How Much Money Can You Make as a Truck Driver - TheJobNetwork

How Much Money Can You Make as a Truck Driver - TheJobNetworkTruck drivers are currently in high demand. Youll have to study for and pass your CDL exam. This means a training program. But once you do get licensed, youll find there are many lucrative opportunities available to Class A CDL drivers. googletag.cmd.push(function() googletag.display(div-gpt-ad-1472832551951-0) ) Here are how much money you can make as a truck driver in different positions.Standard RateIf you dont choose to specialize, you can expect to make an industry or company standard satz per mile.Specialized Training/OrientationWhen youve chosen to specialize in, say, Hazmat driving, you will undergo special training with the carrier that hired you. Youll be paid a particular rate for the first few weeks of your training. These rates are mora likely to be per hour, day, or even week.Solo OTRThe largest percentage of the workforce. Starting drivers will usually make $40-45k in their first year, but this rate depends a bit on the carrier and available bonuses.Team OTRPairs can traverse longer distances faster by switching on and off. This can be quite lucrativewith a pair splitting $100-150k per year.TrainerMore suited to the classroom than the open road? Done your drive time and ready to linger in one place? To experienced drivers, training positions can be a great careermaking $60-80k per year, on average.Owner-OperatorIf you have sufficient experience working for a carrier, you might be ready to make the big transition into being your own boss and maybe even running your own fleet one day. Theres more stress, to be sure, but you will also earn more per mile by cutting out the middle man.BonusesEvery company is different, but potential extras include signing bonuses when youre first hired, monthly mileage rewards, fuel-efficiency bonuses, safety pay when your driving record is exemplary, layover pay, bonuses for clean DOT inspections, and referrals of friends as new drivers to your company.Ben efitsWhile they may not be tangible as cold hard cash, benefits can be a lucrative addition to your compensation package. Anything from paid sick time and vacation to life insurance, medical insurance, dental insurance, job security, and 401k retirement plans.The road you take will be your own, but these are a few things to keep in mind (and in your pocket) on your journey to becoming a CDL truck driver.

In 2018, 40% of Global Managers at PepsiCo Were Women But Its Not Stopping There

In 2018, 40% of Global Managers at PepsiCo Were Women But Its elend Stopping There According to PepsiCos 2018 Diversity Report, the company continued to make major strides in demonstrating its commitment to diversity and inclusion last year.The Fortune 50 business reports that as of 2018, 40 percent of its global managers are women, with a goal of reaching 50 percent women in leadership by 2025. Additionally, PepsiCos global promotion rate is 23 percent for women and 23 percent for persons of color in the United States.Additionally, at every level of the company, employees are paid equally no matter their gender or race. The report states that men and women are paid within 1 percent of each other in the 33 countries that represent 93 percent of its salaried employee population.In the United States, People of Color and Non-Minorities are also paid within 1 percent.PepsiCos dedication to diversity also extends to its suppliers. The company reports that it currently engages with over 3 00 diverse-owned businesses and spent $1.3 billion with diverse business enterprises in 2018.PepsiCos diversity initiatives resulted in several business breakthroughs last year. The company started Somos Pepsi, an entire value chain based on respect and celebration of the Hispanic culture to meet the tastes of Hispanic consumers in an authentic manner. The dedicated 15 person team contributed a positive two-point swing on geschmolzen refreshment beverage sales. Additionally, in partnership with Edlong a woman-owned dairy technology company which PepsiCo partnered with as an indirect supplier for years food scientists broke new ground in formulation techniques and speed-to-market, helping to create and launch new product innovations.Chief Executive Officer Ramon Laguarta writes that in 2019, the company doubled down on its belief that a more diverse company is a stronger company by embracing a new vorstellung for PepsiCos future success to Be the Global Leader in Convenient Foods a nd Beverages by Winning with Purpose.He continues As part of ur effort to bring this new vision to life, we are focused on promoting diversity and engagement in both our company and our communities. This includes our efforts around pay equity and gender parity, as well as our goal to invest $100 million to benefit at least 12.5 million women and girls around the world by 2025.He says equality within senior management continues to be a major goal of the company.We also continue to make progress diversifying the most senior levels of our company, including recent appointments to the Board of Directors and the PepsiCo Executive Committee.

