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Jaiju Thomas M.D., MPH.’s Post

Meet the Winners of Startups in North and Central America

For many knowledge workers, remote working has cemented itself as preferential over the last five years. However, in the U.S. not all locations are created equal. Those looking for remote work are currently working against geographical roadblocks; while some jobs are remote, they can only be found in a specific state or states. So despite being able to complete your work anywhere in the world with an internet connection, the state you primarily reside in is considered in the application process. There are several reasons for this, but essentially employment laws, taxes, business licenses, and regulations all differ from state to state, and the people power required to ensure interstate compliance is considerable. For this reason, organizations limit applications to people residing in particular states. No matter where in the U.S. you're looking for a job, you can discover a great fit on the HackerNoon Job Board. Worst WFH states New data analysis conducted by web hosting provider Hostinger, using U.S. Census Bureau information from January 9th to February 5th this year, reveals that Mississippi has the lowest number of people working remotely, at just 11.38%. The Magnolia State is closely followed by Wyoming (15.6%) and North Dakota (17.8%), New Mexico (18.53%), and Louisiana (18.75%). Also in the lowest ten states for WFH figures are Oklahoma (20.13%), Alabama (20.25%), Indiana (20.83%), Arkansas (21.03%), and South Carolina (21.44%) A spokesperson from Hostinger commented: “It is fascinating to see such a big difference in the number of remote workers in each state. Many states with fewer remote workers, such as Mississippi, have economies that heavily lean on industries such as agriculture, manufacturing, and services that require physical presence. “This limits opportunities for remote work compared to sectors like technology or finance, which are more prevalent in states such as Maryland.” The Top Ten WFH States in the U.S It was America in Miniature that topped the list, with 44.2% of the working population in Maryland working from home, followed by Colorado (38.6%), Vermont (38.2%), Utah (37.2%), and Massachusetts (36.6%). Completing the top ten are New Hampshire (35.8%), Virginia (34.9%), New Jersey (33.8%), Minnesota (33.4%), and Washington (32.7%). “For many, the idea of remote work began during the COVID-19 pandemic, which forced workers to stay at home. Since then, more and more companies have started to embrace it permanently,” says the web hosting service spokesperson. “The shift towards remote work has spotlighted its many benefits, particularly the increase in work-life balance. It eliminates daily commutes, allowing workers to reclaim valuable time. “Additionally, working remotely offers the flexibility for individuals to design their own workspace, which fosters a more personalized and comfortable work environment.” If you’re nodding your head in agreement and want to find a remote role, visit the HackerNoon Job Board. There you can search and choose ‘Remote, USA’ instead of choosing a city, and that’ll take you to remote tech roles on offer, like these three: Site Reliability Engineer - Client Platform, Coinbase, Remote Help build the future of finance and Web3 for Coinbase users across the world as a Site Reliability Engineer - Client Platform. This role involves partnering across the organization to build and maintain performant, reliable, and secure system architectures to support a diverse fleet of macOS, iOS, Windows, ChromeOS, and Android clients. You’ll need at least two years’ experience managing enterprise fleets at scale and have relevant experience in configuring and implementing modern open-source endpoint management tooling such as Puppet, Munki, Autopkg, NanoMDM/MicroMDM and Crypt. A full list of duties and requirements is available to view on the job spec. Read all about it. Senior Cloud Security Engineer, Credit Acceptance, Remote Join the Engineering Security function at Credit Acceptance, and you’ll be protecting cutting-edge web applications built on public cloud such as AWS and Azure. Now advertising for a Senior Cloud Security Engineer, the ideal candidate should possess strong cloud security skills, hybrid/multi-cloud network concepts, a deep understanding of secure software development life cycle methodologies, and have a keen eye for detail. Helpfully, the job spec details how you’ll be successful in this role, and provides a list of outcomes and activities. Find out more. Java Developer, Blue Origin IT Staffing, Remote If you’re a Java software engineer who enjoys working on complex problems and solutions, and you’re not afraid of learning something new on a daily basis, take a look at this Java Developer position at  Blue Origin IT Staffing. Currently in the process of transforming its large Clojure application into a more modern Java/Spring Boot architecture, this role will help the organization transcribe and work through the details of the Clojure app, and work alongside the Java team to build this new application. You’ll need five to eight years of experience, and this remote role is available anywhere in the U.S. Apply here. Want a great new tech role? Discover it on the HackerNoon Job Board now By Amanda Kavanagh For many knowledge workers, remote working has cemented itself as preferential over the last five years. However, in the U.S. not all locations are created equal. Those looking for remote work are currently working against geographical roadblocks; while some jobs are remote, they can only be found in a specific state or states. So despite being able to complete your work anywhere in the world with an internet connection, the state you primarily reside in is considered in the application process. There are several reasons for this, but essentially employment laws, taxes, business licenses, and regulations all differ from state to state, and the people power required to ensure interstate compliance is considerable. For this reason, organizations limit applications to people residing in particular states. No matter where in the U.S. you're looking for a job, you can discover a great fit on the HackerNoon Job Board. No matter where in the U.S. you're looking for a job, you can discover a great fit on the HackerNoon Job Board . discover a great fit on the HackerNoon Job Board discover a great fit on the HackerNoon Job Board Worst WFH states New data analysis conducted by web hosting provider Hostinger , using U.S. Census Bureau information from January 9th to February 5th this year, reveals that Mississippi has the lowest number of people working remotely, at just 11.38%. Hostinger Hostinger Mississippi The Magnolia State is closely followed by Wyoming (15.6%) and North Dakota (17.8%), New Mexico (18.53%), and Louisiana (18.75%). Wyoming North Dakota New Mexico Louisiana Also in the lowest ten states for WFH figures are Oklahoma (20.13%), Alabama (20.25%), Indiana (20.83%), Arkansas (21.03%), and South Carolina (21.44%) Oklahoma Alabama Indiana Arkansas South Carolina A spokesperson from Hostinger commented: “It is fascinating to see such a big difference in the number of remote workers in each state. Many states with fewer remote workers, such as Mississippi, have economies that heavily lean on industries such as agriculture, manufacturing, and services that require physical presence. “This limits opportunities for remote work compared to sectors like technology or finance, which are more prevalent in states such as Maryland.” The Top Ten WFH States in the U.S It was America in Miniature that topped the list, with 44.2% of the working population in Maryland working from home, followed by Colorado (38.6%), Vermont (38.2%), Utah (37.2%), and Massachusetts (36.6%). Maryland Colorado Vermont Utah Massachusetts Completing the top ten are New Hampshire (35.8%), Virginia (34.9%), New Jersey (33.8%), Minnesota (33.4%), and Washington (32.7%). New Hampshire Virginia New Jersey Minnesota Washington “For many, the idea of remote work began during the COVID-19 pandemic, which forced workers to stay at home. Since then, more and more companies have started to embrace it permanently,” says the web hosting service spokesperson. “The shift towards remote work has spotlighted its many benefits, particularly the increase in work-life balance. It eliminates daily commutes, allowing workers to reclaim valuable time. “Additionally, working remotely offers the flexibility for individuals to design their own workspace, which fosters a more personalized and comfortable work environment.” If you’re nodding your head in agreement and want to find a remote role, visit the HackerNoon Job Board . HackerNoon Job Board HackerNoon Job Board There you can search and choose ‘Remote, USA’ instead of choosing a city, and that’ll take you to remote tech roles on offer, like these three: There you can search and choose ‘Remote, USA’ instead of choosing a city, and that’ll take you to remote tech roles on offer, like these three: Site Reliability Engineer - Client Platform, Coinbase, Remote Help build the future of finance and Web3 for Coinbase users across the world as a Site Reliability Engineer - Client Platform . This role involves partnering across the organization to build and maintain performant, reliable, and secure system architectures to support a diverse fleet of macOS, iOS, Windows, ChromeOS, and Android clients. You’ll need at least two years’ experience managing enterprise fleets at scale and have relevant experience in configuring and implementing modern open-source endpoint management tooling such as Puppet, Munki, Autopkg, NanoMDM/MicroMDM and Crypt. A full list of duties and requirements is available to view on the job spec. Read all about it . Site Reliability Engineer - Client Platform Site Reliability Engineer - Client Platform Read all about it Read all about it Senior Cloud Security Engineer, Credit Acceptance, Remote Join the Engineering Security function at Credit Acceptance, and you’ll be protecting cutting-edge web applications built on public cloud such as AWS and Azure. Now advertising for a Senior Cloud Security Engineer , the ideal candidate should possess strong cloud security skills, hybrid/multi-cloud network concepts, a deep understanding of secure software development life cycle methodologies, and have a keen eye for detail. Helpfully, the job spec details how you’ll be successful in this role, and provides a list of outcomes and activities. Find out more . Senior Cloud Security Engineer Senior Cloud Security Engineer Find out more Find out more Java Developer, Blue Origin IT Staffing, Remote If you’re a Java software engineer who enjoys working on complex problems and solutions, and you’re not afraid of learning something new on a daily basis, take a look at this Java Developer position at  Blue Origin IT Staffing. Currently in the process of transforming its large Clojure application into a more modern Java/Spring Boot architecture, this role will help the organization transcribe and work through the details of the Clojure app, and work alongside the Java team to build this new application. You’ll need five to eight years of experience, and this remote role is available anywhere in the U.S. Apply here . Java Developer Java Developer Apply here Apply here Want a great new tech role? Discover it on the HackerNoon Job Board now Want a great new tech role? Discover it on the HackerNoon Job Board now Want a great new tech role? Discover it on the HackerNoon Job Board now Want a great new tech role? Discover it on the HackerNoon Job Board now By Amanda Kavanagh By Amanda Kavanagh By Amanda Kavanagh

