High 5 Weekly Career Transitions Roundup: The First Thing to Do in 2018 to Build a Happier Life

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!

• The First Thing to Do in 2018 to Build a Happier Life: "finally address any remaining fears, blocks or excuses that have been in the way of your changing or leaving a situation that's wrong for you."

• 5 Unexpected Career Resolutions You Should Make in 2018: "if you have more than about three big goals in the mix, you’re likely to dilute your effort and accomplish very little."

• How to Highlight Your Talents in a Job Interview: "you can help others speculate about your own future—and place a bet on your talents—by describing the key qualities of your potential."

• 30 Habits, Qualities, and Secrets That Lead to Success: "Developing the right habits is also important, and these can be as simple as keeping a journal to jot down your thoughts and ideas, visualizing success and having a solid morning routine."
• 3 Signs You Need Change in Your Life: "Once you figure out that the game you’re playing isn’t money or success, but rather how you feel, the sooner you’ll prioritize a deep sense of fulfillment over fear."

Five Career Goals to Set in 2018

With the new year approaching, now is a good time to reflect on the past year and set goals for your career that will propel you closer to doing the work you love.

Feel free to take the five goals below as yours or use them for inspiration to come up with your own.

Utilize company resources more effectively. The benefits your company provides are there for your … yes, benefit. Use them. Are you taking advantage of the 401k plan or health savings account offered? If not, do so. Use all your vacation time next year. If your company allows you to work at home occasionally, try it out. Do you have a training allowance? Sign up for a course right now. Why spend money at the coffee shop on the way to work when your company provides free coffee in the lounge? Perhaps your company arranges carpooling opportunities for employees? Consider how your companies benefits and resources can enhance your work life next year.

Create a personal advisory board. Instead of looking for a single mentor develop a strategic group of advisers to meet with periodically to gain feedback from on your career and its direction. This group can be comprised of mentors, former bosses and college instructors, along with successful entrepreneurs and individuals in related fields. Meet with your advisers at least quarterly and plan to do so in person. They can help you identify areas to improve your career and introduce you to important people in their networks.

Take a class to learn a new skill. The world is changing quickly and its important to stay up on the latest trends and knowledge in your field. If your company offers regular training sessions for its employees be sure to take advantage of that, or sign up for a relevant online course or class at a local university or community college.

Attend the annual conference of an association in your area of work. Nearly every job or career path has a membership association for individuals in that field and these associations often present an annual conference. Attend this year. Conferences provide excellent opportunities to gain a new skill, increase knowledge about your area of work, meet new people and extend your network, and often provide a renewed sense of purpose and enthusiasm for attendees.

Make time for something you love. Be sure you have time in your life and schedule for that hobby or side project you love: woodworking, photography, writing, or scrap-booking? Who knows … next year might be the year to turn your passion project into a side hustle and make some additional money with it.

Take a few moments in the next week to reflect on the past year and set your course for the new year ahead by setting three to five goals.

Daily Leap Career Video of the Week: What to Do When You Feel Stuck

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

In the video below Ben Angel suggests a couple strategies for when you feel stuck & unsure of what to do to find the momentum to move forward.

High 5 Weekly Career Transitions Roundup: 5 Behaviors That Can Make You More Successful at Work

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!

• 5 Behaviors That Can Make You More Successful at Work: "People destined for greatness know exactly when to quit—only when they’ve found success. You have the patience to see something through to the end."

• The 15 Minute Ritual Necessary to Recharge Your Day: "We've got great research supporting the fact that naps can help corporations and employees, yet we still feel reluctant to make it an acceptable part of a healthy lifestyle and a healthy workday."

• Why the Traditional 4-Year Degree Isn't Cutting It Anymore: "Even as greater numbers of young Americans head to college, fewer are seeing the return on their substantial investments of time, effort and money."

• 3 Reasons Why It's Never Too Late to Start the Work You Love: "I began to look at my time as an investment. If a project did not help me grow, forge meaningful relationships or give me personal fulfillment, it had to go."
• What to Do When You're Feeling Distracted at Work: "If you have colleagues who are constantly distracted themselves, or who tend to pull you away from work, try to spend less time with them."

Do These 5 Things With Your Time Off Over the Holidays

With the Christmas and New Year’s holidays coming up you might be planning to get away from the office or job for a few days, or perhaps even a week or two, if you’re lucky.