What Needs to be Done About Resume Worthy Writing Classes Before Its Too Late

What Needs to be Done About Resume Worthy Writing Classes Before Its Too Late Your job target was identified. You will get the information and knowledge that will make it possible for you to blast in front of your competition, command greater fees, and boost your client referrals. Also, be sure to tailor every resume submission to the particular job youre applying for. Your resume should prove your capacity to do the target job. The Truth About Resume Worthy Writing Classes Effective writing is an essential element of an effective small business communications strategy, however, leid everybody is ready to write in an advanced. Excellent editing still needs a human being. Non-fiction book writing is similar to article writing. Every writer should believe. Reading content backwardsawkward and time-consuming though it could beis an excellent way to catch minor mistakes that you may otherwise miss. Grant writers are copywriters in a category of their very own. Provided that you write daily. Writing and editing is a rather extensive category. Cultural classes arent the only classes given at your regional Personal Service Center or Family Center Definitions of Resume Worthy Writing Classes You should get an email address devoted to your job search. You see, editors jobs arent that easy. Networking is a significant idea in the work search approach. Nonetheless, bedrngnis all resumes are made equal. The Proper usage of Resume help you to realize much better opportunity to find job. Some projects need other kinds of software, including spreadsheets or video editing. Networking is crucial.

Stop Spinning your Wheels. Time Management for Recruiters.

