Gary Hamel, a professor at the London Business School, talks about a world without bosses for the new Phoenix Lecture Series. His words are jarring and at first, way out there because from my American worldview working a corporate job, the hierarchy is just how things are and there is no other way to go about it. The business hierarchy is what our economy is fundamentally built upon. You break into the workforce as a bottom feeder, and after years and years of sucking up and smiling, you slowly inch your way up the corporate ladder. Such a system perpetuates only because as you reach that next level, it’s only fair that the fresh-faced recent graduate that has just started at your company yesterday goes through the same b.s. process. Helps build character, right? It sort of reminds me of that Kayak.com commercial I saw on TV about the “morons at the top”.

But Prof. Gary Hamel suggests otherwise. What if there was no hierarchy? What if you only did what you wanted to do and you couldn’t be compelled otherwise? What if the future of the company wasn’t about where the big dogs wanted to take the company, but was a crowd-sourced decision that everyone would be happy with? What if everyone is on the same level and you wouldn’t waste away the prime of your life sorting mail and getting coffee because your voice is as essential as anyone elses? I can barely fathom it myself but if there are companies out there that are as progressive as this, sign me up. As a pragmatist, I don’t see it working. I hope companies out there prove me wrong.

Recently, I had a discussion with a friend (34 year old) who has one of the more interesting jobs I’ve personally ever heard about. What he does for  living is he travels around the world and gives presentations for his company. The kicker? He gets paid quite a bit of money to do so. I think he said something around 100K per year. The craziest part of all this is he gets a budget every time he travels for food and lodging, so he has no out of pocket expenses any time he’s on the road. Sounds like a pretty cool career.

Which kind of got me thinking…how does one FIND one of these amazing cool jobs? Like how do you even begin to think, “In life all I ever want to do is travel the world and get paid 6 figures to give presentations!” I don’t know about you guys, but I thought that if I didn’t become a doctor, lawyer, accountant, or engineer I was a failure. Which pretty much means that as of right now, I am a failure at life. Sigh.

I told the guy that I write blog posts for post graduates, and asked him if I could interview him. Here’s our conversation:

Me: “How did you find such an amazing job opportunity?”

Friend: “Honestly, it’s not like I was hoping or planning to go down this path in life. The only reason why I started working this particular job is because I first started working for this company in the HR (Human Resources) department. That first job was incredibly boring, and I wasn’t really getting paid a lot of money. However, because I kept working hard, eventually I made the right connections and the right doors opened, so here I am.”

Me: “What exactly do you do?”

Friend: “I go on trips across the nation and give presentations. They’re basically presentations on money management. When I’m not on a trip, I don’t have to show up to the office, and they send me on about 7-14 locations per month depending on how busy things are. There are some weeks where I don’t even have to go anywhere, so I get to just chill at home and do nothing. It’s pretty awesome. During busy seasons, however, I do a lot of traveling. There was one week where I went to a different city every single day, Mon-Friday.”

Me: “What did you major in while you were in undergrad?”

Friend: “I was actually a math major in college. I originally wanted to go into accounting, but once I actually started working as an accountant, I realized I absolutely hated it. I became really unsure of what I wanted to do, but one of my friends hooked me up with a job at this firm. It was  actually supposed to only be a temporary job while I thought about my future. However, because I really didn’t know what I wanted to do, I just stayed at the job even though there were times I wanted to quit. Obviously, I’m very glad that I didn’t [quit the job].”

Me: “Did you go to grad school?”

Friend: “I was considering it, during the time I quit PWC, but once I got this job there was no real reason for me to go to grad school. I guess it’s possible that I’d go at some point, but for now, I don’t really see much of a reason to go.”

Me: “What would you recommend to post-graduates who are wondering how they should expand their own personal careers?”

Friend: “My best advice is this: one door opens another. Like I said, I didn’t even know I was going to be working this job. However, since I started working at the firm, I was able to make the right connections and impress the right people so that they’d offer me a position as wonderful as this.

When I was 23 and working at PWC (Pricewaterhouse Coopers an accounting firm) I was miserable and hated what I was doing. When I left PWC, my new job originally paid me 20 thousand less per year. There was a lot of uncertainty, but because I consciously made an effort to work hard no matter where I was at and I was willing to walk through doors and take a bit of risk, good things happened for me.”

Me: “Any last words?”

