New Grad Advice Podcast

Need some meaningful and useful advice on your personal, financial and business aspects of your life? Want some advice on how to enhance your spiritual life as well? Well, this series of podcasts will do just that.

As a retired engineer, I started mentoring young adults who were looking for a job after graduation and this blossomed into much more than providing advice on how to write a resume and interview for that all important first job. It became an avenue for giving advice on how to facilitate transitioning from life as a student into adulthood and becoming part of the working world. I periodically provided a write-up to these young people related to improving their personal, financial and business aspects of their lives. I also provided spiritual information on how to enhance their Christian walk and live a more meaningful life. This all culminated in the publishing of my book entitled “Words of Wisdom from a Christian Mentor; Practical, Real-Life and Holistic Advice for the Graduate Transitioning into Adulthood.”

This first podcast (#0) is an introduction to this podcast series, which will start with a review of the more important chapters of the book where I provided advice to enable the readers to hopefully avoid some of the pitfalls in life that I, along with my wife, had to work our way through.

The first eight podcasts will embrace personal issues; such as contentment, carelessness, living a healthy lifestyle, nutrition, keeping appositive attitude, being dependable and leaving a legacy. The next seven podcasts will relate to many aspects of money management and the following six. Will provide of getting and holding a job and managing your career. The final thirteen episodes provide information on Christian living, marriage and Biblical information.

Last week, I opened this series of podcasts with an introduction to my upcoming series entitled New Grad Advice. Today’s podcast is the first in a series of originating from my soon-to-be-released book; Words of Wisdom from a Christian Mentor, which provides advice to enhance your personal, financial, business/corporate and spiritual lives. It has been written to facilitate the transition of the graduate; either from high school or college, into the working world.

Today’s first topic is contentment; one of the things that will haunt or preoccupy you for years is envy. There will always be someone that has more money, a better job, a nicer house or a nicer car than you, but you need to learn to accept and live with that fact. This feeling can be subtle or controlling, but more than likely, that feeling will always be there when you compare yourself to others and this is the basic reason for a lack of contentment. Don’t ever underestimate the power that envy and comparing yourself to others will have over you!

The second topic in today’s podcast is carelessness; it’s true that you never have time to do a task correctly the first time, but invariably, you’ll have to make time to redo it correctly. Learn to do it with excellence the first time.

In my last podcast, I addressed the areas of contentment and carelessness; two areas we all experience in our lives. The former can haunt you when you start comparing yourself (who you are, what you are and what you have) to others; not doing this will help us become more content with who we are and what we have. The latter can shed negative light on us if we are not careful in what we write and speak.

This podcast is probably the most important one in my series of 34 holistic topics; leading a healthy lifestyle. Science and technology have enabled the typical American to live longer than our parents or ancestors, but our lifestyle has negatively affected us so that our “golden years” are not so golden after all. The majority of older Americans suffer from years of a poor diet, lack of exercise and other bad habits that have affected how we live. Many of the major diseases may have been avoided if we had a mindset in our youth to stay healthy. This podcast is provided to educate new grads on the positive impact of leading a healthy lifestyle and an attempt to motivate you to commence doing this right now and continue to do it for years to come.

I stated in my last podcast on Living a Healthy Lifestyle, that this topic is the most important lesson I can give to the young readers of my book and listeners to my podcasts. Our life expectancy is getting longer due to advances in medical technology, but our quality of life has been deteriorating over the years. That’s because of the choices we make when it comes to our diet, level of regular exercise and other how we generally treat our bodies. This podcast focuses on our diet and provides an overview of the many things I have learned from my research on this subject.

I can assure you that this Keto/Paleo eating plan is very controversial as many people in the industry have their own idea of what is best for you. I took an independent view of this to establish my own plan and I did a lot of research and found quite a few doctors and health experts who were in agreement. That is what I based my new eating plan on and this podcast presents the ten things I learned about nutrition. Use this in conjunction with my previous podcast to establish how you will live a healthy lifestyle and live a fulfilling life.

