Wind of Change

If you want something you've never had
You must be willing to do something you've never done.

Thomas Jefferson

Have you ever dreamt of changes in your life? I can scarcely believe that the anwer is 'no'. 

Suddenly you face an unusual turn up that cuts you to the heart.  You listen to someone's significant speech, that touches your string. You meet an ordinary person, who is inside like a creature from outer space. You read a book and understand that it's more than just reading, because you're captivated, even caught by some of its wise thoughts, that waken your inwardness. I mean some starting point that forces you to take a fresh look at your path. 

I'd like to start from the very beginning. After the celebration of this New Year with our relatives, a small argument boiled over into a serious quarrel. The worst of it was that this quarrel seemed to sever any relationships between siblings. 

My sister and I were in this soup due to our tempers, that are just the opposite. I'm gentle-hearted, mellow, empathetic, sometimes obstinate, touchy and supersensitive to criticism, while she is a hip-shooter, a person with rebellious, although fair and creative, grain. None of us is honey. I won't go into details not to draw you into digging for dirt. Fortunately, this unpleasantry, that could've become the end of our relationships, turned out to be a driving force for both my and her soul searching. 

A 19-year old girl, who sometimes was lazy to make her bed, who used to be edgy and criticize harshly without troubling about consequences, who had the making of a talented artist but drew only a few sketches per year, – this girl began to earn her living as a freelance graphic designer and started to paint pictures with coffee for exhibitions. 

A 27-year old woman, who used to have offence at almost every remark, and who was looking for excuses of unrealised potential as an English teacher, completed a 4-month course of English, and managed to apply for a job of her dream.

Thankfully, we made up our quarrel in a few months, and learnt to appreciate each other even more than before.
I suppose both I and my sister became ready to change, because we were in pain and despair. Then we calmed down and took over our emotions. The quieter we become, the more we can hear. Thus the right things in our lives started happening.

Coincidence or Destiny?

Lately my mind has been travelling over chain of recent happenings. Willy-nilly I notice myself reexperiencing an image that hounts me unobtrusively. I tend to consider it nothing if not on purpose. 

I'd like to share with you my sister's (Svitlana Martynyuk's) picture of Buddha, that was drawn just after the New Year's situation, and posted with the caption text "My personal Buddha". Later my father, Oleksandr Martynyuk, converted it into vector drawing:

To make it clear, all the members of my family are Christians, however there's no reason why we shouldn't be interested in different cultures and worldview.

Later I returned to this subject while preparing to religion-themed English class. It was not about Buddah; it was about person's mental and physical purifying, the essential idea of Buddhism. Actually, the similar idea is in Bible:

Therefore, since we have these promises, dear friends, let us purify ourselves from everything that contaminates body and spirit, perfecting holiness out of reverence for God.

2 Corinthians 7:1

A week ago after my successful job-interview, Volodymyr Kolyvai, General Director of Image Osvita, business trainer and consultant, invited me to his training program 'Mind Management' about the most effective ways of personal growth. I'm very thankful to this man for belief in me as a good English Teacher, and for sharing wise, applicable and helpful ideas, that I had the pleasure to glean during this program. In spite of the fact the core thoughts were connected with the principles of Buddhism, that's not the point. No matter religion, self-evolution is the issue for everyone.

Press Play

My husband, Oleksandr Polyukhovych, usually says about the importance of stepping outside the comfort zone and follows this principle every day. Being a successful developer, he tries to carve out time for self-education every day to find out something new in IT sphere and to help other developers (through articles in his blog) to sort out problems concerning programming. 

He gains through giving. He is ready to discomforts and difficulties and beleives, that they lead to beautiful destination, because the only thing that changes us is one that challenges us. Between two options: 'make progress' and 'make excuses' he chooses the first one. He would rather move on than hold on.

Be ready for some unexpected journeys, and don't be afraid to give up something safe, comfortable, ordinary and familiar for your passion!

What Drives: Forces of Motivation at Work

The only way to do great works is to love what you do

Steve Jobs

When we think about labor, we usually think about motivation and payment as the same thing, but the reality is that we should probably add at least such kinds of things to it: meaning, creation, challenges, ownership, identity, pride, etc. Except of money, we are also driven by meaningful work, by others' ackowledgement, by the amount of effort we've put in: the harder the task is, the prouder we are. What really drives depends on our hierarchy of needs.

The significance of payment motivation depends on whether it gives means to live or to survive. In the latter case money is more than an important - it is crucial motivation. Each person has different standart of 'enough' which involves in his line of needs.

I'd like to cite a passage of post "What motivates you at work" from linkedin:

"Is money why you go to work? If your boss doubled your salary, would you work twice as hard? I didn't think so".

But I was much more interested in one of the comments to this post: 

"If your boss cut off 20% from your work, would you have the same paycheck? I didn't think so :)".

It is hard to escape the conclusion that money definitely exerts a considerable impact to our motivation at work. Thus there is the rub: this motivator is short-lived. There should be another sense that stays with you much longer.

When my husband was just beginning his career of C# Developer - it was more than 5 years ago - he got about $200 a month. Student's hierarchy of needs differed from the necessities of a family man's life :). Alexandr always says he is able to make money our family needs. One he is passionate about is personal and professional growth. He is motivated with his job because the opportunity of being he truly is, and the best he can be. Work, along with family, is his source of being, his path. My husband loves programming not only as his job, but also as his hobby. As the way of thinking. Frankly speaking, I'd be pleased to land him a job if I was an employer.

My profession, putting it middly, is not such financially rewarded one as my husband's. My best work experience is connected with English teacher's job at the lyceum. I was passionate about preparing an interesting material for my students and to see feedback interest in their eyes while working crossword puzzles, guessing riddles and playing linguistic games. 

My further jobs were associated with disrespect of my rights and mistreatment in terms of working hours and loads of work. For one, being a proofreader at the editorial office, I used to discharge responsibilities of layout designer, sales manager, messenger, organizer, bookkeeper and even a cleaner. Working hours were flexible only in terms of ordinary overtimes. Level of work done didn't have an impact on my salary. It was $250 a month, 3 years ago.

Honestly, appreciation and recognition for my efforts - that's just the thing that motivates me. The best bet is to make both dollars and sense :).