Rising above childhood adversity and taking the road to success

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It is crucial for children to develop a sense of initiative and resiliency growing up, allowing them to overcome the many challenges that wait along the way.  Throughout history, many great and important figures have risen above dire circumstances like poverty and a lack of access to education.  These hardships are scars that come early, but those who truly overcome adversity look back on them and allow these scars to be their markers for success.

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All face adversity on their path to adulthood.  But the unspoiled child will be readier to develop resiliency; you should become role models to them and not lull them into thinking that life is easy.  The more children see that you are working hard to attain your goals and embracing adaptability, they will follow suit and adopt their drive and perseverance.  In other words, parents must double as mentors. 

Early experiences mold the child, and important values like charity, responsibility, and empathy should be inculcated early on.  The same goes with resourcefulness, which cannot be developed if everything is always easily or readily available. 

Conversely, while being born into a well-off family is not something people can control, you shouldn’t make children feel that the situation should make them better than others.  The sooner they realize that the world does not revolve around them, the faster they’d learn to be other-centered.  This need for selflessness, generosity, and kindness should be true of all children if they are being humbled as they reach for true success.

Michael Melton has been the subject of numerous print, TV, and radio articles detailing how someone can overcome a bad childhood and inferior education system to become a success in life. More on Michael’s various advocacies here. 

How to manage a restaurant efficiently

A restaurant is one of the toughest businesses you can open today.  It’s extremely competitive and location-dependent.  The number of repeat customers can eventually be the indicator of success. 

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But perhaps the most troublesome element of running a restaurant is logistics.  You are constantly re-stocking perishable goods and managing supplies.  To help you manage your restaurant efficiently, here are some tips:

If you haven’t opened your restaurant yet and are currently in the planning phase, make sure you optimize the layout of your business.  The kitchen should be proportional to the dining capacity of the restaurant.  If the kitchen area can’t keep up with the orders, meals will take longer to be prepared.  The floor space should also be wide enough for customers and wait staff to move freely.

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You should also employ efficient workers.  From people who restock the kitchen to kitchen assistants, a restaurant is an active business where there’s zero place for laziness.  You can check if they are efficient by checking their previous employment records for job experience in restaurants, and monitoring them at work.

Lastly, it’s not enough that employees are held accountable for mistakes.  Managers should be held accountable as well.  Whether it’s their inability to follow through in their chain of command or lack of initiative, managers are employees, too and need to be dealt with accordingly. 

Michael Melton is the co-founder of the Culturfied Foundation, a nonprofit that develops and conducts programs to expose children to the different cultures of the world. The organization works with embassies, the United Nations, and the local school systems. For more on Michael’s work and advocacies, go to this webpage.

The growing importance of intellectual property in the digital age

With digital innovation has come a variety of ways to protect intellectual property or IP; the challenge for current innovators is to ensure that they develop the most apt strategy to protect their inventions and labor. 

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It all begins with a keen understanding of copyright law.  Governments all over the world are finding ways to keep updated on various developments and disruptions created by the arrival of the internet and new technologies (like blockchain, for example).  These involve laws for radio, TV, video games, music, photography, books, sound recordings, and the like.

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Intellectual property is meant to fuel creative industries while curtailing any infringes on such rights.  In the U.S., courts are expected to come up with clear-cut statutory conditions amounting to the so-called “safe harbor” protection.  Additionally, service providers should themselves volunteer to implement such systems and act swiftly to take down any defined violation.

All in all, the success of intellectual property in the digital age will depend on establishing laws that continue to provide incentives for innovation and creativity while being flexible enough for amendments as new forms of disruptions arise.  Whether via patents, copyright, trademarks, authorship, or registered rights, IP can partner with licensing for enhancing the value of existing and future assets. 

Michael E. Melton has authored numerous published legal articles in the field of intellectual property, including the foreword for “Little Blues – How to Build a Culture of Intellectual Property Within a Small Technology Company.” For similar reads, visit this blog.