Make the most of your time away from work to come back with new energy, new ideas, and a new attitude. Here are some ways to do just that:

Get adequate sleep and rest. We’re often tempted to spend our vacation time staying up later than normal, finally getting a chance to watch TV late into the night, and then sleeping in late the next day. Give your body the physical rest it needs and avoid getting out of your normal routine. This doesn’t mean you can’t stay up late at the holiday party but you’ll be grateful you made sure to sleep well once you return to work.

Upgrade your wardrobe. If you receive some holiday money or gift cards this is a perfect opportunity to pick up a few items to enhance your style at work. You don’t have to spend a lot of money or purchase a full outfit. Adding an accent or two to your wardrobe—such as a new tie or scarf—can liven it up and help increase your confidence when you return to work for that important meeting with the boss or a key client.

Read a good book. While you’re relaxing and making the most of your time away from work be sure to read an interesting and entertaining book. It doesn’t have to be nonfiction, nor does it have to be a business book, or something related to your field of interest. Reading a great novel can open you up to experiences, cultures, and lifestyles that are different from your own, helping to develop empathy and understanding.

Focus on your health. As mentioned with the first point, don’t neglect your health during your time away from work. Get good sleep, avoid excessive amounts of alcohol, control the urge to overindulge with Christmas cookies and other treats, and stay active. If you do these things, you’ll feel ready and perhaps even eager to return to your work routine.

Give. We’ve all heard “it is better to give than to receive” and this can be true. If you focus of your time, talents, and resources over the holidays you will experience this time with more energy, peace, and joy: all qualities that will enable you to be more effective and impactful in your work.

Be intentional with your time off over the holidays and you will set yourself up for more success in your career and life as you head into the new year.

Daily Leap Career Video of the Week: 4 Things To Do Before 2018

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

In the video below Brian Tracy suggests four things to do over the next few weeks to set yourself up for a successful 2018.

High 5 Weekly Career Transitions Roundup: 4 Pieces of Career-Launching Advice Every Millennial Should Hear

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!

• 4 Pieces of Career-Launching Advice Every Millennial Should Hear: "Whatever the specifics, naysayers are going to be a reality in your life. The kicker is, the mob mentality you hear isn't necessarily right. You can take what others say and turn it around."

• If You Aspire to Be a Great Leader, Be Present: "To truly engage other human beings and create meaningful connections, we need to silence our inner voices and be fully present — and being more mindful can help."

• How to Organize Your Day to Set Yourself Up for Success: "If you’re constantly frazzled on the job, logging super-long hours with little to show for it at the end of the day, chances are good that you’re mismanaging your time."

• 9 Ways to Stay Productive When You Work From Home: "Whether you work in a home office, kitchen or living room, if there’s “stuff” around that reminds you of your household chores, your eyes will go there and you’ll get distracted. Whenever you work from home, claim a clutter-free zone."
• 18 Ways You Can Make Money Right Now: "We're so interconnected that there are literally hundreds, if not thousands, of ways you can make money, almost immediately, from the comfort of your home."

5 Ways to Be More Organized Today

One way to reduce stress and anxiety related to your job is to become more organized and structured at work. This will help you be better prepared for the inevitable curve balls that come your way.

Implement these five tips to be more organized at work today.

Create a to-do list. But limit it to only three to five items. Be focused on tackling the most important tasks facing you today and avoid becoming distracted by tasks that seem urgent but ultimately do not contribute to the success of your project, career, or company.

And create your list in an e-version rather than hard copy so that you don’t add to the clutter around your work area. If you don’t want to use a simple Word document you can find many apps available to assist with setting your daily priorities.

Simplify your work space. Speaking of clutter, remove anything you don’t need from your desk or work area. Keep your space free of items (folders, files, papers, desk supplies, etc.) that are unnecessary to the work you’re doing. These items can make it difficult to concentrate or focus on the task at hand, or complicate finding some important notes you jotted down about the project you’re completing.

A clean, simple work space will assist you in directly your energies more fully to the important tasks you’ve identified.

Schedule time to organize. Set aside 15-20 minutes in your day to organize your work area, systematize files and folders, and remove or delete unnecessary files.

Ensuring that you schedule just a few minutes to organize each day will prevent you from becoming overwhelmed in the future.

Plan for tomorrow. Before you leave work take 10-15 minutes to evaluate your day, review your to-do list and set your priorities for the next day. This will enable you to relax and enjoy the evening better, and prevent you from the stress of thinking about what you need to get done.

Automate as much as possible. If there are ways to use apps, programs, or other tools to automate task associated with your work find a way to incorporate them into your work flow. This can free up time for the most important things you do in your work day and can ease stress levels.

