Monday, November 17, 2008

What is the Formula for Success?

Alright, I've been thinking a lot lately. Which is good, because I don't get to do too much of that most of the time(hence the lack of consistent posting). What is it I have been thinking about you ask? The formula for Success(Ok, I guess that was obvious from the title). Why do some people become millionaires, and others retail workers? What does it take become more than average, to do what you want in life and be happy? What does it even mean to be successful? Maybe some people are just lucky. Perhaps they simply have something that we don't. Like that smart kid in class who gets A's on every test and always knows the answer to every question.

And then I realised something. It's exactly that kind of thinking that gets you nowhere. Accepting what you have and thinking you will never be able to achieve more. Its like when you look at a seemingly impossible math problem and just accept that you can't figure it out. You give up before you even try, or you try and then give up because you can't figure it out at first. So, what must you do to be able to achieve your goals? Beleive you can do it. Remove the doubts and blocks in your mind that tell you you can't. Only then will you be able to move forward. And if you fail the first time, don't accept defeat. Keep trying until you get it. Never think to yourself, "this is impossible". By doing so, you have already failed.

This is stuff you probably heard or read somewhere else, or figured out for yourself already, but you still haven't gotten anywhere. I feel that the best way to start is to work on little challenges. Try something you have never done before, so you can feel what it is like when you are able to master it. I did this with a rubix cube. Many people have one but have probably never been able to solve it, because they see it as mysterious and impossible(or they are just too lazy to learn how to do it). I decided to challenge myself by learning how to solve it. So, I looked it up online, practiced everyday when I had some spare time, and what used to take me an hour I can now do in about three minutes. All it took was looking up the formulas, applying them, and then memorizing them so I could solve it quickly.

So, here is your first challenge. Learn to solve the rubix cube in three minutes or less, without having to use a cheat sheet. And then from there... well, anything is possible. I guess the three main parts to success are as follows:

  • Set your goals
  • Beleive you can do it
  • Never give up
Oh crap....Ok, thats the end of my rant. I just remembered I have a bunch of papers I need to write or I'm screwed. Peace.

Monday, November 3, 2008

A new blog about the Mistakes we make

Recently I started a new blog on my own domain, called The Blog of Failure . It's basically about all the mistakes, dumb and stupid things people do. My goal is to turn this into a large user submitted blog, where people provide their own stories of the mistakes they have made. Its very new now, with a couple submissions from real people. So, if you happen to stop by this page and find this post, check out my new blog! The submissions there so far are a great read, and feel free to submit a story of your own to share with everyone else. Hmm.... thats pretty much it.

Sunday, November 2, 2008

How to really ace your Target Interview

Well, the time has finally come for the real post about acing your interview at Target. This is not a joke this time, and I will truly try and give you some helpful tips and advice. Alright, you are sitting here right now, thinking "I have an interview at Target, what do I do now"?. My position is this, if I was able to do it, then so can you. Also, just remember that its only Target. If you don't get this job, there will be plenty of other interviews at other stores. So don't lose too much sleep over it.

Alright, I don't want to make this long and boring, so I'll just go over some basic stuff. First of all, dress nice and don't be late. You don't need anything fancy, all I wore were some pants and a blue collared shirt. Don't be the person who comes into the interview in baggy jeans and a T-shirt, and a bout an hour late. That's what one guy did and I didn't see him after that.

Obviously, you are stressing most over the interview itself and the types of questions that will be asked of you. Many of the questions are similar to those you had to answer on the computer during the application process, but in an open ended format. The interviewer reads a question, and you have to answer as best you can. This may seem a bit scary at first, but hey, if I was able to pull some stuff out of my ass, so can you. A lot of the questions are pretty basic:

  • How did you deal with a problem
  • Many times I was asked to recall some sort of situation, and how you dealt with it
  • A question on why you applied for the job
  • Some workplace situations
The thing to remember is just to use your common sense and take your time in coming up with an answer. Look the interviewer in the eyes when speaking, and just use a conversational tone. Appear confident and friendly(remember Targets moto, "fast, fun and friendly") and you should be fine. And as always, just relax. The interviewer is a human, just like you, and won't harm you in any way.

It may be best to apply during the holiday season, because of the extra help that's always needed. The downside to that is you might not be able to keep the job, because it is considered seasonal.

And one more thing, just in case you are wondering, yes, you do have to take a drug test.

Alright, hope that helps, and good luck in your job endeavors.