When looking at a company, it’s often easier to identify problems from the outside looking in. This is why new employees may have the most tremendous thoughts and ideas for business improvement. They’re looking at something with an excited, unbiased perspective. Excited because they’re about to join a new opportunity. Unbiased because the staff hasn’t pushed their corporate biases on the employee yet.

So how do we identify these problems if we’re not new employees?

My solution is to start with the website. A brand has quite the story to tell from the website alone. Can a fifth-grader understand what the business does? Is the About page unified and consistent around a vision? How about the pricing strategy, is it sensible? What do the social media and blog pages look like in terms of content and community engagement?

You can basically understand a good portion of a business by starting with a website analysis. Identify ten opportunities you see as a theoretically new visitor to the homepage. Opportunities for optimization. Opportunities for growth. Opportunities for unification.

Potential consultants or freelancers will find themselves contributing the most value if they can identify business problems to solve. After all, that is what their roles are all about. Start with the website.

Apple

Below is a list of the top 250 movies on IMDb for March 2020. I share video impressions of the ones I’ve watched here.

1. The Shawshank Redemption (1994)
2. The Godfather (1972)
3. The Godfather: Part II (1974)
4. The Dark Knight (2008)
5. 12 Angry Men (1957)
6. Schindler’s List (1993)
7. The Lord of the Rings: The Return of the King (2003)
8. Pulp Fiction (1994)
9. The Good, the Bad and the Ugly (1966)
10. The Lord of the Rings: The Fellowship of the Ring (2001)
11. Fight Club (1999)
12. Forrest Gump (1994)
13. Inception (2010)
14. Star Wars: Episode V – The Empire Strikes Back (1980)
15. The Lord of the Rings: The Two Towers (2002)
16. The Matrix (1999)
17. Goodfellas (1990)
18. One Flew Over the Cuckoo’s Nest (1975)
19. Seven Samurai (1954)
20. Se7en (1995)
21. City of God (2002)
22. Life Is Beautiful (1997)
23. The Silence of the Lambs (1991)
24. It’s a Wonderful Life (1946)
25. Parasite (2019)
26. Star Wars: Episode IV – A New Hope (1977)
27. Saving Private Ryan (1998)
28. Spirited Away (2001)
29. The Green Mile (1999)
30. Interstellar (2014)
31. Léon: The Professional (1994)
32. The Usual Suspects (1995)
33. Harakiri (1962)
34. The Lion King (1994)
35. American History X (1998)
36. Terminator 2: Judgment Day (1991)
37. Back to the Future (1985)
38. The Pianist (2002)
39. Modern Times (1936)
40. Psycho (1960)
41. Gladiator (2000)
42. City Lights (1931)
43. The Intouchables (2011)
44. The Departed (2006)
45. Whiplash (2014)
46. The Prestige (2006)
47. Once Upon a Time in the West (1968)
48. Joker (2019)
49. Grave of the Fireflies (1988)
50. Casablanca (1942)
51. Rear Window (1954)
52. Cinema Paradiso (1988)
53. Alien (1979)
54. Apocalypse Now (1979)
55. Raiders of the Lost Ark (1981)
56. Memento (2000)
57. The Great Dictator (1940)
58. The Lives of Others (2006)
59. Django Unchained (2012)
60. Avengers: Infinity War (2018)
61. Paths of Glory (1957)
62. The Shining (1980)
63. WALL·E (2008)
64. Spider-Man: Into the Spider-Verse (2018)
65. Sunset Blvd. (1950)
66. Princess Mononoke (1997)
67. Dr. Strangelove or: How I Learned to Stop Worrying and Love the Bomb (1964)
68. Avengers: Endgame (2019)
69. 1917 (2019)
70. Oldboy (2003)
71. Witness for the Prosecution (1957)
72. The Dark Knight Rises (2012)
73. Once Upon a Time in America (1984)
74. Aliens (1986)
75. Your Name. (2016)
76. American Beauty (1999)
77. Coco (2017)
78. Braveheart (1995)
79. Das Boot (1981)
80. 3 Idiots (2009)
81. Toy Story (1995)
82. High and Low (1963)
83. Star Wars: Episode VI – Return of the Jedi (1983)
84. Like Stars on Earth (2007)
85. Amadeus (1984)
86. Reservoir Dogs (1992)
87. Inglourious Basterds (2009)
88. Good Will Hunting (1997)
89. 2001: A Space Odyssey (1968)
90. Requiem for a Dream (2000)
91. M (1931)
92. Vertigo (1958)
93. Dangal (2016)
94. Eternal Sunshine of the Spotless Mind (2004)
95. Citizen Kane (1941)
96. The Hunt (2012)
97. Full Metal Jacket (1987)
98. North by Northwest (1959)
99. A Clockwork Orange (1971)
100. Snatch (2000)
101. The Kid (1921)
102. Bicycle Thieves (1948)
103. Singin’ in the Rain (1952)
104. Scarface (1983)
105. Taxi Driver (1976)
106. Amélie (2001)
107. Lawrence of Arabia (1962)
108. Toy Story 3 (2010)
109. Capernaum (2018)
110. The Sting (1973)
111. Metropolis (1927)
112. For a Few Dollars More (1965)
113. Ikiru (1952)
114. A Separation (2011)
115. Double Indemnity (1944)
116. To Kill a Mockingbird (1962)
117. The Apartment (1960)
118. Indiana Jones and the Last Crusade (1989)
119. Incendies (2010)
120. Up (2009)
121. L.A. Confidential (1997)
122. Monty Python and the Holy Grail (1975)
123. Heat (1995)
124. Die Hard (1988)
125. Rashomon (1950)
126. Yojimbo (1961)
127. Batman Begins (2005)
128. Unforgiven (1992)
129. Downfall (2004)
130. Green Book (2018)
