High 5 Weekly Career Transitions Roundup: 13 Practical Ways to Find Joy in Your 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!

• 13 Ways to Find Joy in Your Work: "I keep a journal of everything that I do at work so that when I am feeling drained or bored, I can use it as a reference to spark new ideas."

• The Elements of Good Judgment: "leaders with good judgment tend to be good listeners and readers—able to hear what other people actually mean, and thus able to see patterns that others do not."

• The One Question to Ask Before Setting a New Year's Goal: "Reaching your current goals isn’t the endpoint; it’s just the point where you’ll need to set new ones."

• 50 Inspirational Quotes to Motivate You: "I have been impressed with the urgency of doing. Knowing is not enough; we must apply. Being willing is not enough; we must do."
• The Upward Spiral of Doing the Right Thing:"The vast majority of us want to make a positive contribution to the world through our work, whether by improving a single person’s day or making a system more equitable."

5 Ways to Prepare Your Career for the New Year (Decade)

As we draw the year to a close many of us are looking forward to some well-deserved time off to relax, eating some good food, seeing a movie or two, and spending time with family.

But the holiday break also affords us an opportunity to spend some time thinking about our job and career and what actions we might take to enjoy our work more and become more successful in our career over the coming year.

Here are five things you might do over the holiday break to prepare for the new year and to set yourself up for success in the coming decade.

Sign up for a class. There are so many opportunities to enhance your skills and deepen your knowledge in areas that can positively impact your career, from online courses and webinars to conferences and classes at a community college. You don’t need to spend a lot of money to find an impactful class, but you need to start somewhere.

Seek out a mentor. Take a few moments to identify someone you’ve been wanting to learn from. You likely already have this person in your circle of contacts but, perhaps, you haven’t let them know you wanted a more formal mentorship. Now is a good time to ask.

Add a good habit. You know you need to eat better, sleep more, and get some physical exercise in but it can be overwhelming to consider everything you could change in your life so make a plan to make one change. Maybe it’s a simply as avoiding a drink tonight or going to sleep at a reasonable time. Start with one day and then make it two days and then three. That is how we change to begin to make good decisions. These decisions will lead to better decisions and impact your life and career for the better.

Consider your thoughts. We are what we think about and it’s important in every area of our lives, and in our career, to think thoughts that move us forward, rather than negative thoughts that bring us and others around us down. Avoid thoughts that blame others or dwell on past failures or mistakes. Add a practice of meditation, yoga, or prayer to your life to slow down and allow you to more effectively evaluate your self-talk.

Schedule a vacation. Yes, though you might enjoy a break over the holidays take some time to plan your next vacation before you dive back into the stress of your working life. Having a vacation planned will also give you sometime to look forward to and you’ll know that there is a reward coming for all the hard work you do.

Do even some of these things over the holidays and you’ll be set up for a more successful new year at work.  

Daily Leap Career Video of the Week: 12 Smart Habits to Save Time & Increase Productivity

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 TopThink discusses 12 habits to increase productivity and save time, starting with putting a cap on your work week and the amount of time you devote to a specific task. Check out the video to learn more.

10 Career Blogs and Websites to Follow Next Year

As we head toward the start of a new year (and a new decade) you’ll want the resources to become more successful in your life and career.

One way to do that is to add some of the following websites and blogs to your regular reading schedule.

Harvard Business Review: Provides articles and essays on work life and management with a focus on improving the practice of management in a changing world.

Classy Career Girl:  Anna Runyan provides tips on how to find work you love or create a business you love.

Fast Company: Publishes stories on innovation in technology, leadership, world changing ideas, creativity, and design. Written for and about the most progressive business leaders.

Brendon Burchard: “No matter how small you start, start something that matters.”

Success: brings readers the thought leaders and success experts, both past and present, and reveals their key ideas and strategies to help you excel in every area of your personal and professional life.

The Muse: helps workers win at work, from professional advancement and skills-building to finding a job.

