Displaying All Posts tagged with advancement

Musical Motivation

“I love rock ‘n roll” – Joan Jett

I hear you, Joan.

Not everyone loves rock ‘n roll, but I do. Actually, my musical tastes range from jazz to rock to classical and several genres in between. It all depends on the mood. If I’m driving down the highway, I’ll pull out a great rock tune and if I’m curled up with a good book I’ll throw on some light jazz or classical. My tastes seem to have me covered.

When I’m trying to get stuff done, I need the same kind of motivational kickstart. Rock will do it sometimes, ska might do it another time. Sometimes silence is my muse’s best friend. Music can play an integral part in how my day goes.

What about you? Does music get you moving? What kind of music? What artists? Let us know in the comments. Read More

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What You Really Need Is A Manifesto

Coe Douglas 13th June Career 1 Comment

One really awesome way to give your personal productivity a nice boost is to get your very own manifesto. Not to be confused with the mission statement, a manifesto is like the mission statement’s tougher, cooler older brother or sister. The awesome one that everyone likes, everyone respects and everyone emulates because they’re totally punk rock and better than you at everything.

Don’t let the most famous manifesto dissuade you either. Yes, I know Karl Marx wrote one. But so did Guy Kawasaki, career renegade Jonathan Fields and designer Bruce Mau. In fact, there is a whole website dedicated to people’s manifestos on various topics ranging from change and achievement to creativity and how to give a compelling presentation.

A manifesto is a bold statement, or extended mantra, that sets a tone for your day, your career, heck, even your life. It’s a road map to awesomeness that should induce a surge of adrenaline pulsing through your body with each reading. Read More

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What is a Dream Job?

Peter North 12th June General 3 Comments

We are always rolling the idea of a “dream job” around in our heads. Whether you’re sagging your head on a slow workday or sweating bullets during a hectic one, thoughts of your perfect job will cross your mind. What is a “dream job” anyway? It’s different for everyone, but it usually comes to us as an ever-changing counterpoint to our current job: If you’re bored by your current job, you dream of an active, fulfilling one. If you’re overloaded with work, you dream of a slower, simpler workday. If you have no autonomy at your current job, you dream of being an entrepreneur empowered with control over your own destiny.

But, despite all of these passing, changing thoughts, few of us have paused and allowed our dream job the consideration it deserves. Ask yourself: Have you given any real thought or definition to your dream job? Would you recognize it if you saw it? Would you be ready to pursue it if it appeared? If you struggle with any of the answers, perhaps you should stop, sit down, and give the matter your full attention. Read More

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How Do You Learn?

Mike Vardy 9th June Career 6 Comments

Idle hands are one thing, but what about an idle mind?

As human beings, we thirst for knowledge. Heck, it’s the message behind the opening dialogue over top of every Star Trek opening – ever. We want to know more. We need to know more. How we do that is up to each of us…well, once you’re out of school.

Continuing on in school and taking courses (like night classes) is one way to do it. You can even take many classes online now (they’re the new “correspondence” courses). Those aside, you can learn from books that you buy or borrow. The content on the web – like blogs – can educate as well. And while learning on the job is likely the most common (and most cost-effective) way to learn in the present day, you may not necessarily be learning what you’d like to.

So, how do you learn? How do you like to learn? What’s your favorite way to learn new things and advance your knowledge in others? Let us know in the comments. Read More

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It’s Okay to Stare

Coe Douglas 8th June Goals 12 Comments

Imagine stopping in the middle of a busy work day, kicking up your feet on your desk, sitting back, arms cradling the back of the head in daydream mode. Now imagine that this is one of the best things you could do in the course of a busy work day.

It’s okay, let them stare. Because the truth is that your blank stare at the wall is just what the mind needs to slow down, clear out some of the clutter and give the creative brain the opportunity to open up to better thinking, greater creativity and maybe even the next big idea. Read More

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Ask Forgiveness, Not Permission

Peter North 7th June Office Life 1 Comment

“Ask forgiveness, not permission.”

Have you heard this around your workplace? It’s basically a pithy way of saying “I’d rather you go too far than do too little.” Instead of getting bogged down in the bureaucracy, they’re telling you to move forward with your work – even if you have to bend a few rules.

Whoever says this to you clearly trusts your judgment and approves of your past work. The phrase may sound a little strange, but consider it a compliment and a testament to your reliability. You’re getting permission to bulldoze through the roadblocks instead of stopping the whole operation – you get to keep the “flow” going for both you and your organization.

