Young Engineers – Personal Development
See Also Young Engineers – Open Source
Ages 15 to 25 – Riskiest Years of Young Man’s Life
One Big Mistake could land you in deep do-dos. Most mistakes can recover from.
Big mistakes like Concord $200 part not fitted caused big crash.
Problems could be caused by some idiot, e.g. drivers on road, but sometimes you are that idiot.
Big risk – Friends, Peer Group pressure (80% of black youths known to police – DNA, 1 in 6 in jail)
(see Spider & The Fly Music at http://www.arcwebsite.org/pages/arc_music.htm )
Stick Bruk in a yu Ears – The elderly just wish you well.
Biggest Sins – Sloth – Do Nothing (till decide what want to do)
Avarice – Wanting material things NOW, and not wanting to work for them.
Prerogative of Youth – Despite all advice from elders go and make the same mistakes.
“Free imagination is the inestimable prerogative of youth and it must be cherished and guarded as a treasure.”
Grow up too soon – Only reach manhood about age of 25.
Emotions – Over reaction, Take time to cool down
Many Obstacles – Shit Happens, The World does not owe you a living or anything, Life is unfair. Deal with it , get over it and move on.
Fittest, Healthiest, Most creative, adventurous, highest learning rate and can be most enjoyable Part of Your Life.
Some Points:
University – out of London – over 10,000 people aged 18-21 – half women , cheap disco, films, travel
Need to do the work.
Attitude, Follow coaching, Fitness, Technique, Tactics, Strategy, Mental
Believe in Self – Despite flaws & shortcomings You are probably better than most in some aspects (even if they get the glory / money).
Nothing you can’t do with appropriate training and support. Look around you –
All things made by man you can make.
Find something Successful & Improve on It
Serendipity – need some luck – right person, right time (need to mix / network with many people)
Do it, Don’t just think you can do it
Most inventors don’t profit from inventions – Get a Patent before speaking to anyone.
Only ideas / inventions that count are ones done (less than 1%)
Never have enough Money – Always want more
Powerful tool NOT TO WANT (know difference between needs and wants)
Systems & Methods more effective than talent / genius.
Groups more effective than many individuals.
Perseverance essential quality for success.
Success = 5% inspiration, 99% Perspiration
Not overnight – Olympic Medal winner – how many races run. Mobo winning musician – how many songs done. Need years of practice, do lots of tedious stuff. Microbiology technicians do job with lots of tedium, unpleasant stuff so they can do the research they want.
Success – What is Success; Pay bills, publish articles, travel, flash car & house?
Research says in same age group most successful different people at ages 10, 20,30,40, 50 – Never too late, Don’t necessarily last.
No Interrupts – Need to work; study, concentrate despite distractions.
Contacts / networking – It is who you know.
Think Ahead – Plan – Have Yearly Goals
Change is the only constant. Must continuously change and learn. Right now not always right.
Everyone has different views – looking out of different windows. No-one always right. Most things have positives and negatives.
Sometimes is mostly the answer; few things 100%.
Calculate – Do the sums. More time spent arguing than doing task. Wash up the dishes. Is hassle of queue worth it.
Murphy’s Law – Whatever can go wrong will.
Resource constraints – Part of life and engineering. An engineering design will be based on decisions governed by constraints, mostly resource (human, financial, physical)
Getting Job – Need to give impression that you will be a nice (fun) person to work with as well as be able to do job.
Stay the Course
Making decisions hard
Need to work to pay bills.
Work out Earnings from age 18 to 65 (Ignore Inflation)
Unskilled – Earn £20,000 per year
Tradesman £5,000 a year more than Unskilled
Professional with Degree – £10,000 a year more than Unskilled.
Business Person – Start up costs £50,000 – Earn Twice Unskilled. Go Broke twice before make it
Villain / Drug Dealer – 2 or 3 years making £50,000 10 years in Jail. If use guns 80% die by aged 30
Husband & Wife – Halve the bills
Ideas – Become a Producer Not just be a consumer
Theatre / Dance / Music group
Engineers Club
Science / Engineers Reading Group – Each read one article on how something works and share / explain to others in group meeting/
Sports
Strategy Games – Go ( http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Go_game ), Chess, Internet
Join Professional Society
Have a Productive hobby
Volunteer
Local charities
Volunteering England http://www.volunteering.org.uk/ , UNICEF , OXFAM, UNA
Abroad Voluntary Service Overseas , http://www.wishforafrica.org.uk/ , http://www.crossculturalsolutions.org/choosing_your_program/volunteer_abroad/default.asp
Personal Development Books
Read books
Panchatantra:by by Visnu Sarma
Feel the Fear and Do it any way by Susan Jeffers
Games People Play: by Eric Md Berne
Everything You Always Wanted to Know About Sex (But Were
Afraid to Ask) by U.S. physician Dr. David Reuben
Conversations with God by Neale Donald Walsch.
Assertiveness At Work by Ken Back
Critical Mass (how one thing leads to another) by Philip Ball
How to Work a Room: by Susan RoAne
Body Language
Desederata
http://hobbes.ncsa.uiuc.edu/desiderata.html
How to Win Friends and Influence People by Dale Carnegie,
African – Caribbean literature – Heinemann Caribbean Writers
series, African Writers series
The Africans by David Lamb
http://www.black-history-month.co.uk/articles/dr_dean.html
Dr. Mark Dean – Computer Scientist & Pioneer. He has more than 30 patents pending. He is a vice president with IBM. Oh, yeah. And he is also the architect of the modern-day personal computer.
A Few Black UK web-site
http://www.blink.org.uk
http://www.black-history-month.co.uk/
http://www.blackbritain.com/
http://www.blacknet.co.uk/
http://www.ethnicmedia.co.uk/
http://www.britishblackmusic.com
http://www.100bmol.org.uk/1024/index-1024.html
http://www.letstalkbusiness.biz/
www.arcwebsite.org
http://www.colourfulradio.com/
Some ARC Voices
We would like to Thank you for listening to us. We hope you will become an engineer, and use you knowledge and skill to the benefit of humanity and the Earth and help others in any way you can.
We appreciate the that some of you will not be convinced or interested. Some will wait and see, some are too arrogant; some just want to play, some too afraid, some too busy with life’s pressures; so already know what they want to do; some various other reasons. Only some will become engineers. As the saying goes ‘Many are called but few are chosen’. We believe my message is for those who are chosen; and who believe we can make the world a better, safer, less violent, more secure and peaceful place.
“Are you sure there is nothing you can do to help someone worse off than you? Are you Sure?” (The Staple Singers) Some will reject the message; many others will not hear the small voices of peace in the wilderness of the many sounds of modern life. Remember. “with all its” violence, “sham, drudgery and broken dreams; it is still a beautiful world. Be Careful. Strive to be happy” (Desiderata); and
Enjoy! Whatever you do.