131. Children of Heaven (1997)
132. Come and See (1985)
133. Some Like It Hot (1959)
134. Howl’s Moving Castle (2004)
135. Ran (1985)
136. The Great Escape (1963)
137. All About Eve (1950)
138. A Beautiful Mind (2001)
139. Casino (1995)
140. My Neighbor Totoro (1988)
141. Pan’s Labyrinth (2006)
142. Raging Bull (1980)
143. The Secret in Their Eyes (2009)
144. Lock, Stock and Two Smoking Barrels (1998)
145. The Wolf of Wall Street (2013)
146. The Treasure of the Sierra Madre (1948)
147. Judgment at Nuremberg (1961)
148. Three Billboards Outside Ebbing, Missouri (2017)
149. There Will Be Blood (2007)
150. Chinatown (1974)
151. The Gold Rush (1925)
152. My Father and My Son (2005)
153. Dial M for Murder (1954)
154. V for Vendetta (2005)
155. The Seventh Seal (1957)
156. Inside Out (2015)
157. No Country for Old Men (2007)
158. Warrior (2011)
159. Trainspotting (1996)
160. Shutter Island (2010)
161. The Elephant Man (1980)
162. The Sixth Sense (1999)
163. Room (2015)
164. The Thing (1982)
165. Gone with the Wind (1939)
166. Jurassic Park (1993)
167. Blade Runner (1982)
168. The Bridge on the River Kwai (1957)
169. The Third Man (1949)
170. Finding Nemo (2003)
171. Wild Strawberries (1957)
172. On the Waterfront (1954)
173. Fargo (1996)
174. Kill Bill: Vol. 1 (2003)
175. Gran Torino (2008)
176. Stalker (1979)
177. The Truman Show (1998)
178. The Deer Hunter (1978)
179. Tokyo Story (1953)
180. Memories of Murder (2003)
181. Wild Tales (2014)
182. The Bandit (1996)
183. The Big Lebowski (1998)
184. Andhadhun (2018)
185. Mary and Max (2009)
186. Klaus (2019)
187. In the Name of the Father (1993)
188. Gone Girl (2014)
189. Ford v Ferrari (2019)
190. Hacksaw Ridge (2016)
191. The Grand Budapest Hotel (2014)
192. Mr. Smith Goes to Washington (1939)
193. The General (1926)
194. How to Train Your Dragon (2010)
195. Sherlock Jr. (1924)
196. Before Sunrise (1995)
197. Persona (1966)
198. Catch Me If You Can (2002)
199. Prisoners (2013)
200. 12 Years a Slave (2013)
201. Cool Hand Luke (1967)
202. Mad Max: Fury Road (2015)
203. Stand by Me (1986)
204. The Wages of Fear (1953)
205. Into the Wild (2007)
206. Network (1976)
207. Barry Lyndon (1975)
208. Monty Python’s Life of Brian (1979)
209. Platoon (1986)
210. Million Dollar Baby (2004)
211. Hachi: A Dog’s Tale (2009)
212. The Passion of Joan of Arc (1928)
213. Rush (2013)
214. Ben-Hur (1959)
215. Logan (2017)
216. Andrei Rublev (1966)
217. Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows: Part 2 (2011)
218. Dead Poets Society (1989)
219. Rang De Basanti (2006)
220. The 400 Blows (1959)
221. Nausicaä of the Valley of the Wind (1984)
222. Amores Perros (2000)
223. Hotel Rwanda (2004)
224. Spotlight (2015)
225. The Handmaiden (2016)
226. Rebecca (1940)
227. Rocky (1976)
228. Monsters, Inc. (2001)
229. La Haine (1995)
230. It Happened One Night (1934)
231. Ace in the Hole (1951)
232. The Red Shoes (1948)
233. The Princess Bride (1987)
234. In the Mood for Love (2000)
235. Before Sunset (2004)
236. The Help (2011)
237. Gangs of Wasseypur (2012)
238. Lagaan: Once Upon a Time in India (2001)
239. White Heat (1949)
240. The Terminator (1984)
241. Butch Cassidy and the Sundance Kid (1969)
242. Paris, Texas (1984)
243. Akira (1988)
244. Aladdin (1992)
245. PK (2014)
246. The Invisible Guest (2016)
247. Guardians of the Galaxy (2014)
248. Drishyam (2015)
249. Groundhog Day (1993)
250. Neon Genesis Evangelion: The End of Evangelion (1997)

It seems many people want to escape their 9-to-5 jobs, but that might be the wrong way of looking at things. Instead, we should figure out how to make it enjoyable.

Building an entrepreneurial venture can take months, even years. In the meantime, I would do everything you can to make your time at work easier to tolerate.

Those who feel sad about their jobs should look to take on new responsibilities. Chances are, you’re doing something that feels stagnant right now. A change in routine can be exactly what you need. If a new project comes up, take initiative and see if you can lead the team for implementation. It will feel good to make a bigger impact in your company.

Set goals. You’re not enjoying your job because you’re not progressing the way you want. Take ownership of your progression and accomplish your set objectives. Seeing your growth will improve your mindset.

Eat lunch with others, instead of at your desk. Work can be socially isolating. This is why you should take every opportunity to connect with others when breaks are permitted. The constant go-go-go can be draining.

Change jobs. If you’re trying to make it right and things still feel off afterwards, it’s time to consider making a transition to a company that provides more meaning to you. You are doing yourself and your employer a favour by making this change. No one wants an employee with a glass-half-empty mentality. Plus a change in scenery might be just the solution you need.

I’ve talked about the 9-to-5 job in previous posts, and have always encouraged the world to find work they love. Life is too short to be doing otherwise.