As the cold weather starts to set in, I thought we could all use a few chuckles today. I’m currently reading “The Warren Buffet Way” and got a kick out of this paragraph (pg 89):

Buying an underwear maker [Fruit of the Loom] creates lots of opportunities for corny jokes, and Buffet, an accomplished punster, made the most of it. At the 2002 shareholders meeting, when asked the obvious question, he teased the audience with a half answer: “When I wear underwear at all, which I rarely do…” Leaving the crowd to decide for themselves whether it’s boxers or briefs for Buffett. He pointed out why there’s “a favorable bottom line” in underwear: “It’s an elastic market.” Finally, he deadpanned, Charlie Munger had given him an additional reason to buy the company:

“For years Charlie has been telling me, ‘Warren, we have to get into women’s underwear.’ Charlie is 78. It’s now or never.”

Hate looking for a job? Chances are that you’re looking for work the hard way, which means you’re going to have to keep looking a whole lot longer.

The worst ways to look for a job are:

1. going to employment agencies
2. answering local newspaper ads
3. mailing resumes to random employers
4. applying by internet

Notice that these options also happen to be the easiest. You just have to hit print and address envelopes’no interaction with real people. You can stay home in your pajamas! The problem is that a lot of people are out there in their pajamas, but a few people aren’t. The people without pajamas are probably finding more jobs.

Many employees seem to hunt for jobs in the total opposite way than employers. Future employers aren’t interested in pajamas. It takes a lot of guts to get out there. But a successful job is worth it.

Four ways you can better your odds of finding a job are:
1. ask your family, friends, and community for leads’the school where you graduated can be a big booster
2. start knocking on doors of interesting companies, regardless of whether they’re advertising for jobs
3. pick up the phonebook and start calling businesses you’d consider working at and ask if they’re hiring for the type of thing you do well.
4. Establish a mentor and learn how to network

A while back, I wrote a related article called 4 Things College Grads Need to Know.

Now I’m a shy person, but as I prepared to search for a new job in a few months, I’m realizing that I can’t be reserved if I want to get a good job, so I needed to write and to share this information with you.

Anyone can serve as an employment contact’from barbers to dental receptionists. My friend made business cards that she’d hand out to everyone she met. She didn’t let shyness factor in; she got out there. Now she’s got a huge network and a great job.

A lot of people ask Todd and I what Aridni stands for. Guy Kawaski, author of the blog, “How to Change the World“, has an explanation for crazy entity names that don’t necessarily mean anything at all!

A remarkable name for your organization, product, or service is like pornography: It’s hard to define, but you know it when you see it.

Ever notice that being productive doesn’t always correlate to when you actually think you are going to be productive? When there are small almost trivial tasks they always seem to want to get in the way. For example I have only been writing this article for less than three sentences and I have had the urge to check my email already.

You can listen to a podcast, write a report, instant message people, and drive to work at the same time and barely remember much of it at all. Or you can focus your energy on a project and get closer to your goal. That end result is what really matters for the particular task, and if you produce results that are lacking it will always show.

Have you ever fooled yourself into thinking that you are getting work done when you are actually distracted by so many tasks? Not so long ago, Katie wrote about getting rid of the nagging tasks, and this is doing just that. You have three options.

• Do them.
• Put them off until later.
• Drop them.

Of course which one you choose is ultimately up to you and the results will reflect you personally. What is the importance of each task? Will it be there tomorrow? Are you going to hurt or help your brand by neglecting or doing this task immediately?

So, are you ready to get some work done today?