Daily Leap Career Video of the Week: 6 Daily Habits of Successful People

Each week we present our Daily Leap Career Video of the Week. The video we share presents news or advice related to career development, searching for a job, the economy and employment, and other career-related topics.

In the video below business coach Aileen Gallagher shares 6 daily habits of successful people, starting with getting physical exercise and cultivating a spirit of gratitude. Watch the video for more daily habits of successful people.

High 5 Weekly Career Transitions Roundup: 3 Tips to Identify Your Life Purpose

This is our weekly roundup of some of the best career-related articles, interviews, blogs, etc., we've read during the week. We share them so you have some great resources to prepare you for the coming week. Enjoy!

© Bellemedia | Stock Free Images & Dreamstime Stock Photos

• 3 Tips to Identify Your Life Purpose: "Look for a unifying thread or pattern that's consistent throughout your past experience that's also consistent with your passion and skills."


• How to Follow Your Dreams and Pay the Bills: "Whichever path you end up taking, make sure you make an informed decision and understand the short- and long-term financial implications. Choosing a career for its intrinsic reward is fine – as long as you can repay your debt and cover your bills."


• 5 Habits of People Who Always Get Promoted: "A large part of any business is helping people work together well. Super-employees make that a top priority. They look at relationships as something that’s critical to success in the business."


• You Don't Need a Promotion to Grow at Work: "Expanding your influence through actively mentoring others, building internal communities of practice, or stepping up to represent your organization with external bodies can forge satisfying new frontiers without changing roles."


• 10 Steps to Millennial Financial Success: "The biggest monthly expenses that most millennials have are rent and transportation. Making some sacrifices to keep those bills as low as possible can have a huge impact."

3 Steps to Effectively (and Quickly) Write a LinkedIn Recommendation

If you have a profile on LinkedIn (and you should) and you actively work to connect with others then you have likely been asked to write a recommendation for a friend or colleague.

Many people get these requests and have some difficulty knowing where to start or how best to write a recommendation. Here are a few simple tips for writing a quick (yet effective) LinkedIn recommendation.

1. Define your relationship. Include information about how you know the person you are
recommending. For example, "I hired Mike five years ago at XYZ company."

2. Focus on a specific trait or two. You might note that Mike excelled at sales and built strong relationships with his colleagues and customers.

3. Close with a clear recommendation. After you've defined the relationship and highlighted a positive skill or trait be sure to end by recommending the person, i.e., "Mike would be an asset to any sales team and I highly recommend him."

Daily Leap Career Video of the Week: 15 Characteristics of Effective Entrepreneurs

Each week we present our Daily Leap Career Video of the Week. The video we share presents news or advice related to career development, searching for a job, the economy and employment, and other career-related topics.

The video below, from Entrepreneur, identifies 15 characteristics of an entrepreneur, starting with your ability to "take action." Watch the video below for more signs of an effective entrepreneur.

High 5 Weekly Career Transitions Roundup: Controlling Bad Habits for a Successful Career

This is our weekly roundup of some of the best career-related articles, interviews, blogs, etc., we've read during the week. We share them so you have some great resources to prepare you for the coming week. Enjoy!

© Bellemedia | Stock Free Images & Dreamstime Stock Photos

• Controlling Bad Habits for a Successful Career: "Create small wins. The most efficient way to make a permanent change is to focus on daily, incremental improvements."


• The Right Way to Say Thanks After an Interview: "Instead of simply expressing gratitude, a successful note builds on the interview by illustrating what the candidate can offer in addition to what was discussed."


• 3 Ways to Engage Your People in Your Company Brand: "Create a brand event or brand day and invite employees from around the company to participate. Solicit their feedback on the brand. Implement regular brand contests that support branding objectives."


• Building Confidence as a First-Time Job Hunter: "The first step is to believe you have the skills to get the job. This will boost your confidence, and it will definitely show in the interview--which is where you really have to nail it."


