High 5 Weekly Career Transitions Roundup: 15 New Ideas for Your LinkedIn Profile

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!

• 15 New Ideas for Your LinkedIn Profile: "On LinkedIn, you’ve got more room to maneuver and more space for adding keywords. You can provide more information than you can on your CV. Amplify the things that matter most."

• Do You Have Determination?: "Perhaps you’ve resigned yourself to things being one way. But you shouldn’t give up hope. Enlist a partner who may have a different perspective and energy to get back on track."

• 3 Tips for Re-Engineering Your Office: "An elegantly elevated desk best enhances an employee’s output when it’s surrounded by the right stuff. If that stuff is other desks, consider their arrangement."

• How to Make Gratitude a Way of Life: "There are many ways to cultivate a disposition of thankfulness. One is to make a habit of giving thanks regularly—at the beginning of the day, at meals and the like, and at day’s end."
• 5 Inspiring Books to Give Businesswomen This Holiday:"Among my favorite gifts to give (or receive) are books. And below is a list of inspiring books, many of which I have given or plan to give to the women whose support I can't imaging doing business (or life) without."

High 5 Weekly Career Transitions Roundup: Tips to Overcome Age Discrimination

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!

• 6 Tips to Overcome Age Discrimination at Work: "If you’re embarrassed by your age, others will sense that. People are attracted to candidates with confidence."

• 10 Tips to Go For Your Side Hustle Dream: "Success is all about falling down and getting back up. Here’s a writing prompt that can build your confidence: How have you overcome a near miss in your past to produce future gains?"

• Doing Creative Work When You Can't Stop Looking at Your Phone: "They key, I discovered, is to accept and even embrace the desire to check notifications, read various media, or even watch videos — but to teach myself patience in doing so."

• 5 Apps to Help You Master the Art of Small Talk: "So why not embrace small talk and, dare I say, get good at it? Here are some tools to help you become a more engaging conversationalist."
• How to Have a Positive Mindset at Work:"gratitude is linked to happiness and helps people think and feel more positively. When you’re actively going over the aspects of your life or your day that make you feel thankful, it changes your perspective from negative to positive."

Five Areas to Be Grateful for in Your Career

As we approach Thanksgiving Day it’s good to think about our career and the parts of our work lives that we’re grateful for. We’d also recommend a daily gratitude practice but that is a story for another time.

There are many aspects of our career that we might be thankful for but for now let’s focus on the following five areas.

The opportunity to do work that benefits your community and the world, while utilizing your strengths, talents, skills, and interests. It’s fulfilling to find work that interests you and enables you to use your strengths and skills to make the world a better place through your company’s products or services.

Working with good people. You’re fortunate when you work with a competent and dedicated team that you enjoy working with toward a common goal. You earn bonus points when there is one or two co-workers you consider a friend or enjoy socializing with outside of work.

Flexible work arrangements. Be grateful for opportunities you to work from home, leave work early to attend to family matters, or benefit from a four-day work-week.

A mentor. We should always be thankful for those people who have taught, guided, and mentored us along the way in our lives, education, and in our jobs. A good mentor should not be taken for granted, and he or she likely played an important role in where you are now in your life and career.

The occasion to advance in your career and to develop your skills. A great workplace enables you to gain new knowledge, enhance your skills, and provides opportunities for advancement. Be grateful for these opportunities at work.

These five areas can offer you the chance to reflect on your current job, be thankful for the positive aspects of your work, and can help you consider whether a change in scenery might be better for your career.

Daily Leap Career Video of the Week: How to Create Daily Habits of Gratitude & Appreciation

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, best-selling author and speaker Jack Canfield discusses the important of gratitude and provides tips for developing a daily practice of appreciation. Watch the video for more.

Daily Leap Career Video of the Week: 7 Growth-Inspiring Ideas and Tactics

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 Practical Psychology, learn seven tactics to enhance self-growth and personal success over the coming months, starting with developing a practice of expressing gratitude. 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."

High 5 Weekly Career Transitions Roundup: 10 Reasons Good Employees Quit

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!

• Top 10 Reasons Good Employees Quit: "They realize that it's up to them to have the career they want, and that their hopes of having that career with their current organization will never come true."