Friend: “Just a few cliche-ish and redundant statements: you cannot hope to get to where you want to be, without first starting somewhere. And, great opportunities are out there for those people who are willing to work hard and invest in their social networks. I really got this job because of my friend, who referred me to the company. Then, once I got there, because I made key relationships with the right people, I was able to land this amazing job. Last week, I went International for the first time. They sent me to Australia to give a lecture. Needless to say, it was an amazing experience.”

My Final Thoughts: I think a lot of us feel stuck at our current jobs. However, don’t forget that the only way you’re ever going to expand your career is if you keep investing in it. Most people don’t START with a job like this. I don’t think many people even know jobs like this really exist! Once you start working, as you increase your experience, exciting opportunities/doors will open up to you. Keep it up!

Many of us, I’m sure, have moved back home ever since graduating from college. Although this definitely does not help with things like attracting members of the opposite sex (especially if you’re a guy), it definitely is nice to have parents who will feed you…especially if your mom is an amazing cook. For everyone else, you’re on your own.

If you’re tired of cooking microwaveable dinners, or you’ve been getting quite pudgy from eating too much McDonald’s and Carls Jr. here are some cooking tips that could make your next meal an absolutely delicious entree.

1.) Learn some simple dishes to prepare. There are a ton of super easy meals that you can prepare. One of my favorites is Garlic/Olive Oil/Shrimp Pasta. Instead of buying your garlic at Ralph’s (which you have to dice all by yourself), visit your local Asian market (more specifically, Korean) and buy pre diced garlic for $2.99. This thing is AMAZING, and will save you a lot of time for preparing your food. After that, making this dish is pretty simple.

First, boil the pasta (it doesn’t really matter what type of pasta you use). In a separate pan, saute diced onions, garlic, and the shrimp in olive oil. You have to be careful with timing here. Don’t forget pasta takes a longer time to cook than the shrimp/onion/garlic combination, so you might want to start cooking the onions/garlic/shrimp later than the pasta. I usually cook on medium heat.

Once your pasta is ready, drain the pasta. Then take that pasta and put it in the pan with your already cooked Shrimp/Onion/Garlic combination. Add a decent amount of olive oil to your pasta. Mix everything up. Add Oregano, Basil leaf, some salt, and pepper for taste (I also like to add Cilantro afterwards). VOILA. Super delicious pasta ready to eat that is decently healthy. If you want to make it healthier, replace the shrimp with chicken. If you want other simple recipe ideas, let me know and I’ll post them up in a future post.

2.) Be creative with leftovers. One thing I like to do is take leftover meals and use them as part of a different meal. For instance, after eating 3/4 of my Korean Bulgogi last week, I used the 1/4 left to make a delicious Kimchi Fried Rice. It’s super easy to make this dish as well: get a decent amount of kimchi and garlic, saute them in olive oil. Then throw in the bulgogi. After about 10-15 minutes of sauteing the kimchi, garlic, and bulgogi combination, add some rice to the mixture. Mix it all up, then add Sesame Oil (SUPER IMPORTANT!), some salt, and more olive oil. You can also add some Red Hot Chili Paste here (buy this at a korean market). In a separate pan cook an egg sunny side up. Put your kimchi fried rice on a plate, and throw that egg on top of it. VOILA. Some bomb ass kimchi fried rice. FREAK I’m getting hungry.

3.) Seasoning is key. People in America love strongly seasoned foods. Just think about our average pizza. Most of our pizza is littered with tons of toppings. You will never get that in Italy. All this to say that we love our foods heavily seasoned, so you have to make sure you do a good job with seasoning. That’s why I tend to use a lot of garlic in the foods I prepare. I love the taste of garlic, onions, cilantro, and sesame oil. If you’re not really into those types of foods, then find something that makes you happy (taste wise) and experiment with that type of seasoning in your foods!

4.) Go grocery shopping for multiple meals. When you shop for groceries, plan out 3-4 meals you’re going to make. This will help a LOT with cost and saving money, and will also ensure that you don’t waste anything you buy. For instance, if I buy cilantro, I’m intentionally going to plan 3-4 meals I will make with that cilantro. If I buy a certain type of meat or vegetable, I have a good idea when I’m going to use that meat/vegetable. Planning ahead will save you TONS of money.

All this talk of food has got me absolutely hungry. Instead of eating out all the time, try some simple and delicious home made recipes! It’ll save you money in the long run, and is also a great skill/habit to develop.

I just had to share this because it’s amazing.