The Best and Worst States for Remote Work in the U.S

মার্কিন যুক্তরাষ্ট্রে দূরবর্তী কাজের জন্য সেরা এবং সবচেয়ে খারাপ রাজ্য

Die besten und schlechtesten Bundesstaaten für Remote-Arbeit in den USA

Los mejores y peores estados para el trabajo remoto en EE. UU.

Les meilleurs et les pires États pour le travail à distance aux États-Unis

अमेरिका में रिमोट वर्क के लिए सबसे अच्छे और सबसे खराब राज्य

米国でリモートワークに最適な州と最悪の州

미국 원격 근무에 대한 최고 및 최악의 주

Os melhores e piores estados para trabalho remoto nos EUA

Лучшие и худшие штаты для удаленной работы в США

ABD'de Uzaktan Çalışma için En İyi ve En Kötü Eyaletler

Các bang tốt nhất và tồi tệ nhất để làm việc từ xa ở Hoa Kỳ

美国远程工作最佳和最差的州

Economists Agree, Politicians Don't — So Guess Who Loses

অর্থনীতিবিদরা একমত, রাজনীতিবিদরা না - তাই আপনি হারান

Ökonomen sind sich einig, Politiker nicht – also verlieren Sie

Los economistas están de acuerdo, los políticos no, así que usted pierde

Les économistes sont d’accord, les politiciens non – donc vous perdez

अर्थशास्त्री सहमत हैं, राजनेता नहीं - इसलिए आप हारे

経済学者は同意するが、政治家は同意しない — だから負ける

경제학자들은 동의하지만 정치인들은 그렇지 않습니다. 그래서 당신은 패합니다.

