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: 7 Positive Money Habits to Start Before 2020

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, Sarah Nourse talks about 7 positive money habits to implement now, starting with planning purchases and creating a second source of income. Check out the video to learn more.

Daily Leap Career Video of the Week: 10 Things That Will Immediately Change Your Life

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, Jim Kwik talks about 10 practices that will pay immediate dividends and improve your life and career, including eating for health and learning how to manage stress. Check out the video to learn more.

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."

Add These 5 Habits for Lifelong Career Success

It’s never too late (or too early) in your career to instill good habits into your work routine, and there are some basic habits for success that apply to any job or work environment you might encounter in your career.

Here are five habits to will help you build a track record of success in your life and career.

Focused, hard work. If you don’t have a practice of working hard, you’ll have a difficult time finding career success. Hard work should be the cornerstone of your work habits and should, obviously, be a given. But you can also work hard on the wrong things and it’s important to develop the ability to focus on a single task rather than allowing the distraction of multitasking.

Continuous learning. Regardless of the position you’re in, there is always room to learn more and to expand your knowledge, deepen your skill set, and expand your tool kit of expertise. This requires an attitude of humility and a commitment to seek out opportunities to learn more about your job and industry.

Positive approach. Taking a positive approach to your life by developing a habit of positive thinking and seeking out the best in others and every situation will enable you to create more success in your life and career. Others will want to work with you, and you’ll instill a sense of trust in your relationships that will build an effective and lasting network.

Seek out mentors. Successful people realize that they can not do it alone and they seek out mentors and others who they can learn from and who can be a support system along the way. Strong and successful individuals have a strong system of support, starting with a mentor who has their best interests at heart and isn’t afraid to be honest.

Attention to purpose. Lifelong career success comes from developing a clear sense of your purpose and seeking out work opportunities that fulfill that purpose. Successful people are not driven by the accumulation of wealth but seek to serve others through their skills, interests, and knowledge, and want to make a difference in the world.

Work to cultivate these habits in your work and life and you’ll be closer to having the successful career you want.

Daily Leap Career Video of the Week: The Perfect 3-Step Sunday Night Routine

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. discusses "Sunday Scaries" and identifies three steps to implement on Sunday evenings, including taking a 5-minute retreat. Check out the video to learn more.

Daily Leap Career Video of the Week: 12 Changes That Will Upgrade Your Life & Career

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 describes 12 changes you can make to upgrade your entire life and career. Check out the video to learn more.

Daily Leap Career Video of the Week: Create Your Best Future

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 Success magazine, author Rachel Hollis discusses three things you can do today to create a more positive and successful life. Check out the video to learn more.

High Five Weekly Career Transitions Roundup: 8 Paradoxical Habits of Successful People

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 Paradoxical Habits of Successful People: "Successful people are passionate about their work, but they don’t let it skew their thinking. They have the ability to step back and look at their work with a critical eye and to accept their mistakes."

• A Revolutionary New Approach to Time Management: "When stress rises, the need to feel in control rises too. Often that leads to reaching for the time management tools to cram more in to already loaded to-do lists. Which only leaves you feeling more depleted."

• Why Women Are Still Making So Much Less Than Men: "The idea that I could ask for more, that my skills and talent were worth more, never crossed my mind."

• 5 Skills Critical for Success & Career Advancement: "In fully committing to choices which serve your career advancement first, your personal brand will start to take shape. You’ll start being deemed as someone to watch and follow."
• How to Talk With a Coworker Who's Having a Tough Time:"For as long as negative emotions show up at work (which is probably forever), you’ll be better off if you have some strategies to help your colleagues through it."

High 5 Weekly Career Transitions Roundup: How to Get an Amazing Job with Limited Experience

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 Get an Amazing Job Without Much Experience: "Admit your shortcomings but show that you’re willing to work harder to make up for it. With this mindset, you’ll find  jobs that will give you an opportunity to work your way up."

• 10 Things Successful, Happy People Do Differently: "most successful (entrepreneurs) tended to have two critical things in common: They were terrible at imagining failure, and they tended not to care what other people thought of them."