I just recently started to diet and exercise again. It’s so funny how you can’t tell how much freaking weight you’ve gained until you want to lose it. I mean, I knew that I definitely wasn’t in tip-top shape anymore. But I definitely didn’t realize that I’d become so chubby. I guess one warning should have been the fact that I cannot fit into most of my skinny jeans anymore, and even if I do, they pretty much suffocate me throughout the day.

I was looking at myself in the mirror this morning, shirtless, and there were a couple things that I thought. First, I realized that my tan line is absolutely disgusting, and I need to stand out in the sun more without a shirt. I mean, my chest is SUPER PALE while any part of my body that has been exposed to the sun is super dark. Pretty gross. Second, I couldn’t help but wonder “how sexy would I look if I had kept up the diet and exercise I started a while ago?”

The problem with me is that I keep going in and out of “diet and exercise” stage. I’m sure many of you guys can relate. I think every year my body weight swings by at least 20 pounds. Last year, for instance, I went from 158 lbs to 142. Right now I’m at a STARTLING (I was so scared to step on a weight scale because of this) 164 LBS. This is ridiculous because at my height, my “ideal” weight is somewhere around 140 lbs. I weigh just as much as my friend who’s about 4 inches taller than I am. I’m aiming to drop my weight down to around 140 lbs. This has GOT to be bad for my body somehow.

And yet, the nagging question is persistently chirping in the back of my head: “what if you had stayed consistent…” I’m pretty sure I would have a six pack by now. I should have just listened to Michael Liu’s article, “How to Stay Fit as a Postgrad.” FREAK.

I share this little tidbit to reiterate a cliche: consistency is key. As hackneyed as this phrase is, and as many times as we hear it over and over again, the truth and weight of the statement doesn’t really hit home for a lot of us. We all expect results instantly. One of the reasons why I stopped dieting and exercising is because I wanted to get a six pack. I tried extremely hard for 2 months, and when I didn’t see the results that I had been hoping for, I became discouraged and stopped trying.

So many of us are working jobs we don’t necessarily like, or constantly switching back and forth between a million different decisions because we all want to see success NOW. We’re unhappy with the uncertainty, and once we hit a wall that we just can’t seem to get past, instead of pushing through and staying consistent, we become discouraged and try something else. But what if you just KEPT pursuing this one path, and fought through the walls with determination? What if you stayed consistent? Where would you be today?

Anytime you want to pursue anything in life, there’s always going to be reasons why you shouldn’t do it. Instead of creating reasons for why you should give up and do something else, sometimes you just got to make the decision to stick with the plan, and see it through till the end. I woke up this morning, and my body was incredibly sore from the past two days of exercising. The last thing I want to do is exercise again, and I hate Tony Horton with a passion. However, I’m beginning to realize more and more that pushing through the days when you really just don’t want to do it is the key to success. If you want to see the success in life you’ve always longed for, or want to be fit and healthy…the only way you’re going to do that is with a lot of consistency. Or, you could win the lottery. Frankly, I’m kind of hoping for the latter – but working towards the former.

Hey everybody.

This is Mike here. Sorry that we’ve gone off the grid for quite a while now. Life has officially waylaid our plans to get this blog booming but if you did want to stay connected with my personal projects, check out my new blog project.

The project is called Faith Palm and the url is http://www.faithpalm.com/. If I had to put what the project is about into a couple sentences, I’d say that it’s an honest look at the silliness of some acts of religion and zeal, a sifting of all of the mumbo jumbo out there, shaking the extra quirky stuff onto the pages of my blog by me.

Check it out, comment, subscribe. We have a Twitter feed, a Facebook group and all that jazz going. Look forward to hearing from everyone!

Maybe you’ve finally gotten that job you’re going for, like I have. Maybe you’re ready to put your job hunting days behind you, like I am. Conceptually, everything you’re looking for to stabilize your postgraduate life has been given to you. The question is, are you ready for it? Here are a couple things I’ve learned in my transition process:

1. It ain’t no cakewalk. We are creatures of habit and the habits that you’ve picked up as an unemployed postgrad should probably stay specific to that period in your life. I know that as much as I tried to stay disciplined, keeping up a high-level of productivity and positivity was definitely the hardest battle for me. It was just so easy to wake up late just because I could, shower only when I had to, eat at odd hours and so forth. This lifestyle won’t cut it once you’re employed because you’ve gotta tighten up your responsibilities, make an effort to stay hygienic and just live a life with some semblance of regularity and normalcy.

