Daily Leap Career Video of the Week: 4 Signs You Need to Leave Your Job Right Now

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 Fast Company discusses four signs you need to leave your job immediately, starting with not feeling like your work matters. Check out the video to learn more.

How to Experience More Joy at Work

It is possible to enjoy our work lives more than we do and it often requires just a few basic shifts in our thinking to provide us with a greater sense of purpose at work.

Unfortunately, sometimes we’re under great stress or we’ve been in a job for so long that we have difficulty seeing the beneficial aspects of our work or understanding ways to make it work better for us.

 Here are five ways to go about experiencing more joy in the work place.

Focus on the meaning you derive from your work. A key aspect to finding joy in your work is to recognize and celebrate the good that results from your job, the ways your products or services make life better for your customers and clients, and the difference your company makes in the world. If you cannot identify this important part of your job, then you might need to consider a job move. 

Cultivate positive relationships with your colleagues. It’s difficult to enjoy our work place if we don’t enjoy those we work with. Of course, you cannot control the behavior of others at work, but you can make every effort to develop good working relationships with your co-workers and manager. It will help if you seek to recognize the strengths in others rather than focus on their failures and shortcomings.

Recognize how your job makes you change and grow. If you’ve been in a job or at a company for several years you have changed during that time. You have developed new skills and grown in ways that it’s important to recognize. Take some time to appreciate this growth and it will help you to experience greater satisfaction in your job.

Use your job to strengthen your weaknesses. You can look at your job as a laboratory and a place to make improvements. Be clear about the areas you need to work on, whether related to job skills or character traits, such as patience, and seek to measure your development. Paying attention to self-improvement on your job can add a level of enjoyment to your work experience.  

Pay attention to your attitude. There are a lot of things we can’t control at work, but we always have the ability to take control of our attitude and the ways we respond to the events on the job. Greater enjoyment at work is more likely when we approach our job and our relationships with our colleagues with curiosity, and a positive and helpful attitude.

High 5 Weekly Career Transitions Roundup: 5 Signs it's Time to Quit Your Job

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

• 5 Signs it's Time to Quit Your Job:"The following exercises will help you shift your thinking so that your exit strategy can become a powerful experience rather than a slow motion trainwreck."

• The Simple Productivity-Boosting Method You're Probably Overlooking: "The National Safety Council has estimated that fatigued employees cost employers about $136 billion a year in lost productivity."

• Should You Take That New Job or the Promotion?: "Which of the two companies can give you better long-term opportunities in which you can make a difference? A difference maker is someone who can see the impact of his or her work on the organization."

• 5 Strategies for Enjoying Your Workday: "
  Your company might provide snacks, board games and holiday parties, but it doesn’t hurt to customize your workday for a happier you
  ."
• 4 Easy Ways to Recognize How Your Work is Meaningful: "these are all ways that your work – and the money you earn - is meaningful to you and your family."

Daily Leap Career Video of the Week: 3 Questions to Ask of 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, Brendon Burchard recounts how a tragic heartbreak and a near-death experience led him to discover the three most important questions you can ask yourself.

Four Ways to Enjoy Your Job Today

Many of us experience days when we are not motivated to go to work and we find ourselves disinterested in the job. It is at those times that we need to remind ourselves of the purpose behind our work and reconnect with our goals.

Below are four ways to approach your job today to help you gain a greater sense of satisfaction.

Strive to do excellent work. It can be easy to float through the day just getting by with “good enough” but it’s difficult to feel passionate about our work when we’re stuck in mediocrity. Whatever tasks you have on hand today challenge yourself to excellence. Take the initiative and strive to do your best, whether it’s cleaning a window to perfection, delivering a stunning presentation at a meeting, or preparing a sandwich at a fast food restaurant. You can improve the quality of the tasks and responsibilities you perform, and take pride in doing excellent work.