• 9 Behaviors That Instantly Identify Bad Employees: "Keep an eye out for colleagues that spend way more face time with their managers than usual. The wheels of favoritism may be in motion."

• Self-Care is a Discipline, Not an Indulgence: " It takes discipline to do the things that are good for us instead of what feels good in the moment."
• How to Train Your Brain to Go Positive Instead of Negative:"We have inherited the brain that helped our ancestors notice threats in time to act. We are skilled at finding threats, even as we seek rewards."

High 5 Weekly Career Transitions Roundup: 8 Things to Do Daily to Be Happier & More Successful

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 Things to Do Daily to Be Happier & Live with Less Regret:"A good place to start is to take inventory of the things in your life that bring you joy or which have caused you regret."

• 9 Reasons Companies Should Hire Introverts, Not Extroverts: "Creativity is a problem-solving response by intelligent, very active, highly emotional, and extremely introverted persons."

• To Land a Great Job, Talk About Why You Love Your Work: "candidates interviewing for a job should highlight the meaning they derive from their work, and recruiters looking to attract job candidates should emphasize that their employees do work they love."

• 3 Powerful Goals for a Healthy & Happy Future: "I’ve read that common regrets of those on their deathbed are that they didn’t spend enough time with family or friends, that they traveled more, or took more chances."
• Top 3 Fears That Keep Midlife Professionals Trapped in Unhappy Work: "But fear about career change disguises itself in a myriad of confusing ways that we don’t recognize as fear."

How to Become a Better Leader at Work

Even if you don’t supervise or manage staff in your current job you likely would benefit from increasing your leadership skills. Becoming a better leader can help you move forward in your career, be a more effective parent, or help you manage your life better.

In addition to taking leadership courses, there are some basic steps you can take in your life to become a more effective leader. 

Consider taking the following steps.

Change a small habit. Leaders walk the walk, rather than simply talking a good game and expecting others to “do as I say, not as I do.” Good leaders practice good habits; the kind of habits that make them more effective in their lives. For example, a good leader recognizes the importance of sleep to their success and ensures they get seven to eight hours each night. If you’re not getting enough sleep work at changing your routine and starting a new habit. Or perhaps you need to eat healthier foods that promote energy and focus. Start small and start one new habit and then move forward.

Take an interest in those around you and allow yourself to be mentored by them. You have much to learn from your colleagues and others you interact with daily. A good leader has the humility to recognize this and gain insights wherever possible. In addition, practice the art of good listening. This will enable you to humbly listen to, and learn from, as many diverse voices as possible.

You can also gain a great deal of insight from books. Many great leaders are also writers and they can mentor you through their works. Leaders are often voracious readers so check out your local library and become a frequent visitor.

Learn to see the good. No one enjoys being around negative or cynical people and the best leaders express gratitude, are optimistic, and help others see the challenges before them in a positive way. See the good in your life and work situation by changing your attitude and daily noting in your journal the things you are grateful for.

Four Things to Do While You're Looking For a New Job

You’ve made the decision to look for a new job and are excited about the new challenges and opportunities ahead. However, before you get ahead of yourself you still need to think about your current situation.

Take care of business in your current position and you will set yourself up for more success when the next opportunity comes along.

Make it a priority to focus on the following four things while you’re looking for a new job.

Do great work. It can be easy to get distracted from your current responsibilities while you’re caught up in the effort to change jobs but it is important to stay focused on finishing strong at your current place of employment. Don’t change your strong work habits and commitment to doing great work simply because you are looking for a new job.

Get some recommendations. Now is a good time to ask your supervisor and even some colleagues to write a recommendation for you on LinkedIn. If you apply for a job through LinkedIn, these recommendations can assist a prospective employer in identifying the qualities and skills you can bring to a position.

Solidify your network. Reconnect with former coworkers and managers during your job search. Some of these connections might make good references, while others might offer job leads. However, don’t just contact former colleagues in order to gain some immediate benefit for you. Think about how you can be of service to them, as well, and also use this time to develop a plan to stay in regular contact with your former colleagues and soon-to-be former coworkers.

