sell present life to start second act in life ? Yes! one guy is doing it.

Shane Butcher

Would you like to sell everything off, whatever you have accumulated till now, and restart your life all again.  I really like the whole idea of restarting the life from the scratch. I always thought, if my life would have been like a computer. I would love to format it every time it gets virus infected and reboot it. But as of now, there is a guy in america who is trying to format his life in a little different manner.

Shane Butcher, an american, resident of florida is selling his business chain of video games stores focused on retro titles “ R U Game?”, a waterfront home on tampa bay, three cars, a rental condo a couple of kayaks and all other stuff for $3.5 million and with this money he wants to start the second act of his life, from the scratch.and the best part is, he is not going it because he is in dire need of money. He has also offered to  stick around for next six months as a mentor to the person who buys his business. He is doing it just for the sake of doing it, to restart his career and his life. 

This 29 year old american with wife and a nine month old daughter wants to explore the world, before settling down with his second career. 

Butcher says that normally people invest in lot of assets and die with it but he wants the returns earlier and thinks that perhaps someone else will like to buy the whole package together what he has assembled for himself. 

I am not sure, if anyone in India would like to do this kind of crazy thing. Or is it really crazy enough? 

GoDaddy opens Indian office

GoDaddy, the largest seller of domain names and SSL certificates opened its India office last month. Go daddy has hired Rajiv Sodhi - former microsoft India SMB head as its India MD. In June this year, local customer care executives were hired and trained in Hyderabad.

Now you can buy the domain names and server space from GoDaddy.com  or GoDaddy.in in Indian rupees through net banking or cash cards. As per the company, currently it has 1,20,000 customers in Indian market, which they want to grow further by providing simple products at competitive prices along with industry best customer service based in India. 

Why I would love to die working at Google?

This is really unheard of in any corporate. Is it going to affect and change the benefit policies of other companies? I am not sure. In today’s time when Indian corporates are actually trying to save cost and reduce benefits, which may be as basic as covering parents under medical insurance, its really pleasing to see how Google is being generous and showing the caring attitude towards its staff. I am sure, if not all at least few of the top rung companies would like to have similar benefits to show they really care for thier employees.

Google is going to introduce generous death benefits for its employees here in India. For US employees of the company, these benefits are effective since last one year.

1. The family of deceased “googler” will get half of his salary for next ten years.
2. Any stock options will vest immediately, means the bereaved family can sell or transfer the stock as per their own choice.
3. $1000 per month will be paid to each and every child of the deceased staff uptill the child completes 19 yrs of age ( or 23 yrs, if he is pursuing full time education)
4. All staff is eligible under this policy, irrespective of their joining date or designation.

Now I would definitely love to die being a googler. 

Whom should you look upon as MENTOR ?

Mentor is a person who shares wisdom and impart knowledge to someone who is less experienced. The term has been adopted in english from Greek Mythology.

As per the Greek Mythology, Mentor  was friend of Odysseus and in charge of his son, Telemachus. When odysseus left for the trojan war, Athena, goddess of wisdom in the disguise of Mentor encouraged Telemachus to stand up against the suitors and to find out about his father.

Many times, pressures and stress of corporate life, puts one in situation which is beyond one’s control.  At such moments of dilemmas, we would love to have a mentor, who can actually encourage us and provide practical guidance / plan to follow.

Though few companies in India, have started with formal mentorship program, still it requires better efforts towards effective implementation of the same.

But what should you do, if your company doesn’t offer formal mentorship program. What kind of a person you can approach to as a mentee or protégé to get the required advice. Who would be the best person to help you out as a mentor. How to find right mentor to answers to my queries or issues?

Frankly speaking, its difficult to choose your own mentor. But still, I would like to discuss few things here which may help you in your search for right mentor, who guide and provide you practical advice about your professional life.

Short term career planning:

First and foremost, decide what is your short term career plan. Where do you see yourself two years down the line. Decision can be in terms of organisation, position, role, salary or anything else. Once decided, try to find people who are already on that position or working in that particular role and if possible people who have grown from the position which is similar to you in present. If this person has gone through similar situations as you are currently going through, he/she will be able to understand you better and will be able to provide you correct and effective guidance tips.

Your relationship with this person can be more casual. He / she can be someone with whom you can go for a coffee or dinner. You should be comfortable enough to discuss questions and different ways to approach the various issues troubling you.

Long term career path:

I am sure, like me, you also must be wondering sometimes, what should you do with your career. Should you just change a job, or is it a career change that would help you in reaching your goals. Should you do some course or certification which may help you in the longer run or do you need more hands on experience in any particular trade to promote your career. These may be few strategic decisions which can steer your career in right direction. To help you in guiding and advising on such critical issues, you need someone more experienced who understand the industry and corporate culture pretty well.  This kind of mentor, may change throughout your career and may be more than one person as well.

Relationship with this kind of mentor grows gradually.This person may be your college professor or ex boss who understands you, your aspirations and can help you in sidestepping your weaknesses and working on your strengths.

There may be lot of people in your whole career whom you can turn to for advice or guidance but its always better to identify few key mentors who can ensure that you continue on the right path in smooth manner towards your career goals.