Just don’t take it too far.

Have you ever worked for an organization that endorses this philosophy? Punishes those who follow it? Let us know in the comments. Read More

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Paying Your Dues As An Entry-Level Employee

Peter North 5th June Goals 5 Comments

“Entry-level” work often consists of the mundane, tedious tasks that managers and veterans just won’t do anymore. The term itself makes it quite clear that entry-level positions are at the bottom of the office rankings. Being the “new guy” or the “rookie” at work can seem like a raw deal, but the right outlook can help you pay your dues as painlessly as possible. It’s a rite of passage that almost every one of your co-workers survived at the start of their career. If you do your entry-level work right the first time, you’ll never have to revisit the bottom of the totem pole. But, if you approach it with a poor attitude and a shaky work ethic, you might find yourself a permanent position in entry-level limbo. Read More

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3 Great Job Interview Articles

Mike Vardy 4th June Career 1 Comment

In today’s job market, people are not only changing workplaces more than ever; they are altering their career paths as well. Being confident going into a job interview – either for a better position within your current place of employment or for a new employer altogether – can be a real challenge. Being prepared, however, is easy if you’ve been keeping tabs on where you are at in your career and where you’d like to be. It’s all about being proactive even when there may not be an immediate need.

Here are three articles that give you practical advice on how (and how not to) land that next job.

How to Get Ready to Be Promoted – A guide on what to do to show your employer that you’re ready for the next step.
Taking a Real Life Practice Interview – How to prepare yourself for what may just happen out of the blue.
6 Surefire Ways to Fail at Your Next Interview – Read between the lines and you’ll figure out what you need to do to impress.

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25 Examples of Super Creative Resume Design

Susan Johnston 3rd June Career 84 Comments

In today’s job market, it sometimes takes a little extra ingenuity to get noticed. We’ve heard of people printing their resume on florescent paper, sending baked goods along with a cover letter, even buying online ads or renting billboards to promote themselves. While we don’t always recommend such extreme approaches (read up on Aleksey Vayner’s “Nothing is Impossible” video resume to see why), we have to admire the creativity of these 25 resume designs: Read More

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The Productivity Rule of Three

Mike Vardy 31st May Productivity 2 Comments

Being consistently productive is hard work and it takes a lot of discipline to maintain. There are tasks and projects coming at you from colleagues. We all run the risk of information overload thanks to websites, RSS feeds and – most recently – social media. Even if you have a system in place there are times when it is going to seem impossible to keep up with everything.

So don’t.

If you can get three big things done per day (Leo Babauta refers to them as MITs or Big Rocks), then you’re winning. You’ll most certainly handle little things here and there that you come across throughout your day – routine stuff – but if you decide that you must get three big things done every day, you’re being really productive. Be sure to prioritize them accordingly, otherwise you’re going to be doing some tasks that may not move you forward as much as others might. The mind works well with the number three. Two seems easy and four seems a bit daunting, but three is like Baby Bear’s porridge…just right.

This isn’t anything new, of course. Productivity experts have been preaching this in some form or another for years. We just tend to forget about it every once in a while.

So if you find that you’re getting caught up and your wheels start spinning, just roll up your sleeves and do three big things. You’ll end up doing bigger things down the road if you do. Read More

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The CV Toolkit – Resume Templates

Mike Vardy 30th May Career 4 Comments

Keeping your credentials up-to-date is crucial. In the ever-changing job market (and world, for that matter), it’s important to keep on top of what skills and experience you have acquired. It may seem onerous, but there are ways to do it quickly, easily and consistently – you can maintain both your productivity and resumé with the right tools. That’s where WorkAwesome comes in. Read More

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The Rock Solid Reflection Plan

Mike Vardy 20th May Goals Leave a Comment

One of the best ways – some would say the only way – to keep tabs on where you’re at and where you’re headed in terms of being productive is by looking back on where you’ve been. It’s challenging to do this regularly. Really challenging. What’s more is that many people don’t do it at all. Doing this (or, rather, not doing this) is a recipe of mediocrity…or even organizational disaster.

All that aside, you can do this. You can review, reflect, revisit…whatever you’d like to call it…and you can do it regularly. I’m not going to outline what this consists of – there’s many different ways to do it and not one particular method works for everyone unilaterally. What I can do is present to you a plan on how to make sure you get to the act of doing it. Read More

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