In English class (presentations mostly), in the bus, during nights out, people like to call me "Le commercial" ( "the salesman" ) although it has nothing to do with what I do or study, and I'm certainly not a good salesman (for the sole reason I never tried selling on a daily basis, and I'm sure it doesn't come just like that).

I think the reason why they call me that, is because I like to sell myself, sell ideas, convince people to do things, not with the usual boring tone but with more of a motivational, inspiring and enthusiastic touch.

As a kid I was shy in front of teachers. I hated presenting things in front of the class, but my "selling" side started with girls at first, and developed when I first came to France.

The first time I applied for a job I was refused because of : "my lack of motivation, I didn't convince the interviewer to hire me". I thought that I was perfect for the job but I didn't sell myself at all.

I learned from the mistake and since then I sold myself like never before ! (with moderation ofcourse ;) )

It's been a while since I wrote a post. You could say writer's block, I got sick as well, then had exams and then passed through this shockingly bad phase!

I've recently went through a bit of a tough time where I found out things I wish I never found out, which made me doubt the way I'm living my life, but that turned out OK, instead it just makes me want to push further.

I've got a couple of job offers threw this blog, 75% of them not really my field, which is my fault! I'll post a CV soon.

PS : Thanks for the people that cared and have been around me threw this tough time.

A friend recently sent me a nice wallpaper saying "Do your work, don't be stupid". I honestly loved it. Motivational phrases like that really have an effect on me. I just bought two posters to hang on my wall one saying "When life presents a challenge, take your shot" and the other one "It is hard to fail, but it is harder not to have tried to succeed " - Theodore Roosevelt.

I think that if you're surrounded by people who are motivated then you can't help but become more motivated yourself, and if you wake up and sleep with motivational posters around you, I'm sure you get even more motivated!

I still lack motivation towards classes, things I don't like, and things I need to start doing again, like sports. Hopefully that will change, not only because I got posters but because if I wrote it on my blog and I don't do it then I'm not a man of my word!

So far, I've preferred not to talk about the economic crisis because up until yesterday I didn't really feel the impact, but just heard and heard over again about it.
Millions of jobs have disappeared and I didn't feel it until it happened to people I know.
People say we're looking at 2 or even 3 years minimum crisis, what's happening now is just the beginning.
Whoever survives this, will be stronger, whoever still stands will be the leader.
People might say that staying optimistic is the key. I'm not optimistic right now. I'm more interested in facing reality. The fact is, that those people who have families, rents to pay, babies to feed, children to support, son's and daughter's tuition fees to pay, are probably facing the biggest challenge of their life.
I know it's easier to say then to do , I'm "talking the talk" but i'm not sure if I'd be able "to walk the walk" but I hope that it gets better rather than worse for everyone that's walking that walk right now .
More talk : This is something you can't control, the best that can be done is to face it and adapt.

Last night I had an interesting conversation with a colleague in class where I mentioned how proud I am of myself because I am still managing to keep my grades up while working.
This friend has great grades too, but told me that he wasn't that proud of himself compared to what I am achieving.
I told him that if he compared himself to 3/4 of the class he might look like a king.
People set goals, and analyze themselves in relation to the goals they set, not by comparing themselves to other people.
And the key to keep on moving is to keep setting goals whenever you surpass the past ones.
Evaluate yourself now ;)

Last Sunday, while I was waiting for my laundry, I read an article from a magazine I randomly picked up.
The article was talking about how the new, young, working generation is proving itself to be a lazy generation. The article discussed several points that could be the cause of this laziness.
Two of the main points explained the fact that the new generation knows only the 35 hour work week and working overtime is not an option for them. It also explained how there is a general lack of motivation! (For those who don't live in France, in a matter of couple of years France's full-time working hours decreased from 40 to 37 and now recently down to 35 hours per week).

I am sure an enterprise prefers hiring someone that has fast learning skills and motivation over someone that has a bad ass degree, zero motivation and just counts on what he or she has learned before. You always have to keep on learning, you have to move up, I don't think being stable is an option anymore.
I'd definitely say motivation is easier to get then a degree!
Why do people seem to forget that?

For the past 2 and a half weeks, I've been traveled to an amazing country I have never been to before, seen my family and met back up with old friends I haven't seen for 2 years.
In short, I had an amazing vacation. Although I wish some things happened differently or I wish I had seen certain people who I didn't get see, but I have nothing to complain about!

During this vacation, I won't deny it, my mind was on work and I even spent some mornings working. But I took the fact that I was on vacation to the max and what made me really enjoy it is the fact that I felt I deserved it. For those of you who don't know me in a close way, in the summer time I did a 4 months internship which lead to me not taking a vacation for around a year and a half.

I hear a lot of people saying: "Damn this vacation was too short, I wish i could stay more etc..", people asked me : "Aren't you sad you're going back?". I am actually saying this with a smirk on my face: "My vacation was great, I will miss you all, I have no regrets about going back..It's back to serious now.."

Last year, I remember myself playing during class breaks. After university I'd go back home and just rest, study a bit, play and go out; somewhat living the student life.
I always envied those who had to go to work at night, come to class tired in the morning, but still come back.

This year I am experiencing somehow the same thing. I have around 32/34 hours of classes per week.
When I come back home I know there's no rest, no playing around there's just working.
I've still not come to the point where i go to classes really tired, hope that never happens, somehow it is not just a physical problem, as long as you're sleeping the amount of hours you need to sleep and eating well, you're going to be fine. It's more of a psychological problem. Seeing your friends doing what they want when they want, living the student life and the fact that you are not can affect you, specially if you have friends that rub it in your face. So far that doesn't affect me at all because my sense of accomplishment is far greater and far more satisfying.

Don't get me wrong, I am not giving up my life!..I still go out on weekends, still see my friends and I am still going to Rome, Beirut and Kuwait during this vacation.

During my 4 month internship at naseba, I felt like part of a team, a productive and dynamic team. We exchanged tasks, had meetings, conference calls, had to meet deadlines and we made things happen.

All of this may sound like nothing to a normal working employee, but for me it is awesome, as I am still a student and going to university everyday doesn't sound intriguing and interesting unless there's a project to do, limits to break, challenges to face, and obstacles to get over.

Being back part of the team made me take a deep breath and tell myself: "You have a long and hard ride in front of you. Being a student and working at the same time is not an easy task. There is no time for complaints; just work and get the most out of it while it lasts. "

I recently knew a couple that broke up and i was friends with both of them. So one friend asked me for help and advice, all I thought of was helping her take back control. What I wanted to do is make that person stronger and more independent to be ready to get back at the other person, basically by playing games.

However, this friend didn't listen to my advice although i was pretty convinced that my way would work. She dealt with the problem by being sad and in pain and eventually she worked up the courage to go out and get what she wanted without any games. She threw everything she had on the table by being honest. In the end it all worked out and they got back together.

You probably guessed what I want to say, sometimes you have it in your head to play games to get what you want. With games you can act wisely and think about every angle thereby protecting yourself. However, sometimes it's simpler to throw everything you have on the table and be completely honest and open.