• How to Stay Focused When You're Working from Home: "It may sound silly, but if you want to have a focused day of work, pretend you’re not working from home."

• 10 Simple Ways to Build a Collaborative, Successful Work Environment: "The more compelling and exciting the mission, the easier it is to inspire team members to want to be a part of what the company aspires to accomplish."

• Why You Need to Make Over Your To-do List: "Instead of doing a million things poorly, the goal becomes to do a few things incredibly well--or better yet, do one thing better than anyone else in the world."
• The Health Benefits of Gratitude: "Whether you’re penning a note on personalized stationery, scribbling in a journal or just meditating, a deep contemplation of gratitude will probably be a tune-up for your mind and body in many ways."

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.

5 Career Benefits from Journaling

A daily practice of journaling is one habit you might consider adding to your life to see some immediate improvements to your career and work life.

Simply setting aside as little as ten minutes each day to write can help bring a focus and clarity to your life and provide several unexpected dividends.

Here are five ways journaling can benefit your career and enhance your life.

Journaling allows you to process your thoughts and feelings. Writing provides an organized way for you to gain some understanding of the events of the day, and the emotions that accompany them. This can aid you in working through situations or circumstances that contribute to difficult emotions--such as fear, anger, or sadness--and can help provide an honest look at factors contributing to success or failure.

Journaling helps you set your focus for the next day. When you take a few minutes at the end of the day to write you can spend some of that time setting your priorities, listing a few of your major tasks for the next day, and enabling you to be more focused and prepared when you awake the following morning.

Journaling helps you recognize your successes and accomplishments. When you commit to a daily practice of writing you have a record of your accomplishments and can look back over time to acknowledge your successes and appreciate your achievements.  

Journaling can be a way to recognize the good in your life. Life is busy and many times we rush through life without taking account of the good we experience and the things we can be grateful for. Journaling is a great opportunity to take stock of the good you encounter daily, and enables you to read again regularly as a reminder.

Journaling helps you retain what you’ve learned. When you take the time to write down some insight or knowledge you’ve gained during the day, you are better able to recall it and apply that knowledge later.

   

You don’t have to be a prolific writer to benefit from journaling. Try spending ten to fifteen minutes a day writing and you’ll likely soon recognize some of the advantages to your life and career noted above.

High 5 Weekly Career Transitions Roundup: 3 secrets of Every Successful Job Search or Career Change

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 secrets of Every Successful Job Search or Career Change: "These tools are must-haves for every job seeker if they are searching for a job with an employer as opposed to striking out on their own."

• Develop This One Habit to Reduce Stress and Lead a More Fulfilling Life: "In today's world especially, gratitude is the ally you need to succeed in your business and for your personal health."

• 5 Habits of Successful People: "your daily habits help determine how you run your life. Ask yourself a couple of questions: a) what does success mean to me? and b) is there anything in my daily routine that I need to change that will help me become more successful?"

• 5 Practices of Exemplary Leadership: "Exemplary leaders know that if they want to gain commitment and achieve the highest standards, they must be models of the behavior they expect of others."
• 5 Ways to Elevate Your Social Media Game for Recruiters: "The majority of recruiters are now using platforms like Instagram, Facebook and Twitter to find out what resumes, cover letters and interviews can't tell them about a candidate ."

Daily Leap Career Video of the Week: When You Feel Like Giving Up, Do This!

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 offers some suggestions for what to do when you feel like giving up and everything seems to be falling apart. Take a look.

5 Ways to Get Back Up and Benefit from Failure in Your Life and Career

If you succeed long enough in life you're going to fail. A lot. In fact, you might turn that around: if you fail long enough in life you're going to succeed. It is in our failures that we learn how to succeed if we are willing to take those failures and do something constructive with them.

When you fail, and you will, consider the following five ways to benefit from failure in a way that sets you up to succeed.

1. Increase gratitude. When we go through difficult times of failure, such as an unexpected job loss, it can help us recognize and be more grateful for the successes and good things we experience in our lives and careers. The most successful individuals are those that make a daily practice of expressing gratitude and recognizing the beauty in their lives.

2. Clarify and deepen support systems. We learn who we can trust and depend on during times of stress and difficulty. Our close friendships and relationships with colleagues are deepened and made more whole as we vulnerably share with them our experiences of failure and these people become our greatest support as we move toward new challenges and successes.