2. Be mindful of your spending. So you have an income now. You’ve got the money flowing in and can now justify letting yourself loosen up a little and let some of that money flow out. The economic downturn of yesteryear led to a culture of penny-pinching and watchful spending that I had never experienced before in my lifetime. And now, even before I’ve gotten a penny of my first paycheck, I’ve already gone and spent a large portion of it. In justification, I did have to upgrade my wardrobe a tad to match the corporate vibe of my new workplace but honestly, none of what I bought was absolutely necessary. If there is anything to be learned from the bad economy, it’s that nothing is for sure so if you want to ensure your survivability, you need to incorporate a healthy amount of saving into your life.

I can’t really expand much more on this topic because I’ve only been employed for a two-week block and it’s only been part-time so I’m sure more will come just with experience. What other changes have you guys made to adjust yourself to employed life?

Ever consider applying to law school? The prospect of law school is definitely appealing to a lot of people who have graduated. While, on a realistic note, the job market is definitely saturated (way too many people are graduating with a law school degree), the potential for not only great financial stability but a good job with tons of benefits is possible through law school. This appeal is especially applicable to the people out there that are lost and confused after graduating and have absolutely no direction.

First of all, I want to quickly address this issue right away: you are not too old to go to law school. As a matter of fact, some people go to law school even at the upper ages of 50 or 60. At the end of the day, that probably is not the wisest career and life decision at that stage of your life. It would be ideal to go somewhere between 30-40. At the same time, the possibility always exists, and that’s my point.

With that being said, here are some things you will have to do if you seriously want to apply to law school. I’m writing this assuming that you have already graduated from, or will graduate from an accredited 4 year university. It goes without saying that if you have any desire to attend law school, you need a diploma from some university.

1. Prepare for your LSAT. Most Universities, although it is definitely not systematic across the board, value your LSAT score a lot more than your GPA. A safe scaled estimate would be something along the lines of 70-30. The test is scored on a 120-180 scale, and a good LSAT score is above 160, while the average lies somewhere in the 150′s. An excellent LSAT score is anything from 170-180, and scoring such pretty much guarantees that you will gain admittance into at least one of the schools that you apply to. Needless to say, the LSAT is very important if you are seriously considering law school. A good way to find out if law school makes any sense for you is to take a practice LSAT and see how you do.

2. Collect Letters of Recommendation. If you are like me and have been graduated for a while, you can either take some junior college courses and get an A in the class, or contact old professors from undergrad and ask them for a huge favor. Generally speaking, when you go and ask them for a letter of recommendation, prepare all the documents they would need in order to write a favorable letter of rec for you. Bring them a sample of your class work, a portfolio with some of your writings/accomplishments, your resume…give them every and all information that will help them write you a good letter of rec. You should also give them a little “thank you” gift card from Starbucks, or the equivalent. It’s not bribery, it’s a little thank you nudge that will help ensure that you get a positive letter of rec that the professor completes in a timely manner.

Before asking for a letter of recommendation, go to www.lsac.org, sign up for an account, and direct your inform your professors where they should submit their letter of recommendation to (through LSAC). LSAC is very convenient, and they will send out your general letter of recommendations to all of the law schools you apply to with your LSAT score as well.

3. Research schools online to see what your options are, and what they expect from you before you apply. Websites like Top Law Schools will help you a lot in your endeavor to apply to law school. The idea is, you want to know what schools you can realistically apply to (based on your LSAT and GPA performance), and furthermore, what the law schools you want to apply to require from you in terms of pre-admission. Every law school is different, and because of that, you should research each school you plan on applying to. For example, some schools expect more than 2 letter of recs, although 2 is the generally accepted minimum number. Doing a good amount of research will greatly improve your chances of finding a good law school program for you.

Remember, the school you go to is very important, when it comes to practicing law. Not only should you consider location (where you study is generally where you should practice), but you should also consider the school’s ranking. School ranking will play a big part in determining what kind of jobs are available to you once you graduate.

This is a really life changing/defining decision, and you should definitely make it with a lot of thinking/weighing the options. However, if you do decide to pursue a career in law, good luck! It’s definitely going to be a lot of work, but honestly, everything in life takes work. Not all of us have the fortune of winning the lottery, or having multi-millionaire parents that can help alleviate certain stresses of life. For the rest of us, work hard, play hard.