Penelope Trunk: Writing and providing advice at the intersection of work and life.

Glassdoor: covering everything related to career advice along with the latest company headlines.

Forbes: Providing news and advice on leadership, careers, and business.

Entrepreneur: News on starting your own business, leadership, work life, and franchising.

Daily Leap Career Video of the Week: How to Connect with Your Team

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 Success magazine discusses ways to begin to find commonality with those you work with. Check out the video to learn more.

5 Ways to Avoid Becoming a Workaholic

In a work world where we’re expected to be available 24-7, it can be easy to become a workaholic and overly stressed. It’s important to make a conscious effort to stay in balance and implement processes in our life to better manage the workload.

Here are some steps to take to avoid becoming a workaholic. 

  

Manage expectations. Avoid a tendency to be a perfectionist or to think that you can do everything. Nothing is ever perfect, and no one can do everything. Set realistic expectations for the quality of the work that you do, the amount of time you will devote to a project, and the work you yourself will take responsibility for. Having clear and realistic expectations can help you avoid becoming a workaholic.

   

Delegate and ask for help. An important way to reduce stress is to ask for help when it’s needed and delegate whenever possible. There is no shame in needing help and it can be important for the development of others to provide opportunities.

Focus on health. If you’re focused on your health, getting enough sleep, eating well, and ensuring that you add exercise to your regimen, you’ll better recognize when you’re getting imbalanced in your work life and be better positioned to make changes to avoid overwork.

Unplug. Be sure to set aside time when you’re unavailable to your supervisor and colleagues, and unplug from your email, voice messages, and communication apps. Keep your weekends free of work and try to avoid work after a set time each evening.

Consider a job change. If you still find yourself struggling to avoid stress at work, and you’re overdoing things you might need to consider another job. Look into something that will be less demanding and allow for more balance in your life.

High 5 Weekly Career Transitions Roundup: 3 Ways You Block Success and What to Do About It

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 Ways You Are Blocking Your Success and What to Do About It: "If you subconsciously believe that success will hurt your life, you will not be able to welcome it in and as a result, you’ll limit your potential. This is why mindset work is so important."

• What Problem Were You Created to Solve?: "You’re not fixing anything, necessarily; you’re building toward a solution—and not only that, but you were created for this purpose."

• 10 Ways to Overcome Your Fears: "Telling people about your dream also increases the likelihood that you will make it a reality. Some people will probably question your dream, so let this fuel your determination even more."

• Giving Employees a Reason to Feel Proud of Their Work: "by all means, give your people a raise and some perks. But also give them opportunities to build up their pride — and maybe even a chance to dance."
• 5 Soft Skills You Need to Succeed at Work:"The bottom line is that you’ll thrive in the job market if you have strong interpersonal skills. While there is a broad range of skills that can be called “interpersonal,” the following five are absolutely critical."

5 Ways to Recognize Success in Your Career

Success at work is not merely a matter of promotions and increased salary, though being accessible to our jobs 24-7 often makes it difficult to step back and evaluate success in any other way. But career success can be assessed in various ways.

Here are five ways to view your career success without considering your salary as the primary factor.

Added Responsibility. When you’ve gained the trust of your company and supervisor and have been handed additional responsibilities, such as new tasks or projects, managing an important account, or overseeing the work of others, you know you’ve attained a degree of success. You would not be provided these responsibilities without attaining the trust of your company, and your company’s trust in you is a strong indicator of your level of success.

Growing Network. In a successful career your network of contacts and colleagues expands, grows, and deepens regularly through networking events, working closely with colleagues and customers, and attending workshops and conferences.

Balance. You can view success through the lens of the balance you experience between your career and your personal life. This does not mean you never feel stressed, nor that you don’t take work home with you but that you are able to set aside your job when you need to recharge and are able to enjoy your family life and hobbies.

