cannyben

The life long struggle to stay relevant keeps us all engaged. In fact, once basic survival is taken care of, the struggle for relevance is the only struggle that concerns us all through life. We care about only those who are relevant to us, and are cared for by only those to whom we stay relevant. The day we are not relevant to anyone or anything we are no good to the world and cease to exist. We are relevant to those who depend on us for their happiness, security, success or even entertainment. We are also relevant   to those who rely on us for their income, their well-being or upbringing. When we fulfill another person’s   emotional needs, we are supremely to them. Give someone the feeling that we understand him/her more than anyone, and you instantly become indispensable. As a guide and master who shows people a path towards well-being and success, we become very pertinent too. Love is the universal way of staying relevant, we are of importance to all those who love u...

Though this question inspires as many answers as people asked, everyone ultimately wishes to achieve the same thing. Recently, I met one of my old students and got talking. We met after some years and while catching up, the student told, he had started focusing more and more on himself as he grew older. Earlier, he used to think that is a selfish thing to do, but now he knew that is only by focusing on own self that he could focus on the important things of life – his family, his work, and all the things he held dear. So true, he had hit upon an important eternal truth. So often we make the mistake of giving importance to everything else in life at the cost of our own selves. We go off on a tangent chasing a passion or a need, forgetting that life calls for balance. We think there is plenty of time for that later, but that time never comes for those who put it off. It is a matter of attitude and of prioritizing. The truth is that everything we seek and chase is a means to...

If a single insight could sum up the case for strategic planning in higher education, it would be the Stoic philosopher Seneca’s observation that, if you don’t know which port you’re sailing to, "no wind is favorable." Yet all of that time you spend leading a strategic-planning process for a department, college, or institution will prove fruitless if the plan doesn’t identify: ·          Realistic objectives that can be accomplished within a set period of time. ·          Arguments, values, and rationales behind those objectives. ·          Metrics to mark their success or progress. ·          Resources (money, people, materials, facilities) to reach and sustain the objectives. Seems pretty straightforward. But of course, many less certain variables — political, cultural, psychological, bureaucratic — can assist or im...

You don’t have to be an expert to write about something. Academics are trained to learn a lot about a fairly narrow topic and then write about it over and over for a very long time. You might assume you can only write on a familiar topic. But that isn’t true. I’m not an "expert" on teen television, rape culture, immigration, children’s literature, clothing. Early on, you may feel uncomfortable straying too far from your discipline or sub field but eventually that won’t seem like such a big deal. Straying could give you valuable new perspectives on your work in your field. If you agree to write for no pay, know what you signed up for. I won’t say "don’t ever write for free." But it pays off in many other ways: It ends up attracting hundreds of thousands of page views and garnering responses ranging from beautiful to terrifying. But by writing for no pay essentially lowers the value of written work for both yourself and other writers. Even if writing isn’t you...

We live in an age of global change, the culmination of a process that has been going on for more than two hundred and fifty years. Impressive technological, scientific and cultural achievements seem to have been accompanied by a deep erosion of the sense of meaning and the possibility of meaning of life. Along with economic well-being, enormous existential difficulties are revealed which are expressed in the demand for meaning. Along with the empowerment of and rights to the individual, there is an ongoing breakdown of communal life leading to loneliness and a crisis of meaning that has political and social implications. After years of little interest, questions about the meaning of life and the forces that shape our perspectives on this issue are now receiving renewed interest in the academic, professional, practitioner, personal and other spheres. However, it seems that we are still far from understanding not only these questions and the answers to them, but also the tangible imp...

Spirituality recognises that there is more reality than just the material world. The intuition that our lives have meaning and are part of something bigger is a powerful motivator for us to cultivate our spiritual side. The mystical experiences and beliefs that arise from this engagement can stimulate our imagination in unexpected ways. Feelings of transcendence and awe have inspired creative people, artists, writers and composers throughout the ages, and continue to influence cultures around the world. Spirituality has certainly not gone away in a hyper-connected age, but finds new modes of expression and practice. Spirituality and culture are closely linked. How we treat other people, what and when we eat and drink, how we interact with – and transcend – the everyday world are all affected by our spiritual orientation. Our spiritual commitments may prompt us to seek social change, travel to sacred places, and follow particular rituals to put us in touch with something beyond ever...

In many courses, the days after the first exam can be stressful. Some students might feel worried about the results, or even doubt their abilities. So at the end of one challenging exam, a professor took a few minutes of class time to reassure the students.  Her brief remarks led to the kind of email that every faculty member should want to receive:  “The speech you gave post-exam was something I needed to hear. Thank you for reminding me that I belong here and have the potential to succeed.”  The student’s words tell you a lot about the instructor’s teaching style. Besides teaching content and skills in your discipline, your role is to help students learn. And not just some students. The changing demographics of higher education mean that undergraduates come to you with a wide variety of experiences, cultures, abilities, skills, and personalities. You have an opportunity to take that mix and produce a diverse set of thinkers and problem-solvers. Teaching inclusiv...

Your CV — as its full name, "curriculum vitae," suggests — is the record of your academic life. But it’s also a passport through that life, and one you’ll have to show to gatekeepers over and over. Of course a strong CV is built on strong achievements. But you also have to present your record in an interesting and impressive way. And that’s where many aspiring candidates fall short. What follows are eight tips to improve your CV. But first, understand the difference between a CV and a résumé. There’s plenty of overlap between the two — it’s fair to describe a CV as an academic résumé. But the differences are salient. A résumé tends to be directly purpose-driven. It might start out with an explicit career objective ("a public-relations position that combines analysis and customer relations"), while a CV rarely features that kind of rhetoric. CVs have specific purposes, too — they’re more implicit, that’s all.  You have to design a CV for the audience it wil...