Find meaning in your work. In most jobs you can find some meaning in the work that increases your motivation and enjoyment of the work. If you are cleaning bathrooms you can find satisfaction in knowing that you are supporting the health of others by keeping this space clean and hygienic. A cook in a restaurant provides the food that energizes and fuels his customers. Think beyond your tasks and responsibilities today and focus on those who benefit from your work.  

Commit to serve. Look out for opportunities to help and assist others today. Instead of simply focusing on yourself and what you need to accomplish take a look around you. If someone on your team is struggling to complete a task or seems to be overwhelmed offer to help. If you work with the public or have regular contact with customers make a point of asking yourself, “how can I best serve those I come in contact with today?” You’ll likely find that by helping others you’ll experience a greater sense of well-being at work.

Connect with your colleagues. Find some time to interact with your co-workers, to share a laugh, a smile, and to offer some support. Your job will be much more enjoyable if you share the load with others and develop meaningful and supportive relationships with those you work with. 

5 Ways to Add Purpose and Meaning to Your Career

Many of us move through life and our work career deeply dissatisfied and without any sense of purpose. We might simply follow the paycheck or feel like we're sleepwalking through our work lives. Our career path might seem predetermined by our choice of college major or previous job experience but it's not too late to think about a more rewarding and purposeful direction.

If you want to live a more purposeful life or add more meaning to your career reflect on the following actions and considerations.

Identify your strengths and skills. You'll find the most enjoyment in your work if you're utilizing your strengths and the things you are good at. Spend some time to inventory your strengths and ask your friends and family to help you identify what you're good at.

Identify your passions. Do you love helping others? Or perhaps you enjoy solving problems and coming up with unique solutions. Do you love to travel? Spend some time thinking about the experiences that make you feel most alive and energized. Can you imagine a life or a career where can get up every day and do what you're passionate about?

Do no harm. You’ll feel a great sense of satisfaction and purpose when your life, career, and work choices do not bring harm or pain to the earth, other people, and to plants and animals. It is difficult to feel pride in your accomplishments or your work life when you contribute to spreading toxins or promoting unhealthy habits and choices.

  

Make a difference. Consider work that will make your community and the world healthier, safer, and more equitable for all. Does your company create products that pollute the air or advertise unhealthy food or products to children? Look for a career that contributes positively to the needs of the world, for a company that is solving the world’s problems in ways that don’t bring additional harm.  

  

Pass it on. Be a mentor. Your gifts and skills and talents were meant to be shared with others and provide you with an opportunity to teach someone else what you know. Pass on your knowledge and you can help multiple the good in the world.

You don’t necessarily need to change your job to change the world. There are opportunities all around, starting with your neighbor. If you look for ways to make a difference you will find them and begin to live a more rewarding a purposeful life and have a more satisfying career.

High 5 Weekly Career Transitions Roundup: Leaving a Stable Job to Create Your Dream Career

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

• Leaving a Stable Job to Create Your Dream Career: "Paying attention to what engages and excites you, what lights you up, and what stimulates your intellect points you toward the tasks and situations that enable you to be your best self. That’s where you will thrive."
• 4 Things Older Job Seekers are Doing Wrong: "Rather than accept a position where you will resent the pay or walk away from an offer that is not up to snuff, consider ways to negotiate. See if you can bump up your benefits."
• How to Bring More Meaning to Your Life and Career: "As you make small changes, you begin to gain competence in living according to your values."
• 7 Steps to Master the Art of Persuasion: "The art of getting others to see things as you see them -- usually called persuasion -- is a key one for entrepreneurs, and it needs to be honed from the first day that you formulate your new idea."
• 5 Tips for a Successful Online Job Search: "People often don't realize how great the odds are stacked against job seekers for virtually every online advertisement."

5 Career Lessons from Martin Luther King, Jr.

While we're still considering the legacy of Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr., we can also reflect on his words and mission and apply them to our professional lives.

Here are 5 career lessons one can take from Martin Luther King, Jr.:

1. "All labor that uplifts humanity has dignity and importance and should be undertaken with painstaking excellence." Our work choices should reflect a desire to uplift and bring benefit to everyone and everything and we should strive to do this work with excellence.