Os economistas concordam, os políticos não - então você perde

Экономисты согласны, политики — нет, поэтому вы проигрываете

Ekonomistler Kabul Ediyor, Politikacılar Katılmıyor - Yani Kaybediyorsunuz

Các nhà kinh tế đồng ý, các chính trị gia thì không - Vậy là bạn thua

经济学家同意，政客不同意——所以你输了

HEPT MOVES ON

How To Resolve Conflicts With Your Superiors At Work

Transcendence Volume I, Book 1: Introduction

Sylvia: 100 Days

A lone boy stood, staring at the star-speckled sky, his mind drawn to the girl just a few feet from where he lay. She was a beauty, that one. He couldn’t believe she was his. Every single thing she did screamed Art. The way she linked her fingers together, the way she smiled. The one girl who knew so much about him, yet… she didn’t shy away from his questionable past. As the emotions threatened to pull him under, he shook his head to clear his thoughts and face what was before him. “A shooting star!” She screamed in excitement as she pointed at that far-off speck in the sky, becoming larger and larger by the second. “That is no shooting star.” He managed to say, fear clogging his throat. He took in the lush grass swaying in the night wind, the beauty of the stars that more or less blotted out the sky. Then, he turned to look at the girl on the ground a few feet away. She was sitting up by then, fear morphing her once beautiful features into something unspeakable. “What is that?” Her voice quaked as she asked, and he closed his eyes momentarily to stop the bile from going up his throat. “Our death.” He said, not mincing words. His throat bobbed with unspoken words and something else underlying. “I’ve always loved you. I just- I just wanted you to know. This once.” He squeezed the words out of his mouth, wrangling them like one would do to a piece of wet cloth. “You? I’ve always seen you as just a friend.” She turned towards him then, his eyes red from tears. But he was grateful for that moment. He got her to look at him finally. And her eyes shone with regret. The screams came first as the she saw earlier was big enough to blot out the stars in the sky. And the heat. God, the heat. He felt as though he was being cooked from the inside out. shooting star The sky boiled like a cauldron; giant drops of fire rained down from the clouds, turning the lush green grass into something out of Hades’s fantasy. Blades of grass crumbled before his eyes. Withering without as much as a touch from him and fizzing out of existence, flames taking its place. The greenery is overtaken by the force that darkened the universe and turned rivers into lakes of fire. She screamed the most. He didn’t. He just watched the shooting star fall and gave a small smile. She was never his to own anyway. * Darren. That was his name. The man-boy with the power to manipulate space at his whims. He was a prodigy even among his peers in Earth 75. They had hoverboards to trapeze through space. That’s right, hoverboards. Fuelled with nothing more than gravel and sand. “Gloating again? That’s not very of you.” He rolled his eyes at the voice that came from just behind him. Glenna. His childhood friend. If you can count a hundred years as childhood. Before they settled—before the metamorphosis, they never grew older than the teenage age. But, after settling for five years and being a pain in the butt for half of those he called his cadre, he realized that he was ready for metamorphosis. But then, Glenna wasn’t. Hence, he had to stop halfway and wait for her to be. ladylike “I’m not a lady, for crying out loud. This is argument number what? Five thousand and seven?” He groaned, using flawless fingers to massage his forehead. Glenna just laughed as she walked towards him. Or, more like, she glided. She had more interest in the hoverboards than he did. The room was no larger than two children’s playroom, yet it had enough space due to his meticulousness. Not a strand of space is out of place, exactly how he wanted it to be. “Number five thousand and eight. You missed one.” She laughed, planting a wet kiss on his skin. He would have gone as red as beetroot if she didn’t deftly move the conversation elsewhere. “So, I need to weave a new dress. You’ve been called a genius for so long that it has become music to my ears. I need a strand of space to weave into a cloak I’m almost done making.” She tendered her request before him, and he took in her presence. She was young, after refusing the metamorphosis for the third time. Yet.. she had eyes of peace. The brown of her irises reminded him of worlds he hadn’t dared to touch for fear of breaking them apart. He’d seen them in his wakings. They were peaceful and oh, so beautiful. The serenity in them was what drew him to them at first. “Okay, I will. But why just a strand? Why not a whole chunk?” He asked as she raised her eyebrows at him, and he almost melted into the chair he sat on. If you can call it sitting. It was a haphazard view, an upturned table, yet he was upright. The world he’d come to know extended universes and eternities. It was a world of madness, but at least it was his. “One sec.” He said, raising his hand in mock surrender. Then, everything stopped. As his concentration cleared the level of the primordial beings, he tore a portal through the world. It was a red wiggly thing struggling to close, but he held it open with sheer willpower alone. When he found out that portals were alive, he decided to lord over them one way or another. They didn’t make it easy for him, though. While it wiggled, he stretched a hand into the portal and drew a strand out of that limitless vastness, loping it through his fingers like a struggling worm. It shimmered in and out of existence, blue like the untold skies, red as fiery dragons and demons of worlds he’d only read about. “Got you.” He smiled as he held a strand. Then, the world went to hell. Before he could remove his hand from the portal, it yawned like a gaping chasm and swallowed him whole. He was screaming, but Glenna was still in timeless mode. She wouldn’t know what happened. That is mercy. That has to be. Then, the world shut itself as the portal consumed the world he’d known all of his existence and winked out of reality. The screams didn’t come. Nothing did. * Carrion. That was his name. His name. His name. He tried to hold on to it, but it slipped out of his grasp like an eel, and he followed after it, crawling after his name with it on the tip of his tongue. What was his name again? Ca.. Ca what? What was his name? The man with scars lining his body like the universe's stars was lost. He tried to think. He tried to remember where he was. Yes. He was fighting Archanoid—the mother of spiders. One could even call her a deity. He dodged an incoming web made of madness and silk, woven with anger and hate. She was large, towering above him like he was a pesky fly. He hated that. He was the warrior who battled nightmares and abominations. He had to win. But then, what was his name? His name.. what was it again? He flew out of the way as an incubator shattered where he stood one second earlier. She wasn’t playing. “Foolish mortal. Do you think you can harm me? It doesn’t matter who you are, World Walker. You can’t escape from me.” She spoke, venom dripping out of those pincer-like things. They made a clanging sound as he swallowed, looking into those red eyes that had intelligence to them, something beyond the years. “One last chance. I will give it to you. Remember, pride and ego cannot win this war. Maybe you and the others can.” And then, before he could ask what she meant.. a scary sharp finger elongated from her finger, and she him out like a fly. flicked There was screaming. And then, there was nothing. * He woke up with a groan. There were several groans across him, and he was shocked to realize that he wasn’t dead. He wasn’t scorched. But he didn’t remember what his name was. He remembered her, recognized the girl who took him as a friend before the world became a sea of fire. Why, then, was he unhurt? The others stood on shaky feet, an otherworldly feel to them. There was something he just couldn’t place. They wore things he’d never heard of, or perhaps the dark skins rippling with fire and the darkness of the deep. Maybe it was the blades of darkness in the place where teeth were meant to be, but there was something.. out of place. One of them wore nightmares on his skin; he could see death. Death rippled with muscles and scars that seemed to blot out the skin. But strangely, he didn’t feel fear. “So, an explanation is in order?” He said to no one in particular. Even the being who looked as though he was 25 and 15 at the same time. As though the world couldn’t decide on his age and let him be both instead. He noticed that this being wasn’t standing on his two feet. He was.. hovering. “We’ll see soon enough.” A boy his age spoke, and he stared at him in wonderment, wondering how alike they were. The way the boy squinted made it glaring that he used glasses to see. Same with him. Even though he didn’t even know their names, they were about ten. Some had hands for feet, and others weren’t even walking on the bare ground. They just.. existed. There was no way to explain their existence, so he didn’t bother. “An explanation.. for this. All of this.” Another boy spoke, and he didn’t balk this time. He just waited. “Here it comes.” The boy who spoke was already running. “Here, what comes? What?” He asked, but everybody else had cleared out of that barren field. The world he was in was empty. There is no sign of green. No sign of brown either. It was as though the world was drained out of colour, and no matter where he looked, despair loomed. He felt them before he saw them. He knew who they were before they spoke. And even without an introduction, he knew everything about them. The Destroyers Of Worlds. They smiled; one hovered just like that man-boy. One had skin with uncountable scars. And then, he saw himself. That cruel smile, that deadly presence. He felt a chill that had nothing to do with the weather. Someone dragged him by the scruff of his hood, and he felt.. everything. There was no other way to describe what happened. Then, he turned to stare at the other him with a cruel smile as that being let out an inferno where he was standing a moment before. It was… hot. But strangely, he wasn’t burning. He wasn’t even singed. He was.. okay. The man-boy dropped him on the ground unceremoniously, and he muttered his thanks, but the others just raised their eyebrows, staring at the beings beyond them. Beings with their faces. Beings with enough power to destroy universes. It was them. Ageless. Timeless. With a snap of a finger, they were gone like they didn’t just lay waste to a large expanse of space. “I think I know what’s going on…” A tenacious finger went up, and the squinted boy was allowed to speak. “That is us. Timeless us. And.. we destroyed our universes. Now.. we have to fight against the us that are world destroyers.” “We don’t have a choice to decline?” The man-boy asked. “We have doomed worlds. This.. is penance.” The boy spoke again, his eyes filled with trepidation and resignation. “So, we were summoned here to kill our future selves? That’s a sick sense of humor.” “This world is sick, and when the Arachnoid told me, I didn’t believe it.” The man with the scars spoke, and his scars seemed alive, melding with his body. “Can you tell us what an Arachnoid is?” Another asked. So, he told them. Everything. “Pride and ego, huh?” A guy spoke, and they finally understood what they had to do. “This is depraved. All of this. Depraved. What the hell?” He spoke, shaking with anger. “Hell doesn’t exist, apparently. Future us made sure the world became it.” A brittle laughter from the man-boy. “This is it, then? We die in a land of no name? Our names were stolen from us. I can’t dredge up a single memory.” The scarred man said, eyes smouldering. I could tell he was pissed off. “This is our penance.” The squinting boy said again, and I was tempted to throw him out of the universe. Such a goody two shoes. “I don’t care. Whatever I have to do, I will do it. And it doesn’t matter who’s on the line. I have to go back home. Also, you can’t fight fire with water. Not in my world, anyway. It takes a monster to kill another. We will take the unorthodox approach. Did they want to seclude us and destroy us? World Walkers, indeed. Bastards more likely. I won’t take that. Neither should any of you. We have the power. Can’t you feel it? We can change things.” The man-boy spoke fervently, his eyes filled with loss, anger, and something else. “That’s right. We won’t let them decide for us. If we have to die, we might as well raise hell before we do. Now, we need a name.” The hooded boy spoke, and the others nodded in approval. “How does sound?” There were hoots of approval, some going as far as clapping. Then, they stared at the sky at once. Drained of colour. But then, the World between Worlds had always been a resting place for World Walkers. The Restorer of Worlds They had to fight. And this time, they had to fight themselves. Their memories returned, and they could see themselves in the past, present, and future—the Destroyer of Worlds. No more. They decided not to make the same mistakes. Not again. This time, they’d restore all they destroyed. As the squinty-eyed kid said, it was penance.

