Monday, December 30, 2019

This is how to deal with your setbacks this year

This is how to deal with your setbacks this yearThis is how to deal with your setbacks this yearThe new year brings a lot of expectations. And those expectations sometimes dont turn into reality when performance reviews dont go as planned and raises arent quite what they could have been.It can be hard to get through these setbacks and move forward, especially when your hopes were high. But its important to learn to cope with these letdowns in the right way.Stephen Joseph, a professor of psychology at the University of Nottingham, writes in Psychology Today that there are three broadly accepted forms of coping. Some people look to problem-focused coping while others are mora prone to emotion-focused coping. Still, others rely on avoidant coping to get by.But these approaches are elend created equal. Heres a look at what each coping method means, and which type you should lean on to get through your latest setback.Problem-focused copingProblem-focused coping involves attempts to resolv e difficulties by taking steps to remove threats and find solutions, writes Joseph.Problem-focused copers are also willing to ask for help from others, Joseph writes, and theyre laser-focused on the problem itself. Thats important because when something goes wrong, its easy to believe that everything has started crumbling around you. But really, the problem is usually localized and needs to be addressed without adding in confusion about compounding factors.Emotion-focused copingThis method, according to Joseph, is mainly about managing ones emotions.Emotion-focused coping generally involves talking through experiences with supportive others, Joseph writes. Through conversation, we are able to allocate blame and praise more objectively, seek new perspectives, correct incorrect perceptions and find new insights.Sometimes, having a sympathetic ear as a sounding board is enough to give clarity to what happened and decide how to move on. People who use emotion-focused coping get those be nefits from their support network.Avoidant copingAvoidance means we try not to think about the situation or we find ways to shut out our feelings, Joseph writes. Sometimes, related coping mechanisms can be dangerous, such as looking to alcohol as a way to distance yourself from the situation.Joseph writes that avoidance may be valuable under some conditions, especially when were not quite ready to deal with what happened. But when avoidance is the only coping method for a prolonged period of time, he continues, problems begin to pile up. How to copeClearly, avoidant coping isnt the way to go long-term. And thats the conclusion Joseph arrives at as well. Research studies show that compared with people who have an avoidance coping style, individuals who use active problem-focused and emotion-focused coping strategies generally do better, Joseph writes.But even among the other two coping mechanisms, theres one that takes the cake.My experience is that when confronted with a setback, pr oblem-focused copers do best, Joseph writes. They look at the situation from different angles, seek solutions, and move forward in new directions.Whatever your setback is in the new year, make sure to cope with it healthfully. Even the worst news doesnt have to be devastating, as long as you know how to come out of it on top.

Wednesday, December 25, 2019

Required office decor for all consultants

Required office decor for all consultantsRequired office decor for all consultantsAnd a helpful reminder of how to fulfill your role as a consultant. For other cynical decorating options, check out this site.