3. Develop humility. Sometimes success makes us forget who we are, disassociates us from our values, or leads us to treat others as inferior. Failure can be just the antidote we need to deal with an inflated ego and return us to reality, helping us understand anew the good we want to accomplish with others in our personal and work lives.

4. Take time to reflect. Failure often affords us the opportunity to take some time away, to reflect on and understand the reasons behind our failure, and to reset our lives and careers, and renew our focus on our vision and purpose.  

5. Build strength and resilience. If we let it, failure can be a great source of strength, building our willpower and determination to success, and helping us develop the resources to recover more quickly from future setbacks.

Yes, you can do this.

As the Japanese proverb says: fall seven times, stand up eight.

5 Reasons to be Grateful for Your Job

A daily practice of gratitude has been shown to improve your mood, among its many other benefits and there is no better time than the Thanksgiving holiday to begin showing a little gratitude for your job.

Not sure where to start? Try these five reasons to be grateful for your work situation.

1. The job itself. You might simply start by feeling thankful that you even have a job. There are many people out there looking for work, or are soon-to-be graduates anxiously anticipating the job search. You don't have to live with this daily anxiety and have a reason for getting up every morning.

2. Your boss. Yep, your supervisor, whether you like him or her or not, provides you with support in your job or offers you opportunities to grow by being difficult to work with. Either way, your boss provides you with a reason to be grateful.

3. Your co-workers. You likely have some friends and supportive colleagues at work and they are often the reason we enjoy going in each day. Take a moment to appreciate them and even to let them know how grateful you are for their support.

4. Opportunities to learn. Your job provides you with opportunities to learn something new. Sometimes you learn a new skill, sometimes you learn patience, sometimes you learn how to deal with a difficult co-worker, or sometimes you learn how to use new technology or a new program.

5. Opportunities to use your strengths. It's likely you were hired for your job because you have the skills and abilities required. This provides an opportunity to be grateful for the opportunity to apply your strengths to accomplish something worthwhile.

You might also find yourself grateful for a short commute, or a long commute (affording you the time to get something else done), or you are grateful for opportunities to make a difference in the world and in the lives of others.

If you really think about it you'll likely find many reasons to be grateful for your job.

Happy Thanksgiving!

High 5 Weekly Career Transitions Roundup: 8 Daily Habits to Build Resiliency

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 Daily Habits to Build Resiliency: "Before you hear one yes, you’re going to hear a lot of no’s. Letting all that rejection slide off your back will help you keep moving forward when times get tough."
• The Only 3 Ways to Be More Productive: "As I’ve continued to study successful people and meet individuals I respect and admire, I've learned that courage is undeniably the biggest differentiator."
• 5 Ways to Make Your Office Happier: "Gratitude helps people feel more positive emotions, relish good experiences, improve their health, deal with adversity, and build strong relationships."
• How to Become a Successful Freelancer: "Freelancers sometimes make the mistake of taking on too much work and getting overbooked. From the beginning, make sure you have room in your schedule."
• 9 Things Successful Women Never Do: "If you want to move up, and ahead, you need to confront your fears head-on. Never waste valuable energy trying to avoid them; instead, use mental toughness to manage your thoughts, emotions, and behavior in ways that will set you up for success in business and life."

4 Practices to Implement When Starting a New Job

Starting a new job is an exciting and anxious time, and it provides a great opportunity...

The opportunity to start over and to start fresh.

These new starts in our lives allow us to makes changes to our routines, habits, and attitudes, and to move past any failures or struggles in our previous job.

So, when starting a new position consider implementing the following four practices in order to get your new job off to a great start.

1. Start with gratitude. When you get up every morning and when you arrive at work express gratitude for the job and for the opportunities and benefits it provides for you. This will help you approach your work with a positive and optimistic attitude and help you avoid cynicism and dissatisfaction with your job. You don't have to say anything profound. You can just start your day with a simple statement: I'm grateful for another day and I'm grateful for this job and I look forward to doing my best today.

2. Be social. Meet people throughout the company, don't eat lunch alone, and take a few minutes for a brief conversation around the coffee machine. You'll feel more comfortable in the job and enjoy work more when you come to enjoy those you work with and develop a team of support around you. But be sure to stick with colleagues who are positive and enthusiastic about the work.