Do you spend time most days having to look for something that you have misplaced? You think you knew where you placed it, but low and behold, it’s not there. Remember Ben Franklin’s saying; “a place for everything and everything in its place.” We are busy enough without having to take the extra time to hunt for stuff we were not diligent enough to put it back where it belongs.

Do you think the glass is half-full or half-empty? Do you look for the best in people or the worst? Do you look for opportunities with each problem you encounter? Do you look to lift yourself back up if things didn’t go well for you at first? Are you an optimist or a pessimist? Do you make the most of every situation without letting it get you down?

To me, staying positive is one of the most important attributes you can possess, both in your personal and especially your business life. This podcast will address this aspect of your personality by defining it, discussing the benefits of it and helping you to possess or nurture it.

Being dependable is one of the most important personality traits you can possess and also one of the most overlooked attributes. This is especially true when you assessing someone you wish to befriend or work with as it is very difficult to evaluate this attribute until you spend time with that person.

Do you do what you say you are going to do and when you promised to do it? Are you punctual? Are you accountable for when you miss a deadline or don’t do something you told a friend you’d do for them? Does your boss give you the important/critical tasks to you or does he or she give to someone else who the boss can really count on to get it done correctly and on time? If you want to really develop close relationships with people or succeed in your career, you will soon see how critical it is that you are indeed dependable. This podcast defines dependability, outlines the importance of this trait and shows how important it is to prove that you will do what you have said you will do; promptly and correctly.

To me, today’s podcast is far and away the one of the most important topics to be addressed by all young people; money management and budgeting. Are you compiling a lot of debt, which is the last thing you want to do as you try to accumulate assets in order to enjoy a financially sound life. Are you living below or above your means; meaning do you regularly spend more than you make or less than you earn so you can save some of your income? Is it time to step back and unemotionally look at your finances and determine if you are properly managing your money? There is no time like the present to take a hard look at how well you are managing your money. This podcast will address this issue and what you can do now to become financially secure as you progress in your career and life.

This podcast addresses the arduous and potentially mysterious task of filing your income tax return. There is a lot of information available out there to help you complete this task, so this podcast will just provide some basic information for you to facilitate your understanding of what is required to complete this chore.

This task may be one of your least favorable things you do every year and, in all likelihood, you will procrastinate doing for as long as you can. The best thing to do is learn how to do it now so it isn’t such a difficult and hard-to-understand task to complete in the future; especially when your returns will probably become more complicated.

If you’re listening to this podcast because you now have some savings that you want to see grow, then congratulations! I expect that most young people who have read this chapter in my book or are listening to this podcast probably do not have some money sitting around in a bank account which is ready to invest. However, I suspect that you are anticipating that someday soon you will have some savings built-up and you really wish to learn the basics so that when you are ready, you have the knowledge to do it wisely. This podcast will define some of terms you might have already heard of, provide some an overview of the various options you have for investing your money, give some historical return of investment statistics and lastly give you some recommendations on where to start

Understanding the insurance business and all the options available can be truly mystifying to the casual observer, but it is a necessary evil that has to be undertaken in order to minimize risk for all of us. I remember many years ago discussing life insurance with my older brother who jokingly told me the difference between me and the insurance company is that they are betting you will not die soon and you are betting you will!

This podcast will summarize information I have gathered over the years about the various types of insurance so that the listener will have a basic understanding in order to hopefully make informed decisions on how best to proceed. I do not profess at all to being an expert here, but will provide information I have which I used to make my decisions.

This subject will address the process used to make the biggest purchase of your life. There are so many decisions that need to be made before you even start looking and the most overlooked pre-purchase activity is usually an afterthought and then it may be too late. Think about why you’re moving and therefore where you want to start looking. Have you gotten your finances in order to do this and have you researched what it will really cost to make this purchase? Have you made a reasonable estimate of what you can really afford without creating financial pressures in the near future? Rest assured that the house you will probably buy will cost more than what you think you want or can afford, so be prepared.

