I must start off by apologizing to all for the delay since my last blog, with the last month being so manic both at work and at home I have simply not had the time. This last month has been particularly testing for me and I have, more than ever, realised the importance of family and the support they give you in times of difficulty. Family is priceless as you can go weeks, months or even years without needing your family for anything however, whenever it is they are needed they are there for you no questions asked. This blog is probably a week too late as I should have written this on mothers day but hey, better late than never.

I would like to share how proud I am of my mother and in particular what she has just done in her company with only passion, determination and just plain stubbornness! As we all know there has been devastation across the world and every now and then you get disasters that make us all feel bad for a while before a story about some footballer and his wife or Jordan/Katie Price (whatever) gets all the tabloids and we all forget. My mum however, really had her heart strings pulled by the recent disaster in Haiti, and spent many conversations on the phone with me talking in particular about the children who have suffered. She was disappointed and upset especially after discovering that the multi million pound company she works for (unable to name), had not intended to do anything in terms of trying to help. This was something she challenged and pushed as high as she could, arranging meetings and sending letters to those with the power to influence. She risked her own career within the company as she did not exactly receive any real support from those above and round her. In the end she received enough support that they were able to arrange a company wide day of raising money that went to the Haiti Fund.

Well done mum.

I have spent a large part of the last week trying to decide what in life defines a person? Is it how successful you become? Or how far you go in life compared to where you started? Is it academic or personal achievements? Is it the family we have? Albert Camus said that "life is a sum of all your choices" thus suggesting that the process does not finish until we die. Despite maybe being slightly morbid I was left with the question what would I want people to remember me for when I die?

I do not believe there is an answer to this question as I think no one thing should define anyone. Whilst we all have central aspects to our lives, we should all have many different things that shape us. I would like to be remembered by different people for different reasons. I hope I will one day be remembered as a good friend, team mate, employee, colleague and hopefully one day boss. I would want my family to be proud of me and be considered (one day!) a good husband and father.

If you think about how you would like to be remembered, what is it you would like those you have come into contact with to say about you?

Having just graduated I know first hand how hard it is leaving the world you have embraced for the last three or four years whilst trying to enter the totally different world of the 'dreaded' 9-5. A journey made more challenging by the fact we are in the middle of a recession. I feel that despite this, now more than ever we should be looking to push on, develop and fight for the jobs available in our chosen roles.

Now I realise that some people, due to personal circumstances, have no choice but to stay in certain jobs and that is fine but there is too many people who are settling. Speaking to friends, I hear time and time again that it is too hard to get a job now so there is no point trying and that you might as well stay where you are (usually in part time roles not using or developing relevant skills).

Since graduating I've applied for over 300 positions, of this around 75% of companies didn't bother getting back to me and most others (politely) told me I had no chance. I've had around 7 interviews, been hired twice and have to say I have been lucky however, I would not have given myself the opportunity to be lucky if I didn't try.

An old Burmese saying is:
"Who aims for excellence will be above mediocrity; who aims for mediocrity will be far short from it"

getting to the interview stage gives you much better odds, and yes I know it can be depressing getting rejection after rejection but not trying is beating yourself. In getting 2 roles I received at least 298 rejections!!! We need to take risks (within reason), push boundaries and give our all so we can say we put everything into it. I'm willinng to bet that the majority of people sitting in jobs now after recently graduating certainly did not aim for mediocrity.

Please feel free to leave suggestions or details of options available to recent graduates and others in similar positions.

I received a cold call the other night from a gentleman who was trying to get me to give money to charities. Although I do give I did not on this occasion and made my excuses to get off the phone, something he said really got me thinking. Wouldn't you like to make a differnce?

Now I'm fully aware that individually my few pounds a month would not make any difference to anyone however it made me think: 'How many times had I made a real difference to someone else's life without getting anything from it myself?'

And i must stress giving someone a lift to the shops without them buying you something or anything like that does not count!

I thought back to when I was at Uni and was part of a group of students that held a fantastic event for disabled children throughout Yorkshire, but quickly realised we did this event as it was a module at Uni. I therefore gained from it!!!!

I have been thinking for a few days now and I am quite ashamed to say that apart from giving to charity, I cannot think back, in recent time, to a point when I helped out a person who needed it just because it was a good thing to do. Sure I give to charity, but in reality that does not put you out because if it did most people (i'm probably included in this) would not give.

Although i'm not normally one for New Years Resolutions I think this may be one life change I want to make in 2010. Jackie Cameron correctly states that most New Years Resolutions fail "often because they are just too big". The general consensus seems to be that making small changes to certain aspects of my life will be the way to really change.

I have began thinking of ways to go about this and have a few ideas that I will look to explore more over the coming months. If anyone has any experiences or suggestions on how I could do this I would very much appreciate it if you would share them with me.