Start some good habits. Think about some new habits that would benefit your life and career and begin to implement them now. You might find it more difficult to do this once you’re faced with the demands of a new job. Do you need to get better sleep, or drink less coffee or alcohol, exercise regularly, or start a meditation practice? Make the effort to change your habits now and you’ll reap the benefits when you start your new job.

High 5 Weekly Career Transitions Roundup: Why You Should Have (at Least) Two Careers

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!

• Why You Should Have (at Least) Two Careers: "working many jobs makes me happier and leaves me more fulfilled. It also helps me perform better at each job. Here’s how."

• How to Attract Amazing People Into Your Life: "Talking to new people makes your life exciting because it makes it unpredictable. Every single conversation you have with a new person is potentially life-changing."

• 5 Conversations You Absolutely Need to Have With Your Boss: "You have to stop and ask yourself not just what you need to learn, but what you need to unlearn and what is really going to take you to the place you need to go in this new organization."

• 11 Habits of Mentally Strong People: "The ability to break the mold and take a bold new direction requires that extra grit, daring and spunk that only the mentally strongest people have."
• How to Gain Strength from Your Darkest Moments: "When people go through tragedy they often become determined to make some good out of it. They want to do something worthwhile with the time that they have or to honor the legacy of the person they loved and lost."

High 5 Weekly Career Transitions Roundup: Tips for Showcasing Soft Skills on Job Interviews

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!

• Tips for Showcasing Soft Skills on Job Interviews: "As more companies recognize the importance of soft skills, they're becoming more interested in figuring out how candidates will respond to certain scenarios."

• 6 Good Daily Habits for a Fulfilled Life: "My best daily habit is waking up each morning feeling grateful for the opportunity to live another day and have impact on the world around me."

• How the Best Companies for Women Neutralize the Mommy Wars: "Ultimately, I find that most women will say there is gender equality at their firms if an equal amount of sacrifice is required of both men and women, whether they have families or not."

• If Your Team Agrees on Everything, Working Together is Pointless: "What we need is collaboration where tension, disagreement, and conflict improve the value of the ideas, expose the risks inherent in the plan, and lead to enhanced trust among the participants."
• 28 Best Habits to Have in Business: "Considering the difficulties involved with building a notable business, it's important to stay inspired. Find something that inspires you every single day."

High 5 Weekly Career Transitions Roundup: Why You Should Consider Freelancing in 2017

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!

• Why You Should Consider Freelancing in 2017: "One of the best ways to start freelancing is while you have a job. Begin taking on projects that are not a conflict of interest with your current employer."

• 5 Steps to Personal Greatness: "Self-affirmation is a matter of choosing what we focus on. If others talked to us the way we sometimes talk to ourselves, we would avoid them. It can become easy to degrade ourselves, sometimes subliminally."

• 8 Paradoxical Habits of Wildly Successful People: "Successful people seem to have limitless energy when it comes to doing the things they’re passionate about, but they aren’t frantic. They can keep that energy under control."

• 5 Pitfalls to Avoid When Getting a New Job: "If an employer isn’t on the same page as their new hire regarding what they’re expecting of him or her, that will certainly cause a rift in the relationship."
• 9 Ways to Kick Off the New Year With a Bang: "The New Year offers an opportunity to reboot, reorganize, start over, and do the things you’ve been putting off way too long. Be patient with yourself. You have all year to accomplish your new goals."

High 5 Weekly Career Transitions Roundup: 13 Simple Steps to Land the Job You Want

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 Simple Steps to Land the Job You Want: "Network with everybody you’ve ever worked with; connect on LinkedIn with each person you meet on the job."
• 3 Tough Habits You Must Drop to Succeed: "Being an effective leader will require you to break the storytelling habit that's happening in your head. Instead, separate the facts from the stories, and make decisions based on what you know for sure."
• 4 Ways to Make Your Employees Love Training: "The key is to not approach training with a one-delivery-system-fits-all mind-set."
• How High-Performing Leaders Refuel: "I am delighted when I see someone emerging from a mid-afternoon break because it means that they feel comfortable taking care of themselves and they will be performing at a higher level for the rest of the day."
• Using Social Media to Build Professional Skills: "If you want to work on self-development while working out, doing household chores, or commuting, that’s a great time to listen to the podcasts you’ve discovered."