Wiser Worker Blog

This year The Great American Smokeout is Thursday, November 19^th.  This is the day that smokers are encouraged to try and quit smoking for 24 hours.

These days, everyone is living longer.  People who quit smoking live longer than those who continue to smoke.

Did you know:

·         After 20 minutes of quitting: your heart rate and blood pressure drop.

·         After 12 hours of quitting: the carbon monoxide level in your blood drops to normal.

·         After 2 weeks to 3 months of quitting: your circulation improves and your lung function increases.

Mark Twain said “Quitting is easy.  I’ve done it a thousand times.”  He also did not have available to him the resources we have now.  The internet has many sites dedicated to quitting smoking.  There are also smoking cessation products available at your local drug store or supermarket.

Remember it is never too late to quit smoking. Who knows?  November 19, 2009 could be the beginning of a brand new you.

Are you going to be one of the ones who decide to quit smoking today?

You only get one brain so you better take care of yours. Here are a few tips to help you keeps your sharp.

1.    Get Some Shut Eye- both your body and your brain need at least 8 hours of solid sleep to remain active and alert.

2.    Feed Your Brain – BRAIN FOOD Keep your brain firing in all cylinders with 3 square meals full of protein and omega 3 fatty acids. You can find omega 3 fatty acids in any fish start with tuna fish and protein is easy to find in places you least expect..Maybe a peanut butter sandwich?

3.    Catch a Breath- learn to tune in and tune off.  It’s important to get time to relax and recharge the body and the brain.  Take time to enjoy peace, quiet and a good book.

4.    Stay curious and involved, commit to lifelong learning.

5.    Read, write, and do crossword puzzles.

6.    Join social groups like bridge clubs or square dancing.

Have you ever gone hungry?  I mean so hungry that it hurts?  I would bet you haven’t and that when you say “I’m starving” you really don’t know what it feels like or perhaps what that phrase really means.  And that my friend is a blessing and my hope for you is that you never go hungry. However this year alone 35.5 million AMERICAN’S go hungry every day and what’s even more frightening is with the change in economy those who are going hungry could be your next door neighbor.

So what can you do?  Feed a family this Thanksgiving holiday.   Bringing Hope to the Table is a program that Kroger Food is hosting where they are selling recyclable bags- the proceeds go to feeding the hungry. Grocery stores across the country are making it easier than ever to help out. Stores have prepackaged bags of food that you can purchase for as little as $10.00 and they take care of the actual donation of food. To find a program for your specific city try searching on Google for these “phrases”

Food Drives 2009                         Canned Food Drives

Thanksgiving Food Donations        Food Bank Donation

Remember anything you do small or large will make a large impact.  The statistics are staggering, and we can make a difference.  

For 1 in 8 people in our country, hunger is a reality.

• 35 million Americans don’t know where they will get their next meal. 
• 9 million of them are children.
• 3 million of them are senior citizens.
• 36% of these households have one or more working adults.
• 42% of these households are in rural and suburban areas.

What if this holiday season you consider donating to your favorite charity. Instead of giving gifts to friends, family and co-workers I guarantee the person/charity that receives your donation really needs it…and more importantly will appreciate it. Over the next few weeks I will be gathering donation suggestions and posting them. If you have a suggestions please send them my way via Twitter, Email, LinkedIn or comment to the blog today! 

5.3 million people in the United States are living with Alzheimer’s.

10 million baby boomers will develop Alzheimer’s disease - that’s one out of eight according to the Alzheimer’s Disease Facts and Figures.

Did you know?

Smoking after age 65 increases your chances of developing Alzheimer’s by 79%?

Obesity in midlife makes you 3 ½ times more likely to experience Alzheimer’s?

Diabetes makes you twice as likely to develop Alzheimer’s?

Genetics account for only 25% of Alzheimer’s cases?

Chronic stress may quadruple your risk?

Act now to prevent and delay Alzheimer’s disease

Exercise at a moderate pace-for at least 30 minutes five times per week.  

Build muscle to pump up your brain-moderate levels of weight and resistance training not only increase muscle mass, they maintain cognitive health.  

Think movement- for opportunities to walk, bend, stretch, and lift your way to vitality.

Maintain consistent levels of insulin and blood sugar. Eat several small meals throughout the day. Avoid packaged, refined, and processed foods. Emphasize fruits and vegetables across the color spectrum to maximize protective anti-oxidants and vitamins.

Drink tea daily. Green, white, and oolong teas are particularly brain-healthy. Drinking 2-4 cups daily has proven benefits.

Set aside time each day to learn something new - read a good book, study a foreign language, play a musical instrument.

Practice the 5 W’s - observe and report like a crime detective. Keep a Who, What, Where, When, and Why list of your daily experiences.

Solve riddles and work puzzles - brain teasers and strategy games provide great mental exercise and build your capacity to form and retain cognitive associations.

Stay connected - We are social creatures, and the most connected fare better on tests of memory and cognition.

Wear a helmet - and limit distractions. A National Institute of Health study suggests head trauma at any point in life significantly increases your risk of Alzheimer’s.

Avoid toxins - Among the most preventable risk factors for Alzheimer’s disease are smoking and heavy drinking.

Source: alz.org

Baby Boomer and Older Workers are surfing the web and STOP the presses they spend more time online than the average teenager. Your grandparents use the internet for more than email cute picture of their grandkids. It’s time we start looking at this demographic as a major player. Let’s face it they’re not going off into retirement and playing golf and sipping on martinis. However they may be using the internet to make reservations at the club for only the best tee time.