Job satisfaction. A strong indicator of your success is your satisfaction at work and people tend to be satisfied in their job when they are able to use their strengths, skills, and interests to do meaningful work that provides a positive benefit to society.

Learning Opportunities. No one likes to be stagnant in their job and career, and successful careers enable you to constantly learn and grow in your profession through continuing education, trainings, workshops, and on-the-job experience.

When you are successful in your job and career in these areas you will often discover that you are satisfied with the financial aspects of your career, too.

High 5 Weekly Career Transitions Roundup: 4 Steps to Elevate Your Next Presentation from Good to Great

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 Steps to Elevate Your Next Presentation from Good to Great: "Professionals mistakenly assume that presentations are about the words you speak, and the words are so little of the message. It’s about how you move, the tone of your voice, and the stories you tell."

• 8 Life Lessons Learned from Traveling the World: "When you make one powerful decision, there’s no stopping it; that decision will impact every other part of your life and set off a chain reaction that helps you make other important decisions."

• A Counter-Intuitive Way to Build Resilience and Achieve Success: "When it comes to long-term success, remember that it’s not how many home runs you hit that counts. It’s how many at-bats you take."

• Why Groups Struggle to Solve Problems Together: "In order for groups to collaborate effectively and avoid talking past one another, members must simultaneously occupy the same problem-solving stage."
• 7 Strengths and Habits of Successful People:"A strong vision serves as a guideline to keep them motivated and on track to achieving their goals. They set and conquer smaller goals first and then move on to bigger and bolder benchmarks so they can hit larger targets."

Five Scary Pieces of Career Advice

This is the time for all things scary but what you always want to avoid is scary advice that can derail your job opportunities and career.

Perhaps you’ve received some of the advice below (or maybe even offered it) but you’ll want to think carefully before you take it to heart.

Do what you love. This sounds great at first but should be taken with some caveats. Loving what you do also needs to be able to provide you with a sustainable income to live. You might love playing video games or taking pictures of your cat but only a few people make a living with those ventures. You might also love something you’re not particularly gifted or skilled at. Sometimes the work we do is difficult and hard to like but you’re able to use your strengths and skills to make a difference. By all means, if you can do what you love and make a living, then do so. But that should not be the only, or primary, factor in deciding your career path.

If the money is good you can learn to love any job. There are many people who make good money and hate their job and higher rates of income often relate to higher levels of job dissatisfaction and stress. Don’t assume that if the money is right, you’ll be able to enjoy your work.

Just take this job until something better comes along. If you feel hesitant to take a job and there are red flags warning you to stay away, do just that. If you can be patient, do so. Of course, in some situations you desperately need to find work but, in general, it’s best to avoid a job that could bring more headaches and make it more difficult for you to make the move once you’re in a bad work situation.

To get ahead you need to go back to school. There are many jobs and career paths that don’t require you to get another degree and there are alternative educational opportunities and training programs that can provide you with the skills and information needed to move forward, while you are gaining important experience working in the field.

You need to stick with a job for a few years. Don’t be a job-hopper. That may have been true decades ago when people often took a job out of high school or college and stayed in that job until retirement, but that’s no longer the case, and it’s acceptable now to move on to new experiences and higher levels of responsibility in your field.

Daily Leap Career Video of the Week: 5 Things You Must Do in Order to Be Successful

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 Inc. shares 5 things you must to in order to be successful, according to Bill Gates, starting with learning to say "no". Check out the video to learn more.

High 5 Weekly Career Transitions Roundup: Career Advice Business Leaders Wold Give Their Younger Selves

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!

• Career Advice Business Leaders Would Give to Their Younger Selves: "Here’s what they told me about picking the right career path, finding the right mentor and getting in the right mindset to land the career of your dreams."

• What You Need to Know to Become a Great Leader: "If you want to be a leader who attracts quality people, the key is to become a person of quality yourself. Leadership is the ability to attract someone to the gifts, skills and opportunities you offer as an owner, as a manager, as a parent."

