Top 10 Motivational Quotes for Work

Most of us were not born with a silver spoon in our mouths, so we have to work for a living. It is great to be able to work at something we love, but that is not always the case. So if we don’t do what we like we should learn to like what we do. This usually takes some motivation. Where we get that motivation is up to each individual person. Personally, I find motivational quotes for work are an inspiration to me. They raise my spirit and give me the right outlook to continue in a positive, upbeat fashion.

motivated employee

Here are my top ten favorites:

  1. I found that the men and women who got to the top were those who did the jobs they had in hand, with everything they had of energy and enthusiasm and hard work. Harry S. Truman, 33rd President of the United States
  2. I’m a great believer in luck, and I find the harder I work, the more I have of it. Thomas Jefferson, 3rd President of the United States
  3. There are two kinds of people, those who do the work and those who take the credit. Try to be in the first group; there is less competition there. Indira Gandhi, 3rd Prime Minister of India
  4. My principal motivation is supporting my family, which is not a bad reason for getting up in the morning. That’s always been my motivation – to take care of the people who rely on me. Tony Parsons, British Journalist and Author
  5. If you must have motivation, think of your paycheck on Friday. Noel Coward, English Playwright, Composer and Director
  6. The highest reward for a person’s toil is not what they get for it, but what they become by it. John Ruskin,, English Writer and Art Critic
  7. The biggest mistake that you can make is to believe that you are working for somebody else. Job security is gone. The driving force of a career must come from the individual. Remember: Jobs are owned by the company, you own your career! Earl Nightingale, American Motivational Speaker, Author and Radio Host
  8. Every job is a self portrait of the person who did it. Autograph your work with excellence. Jessica Guidobono ,Canadian Author
  9. Don’t be afraid to give your best to what seemingly are small jobs. Every time you conquer one it makes you that much stronger. If you do the little jobs well, the big ones will tend to take care of themselves. William Patten, American Biologist & Zoologist
  10. For me, motivation is a person who has the capability to recruit the resources he needs to achieve a goal. Arsene Wenger, French Football Coach

I find I am able to work better, have a better outlook and enjoy my work, life and family better when I remember what is important to me. Wherever you find the inspiration use it to enhance the quality of life you live. If one or more of these quotes help, by all means use them for inspiration or gather some favorites to use for that added boost to your morale. Then go out and conquer the world, personally I’m too tired from all that reading.

Top 5 Job Interview Tips

You’ve found the job of your dreams and you got yourself an interview. We’ve all felt the stomach-churning mix of excitement coupled with terror when that coveted interview is circled in red on the calendar. Take a moment to review our Top 5 Job Interview Tips to help turn that interview into your new job.

job interview

Tip #1:

Know the company.

Knowing as much as you can about the company you’re interviewing for is an invaluable tool and can give you a leg up as far as understanding what they might be looking for in a potential new employee. Visit the company website to familiarize yourself with how the company views itself, its mission statement and history as well as specific products and services. Glassdoor.com can provide a ton of company-specific information, much of it from people with first-hand experience there. Even social media such as Facebook and Twitter can provide insights into a company you might otherwise not have access to. Many interviews begin with a general ‘So, what do you know about our company?’ and you want to be able to wow them with your knowledge, foresight and interest.

Tag-a-long Tip:  Be sure you understand  – at least to some degree – what the specific job you’re interviewing for entails. It might sound obvious, but having knowledge of the position itself allows you to tailor your answers to highlight your most relevant skills. This can be a critical preparation.

Tip #2:

Practice, Plan, and Practice Some More.

Having some idea of what questions might be asked and planning how best to answer to ensure that your particular skill set shines through makes a big difference and keeps the look of panic off your face. You don’t want to come across as scripted, but having some key thoughts prepared and at the ready should allow you to relax and your abilities to shine. Go over some hypothetical replies out loud when you’re in the car or otherwise alone so you can get comfortable with how you might answer.

Some common interview questions to be prepared to answer:

  • What did you like or dislike about your previous job?
  • What is your greatest strength? Greatest weakness?
  • Describe a difficult work situation and how did you handle it?
  • Tell me about yourself
  • Why should we hire you?

Tag-A-Long Tip: Be prepared for an interview from the moment you’re ready to make contact with a company. Your very first call could lead to an immediate phone interview or pre-screening, so review your resume and have some responses ready.

Tip #3:

Know your resume.