• Social Media Snafus to Avoid: "63 percent of recruiters have negatively reconsidered candidates based on finding profanity in their profiles. Illegal drug references top the list of content to avoid, with 83 percent of recruiters reconsidering candidates because of them."

Evaluating Your Career Goals Mid-Year

It's June and that's a good time to evaluate progress on your career goals and perhaps reset your priorities if necessary.

Here are a few things to consider:

1. Evaluate career goals. What goals, if any, did you set for the year? How are you doing? You might realize that a goal or two you set no longer fits your current situation and it's time to revise. Or perhaps you've accomplished several goals already. If so, celebrate!

2. Update resume and LinkedIn profile. Take a few minutes to update your resume and LinkedIn

profile now with any important accomplishments or skills gained during the first half of the year. This will make updating your resume and profile easier next year.

3. Evaluate skills. In light of your current responsibilities and career goals take some time to assess your current skills to determine where you might want to focus your attention. Then you can sign up for a training session or online course over the second half of the year to develop these skills.

4. Evaluate your relationships. How engaged are you with your networks? Have you been staying in touch with your friends and key business contacts? If not, make plans to reconnect before the year passes you by.

By taking a few minutes to evaluate your goals now you ensure that you progress steadily throughout the year rather than getting off track.

Daily Leap Career Video of the Week: How Successful People Think

Each week we present our Daily Leap Career Video of the Week. The video we share presents news or advice related to career development, searching for a job, the economy and employment, and other career-related topics.

In the video below, Brendon Burchard talks about the thoughts and thinking processes that lead to success.

High 5 Weekly Career Transitions Roundup: 5 Things to Do When Starting a New Job

This is our weekly roundup of some of the best career-related articles, interviews, blogs, etc., we've read during the week. We share them so you have some great resources to prepare you for the coming week. Enjoy!

© Bellemedia | Stock Free Images & Dreamstime Stock Photos

• 5 Things to Do When Starting a New Job: "If there's a project or task no one wants to tackle, volunteer to do it and give it all you've got.... Early in your job and career, there are very few jobs that are below you. Remember: Everyone has to start somewhere."


• 5 Realistic Tips to Be More Positive: "Over time, accentuating the positive becomes a habit, not just an overly sunny expression. You will be able to easily identify when you feel the strongest and most effective."


• How to Job Hunt While You're Working: "A stealth job search takes time and energy. What’s the point of that time and energy investment unless you’re going to a better place?"


• How to Become the Smartest Person in the Room: "Take in what’s around you, and listen to what people have to say. That’s going to give you both the information and insight necessary to put it in context."


• 7 Ways to Increase Your Charisma: "Confidence is a huge component of charisma. People will admire you for your confidence, usually because most people struggle with being confident themselves."

5 Steps to Deal with Work or Career Anxiety

Many people experience anxiety or fears related to their work or job situation. For some, there is a generalized anxiety about facing the day, dealing with unexpected occurrences, or communicating with colleagues. Others who are unemployed may find it increasingly difficult to take the necessary steps toward getting a job.

Here a five ways that you can deal with work or career-related anxiety and fears.

1. Acknowledge the anxiety. Recognize that the anxiety and fear is there and is not unique to you. Understand that your anxiety does not have to control and define you and that you can take steps to minimize the impact on your career and job happiness.

2. Meditate. Simply taking 5 minutes in the morning to sit and meditate can bring significant benefits. Meditation has been shown to reduce anxiety and depression and many successful entrepreneurs laud its impact on their success.

3. Set one simple goal. Achieving one goal, even a simple one, can have a ripple effect and enable you to move forward more effectively. Apply for one job, call one friend, attend one networking event, make one proposal, ask one question. It only takes one. And you must do one before you can do two.

4. Accountability. Let at least one other person know about your fears and anxiety and let that person know about the one goal you set. Ask them to hold you accountable and support you in achieving the goal and developing other strategies and plans to help ease your anxieties.

5. Celebrate. It does not matter how simple the goal or how small the achievement. Reward yourself with a celebration for taking a step forward and there will be many more opportunities to celebrate as you move forward and deal with your anxieties and fears. Be sure to include your support person in your celebration!