Stop Spinning your Wheels. Time Management for Recruiters.Stop Spinning your Wheels. Time Management for Recruiters.Stop Spinning your Wheels. Time Management for Recruiters. FisherFor the past fifteen years I have worked in the staffing industry for large, global Fortune 500 organizations, start-ups and everything in between. The common challenge that I repeatedly see staffing professionals struggle with, regardless of company size, is time management.I have coached and mentored countless sales and recruiting professionals on this topic. Nowhere is this truer than for staffing professionals, who tell me everyday how they feel paralyzed and overwhelmed with too much to do and frustrated with having to wear many hats.What I have learned in the process is that its really easy to discuss time management principles and tactics but the challenge lies in holding yourself accountable to actually managing yourself to do the things you know youre supposed to do.In essence, the key to effectiv e time management boils down to self discipline and how well you manage yourself.Here are some steps to help get you started.Utilize Systems That Work For YouThis could be something as simple as a to-do list or using sticky elendes. After you create a list with your daily tasks, determine what tasks are going to have the quickest impact for generating revenue. Those should be the firsttasks you complete.Chances are you haveone or morecalendaring systems and other applications for productivity. Take advantage of them. Productivity tools are there to help you.For example, use your customer-relationship-management system to document notes from all sales and recruiting calls, meetings and interviews. Be sure to use the built-in calendaring system to schedule your follow-up tasks. Every client and candidate interaction should have an action item associated with it. Scheduling the follow-up task (action item) is critical. By doing this your CRM system will create a list of tasks such as p hone calls or emails that you have to complete every day.Are You a Morning Person or a Night Owl?Figure out what time of day you produce your best work product.Schedule your most challenging tasks during this time. For example, if you have a big presentation coming up for a prospect and you do your best work in the early morning, schedule it in the morning.Dont schedule it for late afternoon when youre tired.Furthermore, prepare for that presentation in the early morning.For recruiters, you should build time into your weekly schedule to call candidates at night between 600 p.m. and 800 p.m. The best candidates are not able to talk at work. Contact them after hours. For sales professionals, decision makers often can often only be reached between 700 a.m. and 830 am and between 500 pm and 700 p.m, Theyre in meetings the rest of the day.Do your pre-call planning and research around these times.Plan to start your day early and work late.Measure Results, Not ActivityIts really easy to fa ll into the trap of keeping and feeling busy but producing nothing. I see this happen all the time. Dont confuse activity with results. Measure your results or outcomes, not your activity. For example, the most common measurement in our industry is number of phone calls for both sales and recruiting. At the end of the day its really about how many new hiring managers (or candidates) you qualify and add to your CRM system or job orders you uncover. So measure that, not the number of phone calls.Create a Stop Doing ListIn his book, Good To Great.Jim Collinssuggests that those who build good-to-great companies made as much use of stop doing lists as they did to do lists. Most people live busy but undisciplined lives. We have ever-expanding to-do lists where we try to do more and more but it rarely works.If it doesnt help grow your business, stop doing it.Try to adopt the self discipline of unplugging yourself from your busy work.Staffing professionals often place a higher priority on c ompleting their to-dos (candidate applications and other related paperwork, entering candidate and client data into their database and responding to email) over revenue generating tasks, such as making sales calls, cold calling or visiting clients. All of these tasks need to be completed but if the revenue generating tasks never take priority your book of business will never grow. Reacting to every client request and email on the spot is often the biggest reason why staffing professionals fail to achieve their daily goals. The next time you have a client emergency, take five minutes and really think through how quickly you need to respond and resolve the issue.Death By MeetingPut an end to on the fly meetings. Im talking about the ones where someone stops by your sekretariat or cube and asks if you have a minute. You dont want to be rude so you go along with it. From now on, when people come to your office or cube,askthem,What do you think is the best solution to the issue? People t ypically know the answerand simply need validation from their peer or manager. This is an easy way to prevent a two-minute conversation from turning into a thirty-minute discussion.Do a weekly meeting where you can discuss all of the issues. Just make sure that all of the decision makers are in the room and there is a clear purpose to the meeting with actionable items.Email ManagementLets face it we are dependent on email for communication. Unfortunately that means email is a killer when it comes to time management. When you are doing important tasks.i.e., those on your to-do list, turn off your email. Set up an auto responder to let people know you will call them back later. If you dont do this, I guarantee your email will always interrupt you. The big question is, do you have the self discipline to turn off your email? Try itTo-Do Lists and your 2010 GoalsMost people use lists as a way to manage themselves and the tasks they need to complete. Its easy to let the list get to 10+ i tems. When that happens we end up focusing on the wrong tasks. Keep the list to five items. The items on your daily to-do list should tie back into your annual goals for 2010. Whatever your personal goals are for the year, yourlist should be linked to those goals. Be consistent with the tasks you need to do top accomplish your tactical sales plan.Plan for the UnexpectedOne thing we know for sure about working in the staffing industry circumstances can change on a moments notice.Always build time into your daily plan for the unexpected. By planning for this each day you will avoid feeling reactive. There are always times of the year (or quarter) when the unexpected is more likely to fill your time than others. Plan accordingly.Take an End of Day AssessmentAt the end of the day, take a tally of how the day went and how your time was allocated. Consider tracking this in your calendar. At months end, look for the themes that happen time and again and consider how you can make improvemen ts. Ask yourself How much of myday was spent on proactive items versus. reactive tasks? When did Iwork on the most challenging tasks of the day, morning, afternoon or evening? Did I complete it? What time of day did I do myreactive tasks? How much of my day was centered aroundproactive tasks?Author BioDan Fisher is a fourteen year sales veteran and thought leader in the IT staffing and consulting industry. Dan provides one-on-one sales coaching and mentoring and training workshops. In September 2008, he authored the IT Staffing Sales Plan, the only proprietary methodology dedicated exclusively to selling IT staffing services. That same year Dan founded the Menemsha Group, which is dedicated to helping IT staffing and recruiting industry professionals sell more effectively, differentiate from the competition and increase gross profit margins. Dan can be reached at danmenemshagroup.com.

