Using an Entrepreneurial Mindset in your CareerWritten by Scott Brown
People who come to United States from other countries see America as Land of Opportunity. This isn't just a cliche -- if you talk to recent immigrants, they'll tell you this is how they really feel. This country wasn't founded by professional warriors, as were many other nations. It was founded by entrepreneurs. George Washington was a businessman who wanted fairer taxes and property rights. So this country has been structured from beginning to be friendly to business people. Our taxes are relatively low for a Western country, and our laws give people freedom to set up any business they can think of here. While taking risk of investing money and opening up a new business isn't for everyone, this country still has more opportunities to make a living doing a wider variety of things than any other place in world. It may be natural for immigrants to see America as land of opportunity because they can compare it with country they came from. But it's often harder for native-born Americans to see abundance of opportunities here. As children, most Americans are able to go to school full-time and basically have all their essential needs taken care of at least until they are teenagers. In school, teachers tell children exactly what they need to do to get good grades. In college, students have a little more autonomy but in most places of higher education, students are essentially given a roadmap of how to get their degree - which classes they need to take, how many credits are needed, etc. So growing up with all this structure and direction, it is only natural that one's first instinct would not be to take initiative on their own in workplace. Many people leave college for their first job and expect employer to provide same structure and direction that they got from school growing up.
| | Career Advancement Portrayed in Reality TV ShowsWritten by Scott Brown
Hollywood has really hit it big with reality TV shows - especially some of more recent reality shows that deal with idea that winning a brief 2-month competition can launch your career into stratosphere. In "The Apprentice," contestents are given a chance to earn a job with a hefty salary working directly for billionaire real estate developer Donald Trump. A similar show, which is even more outrageous, is "The Rebel Billionaire" in which contesents compete for chance to be hired as president of Virgin corporation - a multi billion dollar holding company which owns an airline, wireless phone service and other diversified interests. These shows appeal directly to an idea that all you have to be is lucky to make it big. They also make it appear that it's relatively easy to become successful in business world.In entertainment arena, reality shows like MTV's "Cribs" show extravagent lifestyles of 20-something singers, rap stars and athletes who seemingly become overnight successes just from sheer luck. American culture seems to glorify idea that you can become super successful without having to work hard. While this is all highly entertaining, downside to it is it can give people mistaken impression that if you're good looking, photogenic, know right people, or just lucky, you can be successful. It also leads to people subconsciously comparing themselves with these people on TV, which in most cases is not really a fair comparison. Your life is reality, whereas what's shown in reality TV shows is largely manufacturered and staged by Hollywood. Yes, people are real, but situations are created by TV producers for dramatic effect.
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