Wisdom from Steve Holmes

I was reminded recently about a piece of wisdom I received back in 1992 from CV writer Steve Holmes . It went as follows:-

It's a privilege to have a decent job these days. And in the future we're going to have to do some actual work, for reasonable but not lavish reward, competing with people who couldn't care less about our precious egos.

Clients are looking for nice people, modestly team minded, able and willing to work hard to get things done. You don't have to be interesting or special, just efficient and, above all, willing to do the job they will pay you for.

Many people have numeric and technical ability but very few indeed have high-level language skills and even less the imagination to communicate what the other needs to hear than what they think they want to say!

Steve is still crafting fine CV's. He can be contacted these days at http://cv-masterclass.com

Working For Your (Inner) Self

Now, money is very useful. Everything in "modern life" is geared to it. You need as much of this fine stuff as possible. If you already have a regular private income or have enough stashed away to keep you going for the rest of your days, then you don't really need to carry on reading this stuff. Just do as you please.

Otherwise, "money should be made first and last." It's nice to be generous. There are stories of Bedu in Arabia literally giving away all they possessed to strangers! Noble perhaps, but not very wise (what happened after the stranger had moved on, one wonders). It's probably best to be generous only with your time. Or better still, overcome the need to be generous at all! Do you really owe anything to anybody else? And contrary to popular myth (but as Huey Lewis correctly sang), "time ain't money". If you disagree, try buying your groceries with it!

Although the "alternative economy" advocates a barter-based system of exchange, the rest of the world might not agree just yet. Anyway, be stingy with your hard-earned cash. Weigh the spending of each and every penny!

"Work", in the commonly understood sense, may be defined as activity to generate income. Work as little as possible, then, and as much as necessary to cover your needs. What work can an enlightened person do to earn his living? Unfortunately, generating income usually involves interaction with others.

In general, when you are in need of funds, you should always "follow the money". Whenever there is a man prepared to pay (ie, when the work is there, and the guy is calling for you, which means that you don't have to go through the ordeal of "selling yourself") - take it on and do it! As long as by so doing you are not compromising your principles too much.

But work honestly and clear the work you are paid to do. There will be time enough for leisure when there is no work available.

When you boil it all down, any kind of work is little better than any other. Working for someone else always involves the tension of the "master-servant" relationship. Even in a service environment like being "self-employed" through an agent. The true test is whether you have to follow hours set by someone else! The only way to be free of this tension is to be self-employed and selling something that you produce or offer yourself. No need for a CV when you reach that happy state of affairs.

On the other hand, your real work is what is sometimes referred to as your "life's work". This is what you were born to do. Your true vocation. And nothing to do with "career" and "on-target earnings" and all the rest of that 1980's nonsense. If you have organized things properly, or are just very lucky, your life's work and work to earn your living should be one and the same. This should definitely be one of your main aims. Otherwise, your life's work may have to be continued on an as-and-when basis, or wait until you are in a position to retire from earning altogether.

That great sage Henry David Thoreau wisely stated: "If the day and the night are such that you greet them with joy – that is your success." No need, then, for "careers" and such to follow. No need to be in the rat race, or a hamster in the wheel!

Freelance self-employed is the preferred mode. Suitable vocations for the solitary worker include, for example the computer programmer, the painter (as in artist, not decorator), or the writer. These all traditionally evoke an image of impoverishment for the majority and financial success but for the few. For instance, poets of yore typically took a vow of poverty and lived in their garrets. Yes, they were just like us! Would they have made more of a contribution beavering away on someone's payroll? Doubtful. Can you name even one labourer or assembly-line worker that history has remembered?

Self-employed tradesmen (such as the electrician, the mechanic, the plumber etc.) can probably earn more than poets, but on the other hand are more exposed to the stress of the so-called "real world". No, you're better off living simply (cheaply) and "working" only when absolutely necessary, in my humble opinion.

The Legend of the HOFIT

The "Hands-On Fixit Techie" has a certain attitude, a state of mind, a particular mind-set. Without arrogance, he is quietly confident in his own abilities. Self-sufficient, he is a survivor in today's technical world. Not feeling a need to go along with the latest fads, he can commune with any machine, new or old. Any tool, anything technical, is useful and can become alive in his hands.

Calmly thinking in terms of a better way, he will always find one. Although often working swiftly and efficiently, he knows that sometimes taking the time to do things properly can make a world of a difference.

Some may consider him a loner. But he can be animated in the company of those he considers worthy. Otherwise he cares little for the expectations of others and finds solace in the elegance often found in machines. In fact, technology, and his work in it, are his real friends. Disdainful of politics and religion, he attains an inner peace and an outer freedom. His mind is simply on a different level. A pilgrim seeking truth and wisdom, perhaps. Internationalist in outlook and freelance by inclination, he is, above all, a practical guy.

Stay Cool!

If you do not let the world in, if it seems unchanged, it can cause you no pain. Never let anything bother or surprise you. Be resolved to accept anything and nothing.

Know what you want from life, and if what you want is within reach, take it and be content. - the Hannis maxim.

Let patience be your primary weapon. Do what is needed to get what you want, and then live the sort of life you want to live.

Keep the faith. Allow yourself the time to do anything and everything you do well. Or, put another way, if you're not seeking perfection, why carry on experimenting? - advice I gave to a friend in January 1997.