A final note: If necessary, seek out professional assistance. Many therapists or career counselors can assist with helping to recognize the causes of anxiety and develop effective strategies to help work through the fears.

Daily Leap Career Video of the Week: Planning and Preparing for the Day Ahead

Each week we present our Daily Leap Career Video of the Week. The video we share presents news or advice related to career development, searching for a job, the economy and employment, and other career-related topics.

The video below from Early to Rise provides tips on starting your day effectively, from a brief meditation to goal planning and reviewing your tasks for the day.

High 5 Weekly Career Transitions Roundup: 6 Rituals to Reach Your Potential

This is our weekly roundup of some of the best career-related articles, interviews, blogs, etc., we've read during the week. We share them so you have some great resources to prepare you for the coming week. Enjoy!

© Bellemedia | Stock Free Images & Dreamstime Stock Photos

• 6 Simple Rituals to Reach Your Potential Every Day: "Solo-task and do more faster by working in 50/10 increments. Use a timer to work for 50 minutes on only one important task with 10 minute breaks in between."


• 15 Ways to Make Your Life Better This Summer: "If you have dreams of being an entrepreneur but aren’t yet ready to jump in with both feet, try a summer experiment and see what works. .... See what resonates, learn and then decide if it’s the start of a hobby or a career change."


• Why Stress and Anxiety are Your Best Friends: "Anxiety is an inevitable part of life, and success typically requires embracing it (or at least tolerating it) rather than avoiding it."


• Enjoy that Vacation and Avoid Work Stress: "To maximize the relaxing benefits of your vacation, have a good re-entry plan. This can include arriving home a day early — or at least earlier in the day — so that you have some time to unpack, do laundry, and get a good night’s sleep."


• 3 Steps to Stop Procrastinating: "Take a baby step on an unwanted task by working on it immediately and then planning to finish the task by breaking it up into manageable amounts."

On the Difference Between Vocation and Career

Are you pursuing a career or do you have a vocation?

For some, the word vocation is an old-fashioned term, out-of-date with our current technical and financial focus. Or vocation makes one think of a vocational school primarily focused on providing training for jobs such as an electrician or plumber.

So, what do we mean by vocation? Let's consider 4 differences between a career and a vocation.

1. Choice. The most basic way to think of the difference between career and vocation is the matter of choice. People pursue a career. People are called to a vocation and often feel that they had no real choice. They were called to their vocation.

2. Self versus community. Pursuing a career is usually based on some inner motivation to utilize

ones skills, interests, and abilities, often in order to provide enough money for daily living. One is focused on making a living, paying the bills, and moving up the career ladder. An individual called to a vocation may be called due to specific circumstances, i.e., a natural catastrophe or a social injustice, and work to make life and conditions better for others. They are focused on a community rather than their own career development.

3. Financial. A career is often (though certainly not always) focused on financial benefits. Will this career enable me to support myself (and my family)? Can I move up and earn more? Will I be able to afford the kind of lifestyle I'm interested in? An individual called to a vocation does not think primarily in those terms. He or she might not make as much money as they'd like. Life might not be as full of the personal possessions or things but can be full in more intangible ways, such as friendships, joy, and a deep sense of fulfilling ones purpose.

4. Satisfaction and happiness. Though many people in careers postpone job satisfaction or happiness to stick with a job in order to achieve financial gain, for others a job or career can be changed if it does not bring satisfaction. A person called to a vocation has no such option. They understand that sometimes the work will be very difficult and even lonely. Yet following the call to a vocation is also deeply satisfying as one understands the work serves an important need for the community.

Perhaps it's time to consider whether you're being called to a vocation instead of a career.

Daily Leap Career Video of the Week: Don't Be a Networking Nuisance

Each week we present our Daily Leap Career Video of the Week. The video we share presents news or advice related to career development, searching for a job, the economy and employment, and other career-related topics.

The video below provides advice on how to avoid being a networking nuisance and how to network authentically and effectively.