If you cannot motivate yourself to go to work on Monday, just remember that the MOTIVATION has been discovered just about a century ago. Before that people just WORKED – so, why don’t you just take it easy and forget that you need any motivation at all?))
Today in Forbes Woman Russia, I read an article about the self-presentation of women in social networks. It was mostly about the fact that internet is tired of the Instagram and Facebook presenting ideal life of a businesswoman, who wake up with perfect hair and makeup and never look exhausted.
This is a very interesting idea, especially because I just coloured my hair blond so my colleagues and my BF would not see swelling around my eyes 😉
A good career, even and especially with a “work-life balance” requires a lot of personal investment. You will get much more tired, if you care to get more from your life. If after your day at work you will go to a sport studio or to a language course or even for a coffee with a friend, you will be more satisfied, but also more tired. Did you ever wonder about those pictures of coffee cups by the window, and why people do them in fancy cafes?)) Because, when you have that damn cup of coffee, you look like hell, be it before or after work.
This is essential that one cannot come to a presentation looking exhausted, but this does not mean that you should present myself as a person who never gets tired. Personally, after such fairs like IFAT, I am just tired from the social interaction, so the next 3 days there will be no meetings with clients, and I may come to the office wearing less to no makeup.
Another point I would like to mention are mothers, who want to demonstrate that a career with a child is possible. They come with their husbands moving a baby carriage with a 4-months child to give a presentation about their mother-friendly employer. Are you kidding me??? A mother-friendly employer will give a woman her peace for the first year, which is of an ultimate importance to her child. You may start your career and change it over and over again, but you will never be able to take back the first year with your child.
Today one can enjoy the benefits of home office and flexible working hours. Especially for pregnant ladies and women with children this is an opportunity to keep the career and still invest a lot of time into their families. In Germany, one can also choose to work 70% or 80% of the usual 40 working hours per week, which gives even more time for children. In many well-developed countries interested in increasing of the women in management rates, men can also get a part of the total time off to raise their child to support the mother. This looks like a world getting used to working women to me.
The appropriate integration of women into the working world does not mean that every woman should act like a man. This does not mean that she should step back from her life as a woman in order to demonstrate everybody the commitment to her career. This only means that she, with all her female problems and female looks, should be accepted and understood not less than men are.
Always yours,
Russianladyabroad
Есть два издания, которые я пролистываю в интернете даже при максимальной загруженности на работе – это Forbes и Vogue. Самая читаемая статья этой недели в Forbes – о том, как американский школьник поступил сразу во все лучшие университеты США.
В конце статьи есть ссылка на его эссе. Честно? Я не прослезилась. И меня эссе не тронуло. Но это именно тот тип эссе, написанный сложными книжно-научными словечками, который позволит поступить в классный ВУЗ. Американцы любят драму, любят тех, кто умеет быть громким на подиуме даже в простых эссе. Будь то семейная трагедия, которая сподвигла стать доктором, или кофе с деканом, за которым вы размечтались стать профессором математики – всё идёт в ход.
Наслаждайтесь, пока я между конференциями пытаюсь дописать забавный материал о профессиях-динозаврах, на которые больше не стоит идти учиться 😉
Всегда в вами,
Russianladyabroad
The thruth is, all those successful applications for conferences, summer schools, round tables, exchange programs etc. made my career to a game. I know that I will win, and this is only the matter of time and practice.
When people think that what I achieved, meaning all the international summer schools, conferences, projects, employers etc., is a coincidence, they are wrong. The reality is: I have almost no luck, meaning this incredible force that should make your dreams come true with no efforts from your side. Already at school, I learned that, if I don’t learn 2 questions from 150 and will have 3 questions in my exam, I will have both questions I did not learn in my exam.
The success is as “simple” as mathematics: the more often you fail, the more often you win. If a person would be lucky every 21st try, and he tries only 20 times, he would never see the success and feel like a looser. But the success is not about you trying one time and getting it or not getting it. It is about trying again and again until you have it. I know that the luck is not always on my side, so I do 320% in order to get 100%. Sometimes I have luck, and you may see the result for all those 320%. Nevertheless, this only from time to time.
Neither the luck nor the coincidence lead you to your dreams. However, the simple insistence will do the job. So, do not give up after the first failure – this is only the first step leading you to what you desire!
Kindly yours,
Russianladyabroad
It’s truly amazing, how people with less opportunities get inspired about simple things.
Being a “cool lady in a suit” myself, I always wonder, why those “cool guys in the suits” always act like I own them. Like I should convince them that I am worth their time, that my ideas are worth their time. They scan me from head to tall, deciding, whether my outfit makes me eligible for a talk with them, the business gods. And it does, and we talk.
Then I go to communes and SMEs and discuss the very same projects with them. And they are burning for changes, they are full of ideas, they are grateful for any attention.
Then the projects become successful. One day later the same people go into Armani, buy a business suits and turn out to be the new generation of “cool guys in the suits”.
The success is a thing that comes and goes. Hopefully, then comes again. If at the point, when you are down, you don’t like who you became, you’re done. It is you who you will always need to work with. It is you who you always should tolerate. Therefore, by all means, try to be a people person you would love to work with. The mask of coolness suits only those who depend on others with the same mask.
In Russia, I was a “strong 5 from 10” type. Small, curvy, well educated, with many interests in various areas, I was not in the centre of attention. Surprisingly, this has changed once I moved abroad – but not necessarily for the best. This article will be a summary of stories from some countries, which shows, how men around the world are fixed on the idea of “Russian brides”, and how to deal with that.
Looking for more security, political stability, financial opportunities, better healthcare systems, Russians are ready to invest an impressive amount of money in an opportunity to move to another country. As Russians get less and less satisfied with the life in the country, the amount of agencies promising an almost guaranteed place in summer schools, universities, companies etc. grows as well. This article will be concentrated on pros and contras of working with “work&study aboard” agencies. What can you expect from them? When are their services pointless? What should you look at by yourself when preparing a big change in your life? Let’s talk about it openly.