Spend a few minutes today researching apps related to your job and you can yourself better equipped and more organized tomorrow.

Daily Leap Career Video of the Week: How to Start a Successful Meditation Practice Anywhere

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

In the video below Pedram Shojai, author of The Art of Stopping Time, provides some tips for those struggling to develop a regular practice of meditation for success in life and career.

High 5 Weekly Career Transitions Roundup: 3 Rules for Turning Stress into Success

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!

• 3 Rules for Turning Stress into Success: "Always be on the alert for negative situations that can be dangerous to your health, personal safety, financial speculation and emotional relationships."

• How to Handle Conflict at Your Business: "Don’t shy away from conflict. Tackle it as soon as possible before it escalates. Avoiding conflict can be a bad thing. Tension might increase and the conflict can become worse."

• 3 Simple Steps to Boost Productivity Now: "Productivity starts with accountability. The simplest yet most effective way to boost your productivity is to create a to-do list. However, this list has to be treated as a set of attainable goals."

• 11 Productivity Hacks for Work-from-Home Newbies: "The secret to working from home is knowing the best time of day to work. This will ensure that you’re not only productive, but that you can do more quality work."
• A Millennials Guide to Asking for a Promotion: "Understanding the timing, what to present to your supervisor, and creating a plan if it doesn’t pan out is essential."

5 Ways to Optimize Success at Work Today

For too many of us we see our work day as something to get through, with the reward at the end of the day, when we hit the weekend, or when our paycheck arrives. However, work provides us with many opportunities to expand our skills and deepen our knowledge of our chosen field.

We can often enjoy our jobs more and experience greater success with a simple adjustment in the way we view our jobs and in our daily work habits and routines.

Try to add the following five strategies to your approach at work and you might achieve more of your career goals.

Meet someone new. This is a simple strategy but can pay large dividends over time. As you meet people in your workplace you expand your network, develop possible mentors, and learn more about the company. You might even develop a close friend. Developing relationships with colleagues and co-workers can be incredibly beneficial if you become unemployed and need to seek out new work. Some of your former colleagues might be hiring managers or might be able to recommend you to another company they now work for. Do not underestimate the importance of developing positive relationships with your team and other individuals within your company.

Learn something new. If you make it a practice to meet someone new each week you might also have the opportunity to learn something new from them. You do not need to develop a resume-altering skill. Learning a new shortcut with a computer program you use regularly can help you save time and ease your workload. Or developing a better understanding of the products your company sells can help you be a more effective employee. Make it a point to learn something new every week, if not daily.

Acknowledge the contribution of another. Build solid relationships and demonstrated leadership skills by recognizing good work done by those you work with. You can acknowledge their successes with a simple encouraging word or drop them an email or note letting them know you appreciate their contribution. This will go a long way toward creating a positive work environment and building a healthy rapport with your colleagues.

Speak to a customer or client. Developing an understanding of the needs of your clients or customers if crucial to becoming effective in your work so finds ways to seek out this perspective. You might read reviews of your products, walk through the process of a new customer so you better understand the experience, or meet directly with clients or customers to get direct feedback. Additionally, consider speaking with your sales representatives and ask to sit in on customer calls, visits, or other types of interactions with clients. You gain a sense for the strengths of your company and its products and services, as well as, the weaknesses and areas for improvement.

Investigate a competitor. Take some time to better understand your position in the marketplace by researching the competition. Get to know their strengths and weaknesses and understand what separates your company and its products or services from the competition. This kind of knowledge can, again, assist your understanding of how to improve the products and services your company offers.

This week meet someone new, learn something new, recognize the achievements of others, get the perspective of your customers, and understand your competitors to help you be better engaged with your work and set you and your company up for success.

Daily Leap Career Video of the Week: How to Start a Business

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

The video below from The School of Life discusses how to start a business, and suggests that one factor should not be overlooked: love and a desire to share a product or service that we love a little more intensely than most others with the world. Watch the video for more.

High 5 Weekly Career Transitions Roundup: 4 Ways to Advance Your Career Over the Holidays

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!

• 4 Ways to Advance Your Career Over the Holidays: "The holiday season is a major time people reconnect, and see each other socially at everyone's holiday parties. Ask them to open up their Rolodex, and when they see people who can help you, they'll ask."

• 9 Ways to Say No to Negativity: "We collected the best negativity reduction tips from psychologists, coaches and authors to help you identify your look-on-the-gray-side habits and begin to chip away at them."

