Displaying All Posts from August, 2015

3 Tips for Settling Into Your First Job

jobs after graduation

You’ve just started your new job at a big engineering firm, fresh out of college.

You go in with an attitude of part-anxiety and part-excitement to show off your youthful energy, even though you know that almost nothing that you learned in the last four years is going to be put to use at this job.

The last four years wasn’t a waste, though.

You’ve learned how to procrastinate like a pro, how to take an exam with a solid three hours of sleep, and of course: How many beers it takes you to start singing karaoke.

But this is the real world. You’re a little fish in a big corporate pond, and you’ll be working alongside people that have been working in your industry for longer than you’ve been alive.

Confidence can be hard to come by at the beginning, but I assure you, with these ideas in mind, you’ll have a great mindset going in. Click Here to Read Article …

5 Questions To Make Starting Your Own Business Easier

should i start a business

I had worked at the company since I was 20 years old as an intern.

I had a great relationship with my boss Nick, who was also one of my close friends.

Together we had grown the business from running out of his living room into a real company.

I had just told Nick I wanted to talk about my future, but as soon as we sat down at the Starbucks in Hollywood, I knew I was going to quit.

Before he arrived I quickly checked my notes to re-affirm the reasons I needed to run my own shop. I had been going back and forth before then about whether I really wanted all the responsibility of being the boss or not.

On my notes I had written out five questions about why I wanted to start my own company. The answers to those questions were all I needed to know I made the right decision. Click Here to Read Article …

How to Balance Your Career Goals with Family

Don’t apologize for wanting to be an achiever.

You’re willing to work hard.

You take the extra assignment.

You want to do whatever is necessary to get ahead.

While some today use overachiever as a derogatory term, you reach for the higher rung — with the best of motives.

If your aim is excellence for the sake of your ego, you’re likely headed for failure. But if you want to shine for the benefit of others, for your employer or because of your faith, you might be amazed at what comes of your efforts.

Still you must be careful to remember what really matters. Click Here to Read Article …

7 Ways to Network on LinkedIn

Getting to know people in real life may be easy, but connecting with complete strangers online in hopes of gaining something from the exchange can be quite challenging.

It’s funny how every other advice-giver seems to love saying, “Make sure you network,” or “Try building connections,” without offering other pieces of crucial information concerning how on earth to do that!

The advice, it seems, is usually incomplete.

Every other Bob and Barbara knows that the networking game plays a major role when it comes to professions or career advancement.

What they can’t seem to figure out is how to approach a random stranger online and actually get them to trust what they have to say. Click Here to Read Article …

5 Reasons Entrepreneurship Isn’t as Risky as You Think

Have you been mulling over the idea you have about starting a business?

You think, “I could really start a company. I see these folks on Shark Tank. I could do that.”

You know that your corporate job is slowly crushing you, bit by bit.

But then you read somewhere that nine out of 10 new businesses fail, and it scares the hell out of you.

When you talk with your family and friends, they focus mostly on the risks, reinforcing your concerns.

You’re right to have some concerns, but there is no need to be scared, because you can beat the odds. Being an entrepreneur isn’t as risky as most people think, and here are five reasons why. Click Here to Read Article …

6 Steps to a More Satisfying Career Path

With my corporate clients, I’m often involved in career transition programs.

This involves facilitating or coaching leaders as they prepare and build their personal brand for the next stage in their career.

Most of the dialogues start from the wise premise, “What got you here, won’t get you there.”

Behind this though are the tough conversations around what they actually want.

No matter where you are in your career, considering the next level of transition is too frequently skipped over or given only partial focus. The obvious choices of your boss’ job or a role carrying the higher title or pay-grade are planted front and center as the goal.

All career transition work thereafter is set to drive headlong in that direction. But ask yourself these questions: Click Here to Read Article …

5 Ways to Retrain Your Brain

retrain your brain

It was once generally accepted that we were born with a certain capacity to learn and we did the best we could with what we had.

We now know differently.

Since the 1990s — also known as “the decade of the brain” — neuroscientists have discovered that we can actually increase our capacity to learn.

Technological advances and a wealth of research now prove that creativity, innovation, critical thinking and problem solving are hardwired into each of us.

Given that we all have the same basic anatomy between our ears, what separates the best of us from the rest of us? Click Here to Read Article …

10 Must-Have Attributes for a Modern Leader

Leaders: some say they are born, while others say they are made.

First thing’s first, dwelling on these premises is futile because leadership is an attribute that pretty much falls in a, say, complex region.

On one hand, some people are indeed born with superb leadership skills that are simply off the charts.

On the other hand, some are born with endless potential that may enable them to become great leaders, just as long as they push the right buttons and make the right moves.

If you’re the latter and you want to be a good and successful leader, bear in mind that there are certain attributes that you need develop.

What are the qualities of a good leader? Read on and find out what they are. Click Here to Read Article …