Hope for Underemployed Recent College Graduates

Hope for Underemployed Recent College GraduatesHope for Underemployed Recent College GraduatesWith the unemployment rate declining, it looks as if the economy is finally starting to gain some momentum. Job prospects for new college grads seem to be the best since the onset of the recession in 2007. However, recent data shared by After College Inc., indicated that only about 17 percent of new grads had jobs this past May when they left campus.Many grads without jobs who have loans to pay and a desire to live independently will need to work in non-professional jobs in order to earn money in the short-term until they can find a professional position. With the underemployment rate running at 12 percent, according to the Bureau of Labor Statistics, it is also clear that there are hundreds of thousands of recent grads from the past two to three years who are totenstill looking for that first professional job.I run a firm that has distributionspolitikd thousands of new college grads in entr y-level positions. As part of our service we interview hundreds of new grads every month on behalf of client companies. Acting as the intermediary between hiring companies and entry-level job seekers, we know the challenges facing the entry-level market. The funny thing is our company has seen rapid growth over this time period. We know that companies are hiring and new grads are getting jobs.What, then, are the obstacles preventing recent grads from getting professional employment? We feel that there are three primary reasons.First, according to monthly employment reports by ADP, about 75 percent of the new jobs are created by employers with 500 employees or less. These are small and medium employers. Because of the high cost of implementing a college recruiting program, most of these small and medium employers dont interview on campus. How do they find candidates for their entry-level candidates? Referrals from employees, clients, vendors and other partners are most important, whi ch means that many entry-level jobs arent advertised.Second, given the fact that most new college grads are liberal arts or general business majors, many dont know where their majors can be applied in the workforce. Some students have virtually no knowledge of the small and medium employer market where hiring is active. About 70 percent of job-seekers who interview with us cite not knowing what positions are a fit as a significant obstacle in finding a job.Third, new grad job-seekers tend to be poor at identifying the transferrable skills they possess that have value in the workplace. Transferrable skills include attributes such as effective communications, critical thinking, problem solving, time management, leadership, etc. These are the skills that employers crave and can help determine long-term career success. We feel that one of the keys to an effective job search is to come to interviews armed with real life examples demonstrating these skills.Heres why there is reason for ho pe. The good news is that companies are hiring, especially small and medium employers. In fact, many of these companies are being impacted by the loss of baby boomers and want to hire MORE at the entry-level. Further, we know what the job-seeker needs to do Know what you bring to the table, focus on the small/medium employer and find a way to get your foot in the door.Here are two critical things that every entry-level job seeker should do.First, identify your transferrable skills. That part-time or barista job you have now might be a great place to discover them. Here are three types of non-professional jobs that are great for developing transferrable skillsRestaurant servingAmong the skills such jobs develop are customer relations, time management and problem-solving. Great examples for interviews are how you successfully resolved an issue with an upset customer, ways you helped improve restaurant operations, recognition received for great customer service, etc.Retail salesPerhaps you have retail experience in a department store, boutique or electronics retailer. If so, look for ways you were able to improve sales or manage inventory more efficiently. In addition, awards for top sales performance or customer satisfaction should be used to underscore skills in sales or customer service.Lawn care/landscapingIf you started this type of business and were able to support yourself (and maybe others), this is a significant success. Entrepreneurial success like this is highly valued as it shows initiative, planning, time management and the ability to sell.The bottom line Dont undersell or discount what you are learning in part-time or non-professional jobs. Put that valuable experience to work for you.Second network, network, network. Small and medium employers thrive on referrals to fill open positions. As a result, job seekers should leave no stone unturned when it comes to networking.While parents and other family members are an easy place to start, many other so urces are often ignored. Be koranvers to actively use your alumni network. In addition, look to professors, coaches and other mentors, both in college as well as high school. Consider friends of your parents who know you well. Contacts and relationships made in service or volunteer organizations may also be helpful. And, of course, if a friend has a great job, perhaps her or his employer is still hiring. Theres really no limit. Most people are more than willing to offer guidance. Identify a mentor who can help you with icebreaking strategies.There is much reason for hope among jobless new grads and those grads from the last two to three years who are surviving on part-time or non-professional work. Companies are hiring. To have success, develop a job search strategy focused on important transferable skills. Be aggressive in networking to get interviews with the companies that are hiring the small and medium employers.