3. Learn everything. No one expects you to know everything so be humble and ask a lot of questions. You want to learn as much as you can when you first arrive at a company (and continue that curious desire to learn throughout your career) and no one looks down on you for not knowing something. After all, you are the "new guy". In addition, like the point above, the quicker you learn about the job and the company, the more comfortable you'll feel in your work.

4. Volunteer and be helpful. A great way to meet new people and to learn as much as you can is to volunteer for anything and everything, from special committees and task forces to new projects. Others will view you positively and you'll gain knowledge and confidence in your work.  

High 5 Weekly Career Transitions Roundup: 6 Happiness Tips to Boost Your Health and Performance

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!

• 6 Happiness Tips to Boost Your Health and Performance: "A key habit we developed in daily meetings was to have each team member say what someone else had done to help them that day. Expressing gratitude helped to bring the team together and make everyone happier and healthier."
• 17 Simple Habits That Make You Look More Professional: "Taking risks, and going against the grain is part of growing. Being willing to challenge yourself shows others that you are serious about growth."
• 17 Ways to Get Along, Especially When Negotiating: "Look to their positive intent, especially when they appear to have none, and you are more likely to eventually bring out their more positive side."
• How to Stand Up For Yourself: "Learning to assert yourself starts by understanding that you are not trying to control what other people do, but rather you’re controlling your own actions."
• 5 Smart Things to Do When You're Unemployed: "Volunteering for a charity or local community organization can be a great way to keep your skills up to date or help you learn new ones, expose you to new fields and give you something to put on your resume for this time period."

3 Attitude Adjustments to Improve Your Career

There are times for each of us when we're feeling stressed or bored at work or in our career and we find it difficult to stay positive and motivated to do a good job.

It is at these times when we might simply benefit from a slight tweak or attitude adjustment to set us back on the right career path.

Here then are three attitude adjustments to make to improve our career and help us better enjoy our job:

1. Gratitude. There is plenty of research to suggest that your well-being goes up when you express gratitude. Why not take some time today to be grateful that you have a job, that you enjoy your co-workers, or that you have a good boss? 

2. Serve. Instead of thinking about you and what you need to get done, turn your attention to your customers and your colleagues. Having an attitude of service to others will enable you to focus on solutions and actions, and will likely have the added benefit of increasing your motivation at work.

3. Humility. Come to work with new eyes. No, I don't mean new glasses, but try taking a look at your work from a new perspective. A perspective of humility. Realize that you don't know everything and that you might just learn something new, even from that know-it-all in the cubicle next door.

Sometimes, instead of changing jobs or getting a promotion, a simple attitude adjustment is all we need to enjoy our work more.  

5 Habits for a Successful Career (and Life)

Habits. There are good habits and there are bad habits and all of us have a mixture of both. The challenge is to encourage and build upon the good habits and eliminate the bad.

Our habits can have a significant impact on our careers and that is one reason it is so important to build on and add to our good habits.

With that in mind here are five habits that can enhance your career and life:

Sleep. It is important to your intellectual and emotional well-being to ensure that you get enough sleep every night. Set a bed time that allows you to get 7-8 hours of sleep every night and stick to it. Avoid watching TV or drinking alcohol right before bed.

Meditate. You don't have to be a monk to enjoy the benefits of meditation and you don't need to meditate for long periods of time. A simple practice of 5 minutes of attention to your breathing can bring great benefits.

Eat. Focus on eating healthy and energy-producing foods, while avoiding a lot of sugar, salt, and alcohol. You'll feel better and have more creative energy to apply to your work and home life.

Move. Avoid a sedentary life. This is especially important for those who spend long hours in front of a computer. Be sure to stand up and take a break every hour. Walk around the office or get outside. Do some light stretching.

Thank. If needed adjust your attitude and be grateful: for your job, your family, your co-worker, where you live. Find something to be grateful for every day. And a bonus habit: journal. Keep a daily journal where you can write about your progress and note those things in your life you are thankful for.

A great resource for developing good habits is Gretchen Rubin's new book Better Than Before. Learn more about it and check out helpful resources at her web site.