2. "Life's most persistent and urgent question is, 'What are you doing for others?'" Work choices that are primarily about making a lot of money and acquiring a lot of possessions ultimately are unsatisfying and bring little benefits to others or yourself (other than material). The greatest satisfaction comes from doing work that benefits others.

3. "The time is always right to do what is right." If you find that your work does not benefit others or yourself then it is time for change. The time is now to do work that provides you with meaning and provides some service to others. 

4. "Faith is taking the first step even when you don't see the whole staircase." Sometimes we need to take a step in our career without the ability to see the whole picture. We need to trust ourselves, our strengths, and our vision for how we can utilize our skills to do work that matters.

5. "A genuine leader is not a searcher for consensus but a molder of consensus." One who would be a leader must learn to work with others and help bring mutual understanding and benefit to a situation.

Whatever it is that we find ourselves doing now we can apply the words of Martin Luther King, Jr.: "Whatever your life's work is, do it well."

High 5 Weekly Career Transitions Roundup: 5 Career Questions to Ask Yourself

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

© Bellemedia | Stock Free Images & Dreamstime Stock Photos

• 5 Career Questions to Ask Yourself: "You first need to decide what sort of life you want and what role work will play in it. You can then adjust your expectations and needs regarding your career."


• 3 Keys to Being Fully Charged: "It is easier to improve your own happiness — and the well-being of others — when you focus on doing it right now. Taking small, meaningful actions today is the best way to make changes."


• 10 Ways to Become a More Confident Person: "Confidence-building is a virtuous cycle. No one but you is in the driver’s seat. All you have to do is buckle up and try something you've never tried before."


• Purpose is Good for You and for Business: "We believe that if more institutions—from work places to educational systems—were to embed programs and policies into their work that consciously cultivate purpose-directed individuals, we would see more passionate, engaged and flourishing employees."


• 6 Ways Your Significant Other Can Boost Your Career: "It always seems to mean more when your significant other tells you that you are smart, capable and skilled at what you do."

3 Ways to Know You Have a Meaningful Job

For some people a job or a career is all about that well-known quote from the movie Jerry Maguire, with Tom Cruise yelling into the phone "Show me the money!"

For others, the money is not the main thing or the most important factor. For these people a job must have some meaning or purpose.

Here are three ways to know that you're doing meaningful work.

1. The product or service you provide benefits the world. We all know people working in
companies that employ shady business practices or provide toxic products or exploit their workers. In can be difficult, or impossible, to feel pride in your work if the product or service you provide does harm or violates your moral code.

2. You appreciate and admire your colleagues. When you are working with people you enjoy and admire on products or services that benefit other people you're likely to find your work incredibly fulfilling. If you dread communicating with your co-workers that's might be a sign that your work is not fulfilling or meaningful.

3. You enjoy your work. When you're eager to get up in the morning and get to work on that day's tasks you know you're in a good place. A good clue to how you feel about your job is the language you use. Do you speak positively about your work to family and friends or do you often find that you complain about your job or colleagues? There are always times when work is stressful but when you generally enjoy your workplace you'll find the work more meaningful.

If these describe you and your work congratulations on a meaningful career!

5 Keys to Career Happiness

Are you happy with your career? Unfortunately, many of us spend a great deal of time and energy

complaining about our job or our boss to anyone who will listen.

Instead of complaining let's consider 5 keys to job satisfaction and career happiness.

1. Your work is meaningful. The company you work for and the position you fill helps to bring value to the world. In other words, your work is not unethical or promotes products or services that do harm.

2. You have work-life balance. The job you do allows you time to relax with family, engage with your hobbies, and does not cause you to be in a constant state of stress.

3. You are fairly compensated. This is obvious but you'll feel better about your work if you feel that you are valued and paid appropriately for the value you bring to your job.

4. You have valuable relationships at work. Many long-lasting friendships start as co-worker relationships. It's much easier to enjoy your job if you enjoy those you work with.