PENANCE 

Will you love me, no matter what? Will you hold me, even when nobody else will? Will you see me, The way I see you? -Day 345. The year of the plague. My name is Kevwe. I am a runner. That’s what the regulators called me. One of the few who survived the holocaust, I was a living legend. They said so many things about me, not all of them good. But I didn’t mind, I was a runner. An elite. A force of nature. My feet landed on the rough surface of a debilitated house, and I took off into the air again. The wind felt alive somehow, caressing my face with gentle touches that’d make a hard guy cry. My legs were my weapons, my sole reason for existence. I jumped again. The sole of my foot lightly grazed a serrated edge, and I stifled a wince as the pain lanced straight up my body. It was a spark; it was burning me from within. I gritted my teeth and kept running, leaping from one ruin to another, making the wasteland into my playground. A runner like me was necessary in the efforts of the Resistance. We were spread thin, and the commanders feared a retaliation from the unknown forces. Nigeria. A wasteland of ruins and darkness. I ran, my breath coming in ragged gasps. My eyes stayed ahead, not daring to look at the large gash on my toes. The pain gave me laser focus as I leapt from one edge to another.  Brown, the world was brown. Drained of colour, like rust. Like the days I wished to die. The sky was tinged with a coppery colour. It began as soon as the plague ravaged through the world like quickfire. It's more like an inferno. The death rates were enough to cause alarm and halt regular working hours. School too. Everything came to a standstill. That was the end of the future I designed from an overactive imagination. I didn’t want to be a runner at first, but a runner could outrun the plague. The humanoid viruses mutated at an alarming rate. The death bugs. Or so they were called. That was the first thing they mutated into; Bugs. Flying bugs. As disgusting as that would seem. Their intelligence seemed to increase the higher the form they took. Pale, translucent beings. Beings that stole faces and futures. Beings of unknown origin. That’s what they’d become. I didn’t know if that was the last stage of their evolution, but knowing how low humans were on the food chain? It was probably not. That’s why I run. To outrun my death. I was told that the beings would become stronger and probably outrun a runner but, I didn’t bank on that. Their intelligence was limited. They remained in the base form of whatever organism they consumed; Humans included. Which means that they were blissfully average. Good news? Definitely not. Imagine humans that never tire out, humans that have no heart to pump blood or a brain to signify when they need to stop. They were unstoppable demons with no known way to die. How do you kill an unstoppable creature? The answer is, you don’t. You run and pray to all the gods that they don’t catch you. You run until your heart fails you and you don’t stop even after that. You run, even if it kills you. Funnily enough, there was a reason for running. The soul tablets. The infected are those the virus creatures couldn’t completely consume. But their minds are gone, worse than patients with dementia. They don’t live, their hearts still beat rhythmically in their chests but they remain living husks; caricatures of what they once were. Death sometimes seemed merciful. But, killing them would mean killing half of the population. It would mean the bastard creatures won. The soul tablets can only be found in those ruins and more often than not, the vile creatures ingest those tablets to understand humans better. They don’t need minds, the soul tablets sort of dances in their vision and they see what they have to do. Hence, the soul tablets are important. For us runners, because we get to see our loved ones come alive again, even when they never say a word. It was worth heaven and earth. To see the smile that’d light up their faces. That’s why I run. But, I was already compromised. The cut from the roof, the trail of blood that followed in my wake with every leap. The creatures could smell blood. I didn’t know how or why but a lot of them have consumed those I used to run with. Kemi, Shola, Etus, Akachi, etc. I once called them friends. But, they were taken. By the Bloodless. The only virus with intelligence. They could run even better than me, but they couldn’t outrun their deaths. Fucking hell. I almost missed a step when I saw the dim light of a soul tablet underneath a jumbled mass of buildings that had seen better days. I stopped abruptly, glad that I didn’t miss it. I took a look around the ruins, some of the walls unable to survive the rust and falling apart from a light touch. The sky still shone as copper, a sickly colour. On most evenings, it was tinged with red. The walls of most of the houses in the ruins had paint peeling off the few that still remained standing. Sometimes, I wondered how the world went to hell in such a short time. “You got here first. And… you’re bleeding.” I heard a voice from behind me and turned to stare at the girl that just landed, as lithe as a cat. She had a small grin on her face, as though smiling was beneath her. Her full eyebrows raised a millimeter, her coffee brown irises staring straight through me and into my soul. She was dressed like I was, an all black getup. But hers made her seem… hot. Yes, I am stupid. The wall is falling apart and I’m thinking about a girl’s body. How original. “Don’t gawk at me. You’re not Keno. I can swear her eyes follow me wherever I go.” The new arrival, Zenith, shuddered as though in remembrance of something awful. I didn’t blame her, Keno could be overbearing sometimes. “Slow poke.” I quipped, earning an elbow for my troubles. Zenith could be violent. Very. “Just because you got here first doesn’t make you faster. Just stupid. Belligerent. Insufferable. Obnoxious. You never listen. We were meant to form ranks..” Ah yes, one of Zenith’s famous lectures. Form ranks, go in pairs or groups. Nobody left alone. Or some other balderdash. How infuriating. “You know, I can’t tell which words are real and which are fake. You know, with you throwing words You’re literally a walking dictionary.” She bristled, and I knew that I hit a nerve. Zenith was always so particular about grammar. What a waste. The world had fallen apart. Who would she have read Shakespeare to? The ? upandan. Bloodless “Don’t. Luis and Raheem are up ahead. Scouting and trying to erase the blood with those mighty knapsack of theirs. You might just get whooped this time. Now, let me see that cut.” She ordered, as matronly as ever. That was our Zenith, the mother of the group. A pity Etus couldn’t see her anymore, they were a thing for the longest time. She cleaned the cut and applied antiseptic, not risking to use anything over the top while we were out in the open. She could seal something as small as a cut but it took time and time was what we didn’t have. I stared at the sky as it darkened and Raheem more or less flew out from over a building. He scaled the building right in front of my eyes. One seconds he wasn’t there and the next, he was. “Such petty tricks. I do it better.” Luis grumbled as he came into view about two seconds after Raheem did. Raheem was the narcissist, his looks didn’t help either. He had the hots for Zenith but she acted blind to his advances. It was usually tension filled running with them. I preferred to do it alone. “Grab all the soul tablets you can. We meet in the food canteen after all of this. Kevwe, can you run?” Zenith turned to me. I nodded in the affirmative. Thankfully, Luis and Raheem ignored me. They always did. I didn’t exist to them, not in the ways that mattered. I was the insubordinate brat. Or so they put it. I took off in a run after carrying as much soul tablets as I could, placing them in the backpack I carried. They weighed me down a little but not by much. Zenith was close behind. I could heard an otherworldly sound as the creatures rose from whatever they were doing. They set sights on us, hoarding the soul tablets. “Fuck you, Kevwe! Fuck you! You caused this with your need to prove a point!” Raheem cursed out loud but I didn’t say a word in retaliation. We weren’t going to make it. When the creatures were fully awake, they had no limits. They ran like normal humans but they didn’t lose stamina. They didn’t die. Will she forgive me, if I go this way? I stopped thinking and focused on running, hoping that maybe I could do something about the hoard coming for us. “Any ideas?” Zenith asked Luis. Thankfully, she didn’t mention Raheem words even if she knew that I doomed all of us. “We survive? Get to the gate and use a soul tablet? I don’t know.” Luis replied honestly, trying to not show fear in his voice. But I knew that tone. Etus had it too. Dami did too. That reckless bravado. “Let’s do this, boys!” Zenith said, her voice carrying over to the other two. Raheem nodded and quickened his pace. We vaulted over buildings like they were made of straw sacks, our shoes never really touching the ground before we are moving again. “I’ll buy you time. Run.” I said, grinding to a halt. I caused it, I had to handle the consequences. “Don’t fucking do it. You’re not a saint! You’re a selfish bastard who only thinks of himself and nothing else. Run!” Raheem screamed at me, stopping abruptly too. Zenith and Luis were long gone. “I won’t. I’m sorry. It’s my turn now.” I said, totally ready to sacrifice myself. “Like hell I’ll let you.” He said and then, cracked a soul tablet, flinging the essence on me. “Now run, you bastard. And don’t stop, or I’ll haunt you.” He turned to face the hoard already almost upon us, the soul tablet doing its job by clearing my head and doing everything to remind me of the fear of death. So, I ran. I turned to look back at him, wondering why he did what he did. Hate still burned in his eyes. But this time, I could understand. I activated my shoes as I got close to the gate, phasing in as my body became as translucent as the creatures who stole from us. I was in. It was a modest place with walls high enough for me to crane my neck to get a good view. A fortress of stone. I made my way up to stairs to report to the leader of my platoon; Zenith. “Where’s Raheem?” She asked as soon as her eyes landed on me. Another one. Dead. “He didn’t make it. He sacrificed himself to save me.” I responded as truthfully as I could as I heard her sharp intake of breath. The world stopped. “You may leave.” She said, a certain steeliness in her voice. I walked out, unable to say the words I wanted to. The tales of Raheems’s bravery at the last moments. I made my way to the infirmary, a soul tablet in hand. My mind fractured. I never expected to feel pain for someone like Raheem. But the pain threatened to tear my heart asunder. People made way for me as I headed to the bed at the furthest corner of the room. A sickly form of a woman laid on a cot that’d seen better days. I placed the soul tablet gingerly on her hand, watching her for any signs of recognition. Nothing. And like that, one soul tablet was absorbed without any noticeable change. I walked back out dejected, my back hunched. Zenith was walking towards me, tears dotting her eyes. They were red from tears. She grabbed me by the front of my clothes, slamming my back on the nearest wall. “Bring. Raheem. Back.” She spoke through gritted teeth, her pain was so acute, I could taste it on my tongue. “I can’t.” I said, the words being choked out of my mouth. “A vegetable lays on that damn bed you haven’t left in over 300 days. You’ve been responsible for the deaths of so many of us because of your hypocrisy. You watched him die!” She screamed, her voice accusing. No trace of the leader she had always been. “He did. He died to protect me.” I replied, sincerely hoping she did me the favour and killed me right there. “You..” She managed to let me go, grief wracking her body. She screamed, her voice breaking. I just watched. It was a festival of pain. That night, she apologized to me for the statements she made. I was grateful she forgave. She was found dead the next day. Suicide. How many more will you kill to resurrect the dead? Zenith didn’t deserve to die. Raheem didn’t. Etus didn’t. I was the problem, the anomaly. They hated me, I hated me. I went back to the infirmary, taking hold of her hand. Her skin was hollow and almost translucent. I recovered her from the jaws of death. But maybe, I should have died instead. “I hate me. I love you. I hate what I have to put you through, but if you ever wake, I apologize. They died, to save me. To save my childish fantasy. I never wanted to lose so much. But then, if it is going to save you, I don’t mind. Even if the world itself turns against me, I’ll stand by you. Even when all I want to do is die. I hope you remember the days I spent, talking to you about nothing at all. I hope you don’t cry when you wake. I hope… you find something. Someone. You’re the one I’ve always loved and if I could sacrifice the world to save you… goodbye, Seta.” I felt her hand squeeze mine. I stared again but it seemed to be a trick of my mind. I placed a kiss on her forehead and walked out. The last sacrifice. * We will rise, Even from ashes. -Day 7321. The years after the plague. I stand and watch his tombstone. I barely remember his voice, I barely remember everything. But I stand by his tombstone, as an act of penance. By all of their tombstones. The runners. Humanity’s last bastion of defense. The viruses mutated once more and migrated to space. They lost interest in humans. When I awoke, I could only remember a voice. His voice. They’ll always be remembered, even though they died needlessly. Luis still stands. The last runner standing. Although he doesn’t have to run anymore, but I’ve never seen him smile. Not once. He stares into the distance, looking over the horizon. The sky is blue. Mankind is building again. We’re a few millions in Nigeria now. Immigrants, hidden bunkers. The sky no longer looks dead. Can you see this, runners? I do hope you can. You deserve to. Heroes. Of earth. -Unknown.