• How to Pursue Your Dream When Everyone Says it Won't Work: "Other people’s concerns about your potential for success or failure often have more to do with their realities than your own."

• Give Working Parents What They Really Want: "Companies that prioritize family-first benefits that support family responsibilities while emphasizing self-care and healthy living will see greater return on loyalty, morale, productivity and performance from all employees."
• 3 Types of Questions That Are Crucial for Employee Coaching:"Great managers use questions to lead employees to mutually agreed-upon solutions -- it significantly increases the likelihood of success."

High 5 Weekly Career Transitions Roundup: How to Start a Business in a Day

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 Start a Business in a Day:"take a little time to determine how many businesses like yours are out there and what services they offer. How can you differentiate yourself from them?"

• 10 Free Online Courses to Learn More About Business: "a number of top universities across the world offer free online classes for you to bolster your skills as a leader and business owner."

• How to Run Meetings You Actually Want to Attend: "The meeting you want to have is the one that leaves you feeling energized, with more clarity and focus than you had going in."

• A Psychologist's Advice for Talking About "Weaknesses" in Interviews: "your ability to pretend that you are thinking on the spot - or, even better, that you have been put on the spot - and have been forced to sincerely report on your biggest weaknesses, is likely to make a better impact on your interviewers."
• The Best Career Advice I've Ever Received: "Listening to their stories and being receptive to their advice continue to guide me and help me reach new milestones. Below are just a few of the best words of advice I’ve ever received."

Daily Leap Career Video of the Week: 5 Terrible (But Common) Career Tips

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 shares some common career advice that career experts suggest you might want to avoid. Take a look.

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."

High 5 Weekly Career Transitions Roundup: 8 Ways to Overcome the Fears Blocking Your 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!

• 8 Ways to Overcome the Fears Blocking Your Success: "Build a dream that gives you a reason to stretch outside of your comfort zone and push pass resistance."

• Career Advice from LinkedIn Co-Founder Allen Blue: "I recommend people help the people in their networks freely and without expectation of return, mainly because it’s so rewarding."

• 3 Tips for Starting and Running a Business With Your Spouse: "Try to keep workloads equal and focus on each other's strengths and weaknesses. Determining what you and your spouse excel at can be difficult, but it's crucial."

• 5 Ways I Became More Productive Without TV: "Whether it’s out of boredom or from having more free time, I’ve begun organizing and planning ahead. On Sundays, I’ll draw the blueprints for my week."
• 4 Qualities That Can Help New Grads Stand Out: "you should also emphasize any projects and ideas that you’ve thought up, launched, or scaled."

Daily Leap Career Video of the Week: Advice for Millennials Working at Their First Job

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 Gary Vaynerchuk offers some advice to millennials working in their first job and advises them to "put your head down and work".

High 5 Weekly Career Transitions Roundup: Laugh Your Way to a Happy Workplace

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!

• Laugh Your Way to a Happy Workplace: "If you see a path to a positive reality, your brain will be quicker to see humor in the negative events of your external world. Thus when you have a negative work environment, you can use humor as a strategic tool to help others see a more positive reality."
• The Benefits of Being Nice to Your Competitors: "It may not seem like such a big deal, but once you have published or voiced a negative comment, you can't take it back. It just isn't professional and reflects negatively on you."
• 5 Leadership Lessons from Canadian Prime Minister Justin Trudeau: "The idea is premised on something many leaders still find counterintuitive: on not knowing all the answers—and instead bringing together a committed, collaborative group that can sort them out together."
• 7 Ways to Be Utterly Unforgettable in Business and Life: "Do something out of the ordinary that your client or customer would never expect. For example, instead of sending a text or an email, send a handwritten thank-you note, a gesture that is becoming more and more rare."
• 15 Websites to Jump Start Your Career: "Whether you're kicking off a job hunt, preparing to ask for a raise, or just looking to refresh your personal brand, these sites offer a vast array of resources for any point in your career or search."