The 3 Worst Reasons to Skip a Work Meeting - The Muse

The 3 Worst Reasons to Skip a Work Meeting - The MuseThe 3 Worst Reasons to Skip a Work Meeting On some weeks, you have a long to-do list, and on top of that, an even longer list of meetings youre required to attend. Those meetings arent going anywhere, but neither are the tasks youve committed to completing. So naturally, when you find an opportunity to skip one of the meetings, you should take it, right? In some cases, yes. For example, when youve been invited just in case. Or when you know its just a status update meeting and you dont need the updates. But there are some pretty bad reasons for backing out of a meeting, too. And by bad, I mean youre going to lose your teams respect, and possibly, even opportunities if you use one of these excuses.1. You Need to bestattungs FoodThere are few things on the face of the earth that motivate me as much as a meal. I get how real hunger pains are, especially in the middle of a long stretch of meetings. But as empathetic as I am to you when youre desperate for a snack break, its a terrible excuse to pump the brakes on an important meeting. And I know you know this- yet I also know that there are people who use this excuse when theyre backing out. InsteadPack one of your desk drawer with easy-to-grab snacks- preferably ones that wont be grating for everyone else to listen to as you eat them. 2. You Have an Urgent Errand to RunI have a handful of weddings to go to this summer, which means I have a handful of errands to run every week. And of course, all those errands, usually involve stores with very specific hours. While you hate to cancel so brde-minute, you just dont know when youll pick up your suit from the tailor if not right now. InsteadDo a quick assessment of your day and put all your assignments in priority order. Is there something else besides this meeting that you can put off? Could you stay later in order to get everything done? What about coming in earlier?It might be inconvenient for you, but its better to stay an hour later, than anony or delay all your co-workers because you cant attend a meeting. 3. You Have Too Much Work to Get DoneThere are days when you feel like you simply have too much to do- and I get that. And on those days, attending meetings can feel like a waste of your time. But at the same time, skipping this meeting can create mora work for the people involved in it- and thats not necessarily fair. InsteadAsk your manager for help deciding whats most important for you to do- the tasks on your to-do list or this meeting. If its truly impossible to get it all done and the meeting is more important, ask for a deadline extension on your other work.You might be thinking, This is great, but what if Im the exception to whats above? Alright, Ill work with you here. If you absolutely need to cancel, heres the email you need to send to attendees. Of course, customize based on what the meetings about and what your role is in it.HiI cant attend todays/tomorrows meeting. I know this is last minute and I apologize/I know this will delay our progress and I apologize.Note These are optional linesIs there any data/reports/insights I can send in advance to help move the conversation forward? If any decisions need my input, Ill answer them ASAP on email/Slack/text message. Could we get this conversation started on email- happy to lead the charge on that.Sorry again,Your Name Meetings get a bad reputation, and in a lot of cases, its warranted. Nobody likes to have their time wasted on something that could be easily resolved over email or quickly at your desk. But the fact that you dislike them isnt a good reason to start backing out at the last minute- especially if they fall into the important category. Instead, make a bigger effort to both remove meetings from your schedule that truly arent needed (this article can help with that) and organize your weekly schedule in a way that allows for lunch breaks and pockets of time to absprache with personal issues.Gettin g organized isnt always easy- but its definitely worth it