The End of Everything 

দ্য এন্ড অফ এভরিথিং

Das Ende von allem

El fin de todo

La fin de tout

हर चीज़ का अंत

すべての終わり

모든 것의 끝

O fim de tudo

Конец всего

Herşeyin Sonu

Sự kết thúc của mọi thứ

一切的终结

What makes some leaders produce excellent work while others barely do a part of their job? Leaders are entrusted with great responsibility. How they behave and act has a large impact on the organization and its people. Competence, knowledge and skills are important to become a leader, but how those things are put to use matters as much. When leaders aren’t conscious of their time, let fear guide their decisions, worry about being disliked, and use excuses to delay or put off things that need their time and attention, they fail to do their job. Their behaviors push the organization back instead of lifting it up. Effective leaders, though rare, are inspirational. They bring people together and enable them to collectively achieve great things together. They put the welfare of the organization and their people above their own self interests. Here are the 9 behaviors I have observed in my career that sets effective leaders apart: They aren’t afraid to challenge the status quo Leaders who play safe do things the way they have always been done. Afraid to challenge, insecure to take risks and lack of confidence prevents them from exploring anything that’s outside their comfort zone. They shut down innovative ideas, better ways to solve problems and even new practices that can be a game changer for their organization and their team. Copy pasting past knowledge without questioning it or showing resistance towards new ideas and beliefs keeps them locked in a cycle of ineffectiveness and inefficiency. Effective leaders are risk takers. They defy conventional wisdom and challenge outdated beliefs and practices. They aren’t afraid to disagree, assert their opinion or make bold decisions that are necessary for growth and progress. Thinking ahead makes them think differently. They’re able to adapt to the future. The true mark of a leader is the willingness to stick with a bold course of action — an unconventional business strategy, a unique product-development roadmap, a controversial marketing campaign — even as the rest of the world wonders why you're not marching in step with the status quo. In other words, real leaders are happy to zig while others zag. They understand that in an era of hyper-competition and non-stop disruption, the only way to stand out from the crowd is to stand for something special. — Bill Taylor Effective leaders don’t try to fit in, they stand out. They are willing to make unpopular decisions Leaders make 100s of decisions throughout the day—some significant and others inconsequential. Leaders who focus on earning likes and being nice go with popular decisions even though such decisions may not be impactful or give them the desired results. Nodding yes to others even when they disagree or keeping quiet with the fear of being disliked leads to poor choices and bad decisions. These leaders also don’t pay attention to their biases: They stick with their opinion and reject all contradicting evidence. Within certain social contexts, choose what’s easy over what’s right. Optimize for short term pain at the cost of long term gain. Keep investing in sunk costs and refuse to rethink their bad decision to protect their ego. Truthseeking, the desire to know the truth regardless of whether the truth aligns with the beliefs we currently hold, is not naturally supported by the way we process information. We might think of ourselves as open-minded and capable of updating our beliefs based on new information, but the research conclusively shows otherwise. Instead of altering our beliefs to fit new information, we do the opposite, altering our interpretation of that information to fit our beliefs. — Annie Duke Effective leaders don’t like to be part of a popularity contest. They know that it’s their job to make hard decisions even if those decisions make them unpopular or get them some stares in the short term. They are also very tactful—they know which decisions to let go and let others have their way and when they need to put their foot down and refuse to compromise. They make better decisions by: Encouraging disagreements and conflicting opinions and paying attention to them. Being highly aware of their biases. Not tying decisions to outcomes. Not copy pasting past success. Factoring both data and intuition into the process. Effective leaders don’t optimize for popularity, they optimize for making better decisions. They don’t let urgency eat up into their priorities Leaders who are always involved in solving urgent issues—putting out fires, handling a customer complaint, delayed delivery etc—react to what comes their way instead of consciously spending time on things that are crucial for an organization's growth in the long term. Reacting to urgent tasks while pushing important work aside makes them solve short term problems at the cost of more future oriented, forward looking activities. More and more urgent issues keep cropping up which wastes everyone’s time and energy. Effective leaders are very conscious of how and where they spend their time. They’re highly proactive about strategic thinking, planning and reducing time wasting urgent activities. Aligning their time and energy with the future goals of the organization reduces urgent issues, pushes the organization forward and makes employees feel happy and motivated. They use the Eisenhower matrix to plan and prioritize important work on their calendar and ensure it gets done. In doing this, delegation is a big part of their strategy. It not only frees up their time to be effective in their role, it also gives great opportunities to their team to step up and take bigger and better responsibilities. An effective leader must step back, look at the big picture, and make sure the important things are not being pushed out of the way by the seemingly urgent needs of the moment. — Ken Blanchard Effective leaders plan their time well, not take it for granted. They don’t attend meetings that aren’t worth their time Leaders whose calendars are packed with back to back meetings are bound to be busy. Packed calendars make them feel important. They feel valued. They justify their busyness by saying “I am so busy. I have important things to say and do. I must be adding value.” A Leader's role may demand them to attend a lot of meetings, but not all meetings are worth their time. Busyness creates an illusion of productivity. They spend a lot of time working without creating value. It also saves them from the discomfort from doing hard things—things that will move them forward but require them to step outside their comfort zone. Being busy with meetings is then the perfect excuse to avoid doing the work they fear or find particularly difficult to do. Effective leaders don’t attend a meeting just because others invite them to it and they don’t schedule a meeting for things that can be discussed and solved over an email, chat, or a phone call. Less meetings are not only less taxing on their schedule, they give them the mental space needed to do quality work. They apply the 80-20 rule to meetings—only 20% of your meetings account for 80% of your results. Richard Koch explains the 80/20 principle this way — The 80/20 Principle asserts that a minority of causes, inputs or effort usually lead to a majority of the results, outputs or rewards. Taken literally, this means that, for example, 80 percent of what you achieve in your job comes from 20 percent of the time spent. Thus for all practical purposes, four-fifths of the effort – a dominant part of it – is largely irrelevant. This is contrary to what people normally expect. Effective leaders optimize their meeting time using these steps: Delegate: Identify which meetings are worth attending. Are these meetings only you can do? Which meetings can you delegate? Who else can take your place? Declutter: Which meetings are not even required? Strike them off. Reduce: Which of your meetings go beyond 30 mins? Why do they need so much time? Do you have weekly or biweekly meetings whose frequency can be reduced? Attend: Highlight the ones that are absolutely important and only you can attend. Effective leaders make better decisions with less meetings, not more. They do the right thing instead of trying to be right Leaders who want to be right try to prove their smartness. They show off their brilliance by being the person with all the answers. Thinking it’s their job as a leader to know everything makes them too afraid to admit ignorance. They never say “I don’t know” because saying it might expose them to others who will consider them unsuitable and unworthy of their position. Failing to admit they’re wrong or they don’t know something leads to poor choices and terrible decisions. Effective leaders don’t think this way. They know they aren’t perfect or have superhuman qualities. Much like everyone else, they too are learning and growing and don’t have answers to all the problems at work. They don’t let their lack of knowledge or a gap in their understanding get in the way of making the right decision. They may not know the answers