This podcast will outline this involved process and help you focus on what to do first and then address the myriad of subsequent steps to get you to the final purchase event. Finally, it will discuss the subject of home maintenance and encouragement for you to learn to do it yourself.

Buying a vehicle can be a stressful situation, especially when you are sitting across from the salesperson and trying to get the best deal possible. You do this task probably once every 5-10 years and he/she does this every day for a living. Can you be sure you are going to get the best price possible? No. Can you increase the odds that you will get a good deal? Yes! How? You need to do your homework before you step into the showroom and then go in to the dealership there with the attitude that if you don’t think you are getting a good or reasonable deal, then you are mentally prepared to walk away and go somewhere else. Don’t “fall in love” with that car and think you must have it, as that will decrease the probability of getting your best deal. This podcast will walk you through a real-life example where we got a real good deal so that you can be well prepared for handling this situation, knowing you have some pertinent data and are properly equipped to negotiate with the car expert.

As part of your learning process of how to manage your money, there is one basic aspect that may not enter your thinking process as you are trying to save as much money as possible. That is giving back and being generous with the money you have earned. While it is wrong to look at others who have more than you and be envious, it is right to look around at those who have less and to see how you can be a blessing to them, with what the Lord has blessed you. This podcast presents a few basic aspects of developing this giving attitude.

I have seen some of the most atrocious resumes ever written (or at least I thought so) when I was hiring over one hundred and fifty chemical engineers and technicians. At times, I wondered how they ever got through college not knowing how to spell or punctuate a written document. These terrible resumes also included some of the most non-relevant information about themselves, which I didn’t care about nor wanted to take the time to read. If they can’t write this critical document, which could be the key to their future; I often wondered how good the rest of their work would be. The most important document you need to write when looking for a job is your resume and this podcast will provide the basics for it.

For all of you introverts out there or those of you who don’t like to talk about yourself, toss those feelings out the window as this interview could be your one-and-only chance to sell yourself and demonstrate to the interviewer that you can be a real asset to his/her company. First, do your homework about the company and on the day of the interview; dress appropriately, be confident, continuously tell of your positive attributes and follow-up with a courteous response. You have one chance to impress the person across the desk, so don’t blow it; but follow the simple messages in this podcast to prepare for this all-important event.

Starting out working in the corporate world can be a daunting task! What am I supposed to do when I get there? How am I supposed to act? Can I really do the work or will I be become an immediate failure?

One important fact that you need to realize and to put self-doubt aside; is that your new manager, who just hired you, also wants you to succeed and most likely will take the effort to help you to become a successful employee.

It really can be a scary thing for a young high school or college graduate. But you are not the first one to ever do this and certainly not the first new graduate this company has ever hired. Rest assured that the person you will be reporting to is ready for you to start, knows what he wants you to do and is looking forward to you becoming a contributing member of the team. This podcast addresses three important points I always told my recent graduates about how to start off his/her career on a positive note.

There is nothing magical about becoming a manager and being successful at it. However, sometimes the company takes a great worker-bee and sooner or later becomes a terrible manager (often referred to as the “Peter Principle). However, if you understand and learn how to implement a few basic concepts about managing people and projects, you will become successful and I will bet that this is the goal of many readers here.

If you’ve followed the sequence of these podcasts and my book; you’ve learned about excelling at an interview and then learned more about starting your new job, what to expect and how best to perform in that role. Sooner or later, I fully expect that you will move into a supervisory or management role and hopefully become a leader along the way. This podcast will provide some basic information on what it takes to be a good manager.

Time is your most important asset, depending on how you use it. Do you manage your time or do other people, events and issues manage it? It is critical that you establish your priorities which are in-line with your personal goals and allow you to be the manager of your time. It is also very important for your career to learn how to become a good time-manager, for which many people do not even have a clue in how to do this.