• Why You Should Always Say Yes to New Opportunities: "Jordan Taylor Wright explains how his passion and personality have propelled him to the success he enjoys today."

• 17 Of the Best Business Books to Give as Gifts This Holiday Season: "This book would make a great gift for anyone, but it's especially helpful for those who have expressed feelings of boredom or disdain towards their career."
• How to Convince Your Boss to Let You Work From Home: "More and more people are working remotely, and many say it improves their productivity and satisfaction — while also saving them time and money."

5 Tips to Reduce Anxiety Before Your Next Job Interview

The interviewing process often produces a great deal of anxiety, particularly if you’re unemployed and feeling desperate to find work. There are ways to reduce your pre-interview anxiety and to be best prepared to make a good impression on a prospective employer.

Implement the following practices to manage your apprehension and nervousness and to boost your confidence before your next interview.

Get adequate sleep the night before and eat a healthy meal. You can’t be at your best if you’ve had a lousy night’s sleep and you’ll be more likely to experience anxiety if you are tired. In addition, you’ll want to avoid food that makes you feel unwell and give yourself a night off from alcohol. It will inhibit you from getting deep, restful sleep. Choose a light, healthy meal that provides you with energy instead of weighing you down.

Work off some anxiety with a brief exercise regimen. Do yoga, get in a quick run, a bike ride, or a simple workout at the gym, but be sure not to overdo it.  You don’t want to feel fatigued when you attend the interview, nor do you want to show up with an injury sustained from a morning workout. Some brief exercise will get the blood flowing, boost your energy, and decrease your concern over the interview.

Participate in a meditative practice. This will lower your heart rate, and help get you in the right state of mind, calm your nerves, and enable you to focus on the strengths you bring to the position you’ll be interviewing for.

Interview preparation is key. You can significantly reduce the anxiety you have about a job interview by adequately preparing for it. Your preparation should include the following: understanding the company you’re interviewing with and its main competitors, knowing how to describe the ways your strengths and skills make you a highly qualified candidate, and identifying appropriate questions to help you determine whether the job (and company) is a good fit for you and your interests.

Enhance your mood. Finally, on the way to the interview listen to something that lifts your spirits, encourages you to be at your best, and fills you with confidence. This can be music, a podcast, an audio book, or even a favorite TED talk. Find what works for you.

You can reduce your anxiety about and increase your confidence by implementing these five practices the next time you get that call to come in for a job interview.        

Daily Leap Career Video of the Week: 9 Stress Reducing Tips for Busy Professionals

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

In the video below from Entrepreneur, Jack Canfield shares nine tips for reducing stress, including eating healthy and exercising, and cleaning up incomplete projects. Watch the video for more.

High 5 Weekly Career Transitions Roundup: How to Tell if a Company's Culture is Right For You

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!

• How to Tell if a Company's Culture is Right For You: "Congratulations, you got the job! Now you have to decide whether to take it. You’ve done your research and know the ins and outs of the company’s public profile, but how can you assess cultural fit?"

• Can Gratitude Make Millennials More Successful?: "Some of the most productive people seek out opportunities to continually learn, grow, and reflect."

• How to Become a Master Connector in 5 Easy Steps: "What I noticed was, they all shared (and share) a willingness to connect those they know with one another. They want their friends to be friends with their friends, and always consider who should know who."

• 10 Must-Have Apps to Streamline Your Life: "If you tend to surf social media throughout the day and see articles that pique your interest but are fairly long, this is the app for you. Pocket allows you to save articles, videos and websites for later when you’ll have time to digest them"
• Fun Journaling Prompts to Transform Your Boring Gratitude Practice: "It's no secret that practicing gratitude is a key to success. Some of the world's most successful people swear by it."

Five Tips to Develop Mental Strength

Sun Tzu noted that “victorious warriors win first” in the mind before going to battle. Our society prizes physical strength while neglecting the significance of mental strength and its role in our happiness and success in our careers and in our relationships with others.

In addition to your physical health, pay attention to your mental health and strength by implementing the following practices.

Be clear on your purpose. What is your “why”? What gets you up in the morning and motivates you? To be mentally healthy it is crucial to have a strong and clear sense of what you bring to the world and how you can use your strengths and skills to make the world a better place. This will give you focus as you consider career options and enables you to keep your purpose in mind when going through the inevitable difficult times.

Train your thoughts. We all have negative thoughts and it’s impossible to completely banish them but mentally strong people have developed strategies for dealing with them when encountered. These strategies can include a daily meditation practice, time spent in prayer, or the repetition of an affirming mantra. Training your thoughts also means to “win first” by visualizing events, such as that big speech or presentation at work, and working through a positive outcome in your mind , anticipating challenges and meeting them successfully.