Friday, December 20, 2019

What might explain the current unhappiness epidemic

What might explain the current unhappiness epidemicWhat might explain the current unhappiness epidemicWed all like to be a little happier.The problem is that much of what determines happiness is outside of our control. Some of us are genetically predisposed to see the world through rose-colored glasses, while others have a generally negative outlook. Bad things happen, to us and in the world. People can be unkind, and jobs can be tedious.But we do have some control over how we spend our leisure time. Thats one reason why its worth asking which leisure time activities are linked to happiness, and which arent.In a new analysis of 1 million U.S. teens, my co-authors and I looked at how teens were spending their free time and which activities correlated with happiness, and which didnt.We wanted to see if changes in the way teens spend their free time might partially explain a startling drop in teens happiness after 2012 and perhaps the decline in adults happiness since 2000 as well.A po ssible culprit emergesIn our study, we analyzed data from a nationally representative survey of eighth-, 10th- and 12th-graders thats been conducted annually since 1991.Every year, teens are asked about their general happiness, in addition to how they spend their time. We found that teens who spent more time seeing their friends in person, exercising, playing sports, attending religious services, reading or even doing homework were happier. However, teens who spent more time on the internet, playing computer games, on social media, texting, using video chat or watching TV were less happy.In other words, every activity that didnt involve a screen was linked to more happiness, and every activity that involved a screen was linked to less happiness. The differences were considerable Teens who spent more than five hours a day online were twice as likely to be unhappy as those who spent less than an hour a day.Of course, it might be that unhappy people seek out screen activities. However, a growing number of studies show that fruchtwein of the causation goes from screen use to unhappiness, notlage the other way around.In one experiment, people who were randomly assigned to give up Facebook for a week ended that time happier, less lonely and less depressed than those who continued to use Facebook. In another study, young adults required to give up Facebook for their jobs were happier than those who kept their accounts. In addition, several longitudinal studies show that screen time leads to unhappiness but unhappiness doesnt lead to more screen time.If you wanted to give advice based on this research, it would be very simple Put down your phone or tablet and go do something just about anything else.Its not just teensThese links between happiness and time use are worrying news, as the current generation of teens (whom I call iGen in my book of the same name) spends more time with screens than any previous generation. Time spent online doubled between 2006 and 2016, and 82 percent of 12th-graders now use social media every day (up from 51 percent in 2008).Sure enough, teens happiness suddenly plummeted after 2012 (the year when the majority of Americans owned smartphones). So did teens self-esteem and their satisfaction with their lives, especially their satisfaction with their friends, the amount of fun they were having, and their lives as a whole. These declines in well-being mirror other studies finding sharp increases in mental health issues among iGen, including in depressive symptoms, major depression, self-harm and suicide. Especially compared to the optimistic and almost relentlessly positive millennials, iGen is markedly less self-assured, and more are depressed.A similar trend might be occurring for adults My co-authors and I previously found that adults over age 30 were less happy than they were 15 years ago, and that adults were having sex less frequently. There may be many reasons for these trends, but adults are also spending more time with screens than they used to. That might mean less face-to-face time with other people, including with their sexual partners. The result less sex and less happiness.Although both teen and adult happiness dropped during the years of high unemployment amid the Great Recession (2008-2010), happiness didnt rebound in the years after 2012 when the economy was doing progressively better. Instead, happiness continued to decline as the economy improved, making it unlikely that economic cycles were to blame for lower happiness after 2012.Growing income inequality could play a role, especially for adults. But if so, one would expect that happiness would have been dropping continuously since the 1980s, when income inequality began to grow. Instead, happiness began to decline around 2000 for adults and around 2012 for teens. Nevertheless, its possible that concerns about the job market and income inequality reached a tipping point in the early 2000s.Somewhat surprisingly, we found that teens who didnt use digital media at all were actually a little less happy than those who used digital media a little bit (less than an hour a day). Happiness was then steadily lower with more hours of use. Thus, the happiest teens were those who used digital media, but for a limited amount of time.The answer, then, is not to give up technology entirely. Instead, the solution is a familiar adage everything in moderation. Use your phone for all the cool things its good for. And then set it down and go do something else.You might be happier for it.Jean Twenge, Professor of Psychology, San Diego State UniversityThis article is republished from The Conversation under a Creative Commons license. Read the original article..bxc.bx-campaign-1012255 .bx-group-1012255-fEAd6NQ position relativez-index 1width 720pxheight 480pxbackground-color transparent