So what exactly are they doing?  Well……..everything shopping, communicating and well socializing with their friends! When they’re not surfing the web for the latest information they’re befriending people on Face book, tweeting the latest rage on Twitter and following the latest trends on blogs.

Baby Boomers and Older Workers:

Regularly use email 94%

Look up health and medical information 71%

Keep up to date on the latest news 70%

Are spending your inheritance on online gaming 47% (You better keep working!)

Managing their finances and banking 59%

Hitting the latest sales as they shop online 71% (highest % among any generational group)

Looking for work on WiserWorker.com

So the lesson here is that you better be taking this demographic seriously and learn from them as they want to teach you what they know!

Source: Cable & Telecommunications Association for Marketing (CTAM).

The population born between 1946 and 1964 is commonly referred to as the Baby Boom generation.

Over 1/4 of the total U.S. population in 2006 was between ages 42 and 60.

The Majority of Baby Boomers:

\Are currently married

Reported having some college or higher

Are currently employed and working

Are currently married

What are of the country do Baby Boomer’s favor?  

South           28 Million                                            

Midwest        17.5 Million                                          

West            17.4 Million                                          

Northeast      15 Million      

Baby Boomer’s Favorite States:

California

Texas

New York

Florida

Pennsylvania

Top 5 Counties where Baby Boomer Live:      

Los Angeles County, California

Cook County, Illinois

Harris County, Texas  

Maricopa County, Arizona

Orange County, California

Interesting Facts:

65% of Baby Boomers are married

49% of Baby Boomers have at least a bachelor’s degree.

35% of Older American’s have serves in the armed forces

95% of Older American’s are still employed

92% of Baby Boomers still are earning income

80% of Older American’s own their own home

National Truck Driver Appreciation Week is November 1 – 7, 2009.  This week is designed to recognize truck drivers and their importance to our economy.

In honor of National Truck Driver Appreciation Week, CareersinGear.com is giving away a Teletype GPS to one lucky driver.  They are also giving away posting packages, banners and email campaigns to truck driving companies who are hiring drivers.  Check out Twitter for more information.

I finally made it to November; you see this is one of my favorite months, for many reasons, there are lots of holidays, Thanksgiving, Veteran’s Day but honestly it’s the weather.   You see usually by November even Arizona has started to have better weather, and when you live in the valley of the sun that’s a reason to celebrate!  However today as I was outside enjoying the outstanding weather I heard on the radio about an event that gives us one more reason to be thankful we have reached November: MOVEMBER

Movember is a month-long celebration of the moustache, highlighting men’s health issues - specifically prostate and testicular cancer. The idea for Movember was sparked in 2003 over a few beers in Melbourne, Australia.  The guys behind it joked about 80s fashion and decided it was time to bring the moustache back.  In order to justify their Mos (Australian slang for moustache), they used their new looks to raise money for prostate cancer research… never dreaming that facial hair would ultimately lead to a global movement that would get men talking about a taboo subject – their health.

What a neat event, you can start today by learning more about men’s health issues or you can start by growing your hairy ribbon of heath and take on a cause. Either way you will leave with a better education and that’s the real point! 

Happy Movember!

It seems that people didn’t worry about the flu soon enough; and you find yourself scrambling to find the vaccine.  Start your search  with major drug store chains, including Walgreens, CVS, Rite Aid and Wal-Mart.  In addition to getting vaccinated you should also practice good health habits to keep yourself flu free this season.

Avoid Close Contact: Avoid close contact with people who are sick

Stay home when You are Sick: You will help prevent others from catching your illness.

Cover Your Mouth and Nose: It may prevent those around you from getting sick.

WASH your Hands: And was them often, washing your hands will protect you from germs.

Get Sleep and Exercise: This will keep your body able to fight off germs.

It’s a real threat out there and it’s called the flu, make sure you ward off the germs that can stop you in your tracks. It’s no fun to finally find the perfect job only to have to call in sick.  At WiserWorker.com we want you to be well and in tip top shape to start your new job!

Don’t cut and paste your resume into your profile.

You wouldn’t hand out your resume before introducing yourself, so don’t do it on LinkedIn.  However, describe your experience and abilities as you would to someone you just met.

Borrow from the best marketers.

Interject your profile with your voice. Use adjectives, colorful verbs, active construction (managed project team). Don’t write in the third person. Picture yourself at a conference or client meeting. How do you introduce yourself? That’s your authentic voice, so use it.

Write a personal tagline.

That line of text under your name is the first thing people see in your Profile. It follows your name in search hit lists. It’s your brand.  Create your professional personality into a more eye-catching phrase that describes who you are at a glance. (Your e-mail address is not a brand!)

Put your elevator pitch to work.

Create a 30-second description

The essence of who you are and what you do, is a personal elevator pitch. Use it in the Summary section to engage readers. The more meaningful your summary is, the more time you’ll get from readers.

Explain your experience.

Help the reader grasp the key points. Briefly say what the company does and what you did or do for them.   Use those clear, succinct phrases here and break them into visually digestible chunks.

Pat your own back and others

Get recommendations from colleagues, clients, and employers who can speak credibly about your abilities or performance. (Think quality, not quantity.) Ask them to focus on a specific skill or personality trait that drives their opinion of you. Make meaningful comments when you recommend others.  

Build your connections.

Connections are one of the most important aspects of your brand. The company you keep reflects the quality of your brand.    Identify connections that will add to your credibility and pursue those.  As you add connections and recommendations, your Profile develops into a peer-reviewed picture of you and of your personal brand.