Step into discomfort and tackle difficult tasks. Hug the monster. Embrace hard and scary things. Volunteer to lead the project or agree to give that speech. Make the phone call that makes you nervous. Start your morning with a cold shower. Walk instead of driving. Try something new and make mistakes.

Take full responsibility. This can be difficult and is an underappreciated aspect of mental strength. However, mentally strong people do not blame others for their failures or struggles. They take ownership of their lives and use failure as a motivation to learn more and work harder and smarter.

Surround yourself with mentally strong people. To develop mental strength, you need mentally strong people in your life. This might not be the people who are physically present in your life on a daily basis. You might need to seek out a mentor or adviser to meet with regularly, or find podcasts or audio books by wise men and women. Of course, read books and essays that build your mental strength. There are many creative ways to discover and surround ourselves with the counsel of a mentally strong community.

Implement these five practices to build mental strength and you will begin to see positive changes in your life and career.

Daily Leap Career Video of the Week: 11 Creative Ways to Save Even More Money

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

In the video below from The Financial Diet, Chelsea Fagan and Erin Lowry share 11 creative ways to save more money. These tips can come in handy at any time but particularly during a period of unemployment or underemployment. Watch the video for more.

High 5 Weekly Career Transitions Roundup: 5 Brilliant (and Simple) Ways to Make a Good First Impression

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!

• 5 Brilliant (and Simple) Ways to Make a Good First Impression: "Something as simple as smiling when you talk or engaging with your eyes in a way that shows interest can go a long way."

• The 4 Reasons Why I Love to Fail: "On the flip side, instead of breaking our will, an embarrassing setback can harden it into titanium and give us the determination to do whatever it takes to achieve our final objective."

• An Entrepreneur's Guide to Confronting and Harnessing Anger: "For many of us, anger is just fear in disguise. It doesn’t matter what it is - fear of the unknown, fear of failure, fear of feeling small - fear can lead a person down a very dark path."

• What to do When a Personal Crisis is Hurting Your Professional Life: "These are all incredibly tough situations to navigate personally — let alone professionally. Should you disclose what’s happening to your manager and colleagues?"
• 10 Proven Strategies to Build Trust: "Anything that communicates listening, empathy, confidence, caring, is going to signal trustworthiness from a preconscious perspective. Those nonverbals register in our brains as signals of trust or distrust."

4 Habits to Add to Your Morning Routine

All too often we spend our mornings rushing around, scrambling to get ready, eat a decent breakfast, take a shower, and get the kids off to school. But if we change up our routine and spend thirty minutes adding a few new habits to the morning, our days could be much more productive.

You don’t have to radically change your morning routine to see positive results. Even adding just one or two of the habits below can make a big difference.

MOVE. One of the best ways to start your day is to incorporate some type of exercise into your morning routine. You don’t need to invest in an expensive gym or club membership to see results. Find a space in your home that allows you some privacy and room to move, increasing your alertness and creative flow. If you like to dance spend ten to fifteen minutes get your groove on to your favorite songs and check out the next idea to pair your movement with music or a podcast to inspire you to have a great day. You can find many simple and short workouts online that don’t require you to purchase any fancy equipment. 

MOTIVATE. Gain some daily motivation by reading inspirational literature, listening to a motivational podcast, or enjoying some music that lifts your mood. This can be done in concert with some exercise, as noted above, or you can listen in while showering, eating, or even on your morning commute. You might want to check out these podcasts.

JOURNAL. A great practice for the morning is to take a few minutes to write in a journal. This activity can assist you in focusing on the important items on your to-do list, while also providing an opportunity to note those things in your life that you are grateful and thankful for. A daily practice of gratefulness has been shown to have great benefits for well-being.

MEDITATE. In addition to exercise, journaling, and filling your mind and ears with some motivational or inspirational thoughts, spend a few minutes each morning in meditation or prayer. You might also find it useful to add an empowering mantra or repeated line of prayer that will put you in a mindful and confident state to begin your day.

Add one or all of these four habits—moving, meditating, journaling, and getting motivated—to your morning routine and you will set yourself up for a successful and productive day.

Daily Leap Career Video of the Week: 6 Tips for Female Entrepreneurs

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

In the video below from Entrepreneur, Audrey Bellis, founder of Worthy Women, shares six tips for women in business, starting with not falling victim to impostor syndrome. Watch the video for more.