Monday, December 16, 2019

5 Mistakes That Will Send Your Resume Straight to the Reject Pile

5 Mistakes That Will Send Your Resume Straight to the Reject Pile5 Mistakes That Will Send Your Resume Straight to the Reject PileYour resume is the very first impression that an employer will have of you, and its usually the determining factor in whether you move forward to an interview or get rejected on the spot. That means that its crucial to put real energy into getting it right and yet many job seekers put more energy into picking out an interview suit than they do into writing a strong, compelling resume.These five common mistakes will virtually ensure that your resume goes straight to the reject pile rather than getting further consideration but they are easily avoided.See 10 Items to Banish From Your Resume.Your resume is four pages long or even longer. Its true that resumes no longer have to stick rigidly to a single page, but that isnt license to turn your resume into a lengthy essay. If youre in your 20s, your resume still should generally only be one page you havent h ad enough work experience yet to justify a second one. If youre older than that, two pages are fine, but three will usually raise eyebrows (not in a good way) and anything longer than that will come across as prohibitive self-importance or terrible judgment. In fact, having looked at tens of thousands of resumes, I can tell you that after two pages, there is an inverse relationship between the number of pages of your resume and the strength of your candidacy.Theres not much information about what you did in each job or, conversely, theres so much information about each job that its a challenge to wade through it all. Your resume needs to contain enough information to explain what you achieved in each job job titles and a single bullet point describing your work in each role arent generally going to be enough. At the same time, though, you cant include so much information that hiring managers eyes glaze over. Youre aiming for highlights, not an exhaustive account of everything you did. The idea is to distill your achievements down to what matters most.See The 10 Things You Do That Turn an Interviewer Off.Youre extremely overqualified for the job youre applying for and dont address that in your cover letter. When employers get a resume from someone whose skills and experience are far beyond what the role calls for, theyll usually assume that the candidate is either applying to everything they see or that the person fundamentally misunderstood what the job is. The exception to this is if you explain why youre applying for this particular job, despite it potentially seeming like a step back. That means that if your resume shows qualifications far deeper than the job requires, it needs to be accompanied by a cover letter that explains your interest. For example, you might explain that youve realized through experience that front-line accounting work is what you really love, not managing the people doing the accounting work, or that youre deliberately seeking some thing with less responsibility than youve had in the past in order to obtain a better work-life balance, or whatever your reason is. You left all the dates off. Sometimes in an attempt to avoid age discrimination, older candidates will leave the dates of employment off of their resume altogether. The problem with doing this is that employment dates are such a standard part of a resume that leaving them off stands out in a negative way. Plus, those dates are important it matters whether your experience doing relevant work was recent or 15 years ago and whether you did it for six months or for six years. If youre concerned about avoiding age discrimination, a better option is to only include your job history for the last 15 years. Your more recent experience is likely to be the most relevant and interesting to employers anyway.See 7 Common and Costly Cover Letter Mistakes.Youre obviously resume-bombing. If your application materials make it clear that youre applying for every job yo u see that youre remotely qualified for, youre going to torpedo your chances. Employers want candidates who are interested in the particular job theyre hiring for, not just any job, and whose work history is a strong match for the role. Candidates who spray out resumes in all directions tend to figure that this approach cant hurt but it will waste your time and make a poor impression on employers who otherwise might have considered you in the future.

Wednesday, December 11, 2019

The biggest mistake people make in their careers (and lives)