It’s a long-running joke that all resumes are ‘padded’, but if you really do have the skills required for a position, be ready to back them up. Fudging dates and skills, only to be backed into an uncomfortable corner during the interview doesn’t do anyone any good. Be prepared to answer questions such as why you left a previous position, and how particular skills listed on your resume helped you achieve specific goals. If you can’t answer these, you probably shouldn’t include them on your resume.

Tip #4:

Dress for Success.

It sounds cliched, but first impressions are critical when it comes to interviewing, because this may be the only impression you get to make. Any interview – even if is it’s at your local fast food place – necessitates dressing neatly and cleanly. The type of workplace will dictate whether you don Business Casual or more formal Business Attire, and this is where Tip #1 comes in, knowing something about the company. In either case, you want to look professional and convey the idea that you appreciate the time that’s being afforded you, as well as care about the image you present. One important note:  It doesn’t matter if you know the company has dress-down Fridays – leave the jeans and sneakers at home for the interview.

Tip #5:

Know What Not to do.

  • Don’t be late. This will be noticed and noted.
  • Keep your phone on silent and stowed away during the interview. In the same vein, leave your coffee, bottled water and gum in the car.
  • Don’t complain about a previous employer or job. It’s unprofessional, not to mention you never know who the interviewer might know.
  • Don’t get into anything personal during the interview. This isn’t the time to gush about your kids or complain about your medical bills and how much you need benefits.
  • Don’t be the first to bring up salary. Let the interviewer bring it up first, and only ask (tactfully) if compensation hasn’t been addressed by the end of the interview.
  • And most of all, don’t lose sight of why you’re there. This is your opportunity to show them your best and brightest self. Don’t be afraid to show some pride in your skills and accomplishments.

Bonus Tip:

Be sure to follow up after the interview, thanking everyone you met with. In this day and age a Thank You email is considered appropriate and couldn’t be easier. A handwritten note is also fitting and might help you stand out even more. This quick follow up allows you to restate your interest as well as bring your name to mind once again post-interview.

Most of all, take a deep breath, and good luck!

Spring Dell Center, Inc. – Gallery Collection Charitable Donations

As part of The Gallery Collection’s charitable donation program, we recently made a donation of 350 Birthday Cards to the Spring Dell Center, Inc. These cards help to spread birthday cheer for clients on their special day!

Birthday Cupcakes Card

Spring Dell Center, Inc. is dedicated to assisting individuals with disabilities in achieving their highest level of independence by providing support and opportunities for the quality of life they desire within their community. They believe in connecting people with disabilities to the community and employment.

If you are interested in learning more about Spring Dell Center, Inc, and how you can help, please visit their website at http://springdellcenter.org/.

What Should I Write In Employee Happy Birthday Cards?

As the owner of a small greeting card company with slightly less than one hundred employees, I like to acknowledge the birthday of each member of my staff by sending an employee happy birthday card.  As always, after my loyal assistant brings my attention to the date of each employee’s birthday as it comes up, I like to include a personal message from myself inside the card, in which I express my appreciation for their contribution to the success of my company.  My staff deals with our customers with compassion and genuine care.  As a result, profits increase annually, therefore allowing me to give a salary increase and/or bonus to each staff member.

birthday cards

The message I extend is one of gratitude and appreciation, such as “Thank you for your dedicated service,”  …..  “Thank you for your outstanding work” …..   “We strive to give our customers an exceptional product and superior customer service and you have helped deliver on these standards” ….  “I appreciate all the hard work you have done to help make this company what it is”.

This show of appreciation on my part, and, an employee Happy Birthday card to each member of my staff has brought much gratitude from all and, I’m happy to say, the comrade is felt and shared throughout my company.

Top 10 Get Well Gifts

No one wants their friends to get sick, but most of us at some point will need to send a  Get Well gift. And at that point, the question always is: What to get?

sickpuppy

Borrowing from a late night TV host, here is a list of Top 10 Get Well Gifts:

  1. Candy/chocolates. An obvious one, but almost everyone  enjoys a sweet indulgence when they are not feeling well.
  2. Plants/flowers, balloons. Put these in the category of “eye candy” or something to brighten up the room.
  3. Magazines/books, puzzle book. Boredom is a main complaint of those who  are bedridden, so something to pass the time is a welcome distraction.
  4. Itunes gift card. In our new tech-savvy world, apps can take the place of puzzle books (see #8). Let your recovering friend choose from the thousands of game/puzzle/activity apps available as another way to alleviate boredom.
  5. Soup. Grandma was right. Whether homemade or store bought, a nice bowl of warm soup can really hit the spot.
  6. Gifts of comfort. Whether it is:
  7. Cozy, fuzzy socks
  8. Scented candle
  9. Luxurious hand lotion. Nothing says “feel better” like comfy gifts.
  10. Drinks. Bottle of wine, or a flavored tea.
  11. For the recovering friend who has received “all of the above”, think about a gift they can look forward to using once they are on the mend: movie tickets, or a gift certificate for a manicure .