themselves, but they have the great ability to find those answers. They do the right thing by: Acknowledging when they are wrong or when they don’t know something. Seeking diverse opinions and evaluating different options. Choosing the best option irrespective of who suggested it. Effective leaders consider vulnerability as a strength, not weakness. Vulnerability sounds like truth and feels like courage. Truth and courage aren't always comfortable, but they're never weakness. — Brené Brown They address the root cause instead of solving superficial problems Leaders who rush to solve issues don’t pay attention to the real problem. Desire to solve the problem quickly makes them see what’s right in front of them while ignoring the real issue that caused it. Addressing the symptom in the short term without considering the root cause may be instantly gratifying, but delaying it is more harmful in the long term. Ignoring the root cause only makes it worse. As the problem repeats many times over, it not only wastes everyone’s time and effort, but also leads to frustration and anxiety. Effective leaders don’t turn a blind eye to real problems. Even if they have to make some short term fixes to put out fires, they never lose sight of the real issue that deserves their time and attention. They use the five-whys technique to go from superficial understanding of the problem to its underlying root cause. This is the way it works—ask why the issue occurred and use the answer as the premise for the next question repeating this whole process five times to dig deeper into the actual root cause. By repeating “why” five times, the nature of the problem and its solution becomes clear. Here’s an example: Q: “Why did you take longer than expected to deliver on the project?” A: I had to rework on some of the features. Q: “Why did you need to rework on some features?” A: I made wrong assumptions about certain requirements. Q: “Why did you make wrong assumptions about these requirements?” A: I did not clarify the requirements at the beginning. Q: “Why did you not clarify the requirements in the beginning?” A: I waited too long to start work and then assumed it was too late to ask any clarifying questions. Q: “Why did you wait too long to start work?” A: I was overconfident in my abilities. Effective leaders don’t stop at the first level of the problem, they like to dig deeper. They don’t let hierarchy get in the way of building meaningful connections Leaders who distance themselves from their people lose sight of the real issues that plague their team’s productivity and performance. Every step up the ladder adds to the gap. Leading with assumptions on what their team needs or the problems they face hurts their organization—employees feel unheard and unsupportive when their leader fails to address their concerns. Their biggest excuse? Lack of time. Keeping themselves busy with other work priorities while not making time for their team is a costly mistake. Effective leaders prioritize their people above everything else. They know that without diving deep into people’s minds, they can never develop the intelligence and perspective required to stay close to reality—going directly to the source and hearing it from their own mouth without any presumptions is the only way. For them, connecting with their employees isn’t a one-off thing. It’s a big part of their strategy and agenda. They consciously prioritize and make time for doing 1-1 meetings—not just with their direct reports but also those who indirectly report to them. One-on-ones provide an excellent mechanism for information and ideas to flow up the organization and should be part of your design. — Ben Horowitz Effective leaders make one-on-ones a part of their strategy to keep in touch with real problems. They don’t avoid discussions that require their time and attention Leaders who consider conflict bad avoid it by pretending it does not exist. Avoiding conflict, not taking responsibility, denying or worse delaying it doesn’t help. Not paying attention to the conflict does not make it disappear, it only makes it worse. Not getting a closure keeps people’s minds preoccupied with the conflict instead of putting that time and energy to get work done. Unresolved emotions create a mental imbalance that harms their productivity and performance. Effective leaders embrace conflict and the discomfort that comes with it. They don’t treat conflicts “bad” or a thing to avoid, but rather as the reality of every workplace that provides tremendous opportunities to improve and do better. Crucial conversations well held accelerate the building of trust, they not only not damage it, they create a sense of connection — Kerry Patterson They use the following practices to navigate conflict: They start with defining their motive—what they wish to achieve from the conversation—without generalizing or exaggerating it. They approach the discussion with an element of trust and not the intention to blame or attack. They share observations without passing any judgments and talk about the impact to communicate their message effectively. They use questions to help others arrive at their own solutions instead of telling them what to do. Instead of staying with their narrative, they are willing to change their views. Effective leaders treat conflicts as a sign of a healthy workplace and not something to avoid. They embrace uncertainty and unknowns Leaders who like certainty find it hard to tackle unknowns. They get stuck in analysis paralysis and try to delay decisions that involve uncertainty and unknowns. Trying to be 100% certain in their decision makes them lose valuable opportunities. They become reluctant to take risks and make safe bets even though such decisions do not lead to growth. Effective leaders purposefully cut through ambiguity as they see opportunity in uncertainty. They navigate change by stepping up and embracing unpredictability. Not waiting for complete information to make a decision helps them put their ideas out there, seek feedback and iterate on it. They deal with ambiguity using these 7 practices: They zoom out and zoom in to combine future opportunities with present challenges. They separate knowns from unknowns to identify relevant and missing information. They build cross-disciplinary thinking for creative problem solving. Instead of only relying on data to make decisions, they make ambiguous decisions by factoring in their intuition. Willingness to step outside their comfort zone makes them embrace risks and uncertainty with courage and action. Instead of sticking with a wrong decision, they don’t hesitate to change direction. They take responsibility which enables them to feel in control and take constructive action. Remember most of the future is unforeseeable. Learn to coexist with chaos. Factor it into your plans. Accept that failure is always a possibility, even if you are one of the good guys; those who believe failure is not an option never plan for it. Some things are predictable and manageable, but the farther away in time an event occurs, the less power you have over it — David McRaney Effective leaders don’t find ambiguity demotivating. They see it as exhilarating, rewarding, and mentally stimulating. Summary Leaders don’t become effective by simply acquiring knowledge and skills. Their behaviors and actions and how those skills are put to use matters as much. Effective leaders don’t rely on conventional wisdom to determine how things must be done. They challenge the status quo, encourage new ideas and creative ways to solve problems. Effective leaders make tough decisions that may not make them popular but definitely lead to growth. Effective leaders understand that pushing important work aside and reacting to urgent matters will keep them busy without being effective. They consciously plan and prioritize future oriented forward looking activities. Effective leaders don’t attend all the meetings that show up on their calendar or schedule meetings for issues that can be solved over phone, email or chat. Spending less time in meetings leaves more time to do work that matters. Effective leaders prioritize finding the right answers above the need to appear smart or show off their brilliance. They aren’t afraid to admit when they don’t know something or when they might be wrong. Effective leaders pay attention to the real issue that’s hidden from plain sight because it requires digging deeper. They use the five-whys technique to uncover the underlying root cause. Effective leaders don’t let hierarchy get in the way of connecting with people in their organization. By taking the time to understand and address their concerns, they increase their team’s productivity and performance. Effective leaders treat conflicts as a sign of a healthy workplace and not something to avoid. Even if it makes them uncomfortable, they don’t delay the discussion as delaying it only makes it worse. Effective leaders don’t let uncertainty and unknowns become a bottleneck to growth. Instead of being stuck in analysis paralysis, they make the best possible decision, put it into action and iterate on it. This story was previously published . Follow me on or here for more stories. here LinkedIn