The biggest mistake people make in their careers (and lives)The biggest mistake people make in their careers (and lives)A CareerBuilder surveyfound that 49% of all workers accept thefirst offer given to them.For people under 35, who are far less likely to negotiate, these numbers are surely much higher.Losing an extra few thousand dollars may leid seem like a big absprache. However, over a long enough period of time, small things become big things.Follow Ladders on FlipboardFollow Ladders magazines on Flipboard covering Happiness, Productivity, Job Satisfaction, Neuroscience, and moreAccording toan analysis by Salary.com, negotiating your initial salary and renegotiating every few years will earn you over $1 million more during your career.Heres the kicker, raises and future offers generally build on yourcurrent salary or lage?- ?which means your first mistake can haunt you for a long time.I had a conversation with Jeff Goins, best-selling author ofThe Art of Work, about 8 months ago . I asked his advice about publishing a book I wanted to write and he said,Wait. Dont jump the gun on this. I made that mistake myself. If you wait a year or two, youll get a 10x bigger advance, which will change the trajectory of your whole career.Most People CantWaitIn the famousStanford Marshmallow Experiment, four-year-old children were offered a treat of their choosing (an Oreo cookie, a marshmallow, or a pretzel stick). They were told they could have the treat now, or, if they waited 15 minutes and resisted temptation, they could have a second treat.So, for waiting 15 minutes, the kids who waited would get a 100% increase in their reward.Follow-up studies on these children later in life found that those who delayed gratification were more successful in generally all areas of life.Weve all heard this before. Yet, despite knowing about this famous study?- ?and the loads of research on willpower and self-control since?- ?fruchtwein people are still impulsive about their decision- making.The Wrong MotivationsThe reason most people fail to make the best long-term decisions is because they dont know what they really want.If you dont know what you want, of course youll take the best thing offered you.In his book,Good to Great,Jim Collins said,A once-in-a-lifetime opportunity is irrelevant if it is the wrong opportunity.According to Collins, most companies dont go from good to great because they lose track of their original intent.When you start to succeed (or get a degree, etc.), more opportunities come your way. Unless you know exactly what you are andwhat youre not, youll be easily swayed.Because most people havent decided what they intrinsically want, their primary motivation becomes external validation. Thus, rather than actuallybeing good,the objective is tolook as good as possible.Why do youreallywant to do what you are doing?Ryan Holiday, best-selling author ofThe Obstacle is the Way,told me that people write a book for one of two reasonsGet a book dealWr ite a book that does well long into the futureMost people trying to develop a writing career, if they were honest with themselves, want to get a book deal. Theyd sacrifice the long-term goal of writing a classic at the expense of merely becoming an author. The same is true of most people trying to start a business, or doing anything else.The problem is, in most cases, it doesnt go both ways. Holiday, for example, took a substantially smaller book contract for his book,The Obstacle is the Way,because the book welches on an unproven concept. But he was fine with the initial pay-cut because his goal was more long-term. He wanted to write a book that would continue to sell wellyears into the future.This is the exact opposite of how most people approach their goals. The goal for most people is to be a best-seller, or an entrepreneur, or a college grad. Its all about the image. The external validation becomes more important than truly doing great work.The Benefits of Delayed Gratification Holiday differs in one more way than most people in his space. He was offered a book contract for the book that would eventually becomeThe Obstacle is the Wayseveral years before he wrote the book.Of course, he was ecstatic He told his mentor, best-selling author Robert Greene, about it.Holiday recollects about that conversationRobert was as happy for me as everyone else, but he told me he didnt think I should do it. Not because it wasnt a good deal, but because I wasnt ready. Youre 22 years old, he reminded me. Are you sure you can speak from a place of real understanding about the subject matter, he asked? He told me that every day I was experiencing new things, that I was widening my understanding and authority on the topic by living, and improving as a writer. The book would be better the longer I waited was his nice way of saying It wouldnt be any good if it came out now. He advised me to pass.Unlike so many others, Holiday delayed gratification. He further explains that over t he next few years, hed learn things and have experiences allowing him tobecome the personthat could writeThe Obstacle is the Way.Could he have written a great book at age 22? Probably.Would it have been a classic? Probably not.The question isDo you really believe you could create a classic?Or, do you believe you can create something truly impactful?Rather than just starting a business, do you believe you can create something truly important?Do you really believe in yourself?This may sound like a trite question. But its serious.Of course, you believe you could create something. But Im talking about somethingreal.Something of enduring quality. Something truly great.Do you believeYOUcould do that? Or, would you rather create something quick and inferior, but that gives you a false sense of achievement?Said Tony RobbinsLife gives you exactly what you ask of it, no more and no less.You get in life what youre willing to tolerate. Its all about your personal standards.Most peopleget lessin lifethan theirpotentialbecause they have low standards for themselves and those around them.The greatest reward for delayed gratification is who you become. Its not necessarily about the work you do. More, its that you became someone who could do workat that level.Your work is a reflection of you. Who you become determines the quality of your work. The quality of your work influences the lives of other people.Youll Know When Its the RightTimeAn obvious objection, or question, you should be having right now isWhat if I wait too long?Waiting to act and delaying gratification are two completely different things. Perfectionism is not delaying gratification.Perfectionism is a disease that leads to procrastination and waiting.The time to act becomes painfully obvious, not only based on intrinsic feelings but also based onexternal demand. Its not enough to feel ready. There must beclear evidencethat you are ready. That can only occur by experience in the real world and not merely in your head.80% of Life is ShowingUpIn the book,The E-Myth Revisited Why Most Small Businesses Dont Work and What to Do About It,Michael Gerber explains that the natural thing for a new business to do is grow.Most people wonder if they will get any traction for their concept. This fear is legitimate but besides the point. If you start a business and work at it,it will grow.Most businesses fail when things start growing. They get too excited by future prospects and dont continue the technical and organizational stuff to support the growth. Of this, author and strategistGreg Mckeown has said,Why dont successful people and organizations automatically become very successful? Success is a catalyst for failure.You must balance 1) your plans for the future with 2) doing and improving the actual work (i.e., your products) and 3) keeping things well-managed.If you keep these three things balanced, your chances of successduring growthare substantially higher, Gerber explains.ConclusionIf youre willi ng to wait an extra year or two, the quality of your impact, as well as the quality of your life, could dramatically improve.You must first know what you want. Until you do, youll be swayed by the first offer you get.You must also knowwhyyou are doing what youre doing. Until you do, youll be more concerned about looking good than actually doing something of lasting and significant value.Expect that when you go into business, it is going to grow. When it does, dont get distracted by all the once-in-a-lifetime opportunities that come your way. Stay the course. When needed, delay the gratification for something good in order to create something truly great.Youll never regret that extra 6 months, or year, or few years you were investing in yourself. When the harvest comes in, youll look back with a satisfaction most people could never imagine.How I Turned $25,000 Into $374,592 In Less Than 6MonthsIve created a free training that will teach you how to become world class and successful at anything you choose.Access the free trainingherenowThis article first appeared on Medium.You might also enjoyNew neuroscience reveals 4 rituals that will make you happyStrangers know your social class in the first seven words you say, study finds10 lessons from Benjamin Franklins daily schedule that will double your productivityThe worst mistakes you can make in an interview, according to 12 CEOs10 habits of mentally strong people

