Doubt Me.

“Doubt if you must, it’s something I have grown accustom to. If people don’t doubt you it means you’re not pushing the boundaries, not daring to do something that can’t be done. The moment people stop doubting you it’s not because you won them over but rather because you lost yourself.”

– life experiences

From the start people will doubt you and your aspirations. In an attempt to clip your wings all types of methods will be used; no matter what you must resist the barraged of attacks. At the end of high-school after 4 years of planning to become a psychologist I discovered the world of economics. My plan for the next 10 years was scratched in 10 minutes as I frantically scrambled through my research to determine the prerequisites of my new dream.

The Chinese could not have built a greater wall than what stood between me and economics.

The hurdles added up to around 2 years of more schooling. I scurried over to my high school academic advisor to devise a master plan in which my dream would become a reality way sooner. Little did I know, she would doubt me.

“Shaaz, why are you trying? Just give up on this goal of yours. You can’t do this it’s just too much for you. Stop and settle for what you have; you would probably need 3 years of schooling to get the perquisites. There is no way this can be done.”

Some great Academic Advice eh?

So I picked up the pieces of my shattered goal from the floor and made a quick exit. After some consulting with my family and other sources (you can smell my sheer determination at this point, never give up), the solution was found!

Take that Risk

I had a meeting with the department of economics at Carleton which produced a a risky choice. I could take a harder version of  grade 12 calculus at Carleton (some hybrid version which means more in-depth/challenging) and VOILA  I would be majoring in economics at uOttawa. However, the chance to waste money, time, rejecting job offers and failing was high as I had ZERO experience with math at that level.

Of course I took the class.

LONG days LONG nights and NO Summer with LOTS of stress. On average 5-6 hours of studying a day everyday period.

Raw brute force.

Result?

Determination worked as I finished in the top 10% percent of the class with a 79%.  Proved a good amount of people wrong but more importantly proved to myself I could live out my dream, no matter how tall those walls were.

Now I am only 7 months away from my degree in International Economics and Development with a minor in Business Administration. I have 3 years of government work experience. I have the privilege to be the VP Finance of uOttawa’s Tennis League and  the VP Academic uOttawa’s Economic Student Association. Furthermore, I been lucky enough to embark on a 20 day economic delegation to China and Malaysia as a Trade Ambassador.

This message  is not about me or my life but rather about the powers of doubt itself.

Keep pushing the boundaries and doing what’s not possible time and time again.

So for those people please continue to doubt me and MTG.

It only means good things are coming our way…

Mind the Economy: Jobless Recovery…Give me a break IMF

Four challenges: IMF

Strauss-Kahn highlighted four challenges to be addressed by the officials gathering in Washington…..

• Sovereign debt. Fiscal sustainability remains a problem for some countries, particularly those that entered the crisis with very high levels of debt. “So we are strongly in favor of medium-term consolidation, but it doesn’t mean that in the short term every country will have to tighten as much as possible. It depends a lot on their own situation and it is very country specific.” Where the recovery remains fragile and private sector demand is weak, support for demand is still needed.

• Jobless recovery. Just reviving growth is not enough. “We need growth with jobs. Growth without jobs doesn’t mean much for the man in the street. So obviously, for us, the crisis will not be over until the unemployment rate decreases significantly.”

• Financial sector reform. While a lot has been done to address improved regulation, particularly through the new Basle III accord, a lot more needs to be done on supervision and regulation of the financial sector, which was at the heart of the global crisis. In addition, Strauss-Kahn said the IMF supported moves to introduce taxation of the sector.

Global cooperation. The world got through the economic crisis through very close cooperation, but now the momentum was decreasing. One example of this is emerging competition between countries to adjust their currencies to gain an advantage. “What we all want is the rebalancing of the global economy, and this rebalancing cannot happen without a natural consequence of it, which is a change in the relative value of currencies.”

Politics +  Economics = headache

I have been noticing over the past two years that policy makers in the lime light or politicians using the phrase “growth without jobs is horrible” or ” we cannot face a jobless recovery ARHHH”….

Are these guys missing the point or adhering to misconceptions of growth and recovery formed by the pubic?

Depending on what sector, companies around the world  must experience substantive growth for around 12 to 20 months before they can consider hiring once again. Furthermore, during (and as a result of ) recessionary periods, companies examine  their internal workforce and re-prioritize organizational objectives. The restructuring period may lead  to massive overhauls (bigger than Wario’s) for the company’s structure and size. For example, GM…they cut their company in half by killing about 6 brands….people cannot expect them to hire the same amount of workers….

Furthermore, demographics  also play a vital role in unemployment rates. In Canada the time it takes for unemployment rates to return to pre recession levels takes twice as long for young professionals (defined as youth 16-25)…why..that’s another post for another day.

