions can be incorporated into a consistent theory of integrity is not obvious, and most accounts of integrity tend to focus on one of these intuitions to the detriment of the other. A number of accounts have been advanced, the most important of them being: (i) integrity as the integration of self; (ii) integrity as maintenance of identity; (iii) integrity as standing for something; (iv) integrity as moral purpose; and (v) integrity as a virtue.
On the self-integration view of integrity, integrity is a matter of persons integrating various parts of their personality into a harmonious, intact whole. Understood in this way, the integrity of persons is analogous to the integrity of things: integrity is primarily a matter of keeping the self intact and uncorrupted. We might say that a display of strength of will is a particular relation between a person’s intention and corresponding action: it is a matter of acting on an intention given serious obstacles to the action. This is a formal relation to the self in the sense we are after because we don’t need to evaluate the appropriateness, value, justice, practical wisdom, and so on, either of the intention or corresponding action in order to identify the whole thing as a case of strength of will.
A conception of integrity as a virtue is compatible with the existence of constraints. Profound moral failure may be an independent defeater of integrity, just as hypocrisy, fanaticism and the like are defeaters of integrity. One might judge as internal to our conception of the virtue the idea that integrity is incompatible with major failures of moral imagination or moral courage, or with the maintenance of wholly unreasonable moral principles or opinions. On such a view, the Nazi could not, all things considered, be regarded as a person of integrity. The Nazi may be a self-deceiver and a liar (which is highly probable), but even if he is not, his principles and his actions are not rationally defensible under any coherent moral view. And this latter fact may by itself justify the judgment that the Nazi lacks the virtue of integrity.
Because integrity involves managing various commitments and values, one might conjecture that such types of integrity are simply manifestations of a person’s overall integrity, or of their personal integrity. If there is a radical disjunction between the type of integrity which is demanded in one sphere of life and another, integrity overall, or personal integrity, may be undermined, or at least profoundly challenged.
Theories of morally correct action generally aspire to develop criteria by which to categorize actions as morally obligatory, morally permissible, or morally impermissible. Some theories of morally correct action also introduce the category of the supererogatory: an action is supererogatory if and only if it is morally praiseworthy, but not obligatory.
If social educational structures fail to facilitate the life of integrity, other structures may be positively hostile to it. Arguably, and despite what might seem like overwhelming choice, job markets are structured by financial and other incentives, restricted opportunities and economic rents. The result is that many people choose careers they do not really want and for which they are barely suited. There are other perhaps more straightforward ways in which social and cultural structures may be inimical to the pursuit of integrity.
Any attempt to strive for integrity has to take account of the effect of social and political context. The kind of society which is likely to be more conducive to integrity is one which enables people to develop and make use of their capacity for critical reflection, one which does not force people to take up particular roles because of their sex or race or any other reason, and one which does not encourage individuals to betray each other, either to escape prison or to advance their career. Societies and political structures can be both inimical and favorable to the development of integrity, sometimes both at once.
. . . There’s much more at the source!
Aevia — Consider the Source

Around 100 students are expected to enroll this year in EDGE (Educating and Developing Workers for the Green Economy), a public-private partnership that offers industrial and technical certificate programs in biofuels and biotech production, analysis and processing.
EDGE’s first certificate course began in March at MiraCosta community college in northern San Diego County, and a second set of students will start classes this summer. Tuition will be waved the first two years as the program is tweaked, and course materials will later be packaged for nationwide distribution. A Masters of Advanced Science will be offered next year through the University of California, San Diego for biotech entrepreneurs.
The one-year-old EcoTech Institute near Denver, which earlier this month unveiled a new $10 million flagship campus that will host up to 1,200 students. Some 250 students have been enrolled since last July in two-year associate’s degree programs for wind and solar energy technology, electrical engineering technology, energy efficiency, environmental technology and general renewable energy training.
Where California and Colorado are readying employees for whole new professions, Nevada is looking to recruit new talent and update skills of mature workers for its decades-old geothermal industry. This summer, the National Geothermal Academy will offer its first set of eight weeklong courses on geothermal energy development and utilization at the University of Nevada, Reno.
Aevia — Consider the Source