Friday, December 6, 2019

Resume Statement Examples Reviews & Tips

Resume Statement Examples Reviews & Tips In the darbietung youre a new graduate, its OK not to have a lot of experience that would be expected. So what are the fundamental requirements or requirements and ways to get it down. For instance, it might state some of your previous accomplishments, and move on to the types of accomplishments you would like to achieve in the future (ideally, accomplishments you wish to achieve for the organization youre applying to work for). In the majority of cases, a resume objective is simply a couple of sentences long. When putting together a resume, you will need to thoroughly consider your objective statement, which will help determine the way that people have a look at the remainder of your work experience. In case youre running out of words, you could find the aid of professional writers. It isnt necessary to compose long sentences since it will distract the eye of the readers. Seek assistance from professional writers in the event yo u arent proficient in receiving your resume ready. Resume Statement Examples - the Story In case you should encounter a superb job your app should be adapted to the job specifications. Know that your resume is only one of the numerous that the recruiter may receive, which means you want to be sure you hit the nail on the head by means of your objective or else you might not be noticed by the employer. If youre in the start of a career change and hoping to locate a job, your objective statement is vital. The opening statement sets the tone for the rest of the essay. When writing your statement, its important to take into account where youre in your professional progression. The Debate Opening Statement template makes it possible to to be aware of the format in which a debate should be shown. No matter your degree of job practical understanding, your resume structure is critical to making your application stick out. Just know you dont need to generate a list of 20 items. In the event that you are feeling stuck onto the ideal system to start out with, templates are sometimes an exceptional kick-starter. The web templates are created in such a manner they make the resume be noticeable. The very first thing that you want to do is go back and take a look at the job which youre applying for and determine your intended audience. The job posting also wants a candidate with a proven capacity to rate the skills of unique nurses. Just about any job would meet the objective. Everybody want to detect their dream job. You may want to look at a qualifications summary which we outlined in last weeks postbut if you simply need to have a summaryhere are some examples to help you begin. You may often apply your offering statement outside your resume and portfolio. After that, a format is going to be reviewed, including the 3 components of a superior objective statement. In the end, examples will be offered, illustrating how to begin writing an objective state ment. Bear in mind, your target is to catch the hiring managers eye and stick out from the remainder of the paper in that pile. As an in experienced candidate, you may need to devote a lot of effort to be prepared for practically any stelle you pursue, whatever kind or industry of occupation it is really. The absolute most efficient objective is one which is tailored to the job youre applying for. Everyone knows that when looking for work, the very first task you will need to complete for a possible employer is, Send a copy of your resume. Whichever approach you decide on, avoid flowery or generalized objectives which are too commonly employed by new graduates. When youre asking for work, your very first aim is to let employers know your abilities and talents align with the demands of their open position. As soon as you determine the skills you wish to concentrate on, do a bit of research and see whether they line up with job requirements listed for the positions youre seeki ng. Everyone has desirable abilities and experiences to provide employers including you