If you think your time is stretched and precious now at your young age, wait ten or so years when you are advancing in your career and have a long commute, are married, have a houseful of children and still want some down-time of your own. That is what is called a good balancing act! To prepare for these times, you need to understand now how to set priorities and establish a plan, so that you can manage your time in an efficient manner. This podcast will provide some basic information on how to manage your time effectively.

You are now part of a company and are on the path to a successful career and your boss just came to you and requested you present the results of your most recent work to a large audience of potential clients, as well as your own management team. The pressure is now on and you hate getting up in front of an audience, especially with your management team present. One of my first presentations had my boss in attendance and he alone made me the most concerned about this upcoming event. Needless to say, I was really nervous, I mean really nervous! But with a lot of preparation work and time spent rehearsing in front of a mirror at home, I came through unscathed and I might even say did a good job! This podcast will help all of you who hate public speaking do this, as it is not as difficult as you make it out to be.

The purpose of this podcast is to provide some guidelines so that you are well prepared when you step out onto that stage. The audience will want to hear from a relaxed, confident and knowledgeable presenter; so, it is your job to meet these desires in order that your message will be heard and appreciated. So, do your homework and this can help you breeze through this potentially traumatic event.

There are many topics that I wanted to include in this series of podcasts to help you thrive in your Christian walk and make it more meaningful and this podcast is a compilation of short discussions which will be useful and meaningful to you in working to deepen your faith.

This podcast is presented to those who want to continue on their journey towards a deeper faith and also for those just starting this trek. This podcast provides a series of short subjects to help you on the path to a deepening faith.

Before my wife and I became Christians, she was having lunch with some Christian women in the neighborhood and were discussing Christianity. My wife knew one “born-again” Christian, her brother-in-law; who was an alcoholic and treated her sister miserably. “Is he really a Christian?” she asked. While there was a little bit of a disagreement, one woman said that he could be saved, but has never made Jesus the Lord of his life! That phrase really hit home with my wife and she knew that while she loved Jesus, she had never accepted Him as her savior nor made Him the Lord of her life. That night, she asked Jesus to come into her life as her Savior and also made the commitment for Him to be the Lord of her life!

This podcast will help you relinquish every aspect of your life to Him, while truly making Him the Lord of your life and not just your savior.

“Oh ya, I know I can read and understand the Bible, even though it was written a couple thousand years ago. I don’t need the minister to lecture me on what the Bible says, after all I can read it myself; when I get the time and desire to read it.” I think that time is called the twelfth of never. It should be your hearts’ desire to grow in the understanding of true Christianity and to put the messages of the Bible into your daily practice and that will come with a good understanding of what it says to the people of that time and how it can be applied to our lives today.

This podcast will give an example of how sometimes it’s not easy to fully understand how a Biblical passage is truly applicable to your life today and hopefully this will encourage you to seek out wisdom on a daily basis.

Ever wonder what the “Judgement Seat,” the “Great White Throne”, the “Rapture” or the “Tribulation”? are all about? These are terms you have probably heard of but are not quite sure what they are, how they all fit together and how we will all be involved. So that’s what this podcast is all about. What’s exciting about this subject is that we, as Christians know how it will all end, even though we all get discouraged from time-to-time in how this world of ours is evolving! We know that God is in control and His timing is perfect!

Hang on; this podcast can be a wild ride! If you want to get a lot of opinions and advice of how to be in a successful marriage, just Google this topic and you will find all sorts of advice and these will vary all over the map. You’ll find 5,7, 10, 12, 21 or many more “tips for a successful marriage”. A lot of it is common sense by knowing how you want to be treated and therefore how you should treat your spouse and also what the Bible says about marriage; the cornerstone of today’s society.