Excerpt from TAKE OFF YOUR SHOES From the Boardroom to Bali and Back

Excerpt from TAKE OFF YOUR SHOES From the Boardroom toBaliand BackExcerpt from TAKE OFF YOUR SHOES From the Boardroom toBaliand BackIt sounds like the plot of a movie. Super successful CEO has a great job but is feeling burned out and never get to see his family and friends because of his career success. So he decides to drop everything and move to Bali. But this isnt a movie plot. This is what Ben Feder, the entrepreneur behind Take Two Interactive and the nowPresident of International Partnership for Chinese internet titan firm, Tencent did.Risking his job, Ben and his wife Victoria and four young children, dropped everything and moved to Bali for the better part of a year. Through this journey, he learned how to find mora than balance but how to live again. He tells his story of rediscovery and reconnection in his new bookTAKE OFF YOUR SHOES From the Boardroom toBaliand Back.Now not everyone can totally quit their job and uproot to Bali but as Feder explains, there are changes eve ryone can make to be more connected to family, friends, and happiness while still being successful. Ladders obtained an excerpt fromTAKE OFF YOUR SHOES From the Boardroom toBaliand Back- - - I took time to let the fractured bone in my foot heal and considered carefully the opportunities that came my way. Instead of saying yes to many of them, I welches highly selective. Like the meditative wisdom that every wandering thought is an invitation to reorient, center, and restart, I decided to begin again.At first, I mentored and coached CEOs as they built their companies for themselves and their investors. I relied on my expertise and experience to help young technology companies grow. Periodically, in introductory meetings, my sabbatical story came up. It didnt connect with everyone, but with those it did, I developed a quick and easy bond that welches deeper than usual. It was like a secret handshake with men and women who were curious and sought meaning beyond success and winning at all costs. When Steve Christian, the entrepreneur from Java, asked me to invest in a venture of his in Indonesia, I jumped at the chance. What excited me was not just the nature of the opportunity or the off-the-beaten path angle but the ability to be in geschftliches miteinander with creative people I liked and admired. And I wanted to keep a business toehold in Asia.I followed Julia Camerons advice in her powerful book on creativity, The Artists Way I devoted two hours a week to go on an artist date, time spent taking a solo expedition to explore something that interested me (I focused on the art galleries in Chelsea).I also wrote morning pages, three pages of stream of consciousness designed to clear the mind and chase away the self-critical voice that was so disruptive to creative flow. After a few sessions, I realized I wanted to add structure and direction to the exercise and write a book. This book. If others learned something from it, good. Besides, trying something new and creative, without regard to success or failure, would be applying directly the lessons I had learned on sabbatical.As I engaged at work, my animal spirits stirred again. One day, I came across an opportunity with a large public company in the internet services sector that I thought was terribly managed. Investor sentiment was decidedly negative. Since its CEO had taken the helm eight years earlier, the stock price had collapsed over 80%. I dug in, analyzed the company, and developed a plan for change. I approached a boarddirector whom I knew with a long-shot proposal.Heres the way I see it, I said. If the company doesnt make a serious change now, the train will leave the station, and the enterprise will be unsalvageable. On the other hand, if the company acts now, I think the upside could be really exciting. I can turn this company around, create a vehicle for growth, and add a ton of value along the way.I wasnt expecting a resounding reception. Boards of directors tend to be weary of outsiders with novel plans.That sounds like a breath of fresh air, he said. Let me run it by a few other directors and get back to you.Two weeks later, he called me back. The thing is, the sitting CEO still has the boards confidence.I felt my indignation rise. If management wanted to run the company into the ground, then the current CEO was the man for the job.I wasnt about to give up. I called some hedge funds I knew and platzset up some meetings. We talked about possible courses of action. I was back in activist-shareholder land. Inevitably, proceeding would require waging an expensive fight, and any fight had the potential to turn nasty.This time, I paused. This may have been a situation where a nasty fight was required, but did it have to be me to enter the battle? Did I really want to be hostile if I didnt need to be? Perhaps I would re-engage later in that sort of activity, but with my Bali experience so fresh, I knew the answer. I called the funds I had been talking to an d dropped the matter.Throughout that experience, I noticed that the character of my ambition and aggression had changed it was no longer an overbearing imperative. My well-being did not depend on the next achievement. I realized that to compete, I needed to draw more on the wisdom of my experience than on the brute force of the mettle Id developed in earlier years. The ethos of intention, presence, and creativity was as