For now,

let us focus on these four challenges and the realization that time is the best public policy tool in the fight against unemployment rates, not fuelling economic misconceptions.

Video: Shaaz in Chinese Microsoft Meeting

Junior Team Canada had a discussion with one the experts at Microsoft Asia-Pacific region in Beijing R&D Headquarters.

We went over were Microsoft sees the world in the next ten years as the expert provided us with extensive market analysis on various sectors within the industry. The Asia-Pacific region is playing an increasingly significant role in Microsoft’s global innovation strategy. They create cutting-edge of technology, innovating solutions that impact millions of people around the world.

They have a focus on their four core pillars of research, incubation, development and ecosystem partnership, their engineers and researchers are passionate about creating the world’s best solutions and experiences.

Emerging Markets
Countries in the Asia-Pacific form some of the top emerging markets. China has the world’s largest number of mobile device and consumer electronics users and the world’s second largest number of PC and Internet users. Its vast market and specific user needs such as SMS and online games inspire new forms of technology integration, while offering new business opportunities. Actively engaging theses emerging markets like China in the development of competitive technologies, products and services is the best way to bring the benefits of innovation to these markets and the rest of the world. Microsoft Asia-Pacific R&D discussed how they are  exploring areas such as healthcare, education and mobile technology.

We were the first ever group of Young Canadian Professionals to engage with Microsoft Asia-Pacific R & D!

Here is a brief video….it’s very random and after the presentation lol

Wolves Eating You!

One of the best Lessons ever

An elderly Cherokee Native American was teaching his grandchildren about life . .

He said to them,

“A fight is going on inside me, it is a terrible fight and it is between two wolves. One wolf is evil—he is fear, anger, envy, sorrow, regret, greed, arrogance, self-pity, guilt, resentment, inferiority, lies, false pride, false competition, false superiority, and false ego.

The other is good —he is joy, peace, love, hope, trust, sharing, serenity, humility, kindness, benevolence, friendship, empathy, generosity, hard/ smart work, truth, and compassion.  This same fight is going on inside you, and inside every other person, too.”

They thought about it for a minute, and then one child asked his grandfather, ”

Which wolf will win, Grandfather?”

The Elder replied…..

“The one you feed.”

This simple yet powerful short story if understood can have a long lasting impact on your life.

TED.com comes to Ottawa!

TED (Technology Entertainment and Design) is a global set of conferences curated by the American private non-profit Sapling Foundation, formed to disseminate “ideas worth spreading”. The talks have been offered for free viewing online, under a Creative Commons license, through TED.com.

TED was founded in 1984 as a one-off event, and the conference was held annually from 1990 in Monterey, California. TED’s early emphasis, was largely technology and design, consistent with a Silicon Valley center of gravity. The events are now held in Long Beach and Palm Springs in the U.S. as well as in Europe and Asia, offering live streaming of the talks.

They address an increasingly wide range of topics within the research and practice of science and culture. The speakers are given a maximum of 18 minutes to present their ideas in the most innovative and engaging ways they can. Past presenters include Bill Clinton, Jane Goodall, Malcolm Gladwell, Al Gore, Gordon Brown,Richard Dawkins, Bill Gates, Google founders Larry Page and Sergey Brin, and many Nobel Prize winners.

Coming to Ottawa?

Yes, now a select few will have the chance to be filmed for 5 minutes in which the speaker will cover 1 life changing moment she/he has experienced thus far.  Another topic can be 1 life lesson that everyone should adhere to in order to succeed in life.

These mini ted inspired talks will be posted on Mind the Gap for all to learn from and discuss about!

The goal is to foster an environment where the citizens of Ottawa can use MTG as a medium to communicate to everyone….Ottawa is one of the most educated cities in the world…a responsibility  is bestowed upon us to share this knowledge.

I am drafting up the speakers from students and professional, if you want to take a shot at it …give me a shout through facebook or email.

Economic Student Association 101 Video

I look like a club promoter….all that should be said.

Converting to Gmail

Mr. Chow strongly recommended converting to Gmail to stay in touch with Junior Team Canada and better organize my life on the web. I have four solid reasons for the switch….

• Treasurer  of uOttawa’s Tennis League
• Vice President of Academic Affairs
• Junior Team Canada Graduate / Canadian Trade Ambassador
• Volunteer on Parliament Hill

All these titles/ jobs mean one thing: A TON OF EMAILS EVERYDAY EVERY MINUTE…which I love…but it can be daunting to manage and very important emails have slipped under the radar.

I also am going to try out “Buzz” from Google, in an attempt to reach out to citizens of the world wide web. One would hope that promoting your  brand to the world will yield some positive results. The transition is going smoothly as I am connecting my old emails to my new account on gmail…hopefully this results in faster response times and better results for the people I work for and with.

shaaznasir123@gmail.com

add me !