5. You have opportunities to advance and develop your skills. It's easy to feel stuck in a job or career if we see no opportunity to advance or move up. A satisfying job allows you to continually grow, learn, and develop.

Consider these keys to help evaluate your current situation and determine whether it's time to change your job or change your attitude.

Daily Leap Career Video of the Week: How to Find Fulfilling Work

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

In the following video, the School of Life suggests several keys to help one find meaningful and fulfilling work. The first step if to realize that anxiety and confusion about career choices is perfectly normal. Enjoy the video below and start on the path to a more fulfilling career.

High 5 Weekly Career Transitions Roundup: Interviewing 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!

© Bellemedia | Stock Free Images & Dreamstime Stock Photos

• The One Essential Element of Every Job Interview: "People appreciate honest, specific and personal stories that foster a connection and show some human vulnerability."


• 4 Ways to Use Facebook to Find a Job: "List not only your current but your past employers, your job title, a description of your role and the years you were with the organization. If you want to make yourself known to all of those recruiters who troll for job candidates on Facebook, take a few minutes to fill out this information."


• How to Build a Meaningful Career: "Invite four or five people to serve as your informal board of directors. You might tell them, 'I’m doing some exploring about what I want from work and I’d love to talk with you on occasion to get your feedback on my direction'."


• 5 Tips for Instant Interview Success: "The best interviews are a give and take. Come prepared to discuss the company, the role, your background, current trends in the industry, the reason for the opening and any recent business events that may impact the interviewer, role, company or industry."


• Social Media and the Job Search: "A key principle of marketing is to generate interest without giving away the whole story. Your resume and your LinkedIn profile are advertisements and their purpose is to pique someone's interest enough to get you a first interview."

Daily Leap Career Video of the Week: How to Make Stress Your Friend

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

In this video, Psychologist Kelly McGonigal urges us to see stress as a positive, and introduces us to an unsung mechanism for stress reduction: reaching out to others.

Learn more in the video below:

Daily Leap Career Video of the Week: What Makes Us Feel Good about Our Work?

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

In this video, behavioral economist Dan Ariely presents two eye-opening experiments that reveal our unexpected and nuanced attitudes toward meaning in our work.

Learn more in the video below:

High 5 Weekly Career Transitions Roundup: Networking 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 these every weekend so you have some great resources to prepare you for the coming week. Enjoy!

© Bellemedia | Stock Free Images & Dreamstime Stock Photos

• 7 Secrets to Networking Success: "Always be willing and eager to help others with an introduction or your time. And do not expect anything in return."


• What Would Make You More Satisfied and Productive at Work?: "If we have no sense that the work we’re doing taps our strengths and our preferences, or provides us with a sense of meaning, we’re likely to be less engaged and productive at work." 


• How to Land an Interview Using Social Media: "Most employers do online searches on candidates before extending an interview or job offer. If the results come back showing their deep knowledge or interest in areas related to the organization, the likelihood of getting a call will be much greater."


• How to Start Thinking About a Career Change: "To make a successful career change you will need to organize and articulate your assets in a way that you and the prospective employers can easily understand."


• The Career Dilemma of When to Move On: "The decision to leave a company and move on to a new project is never an easy one. You leave behind years of work and often a stable, promising business for a world of unknowns."

High 5 Weekly Career Transitions Roundup: Amazing and Worthwhile 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 these every weekend so you have some great resources to prepare you for the coming week. Enjoy!

© Bellemedia | Stock Free Images & Dreamstime Stock Photos

• How to Build a Career Worth Having: "In my experience, people who are successful in finding—and maintaining—meaningful work approach their careers like a grand experiment."

• The Simple Secret to an Amazing Career: "I've had a variety of jobs and businesses in my career so far, but they've all had two things in common: I've done what I loved at organizations where I could grow."                                                      
• Do You Need a Resume in the LinkedIn Era?: "When you are actually applying for a job, however, neither LinkedIn nor a professional landing page can replace the résumé. A strong résumé is still the gateway to an interview."