Sunday, December 1, 2019

Too Pretty for the Job

Too Pretty for the Job I read an interesting article about a woman, Nan Boland, who decided to open her own recruiting firm. Another woman-owned business in the recruitment field? Nice. But what really interested me was what Boland said about the makeup of her staffYou know, its great. And interestingly, right now we have all females in ur office, although that is not by design. Women in general are very strong individuals, but anyone can be successful in owning his or her own business, its just a matter of how hard you work and the good people you surround yourself with. I have a fantastic kollektiv. Im not doing this alone, but I have a wonderful team and a business manager that has been with me since day one. I cannot take all the credit for my companys success, because its been a great team effort. Ive been blessed to have great relationships with our clients and candidates, too.A woman-owned, 100 percent women-operated recruitment firm? Very niceand very unique.This unique setup particularly interested me because I remember reading a Forbes.com article about how women HR professionals often discriminate against attractive female job seekers.The article explained how two Isreali researchersBradley Ruffle at Ben-Gurion University and Zeev Shtudiner at Ariel University Centresent out fake applications to 2,500 job openings. The researchers sent two applications to each job one application included a photo and the other did not. The two believed that resumes including photos of attractive candidates would receive the greatest response.This was partially true. Although attractive males received more callbacks for interviews than unattractive males, attractive women were less likely to get a callback for an interview if they attached a photo. Why the discrepancy?The researchers concludedHuman resources departments tend to be staffed mostly by women. Indeed, in the Israeli stu dy, 93% of those tasked with selecting whom to invite for an interview were female. The researchers unavoidableand unpalatableconclusion is that old-fashioned jealousy led the women to discriminate against pretty candidates.Ladies, is this true?Now, when first reading about the experiment, one might assume attractive women were ruled out because of the unfair dumb blonde or dumb model generalizations. Yet, each photo in the study was also rated on how intelligent people thought the person looked and the results showed that there was no correlation between ones beauty and ones intelligence level(s).Are women HR professionals really discriminating against female job seekers? If so, this is really disconcerting. Why you ask? Well, look at the stats about women in the workforce (and, ladies let me tell you, theyre not pretty)Only 4.2 percent of Fortune 500 CEOs are womenWomen make up 4.5 percent of Fortune 1000 CEO positionsIn 2012just like in 2002among full-time, year-round workers, wo men were paid 77 percent of what men were paid.Women only held 16.6 percent of Fortune 500 board seatsIn 2011, at 31.9 percent, women didnt even account for half of all lawyersFrom elementary and middle school teachers to computer programmers, women are paid less than men in female-dominated, gender-balanced, and male-dominated occupations (AAUW)What am I saying? Ladies, its clear that we need one another. Although more and more women (and mothers) are entering the workforce, we still face many inequalities compared to our male counterparts. Instead of being jealous and discriminating against each other, we need to unite and continue to advocate for change and equality.It may sound clich, but the phrase, United we stand, divided we fall, is very true. Being jealous and unfair toward attractive women only harms women in the workforce overall. Instead of preventing women from entering a company, why not be fair in your selection process? View the female job seekers not as threats, but positively as more potential women who can add to those lists of CEOs and board members and ultimately help turn our male-dominated, senior-level workforce into an equal and level playing field.