I hope this was helpful, and even more than that, I hope you never need to use it!

Some Of Our Favorite Company Birthday Party Ideas

At most offices, if you were to take a poll about  Office Birthday Parties, you would find a wide variety of responses, ranging from love to loath.  I happen to love them,  and think they are a fun way to socialize and have fun with the people you spend most of your day with. Of course, company guidelines must always be followed, but here are some of our favorite company birthday party ideas… One year we did a retro party, you know, like when you were a kid: Cake, candles, deviled eggs, and even Pin the Tail on the Donkey.  Another time we tried Take your Cupcakes to Work Day: everyone brought in a dozen of their favorite cupcakes to share. That was a big hit.

office party

The trick is to keep costs and prep time down, while keeping the morale and fun level high.  In recent years our office birthday parties have evolved into  a routine that seems to please everyone. We celebrate once a month, on the last Friday of the month. Everyone who celebrated a birthday that month is honored, and (here’s the best part) the birthday celebrants bring in the food. Just like when you were in elementary school, the birthday kids bring in the goodies! So, you only have to bring in goodies one time each year, and you can bring in your favorites, since it is your own “party”.  We have been doing this for a few years now, and everyone looks forward to it each month.

How To Say Thank You In Different Languages

I work for a greeting card company in the design department; I am not a designer but I love coming up with new ideas for card designs.  My focus this year is on GRATITUDE, being thankful for all we have and acknowledging whomever was responsible for our good fortune.  Creating products geared toward businesses, one realizes that it is the customer that deserves the thanks; without them we would not be in business.

thank you

So getting back to my idea, I thought a z-fold calendar would be the perfect place to design a thank you; something that can be displayed all year long to be sent as the company holiday greeting card. I did some research and discovered that expressing thanks in this small world would be extra special if I could do it in different languages. I felt a little like Joel Grey in Cabaret when he sang Willkommen-don’t think that song wasn’t in my head all week!

I entered the term Thank You into bablefish.com and translated into languages that were common and familiar to me; Merci (French), Gracias (Spanish), Vielen Dank (German), Grazie (Italian) for instance. Grazie is my favorite, it sounds so cool rolling off the tongue-like you really mean Thank you

ALS Association Golden West Chapter – Gallery Collection Charitable Donations

The Gallery Collection, as part of our charitable donations program, recently donated assortment boxes of Thank You cards to the ALS Association Golden West Chapter. The ALS Association uses these Thank You cards to thank their donors and contributors for their help and support.

Thank_You_Assortment

The ALS Association has committed more than $67 million to find effective treatments and a cure for Lou Gehrig’s Disease. Their global research effort has helped increase the number of scientists working on ALS, advanced new discoveries and treatments, and has shed light on the complex genetic and environmental factors involved in ALS.

For more information about the ALS Association Golden West Chapter, and how you can help, please visit their website at http://webgw.alsa.org/site/PageServer?pagename=GW_homepage.

Simple But Fun Office Party Games

For a successful office party, you definitely want to get people mingling and excited to ensure a good time. A great way to get things started is with a fun game for everyone to participate in! This creates time away from work to get to know each other a bit better and bond as a team. Here are four suggestions for simple, but fun office party games.

Office party

1. Who Am I? Couples  –

This game is fun to play to break the ice and get people talking to fellow employees they may not know very well. The party planner should write down names of well-known celebrities or characters on index cards. Each card should match up with another card to form the couple. Some examples would be Brad Pitt and Angelina Jolie, Rhett Butler and Scarlet O’Hara, and Fred Flintstone and Barney Rubble.

For each person playing, a card should be taped to their back without them seeing who it is. They should go around the room and engage in conversation with others who will look at the card on their back and treat them accordingly. If the person you are talking to has Brad Pitt on their back, you might ask how he feels about his zombie movie doing so poorly or how all of those children are doing. The person wearing the card may also ask questions to try to guess who is on their back.