The 9 Powerful Behaviors of Highly Effective Leaders That Sets Them Apart 

অত্যন্ত কার্যকরী নেতাদের 9টি শক্তিশালী আচরণ যা তাদের আলাদা করে

Die 9 kraftvollen Verhaltensweisen hochwirksamer Führungskräfte, die sie auszeichnen

Los 9 comportamientos poderosos de los líderes altamente efectivos que los distinguen

Les 9 comportements puissants des leaders très efficaces qui les distinguent

अत्यधिक प्रभावी नेताओं के 9 शक्तिशाली व्यवहार जो उन्हें अलग करते हैं

優れたリーダーを際立たせる、非常に有能なリーダーの 9 つの強力な行動

매우 효과적인 리더를 차별화하는 9가지 강력한 행동

Os 9 comportamentos poderosos de líderes altamente eficazes que os diferenciam

9 сильных качеств высокоэффективных лидеров, которые отличают их от других

Yüksek Etkili Liderleri Farklı Kılan 9 Güçlü Davranış

9 hành vi mạnh mẽ của các nhà lãnh đạo hiệu quả khiến họ trở nên khác biệt

高效能领导者的 9 种让他们脱颖而出的强大行为

How to Create Your Own AI Resume Builder Using Next.js, OpenAI & CopilotKit

Who would you like on your team or choose to work with—someone who’s highly competent but unpleasant and difficult to work with or someone with decent skills but an amazing attitude? Likability changes everything. When you’re likable, others will do anything for you. When you’re not, they turn their back on you. Likability also plays a crucial role in your success at work. Because after all, everyone likes to work with people they like. Competence, knowledge and skills are important to get the right opportunities and additional responsibilities at work, but those things alike, likability gives people an additional reason to choose you over others. When you’re likable: You’re most likely to get the help you need. Others find you relatable which makes you easy to work with. Better opportunities land your way. You end up making some long lasting work relationships. Many people confuse likability with popularity, bias and favoritism. They’re not the same. Likability is not people pleasing or going out of your way to charm others. It isn’t about refusing to take a stand or avoiding actions that might upset others. Likability is difficult to define, but you know what it feels when you actually like someone. Here’s everything I have learned about likability that helped me connect with people and do some incredible things together: Don’t be fake When you meet someone for the first time, do you try very hard to impress them? You may say and do things that make you appear easy going, agreeable and charming to win them over. But faking who you are or what you believe just to be liked never really works. Others can see when you’re genuine and when you’re just putting on a show. It’s natural to want to be liked. But faking it is not the way. Hiding your true emotions and feelings and pretending to be someone you’re not often backfires. The more you try to charm others, the more they resist you. You can make a good impression on others by being authentic. Being authentic requires expressing who you are and what you stand for. It requires behaving in a way that feels natural and comfortable. When what you say verbally matches how it shows up in your body language, others find it easy to trust you. And trust is the first most crucial element of likability. Amy Cuddy, a social psychologist says that when we meet someone new, we quickly answer two questions: Can I trust this person? Can I respect this person? This is important according to Amy because “Occasionally we see people as incompetent and cold—foolish jerks—or as warm and competent—lovable stars. The latter is the golden quadrant, because receiving trust and respect from other people allows you to interact well and get things done.” To be more likable, instead of faking it, just be yourself. Spread positive vibes and positivity will come back to you. When we come from an authentic, genuine place in ourselves, our efforts to connect with people work to their fullest. Our relationships develop more easily and last longer, and we feel better about the people. — Michelle Tillis Lederman Instill a sense of belonging and connection When you talk to others, how much of the conversation is about you, what you want and how much is it about others? Do you take the opportunity to get to know them or to tell amazing things about you with the assumption that knowing wonderful things about you will make you more likable? Talking about yourself makes you feel good but it puts other people off. They listen to you for a while and then check out from the conversation. You need to get their attention and engage them. You need to make them feel good. How can you do it? By simply asking questions that get the other person talking. Don’t engage in superficial chit chat. Show genuine curiosity to ask something meaningful and important about their life. Make the conversation about them, not you. When you ask questions that invites them to share about their life, experience, or anything else that might be meaningful to them, it instantly creates a connection. shows that when people talk about themselves, it triggers the same pleasure sensation in their brain as money or food which leaves a warm and fuzzy feeling, draws people to you and makes you more likable. Research Bringing up happy memories also improves people’s mood. They start associating these positive feelings with you which subconsciously makes them want to spend more time around you. To be more likable, show an interest in getting to know others—discover shared goals, interests or other activities that can spark a deeper conversation. Acknowledge the importance of what they're saying. This means that what is important to them has an emotional impact on you. Remember, people are always looking to be acknowledged, appreciated and respected. — Patrick King Be present How often do you check your smartphone when you’re around others? If you ask people, they’ll say I don’t and yet they do it every few minutes. Being distracted has become such a habit that most people don’t even realize it. This is the biggest challenge of being present. When you’re constantly distracted by your watch, phone or other things in your environment, you fail to pay attention to the person in front of you. You appear physically present, but mentally checked out. Others can’t like you when you’re lost. To be likable, you need to give your undivided attention. You need to show that you value their time and their presence. Doing this makes them feel valued and respected. They respond to your presence with kindness and affection, which at an unconscious level sows the seed of likability. As Mokokoma Mokhonoana says - “Truly paying attention to something or someone makes it or them seem as big as the universe.” To be likable, silence your distractions and remain fully present in the moment. Don’t look at your phone or divert your attention to anything that takes you away from the conversation. Another aspect of being present is learning to listen well. When you’re stuck in your own head, you don’t listen or observe at all. Your mind is busy thinking what to say next. Instead of waiting for your turn to speak, connect with the other person by paying attention to their words. Better your listening skills, the better will be your likability. Effective listening is the single most powerful thing you can do to build and maintain a climate of trust and collaboration. Strong listening skills are the foundation for all solid relationships. — Michelle Tillis Lederman Control your mood How do you come across to others—are you consistent in your behavior or unpredictable to others? Everyone has good and bad moods, but your mood can’t be a predictor of how you treat others. No one likes to deal with someone who’s unpredictable and random. Unpredictability leads to a lot of unnecessary emotions, adds complexity to conversations and makes it hard to reach a common decision. So if you’re known to be moody, people will find all sorts of excuses to avoid you. They don’t want to think about how you’ll react. They don’t want to deal with your tantrums. It’s easier for them to cut you off than bringing you into the picture and having to deal with your moods. If you want to be likable, be in charge of your mood. Don’t let it get swayed by the ups and downs at work. Most importantly, be consistent when you’re around others. It’s human nature to appreciate those who are consistent in their behaviors and actions. Being consistent in your behavior is a great way to build trust. — Germany Kent Leave your judgments at the door How do you react when you disagree or have a difference of opinion? Do you stick to your point of view or show openness in listening to others? When you’re strongly opinionated or show unwillingness to hear others who disagree with your point of view, you become unapproachable. No one can like you when you shut them down or stick to your beliefs without appreciating that others can think differently and might be right too. When you’re judgmental, irrespective of what you say, your body language radiates the true picture. Your tone of voice, hand movements, and facial expressions will show contempt even if you try hard to hide how you think and feel. Building likability isn’t about nodding yes even or listening silently to everything others have to say without saying a word. It only requires openness to accept different points of view and curiosity to understand others. when you disagree Don’t hesitate to share your opinion, but do it in a considerate and respectful way. In order to have important conversations, you will sometimes have to check your opinions at the door. There is no belief so strong that it cannot be set aside temporarily in order to learn from someone who disagrees. Don’t worry; your beliefs will still be there when you’re done. — Celeste Headlee Likability isn’t a one time thing. It’s a lifetime process. Unless you make these practices as part of your life, you may be likable today and not so much tomorrow. Consistent liking requires consistency in how you act and come across to others. Summary You may have all the competence and skills in the world, but if you’re not likable, less opportunities will land your way. To build likability, you don’t have to be extra nice or go out of your way to please others. Liability is built by staying authentic, not faking it. Talking about yourself feels good to you, but it puts other people off. To be likable, genuinely show an interest in understanding others—their life, experience, interests and passions. Talking to a person while being distracted makes them feel less valuable and disrespected. To be likable, stay away from distractions and consciously pay attention to the person in front of you. Be present. Don’t let your mood decide how you come across to others. Being consistent and predictable may be boring, but it also builds likability. Appreciate different points of view even if you disagree. Curiosity builds likability, not being judgmental. This story was previously published . Follow me on or here for more stories. here LinkedIn

Why Being Likable At Work Matters

“Do you think that was good enough, Allen? I am tired of rehearsing our lines. I am having a beer,” said the man with the USA cap as he sat down by the fire. He pulled a stick from behind a rock and put a marshmallow on it. He handed it to his companion. “Thank you, John.” The man called Allen pulled his alien mask off and replied, “I don’t know anymore, to be honest. How good does it really have to be?“ Allen continued as John sipped his beer. “Despite what I think, we are paid to create plausible information noise for the DIA. “ John pushed his marshmallow deeper into the fire and ruminated. “I used to believe in the mission, but I’ve begun to wonder. I felt like we were doing something when we’d do this dog and pony for visiting dignitaries or foreign military envoys. It made sense to create this illusion of enormous military and technological advantage when the gap did not exist at all. “ Allen nodded, “I know. I feel like we’ve helped keep the Chinese military in check through our efforts here. They believed we had a huge technological advantage, but their AI is finally beginning to see through the veil. They don’t even bother to come out on these ‘tours’ any longer.” Let’s cap our beer consumption and practice the script a bit more,” John suggested. Allen had started a rant, though. John knew what would follow. Allen began his rant predictably. “You know, when I first started this gig, the SR-71 Blackbird was the world’s fastest aircraft. Now, so many decades later, the SR-71 is supposed to be the fastest aircraft. The SR-71 was first flown in 1964!” Do you know the United States Air Force still claims to need the U-2 spy plane? It was first flown in 1956. That was decades before I was even drafted into this enterprise, John.” “Allen, you know this is terrible for your blood pressure. Why don’t you just retire now?” John asked plaintively. “Nope! They’re gonna pay my full retirement!” Allen was adamant about getting his righteous retirement. John knew this well. Allen began a familiar rationalization for the charade they were about to engage in. “You know, John, the Army has somehow lost six trillion dollars. I know they say it’s just a computer glitch. I am worrying. I just want to get to full retirement by the end of next year and bail out. The last audit of the Pentagon uncovered trillions more missing. These accounting errors caused by computer glitches are very concerning. “ “Allen, please!” John pleaded with his old friend to hush. “You are going to get yourself booted without ANY retirement. Don’t let that happen!” He advised his friend with a finger to his lips. “Now, let’s practice this script again,” John insisted. “After I lead the group into the hologram hangar and they see you appearing to operate one of the craft….then what?” “OK, OK, I appear to land one of the craft nearby you. I walk toward you. I take three steps toward the group and remove the mask. You then turn to the confused-looking Senators and say what?” “Yes, Senators, there might be aliens. These might be an alien craft, but we all know the real answer here. Maybe there are aliens, and maybe there are not, but there is a HUGE HOLE sucking up trillions in the Defense Department. The Pentagon admits this fact. “ Allen interrupted and said, “The Senators will start asking a lot of questions and perhaps shouting and jumping up and down. We have to maintain calm and follow the plot. It will work.” Allen continued. “Now, it will be my job to close the deal here, so I will say something like this.” Allen paused and put his hand to his chin. “ The Pentagon has other facts to consider. Remember, our enemies are gaining on us technologically. Technology determines who wins or loses any war in the 21st century. This is also a fact the Senate should consider. Another fact to consider is we have to keep this technology secret. Ergo, money must be siphoned off to maintain our technological lead in secret. We acknowledge there may be a personal ‘cost’ for each of you to ‘maintain secrecy,’ so the Pentagon has prepared a ‘secrecy stipend’ for each of you. Please step through here for your debriefing, Senators.” The two men looked at each other. Unspoken communication about reality occurred but was unrecorded by technology. Maybe that means it never happened? Allen put his alien head mask back on. The two men walked toward the hologram hangar. Also published . here