Tuesday, November 26, 2019

The golden rule of true productivity

The golden rule of true productivityThe golden rule of true productivityMany people easily confuse busy and productive.They occupy their time with too many things and end up doing nothing that really gets them closer to their goals.Busy is time-consuming and stressful.Follow Ladders on FlipboardFollow Ladders magazines on Flipboard covering Happiness, Productivity, Job Satisfaction, Neuroscience, and moraYou simply cant do it all and respond to everything and everyone.Busy work makes you feel like you are moving quickly and being productive in the process. But in effect, you are not.You are choosing quantity over quality the worst thing you can do with your precious time.Cramming as much work into the day as you can isnt necessarily the best strategy for productivity.Rushing through as many tasks as you can seem like the best thing to do but you could end up sacrificing your high-value goal.Being productive doesnt necessarily mean getting everything doneTime management is a qualitati ve lens instead of a quantitative one.Quality over quantity is an age-old lesson that too many of us choose to ignore. It works in life and business.Quality time rebuilds your fractured focus and stretches your attention span.When you picture a productive day, what does it look like?Most people face the saatkorn question every dayShould I focus on getting more done (quantity) or getting one thing one done (quality) better?Doing one thing meansnotdoing something else. And there is a big difference between the things thatshouldbe done and the things thatmustbe done.An empty inbox and a blank to-do list are not true indicators of your productivity levels.Your time is limited. Doing everything is not an option.In an era of extreme busyness, the only conceivable way to make the most of your time is to stop doing busy work.What is the most efficient use of your time today?That simple question can help you choose your most important things to focus on every day.Making meaningful progress s hould always be the aim.Without focus, you can quickly run out of steam because you are chasing too many things at a time.We live in an infinite world, says Tony Crabbe, author of the bookBusy How to Thrive in a World of Too Much.There arealwaysmore incoming emails, more meetings, more things to read, more ideas, projects and work to follow up.The result, inevitably, is feeling overwhelmed.Were finite human beings, with finite energy and abilities, attempting to get through an infinite amount. That never works. And its not sustainable.Single task on purpose and block out the distractions.Or better still, plan your reactions to other demands on your time at specific times if you cant avoid them.To increase your performance, compress youractionConcentration amplifies performance.The beauty of single-tasking is that you can do packed compressed action in succession to boost your daily performance.Write your MIT (the most important thing) down and split it up into compressed actions. Id entify and list the actions you need to take to achieve it.Prioritize based on importance. Everything cant be a top priority.Divide your hours into compressed actions.Find common patterns in tasks and set a working system that allows you to finish similar tasks in a single action.You can allow 30, 40 or 60 minutes of time to focus on each compression.The best time lapse Ive found to be effective is 40 minutes. But stick to what works best for you.Allow five or ten minutes between each compressed action.Compressed action can have a significant effect on your results.Key takeawayIf you want the absolute best gunst der stunde to succeed at getting things done better, your approach should always be the same focus on quality work.This means recognizing that not all work matter equally.Shifting from one task to another in rapid succession, with the aim to get more things done is not sustainable.Focus on quality work that contributes to the bigger goal. Dont compromise the quality of your work.Prioritize your tasks and projects. Choose your actions and compress similar activities, setting a timer if necessary. Take breaks for mental recovery in between actions.Get smart with your time.This article first appeared on Medium.You might also enjoyNew neuroscience reveals 4 rituals that will make you happyStrangers know your social class in the first seven words you say, study finds10 lessons from Benjamin Franklins daily schedule that will double your productivityThe worst mistakes you can make in an interview, according to 12 CEOs10 habits of mentally strong people

Thursday, November 21, 2019

William Shatner The real world is both beautiful and ugly

William Shatner The real world is both beautiful and uglyWilliam Shatner The real world is both beautiful and uglyBelow are excerptsfrom William Shatners commencement address to New England Institute of Technologys Class of 2018I want to talk to you about hope. I want to talk to you about dreaming, about utopia, about ambition. Youre about to step into the real world. And the real world is both beautiful and ugly. You can see the beauty from the windows of the university far more easily than the slums of the city. You can see the beauty of pure learning, the theoretical possibilities, the cleanliness of democracy from these hallowed halls far easier than in the grimy corridors of life downtown.- - - Yes, the real world has many facets and the graduating student can get lost in the grind of the moment. But there is also another side to life and to me that aspect is hope. Hope for the future, hope for relationships, hope for useful work, hope for happiness.- - - You have been given a piece of paper that represents a lot of hard work your degree. And if you roll that piece of paper up and hold it to your eye, it becomes a telescope a telescope of hope. You can fixate on the future and look at what you want with focus, precision, with concentration.Itscommencement seasonFollow LaddersCommencement Addresses magazine on Flipboardto watch and read all of the fruchtwein inspiring speeches from this year and years past.Change surrounds us. We are enclosed in a writhing envelope of change. You students getting the bum rush out of the cloistered halls into the cluttered corridors of life need to be on the tips of your toes. You have got to be ready for change. You have got to be ready to seek opportunity where it exists not where you wish it to be.- - - There lies just beyond our fingertips the mystery of life. Just beyond our imagination, a universe of contemplation. We have no idea of anything. Merely glimmers of possibilities. Its up to you to explore those wor lds. Up to you to find some tantalizing curiosity and follow it. Explore it. Enjoy it. It might take you to worlds you havent dreamed of.