Once they have guessed who they are, they must find their partner who matches the other half of their couple. First couple to be united wins the game, but it should continue until everyone has found their pairs. Those who have already completed the game should go around and assist in giving clues to those who haven’t guessed yet.

2. Pass the Bowl –

When people arrive to the party, have them write down names of well-known celebrities or characters (e.g. Harry Potter, Jimmy Kimmel, Bill Clinton) on small slips of paper. These papers should be folded in half and placed into a large bowl. When the bowl is full of names, divide the group into two teams and have everyone sit down in a circle with the teams seated together.

If Team A is first, Team B will be responsible for timing the round. When the timer begins, the first person who begins with the bowl will draw a name. They will then give their team clues to get them to guess the person or character. They may not say any part of the name or say “it rhymes with _____.” They may describe the movie the person acted in, or what book the character is from, who the person is married to, etc. The rest of the team should shout out guesses and once the name is guessed, the first person should pass the bowl to the person beside them. Each team will try to guess as many names as possible over the course of 1 minute. Once time is called, count how many names were correctly guessed and mark down the score. Then it will be Team B’s turn while Team A times them.

If a person draws a name that they do not know, they can put the paper back and draw a different one – this may only be done one time! Once the second name is drawn, they are stuck with it and may have to get creative for their team to guess.  For example, get them to guess a different person or character who has the same first or last name as the person on their slip. Just make sure that successfully guessed papers do not go back in the bowl! There may be duplicates since everyone is contributing names.

To end the game, you may set a point goal such as first team to 50 points will win.

3. Paper Airplane Contest

Each person will be given a piece of paper to create a paper airplane. Once their planes are created, everyone will pair off and two at a time, the paper airplanes will be thrown. Whichever person’s plane travels the farthest will stay in the game for the next round. Once all couples have faced off, the winners will pair off to go again, and so on until there are only two people left. The last two will face off and the farthest airplane throw will win. You may want to choose one person to be the judge.

4. White Elephant Gift Exchange

This is a great game to play at a holiday party or an “Everybody’s Birthday” party. Set a budget (e.g  $5-$10 or $10-$15) and have everyone who wishes to play bring in a wrapped gift. Ideally, have everyone sit in a circle with the gifts in the center or a similar set up so everyone can be seen. Everyone should draw a number out of a hat to decide the order. The person who draws the number 1 is first and should choose one of the gifts.

Once their gift is chosen they should return to their seat and either unwrap the gift, unwrap it partway, or leave it wrapped. It will then be the second person’s turn. This person will have the choice of choosing a gift from the pile or taking the first person’s gift and again either unwrapping it, unwrapping it partway, or leaving it wrapped. If the first person’s gift is taken, they should choose another from the pile.

This will continue down the line with each person taking a gift from someone else or from the pile. Each person who has a gift taken from them should either take a new one from the pile or take someone else’s gift. At the end when everyone has a gift, all of the gifts should be unwrapped and shown off!

The most important thing at a party is to let loose. Talk to people you don’t usually get a chance to see at work and be willing to be a little silly and have fun with these games or whatever else you come up with! Enthusiasm, competition, and silliness are contagious and will always make for a fun party atmosphere.

Words of Sympathy for Fellow Employees

The loss of a loved one knows no boundaries and there are no exceptions.  That’s why is so important to show an expression of sympathy for fellow employees when we learn that someone they cherish has died.

I know how difficult it can be to find the right words to let someone know you are feeling their pain, without being intrusive.  Especially if it’s someone you don’t know very well.  However, news such as this travels quickly through the workplace so usually everyone hears it even if they aren’t particularly close to the person who has suffered the loss.

Sympathy Cards

It’s just as difficult for the person coming to work to deal with co-workers as it is for the co-workers to deal with the person who is grieving.  And everyone deals with grief in their own way.  Just a card to let someone know they are not alone is often appreciated more than anyone knows.  Sympathy cards these days say so much with just a few words and sometimes that’s enough.  You’ve opened the door and are available.

I know when my dad died several years ago I dreaded my first day back to work.  I was going to be seeing people who knew what happened but who I had not seen since the day I left to go to the hospital.  I was comforted by warm smiles and hugs, but what I remember and cherish to this day are the cards that were left on my desk.  People weren’t sure how I would feel after such a devastating event in my lift, but they cared and that meant the world to me.

We can’t really ask for much more than that – kindness from people who are really your extended family.  Some heart felt words of sympathy from people who want you to know they are there for you.