important to me as the culture of material success and accomplishment. Now when I needed to be tough in a business situation or negotiation, an appropriate aggression came naturally, though the edge had softened. I felt that I had become a better leader, entrepreneur, and executive.It was as if I had rewired myself into a certain kind of professional grace.As I went about my days, I strove to strike a balance of surrendering to what the world had to offer while fighting to tear opportunities from it. I sought to integrate the parts of me that wanted to engage, be eff ective, and compete with those parts that sought meaning, gratitude, and presence. I realized it was the intention to synthesize, not the synthesis itself that motivated me. Like the peaceful warrior, my attempt to simultaneously engage and surrender would be ceaseless. The practices Id cultivated in Bali, which by now had become routine, centered me.I meditated daily, sometimes for three minutes, other times thirty and longer. I made yoga practice a near-daily part of my routine. When I got the call or message that business executives inevitably receive, the one that could ruin their entire day, I rolled with it better. When unhelpful thoughts conspired to commandeer my mind, as they still did periodically, their currents didnt carry me off. Instead, I stayed on the banks and watched them float past. I created space and recognized they were only thoughts that I didnt need to believe. By regularly taking time to fall back from fierce engagement, I had opened myself to a strength I h ad not previously known.I found a studio in SoHo that, like Pranotos, attracted artists to life drawing sessions. When I could afford the time, I drew to clear my mind, now in charcoal instead of graphite. Charcoal had depth, mood, and character that were absent in graphite, and it didnt leave a sheen on the page the way graphite did.On Fathers Day, Victorias gift to me was a few sessions with a painting teacher who introduced me to oils. Alex Shundi was part painter, part chef, and part philosopher. And a gifted teacher. In just the way drawing opened my eyes to line and edge, painting opened them to color. Color became vivid to me. I could see its complexity just walking down the street, my mind breaking down colors to their components, like factoring numbers. It was as if parts of my brain were lighting up for the first time.I still found my own drawing and painting difficult but enjoyed the challenge and deep concentration the work required.I recognized my inner critic and greet ed it like a friend. When that inner voice peeped, I noticed it and deliberately shifted my thought pattern. I took a beat and reminded myself that almost any complex creative work looks wretched in its early stages.With enough practice and the proper intention, I knew my eye would get keener in its observations of light and edge and my hand would become truer in its production of image.Still, meditation, yoga, and art were not a cure-all.One morning, I woke to a news story from Indonesia. Two of the Bali Nine had been sentenced to death and executed. Just when I was taking in the dawn of a new day, I felt as if a dagger had ripped through my heart. All the meditation practice in the world could not protect me from the dorfanger and grief that I felt for men and families I had never met.One day, I received a call from a professional friend who was a cofounder of one of Chinas most successful and, I thought, exciting technology companies. He pitched me on joining the company. It does nt get any bigger than this, he said. And the role he had in mind was a hand-in-glove fit with my interests and skills. More important, the company had a collaborative culture that openly promoted a positive optimistic outlook and a long-term orientation. Demanding without being threatening, patient without being foolish, it became successful, I concluded, not out of pure ambition but from an interest in exploring new areas and a willingness to try new approaches even if failure was a realistic possibility. It was the corporate version of Dwecks open mindset.I thought long about the trade-offs and adjustments that I would have to make- working in another culture and language, the time and attention away from family because of travel demands, working in multiple time zones, and the general pressures of a fast-growing enterprise. It seemed as if I could be headed back into the situation I had left.Still, the opportunity to learn and grow while working with some extraordinarily smart a nd capable people appealed to me.I equivocated about the decision, but in the end, it was Eric who convinced me to join. Even Thoreau had to return to Boston.I realized that my quest would end like so many others, with a return home and a new sense of mission. Like the animal that had shed its skin, I was reborn. I accepted the offer and dove in with wholehearted intention. I even undertook to learn Chinese, again challenging myself to learn a difficult, even daunting skill.Some of my earlier habits returned. I was traveling again, taking late phone calls, and missing dinners. But I realized that everyone needs to practice their trade. This is what I did. Yet I did it with a new perspective - more mindfully, as a meditation teacher would say- with less angst and stress, and always with an eye on where I was going. Not in conflict with my family but always looking to dovetail our endeavors and lives.