• Are You Ready for a Career (R)evolution?: "Going forward sometimes demands that we revise our tactics. Often a subtle evolution in your perspective can lead to a revolution in your actions."


• 5 Key Insights for Changing the World: "If it doesn’t exist already, then you are going to have to create it, eventually.  Don’t wait for permission or a phone call.  Instead, start something new." 

High 5 Weekly Career Transitions Roundup

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

© Bellemedia | Stock Free Images & Dreamstime Stock Photos

• Improve Your Networking Skills  -- Right Now: "Try to listen more than you talk, be thoughtful in your interactions and generous with your time when you can."


• How to Have a Year that Matters: "Rugged individualism is nice in theory, but the truth is: if you're going to make a difference, you're probably not going to make it happen all by your lonesome. So who are your mentors and allies, friends and peers? Who's at your back, manning your sails, crewing your boat?"


• How to Be a Career Prepper: "Begin seeking opportunities to meet people who work outside your company and build mutually beneficial long-term relationships. Also begin creating a personal reputation of excellence, on- and off-line."


• 4 Ways to Figure Out Your Future: "For one week, invest an hour every day to research. Check out top job lists, browse career exploration sites, or just read your favorite section of the newspaper. Your goal? Write down any career that catches your attention. This exercise can stretch your vision of what opportunities actually exist."


• Why You're Not a Leader: "True leadership isn’t found seeking the spotlight, but seeking to shine the spotlight on others. The best leaders only use 'I' when accepting responsibility for failures. Likewise, they are quick to use 'we' when referring to successes." 

High 5 Weekly Career Transitions Roundup: Networking, Finding Meaning, and Introverts

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

© Bellemedia | Stock Free Images & Dreamstime Stock Photos

• 14 Ways to Be Better at Your Job in 2013: "Lending expertise, time and effort to other teams will help you get to know other aspects of the business as well as help you connect with people across the company."


• 5 Interview Mistakes You Can Easily Avoid: "Preparation doesn't mean a quick skim of the job description and a glance at the employer's website; it means at least several hours spent thinking through likely questions and practicing your answers to them."


• 5 Key Networking Tricks to Help Land You a Job: "(m)ake a point to attend industry conferences, so you have a chance to make a good impression. It's even better if you seize the opportunity to make a presentation, organize an event at the conference, or blog or tweet about the program."


• Finding Meaning at Work, Even When Your Job is Dull: "Work can, however, provide an array of meaningful experiences, even though many employees do not enjoy those in their current job. So, what are the sources of meaningful experiences at work?"


• 3 Tips for Introverts in an Extrovert Workplace: "Introverts shouldn't have to succumb or change themselves to succeed or take on a leadership role... Introverts bring different and great strengths to the table, like less micromanagement and more insight and contemplation." 

High 5 Weekly Career Transitions Roundup

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

© Bellemedia | Stock Free Images & Dreamstime Stock Photos

• If You Want a Great Job, Tell a Great Story: "See yourself as a storyteller, and your professional successes and accomplishments as your story. You have an ability to make an emotional as well as intellectual connection with members of your network and hiring authorities by the way you tell your story."


• Finding the Job of Your Life: "There is no job of your life out there, waiting to be found. There are only jobs that may make you feel more or less alive. If you allow them to, that is."


• How to Overcome Workplace Distraction: "Your email, phone and colleagues will try to pull your attention away, but you may become so engrossed in solving your puzzle that you can concentrate until you find the answers."


• Three Secrets of Entrepreneurship That Will Transform Your Career: "Entrepreneurs have a natural hustle about them—a go-big-or-go-home sensibility to the way they live their lives, run their businesses and pursue opportunities."


• Make Your Body Language Work for You During an Interview: "Research suggests up to 93 percent of communication isn't transmitted via our words, but is broadcast through our actions and attitude." (Also see the related video of the week below.)