This podcast will provide my wife’s and my personal thoughts from our 52 years of marriage; what worked well for us and conversely, what were our major issues. We are not counselors or experts, just a happily married couple who have absolutely loved being in love for a long time and we truly have been blessed!

God provides each believer with at least one special talent, as described in the Bible and it is up to us as to how we use these gifts to bring glory to God. You as a believer may think you do not have any special gifts, but the Holy Spirit has endowed you with at least one, and this podcast will help you identify it/them and how you can best use these in your daily Christian walk.

Many have said “if all else fails, pray about it!” How many of us use this fantastic tool to talk to God as a last resort? He wants dearly to have a relationship with us and our way to communicate with Him is through our daily prayer life.

The early Christians in Acts 2:42 devoted themselves to the apostles’ teaching and to fellowship, to the breaking of bread and to prayer.

Regarding prayer, there are some basic questions that are addressed in this podcast:

• Why don’t we pray regularly?
• What is and isn’t prayer?
• What does the Bible say about prayer?
• When and where should we pray?
• How can I start to pray and how can I pray?

Do people trust you? Do you do what you say you will do? Do you act the same when you are with people as when you are alone? Are your thoughts and actions pure? These three traits are critical to the Christian and how each of us conducts our lives; which is all being part of our obedience to the will of God. This podcast will define and address these three traits and how you can have these as basic pasts of your life and personality.

We all probably have a close friend who we know has gone astray and is living a less Godly life. Should we bring it to his/her attention as the Bible instructs or should we just mind our own business and let that person lead the life he/she has chosen. That is a major dilemma and we can find plenty of excuses not to keep that person accountable for their actions:

• We don’t know him/her well enough
• It’s not our business
• If I say something, it will ruin our friendship
• I have issues myself so am I being “holier than thou” by discussing their issues?

This podcast will address the issue of accountability and how it can enhance your life.

“Do you know what that person did to me? I am never going to forgive him and certainly will not forget it! Right now, I just have to think how I can get even; forget what the Bible instructs me to do!” You will soon realize that all this pent-up emotion will be your burden and not the offender’s; they may not even remember what they did, or how it has negatively affected you or may not even care! So, while they go on living their normal lives, you are suffering with these emotions.

This podcast will address these two topics and how you can get your freedom you’re your unforgiveness and discuss reconciliation and trust and how to incorporate these into your life, free from worry and hard feelings. I personally feel this is a topic which everyone can benefit from as we probably have been hurt by someone (or will be at some pint in time) and this provides a great insight on how to handle these very real and difficult feelings.

It’s time to delve into one of our potentially biggest issues: pride! You know that the other person is not as smart as you, doesn’t have the background or things you have; so, you have the “right” to look down on him and you are going to do just that! After all, you really are better than them. Guess what, you are headed in the absolute wrong direction with these conceited or arrogant thoughts.

Definitions:

• Pride: a feeling of deep pleasure or satisfaction derived from one’s own achievements your family member’s or friend’s achievements or from having qualities or possessions that are widely admired.
• Humility: a modest or low view of one’s own importance; humbleness

This podcast will address these subjects and help point you in the direction of humility and away from arrogance and pride.

“You know, I can stop drinking whenever I want; I just don’t happen to want to stop right now!” This podcast will discuss the many forms of addiction and you can fill in any one of many addictive behaviors into the sentence above and keep kidding yourself that all will be well; when you “really” want to change. Change in itself is not at all easy and takes time with professional Christian assistance to properly make this change and in some cases with drugs and alcohol, medical advice and supervision will also be needed. This podcast presents a Christian-based path forward to overcoming your addiction and a possible source of counseling help.

As fellow believers in Christ, we are called to minister to others and share our faith in Him; but most of us do not know how to do this. In some cases we may know how to do it, but it is so far out of our comfort zone, that we just don’t want to do it. It all starts by living a Godly life and showing others what your faith has done for you. God calls us to share our faith in obedience and this podcast will present three ideas on how this can be done in a calm and unthreatening manner.