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Work Wit – What’s Funny About Business

Work Wit:  Corona Wonders…What do you call a nation where people sit down and chat face-to-face to share a glass of wine, but stand on a moving treadmill and squint into a screen to share employment in the same company? America the Beautiful.

Biz Quiz: What is the best estimate of treadmill desks purchased in the last decade?  Somewhere between 400,000 and 600,000. https://www.bartsbooks.com

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Sign of Our Times…She wouldn’t be caught dead venturing into marriage with an off-the-rack wedding gown, but she thinks nothing of venturing into a new enterprise an AI generated business plan.

Biz Quiz: What is the price of the average wedding gown in the U.S.?  America’s 2.5 million brides this past year paid an average of $2,000 – $4,000 for their wedding gowns.

The American Way… As a patriotic gentleman of business, I whole-heartedly support all legislators who give contracts to my firm.  Of course, those who give contracts to my competitors are irresponsible wastrels and darn fools.

Biz Quiz:  How many government contractors are employed in the U.S.?  You are paying for 5,294 contractors – 55% are male – average age is 46.

Re-sculpting Your Career – Post-Covid Opportunities

Fortune now smiles on the energized employee willing to take his/her current skills and apply them in a new field. On Friday, February 24, 10 a.m. at the Princeton Public Library Bart Jackson will speak to the Professional Service Group of Mercer County. Admission is free, all are welcome – virtual attendance is also available: register on the PSG website www.psgofmercercounty.org.

Bart lays out a practical plan for searching out what businesses are seeking, how to navigate your professional switch, and how to negotiate your way into a more profitable career. In his words, “If you thought the business talent hunt was immense before Covid, wait until you see what’s waiting for you today.”

Tidings of Comfort & Joy

As a Christian (I say that the most spiritual and not even slightly political sense), this season I often find myself sitting alone, contemplative, and thankful.  Recently, I sat in such a reverie, my sole companions a blessedly steaming cup of coffee and an absolutely voluptuous bowl of chili.  All the while, my favorite advent hymn phrase kept haunting me:

Where meek Souls will receive him still, the dear Christ enters in.

And I kept wondering, what would it feel like when I finally Christ into my soul? What did I want Jesus to bring me for Christmas?

So I grabbed my pen and scribbled…..

– If sleep sweeps in each night with a mere closing of the eyes – like  when you were ten…

– If your mind rests with ease – with no jolts of regret or stabbing recollections that bleed out unhealed memories…

– If that smile springs to your lips from frequent, pure joy – and is not donned as a defiant shield…

– If there are no foods, drinks, or engineered indulgences you lean on  with increasing frequency to blanket yourself in brief contentment…

– If the joy of pursuing your ambition exceeds your anxiety over possibly not reaching it…

– If you are not haunted by emotional triggers…

– If you enjoy, but don’t require the adulation & approval of others…

– If you can endure success – another person’s, I mean…

– If your heart approves your habits – that tender care you give to  you, and you’re thankful for the path you’re walking…

– If you feel pride in your behavior during your last conflict – group  meeting – family gathering – and treatment of a stranger…

– If nothing in your life seems a sacrifice…

– If your own real concerns seem minor and offstage enough that you are finding greater anxiety in the plights of others…

– If you look back on your past without the balance of Success vs.       Failure – but only with relish…

– If there is so much more you want to do – but nothing you feel ruthlessly driven to do…

– If each stranger, whatever the circumstance, is seen as an opportunity – not a threat or yardstick competitor…

– And if you rise up singing with a bellowsome joy that sets your  teenage daughter blushing crimson with embarrassment…

Then you don’t need Jesus to Quickly Come…

In fact, I’ll wager the warm glow of holly & heart, He’s already there.

Wishing each of you the greatest joy this Christmas,

– Bart Jackson