3 Job Search Mistakes You Cant Make If Youre Age 50+

3 Job Search Mistakes You Cant Make If Youre Age 50+3 Job Search Mistakes You Cant Make If Youre Age 50+Jewel, I had a fabulous interview and I am positive I really connected with the person. But 4 days after the fact, Im still waiting. Is this a bad or good sign?Well, lets elend wait and lets leid wonder. Instead, lets take action. Action is the vehicle that drives your job search. You control the vehicle, and therefore, you hold mora power than you think. The job search mistakes you cant afford to make especially if youre age 50+ primarily have to do with all this wondering and waiting thats keeping you right where you are. Here are 3 key areas where you can snap out of itDid You Hit The Apply Now Button, And Then Just Wait?The moment you hit apply, is most definitely not the end. There should be some preliminary research, then you should apply, then you should reach out and touch someone almost at the same time. If youre not taking all these steps, the roles youre applying for a re simply disappearing into that black hole we all know as our friendly little Internet.You can find the relevant person on LinkedIn, and send them a SHORT message specifically stating that youve just applied for the role, youre interested in their organization for some specific reason that youve researched, and you have specific areas of expertise personenname what they are that will prove to be beneficial in the role.Are You Looking At Openings, Or Opportunities?Theres a huge gap between whats listed online and whats actually available. I know you cringe when I say hidden job market, what is that, anyway? And how am I supposed to find it? The hidden job market is not as big of a secret as you think.Let me share with you my own personal career path, starting from college In my senior year, I identified people who were working in jobs that I wanted to work. I didnt want to take their jobs. Rather, these were teams and I knew the organizations could use another talented person.I made my ask. I said, Who can I speak to in your organization who may consider me. I got the name and number. I was a tad shy so I wrote a letter (email hadnt been invented yet just snail mail), just 1-page, noting my education and relevant internship experience, what I knew about the organization, and the skills I had that would be a good fit.The 1st such letter I wrote got me a response the next day. I interviewed that week. I started work the following week. I went on to work there for a decade.Well, that was when you were coming out of college, you might say, How can I do that now when Im trying to get a 6-figure role on the VP-level?How can you do that now?How can you not?The fundamentals dont change. They still work.Who Are You Waiting On To Magically Come Through For You?Is your networking actually working for you? It wont go anywhere if youre asking people you know if they, know anybody, or know of any openings. People cant act on vague information. All they can do is tell you th eyll keep you in mind, which is also nice and vague and, therefore, useless. This is not a game in which the more people to whom you mention youre networking or looking, the higher the likelihood that someone will magically come through with that perfect position thats right up your alley.Thats not how any of this works.Specificity is key here. What is the level of position you want? What is the primary function you want to do? What are the top 5 employers youre looking at? Roll those points up into 2 sentences and say that when youre networking. Its a lot easier to get a response when you make a specific statement than when you dont otherwise, youre putting the burden on other people to do the thinking and the work for you.I dont want you to wonder and I dont want you to wait. Id much rather show you how to advocate for yourself to advance your own career. There are some super-simple steps you can take to cut your job search time in half. Thats what I go over in my free presentati on, 5 Secret Job Search Hacks For The Age 50+ Job-Hunter. Register for that today so you just dont waste any more time, or let the interviews you did manage to get just go radio silent.If youre ready to invest in your job search success and would like to find out about the concierge 11 program Ill customize especially for you, simply head over to Job Search Conciergeto apply, and well have a sales conversation about how this program can be of benefit. Only apply for the Concierge program if youre serious about investing in yourself today.