A Conversation at Area 42

I despise Christmas. The city becomes like a pestering showroom, seemingly designed to provoke me. Flaunting what they have: Christmas trees, gifts, loving families gathering around the tree once a year like in the movies. I once had a family too—a beautiful wife and a lovely daughter. But I screwed it up... My wife left and took our daughter with her. They might be living in England now. I know nothing about them. I can't even be angry; after all, I was the one who drove them away. Since then, Christmas for me has been about loneliness. About how people constantly remind me of what I've lost. But this Christmas will be different. This year, I'll have a tree too. I will be the tree. I've picked out a sturdy roof beam. That's where I'll hang myself. I thought it would be easier, but I've realized that this actually requires the most courage. Being suicidal isn't simple. So, I jumped down to the store for a bottle of whiskey, to drink up some bravery one last time. The street was completely deserted. There was no sign of life, except for that one convenience store where I finally managed to get some booze. I paid for it; the cashier wished me a Merry Christmas. I just shrugged and walked out the door. Why not start drinking right now? I opened the bottle and took a big swig. The whiskey scraped its way down my throat, and then became a warmth in my stomach, which felt particularly good on this cold winter night. After a few sips, when my steps began to wobble, I decided to stop for a moment to relieve myself. That's when I noticed the homeless person on the street corner. He wore tattered white clothes, possibly burlap. Maybe he stole it from a nearby nativity scene. The light played a strange game on his body as if he was glowing. Or maybe it was just my eyes playing tricks, which wouldn't be surprising after downing half a bottle of whiskey in about fifteen minutes. Come, buddy, sit with me. — he called out. Why not, after all? I'm not in such a hurry to hang myself that I can't spare a few minutes for a half-crazed man. Want some? — I offered him the whiskey. The homeless man just nodded, then took a sip of the whiskey. That's when it hit me where I recognized this face from. No, not an old friend. The last time I saw him was in the church. A very long time ago, when I still went to such places. It was Jesus himself sitting next to me, looking exactly as he was depicted in the church. I sat there with the most influential man in the world on an empty street, sharing a bottle of whiskey. He seemed so real, but I knew it couldn't be true. For a few moments, I just stared blankly, then he broke the silence. I know what you're thinking. You think all of this isn't real. That you've gone mad and your mind is playing tricks on you. But that's nonsensical. If I'm merely a product of your mind, anything you do to prove the contrary will be unsuccessful. You can't deceive your own mind. I could say I know everything about you, but that wouldn’t prove anything; if I'm just a figment of your imagination, you obviously can't ask a question I wouldn't know the answer to. Was the shopkeeper real? Or even this whiskey? How can you know if anything is real beyond yourself? And God? What about God? — I didn’t really understand his point, but I thought discussing God would be a good start in a conversation with Jesus. If everything is just a creation of your mind, then you are God, right?! If I am God, why is my life so miserable? Because you made it that way. And if I die, does everything end? Death is overrated. If you're a butterfly in your dream and someone steps on you, do you mourn the butterfly? You just wake up. Maybe ponder for a bit about what it was like, then start a new dream. So, I'm sitting here with Jesus himself, and you're suggesting I should commit suicide? Jesus? Why do you call me that? What should I call you? Last time you called me Arnold. Arnold? Yes, Arnold, your personal assistant. Personal assistant? Yes. That's the protocol. If you stray too far off the path, you can choose to start a new life or roll back the current one. I’m a bit confused. Can you explain all this clearly? Oh, sure. In the 2050s, human technology reached the singularity. People continue to live in digital form. Great. So, you're a time traveler? Not at all. I'm just a second-generation AI. Second generation? Yes. Humans are the first generation, and artificial intelligence based on the first generation is the second. So, you're some kind of robot? Now I'm starting to understand the Arnold name. A time-traveling robot from the future. Just like the Terminator... — I said, laughing, because this all started to seem very frivolous. Not exactly. Currently, a computer is running your mind, which includes me and all other people. Essentially, you are just a part of your own larger mind. It's hard to explain in a way that you would understand, but at a higher level, we are all one entity. I see. We are God, experiencing a massive split in consciousness. Something like that. The computer running us orbits the Earth with millions of similar machines. The machines are powered by the sun and arranged in a spherical formation around the planet. Nanomachines continuously transform the Earth so that dumb matter becomes smart matter. So, everything around us isn't real? It depends on how you define reality. Currently, it's 2019. If we reach 2050, humanity will likely achieve singularity and move into simulated worlds. From that perspective, this will be reality; from here, the outer world is. But who knows if the outer world is the ultimate objective reality? This is starting to give me a headache, but I still don't understand why you're here. To offer you the choice. A new life, or a rollback? What's a rollback? Before you created this personality, you set a path that you must follow. Why? Why not just enjoy omnipotence? Because it's boring. If you irrevocably stray from the path, you have the option to return to an earlier point and continue from there. It's like a backup of your mind at a specific state. Since your mind reverts to an earlier state, you won't remember what happened afterward. So that's how fate works? Yes. You feel as if a series of random decisions guide your path. Everything seems to lead in one direction. But that's only because we roll back the bad decisions. If something is meant to happen, it will, and you can't prevent it. If you tried, something random would always interfere. At least that's how you would experience it, since every time you managed to prevent an event, the system would roll back. In a mostly deterministic world, randomness is God's only tool. If the world is deterministic, how can anything happen by chance? It's like quantum mechanics. Exciting things happen when no one is watching. The slice of reality that no one is aware of is God's territory. Here happen the big things that people just shrug off as random. So, you came to ask if I'd rather reincarnate or go back in time to correct my mistakes? You could say that. At that point, I took a big gulp of whiskey. Then I want my family back. That last gulp might have been unnecessary. I started to feel dizzy, and the world became increasingly blurry. Finally, everything melted away… I felt a pressure on my chest. Slowly, I opened my eyes and stretched widely. A fire flickered in the fireplace, and Katy, my little girl, was sitting on my stomach. Daddy, daddy! Santa has come. Let’s open the presents! I clambered out of bed and rubbed my eyes. Under the ceiling-high tree, the presents were already laid out. Annie had taken care of everything, and let me sleep until this little imp jumped on my stomach. By the time I came to my senses, Katy was already unwrapping the gifts, then suddenly stopped for a moment and turned towards me. Daddy, didn’t Santa bring you anything? Oh yes, my little girl, he did. I watched Katy unwrap the presents, and a feeling of otherworldly joy washed over me. This is my gift. I had forgotten how much I adore Christmas. If you are confused, read my very first article on HackerNoon: https://hackernoon.com/our-universe-is-a-massive-neural-network-heres-why-c14j3ze1 I wish you a very merry Christmas!

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