How to Follow Up After an Interview

How to Follow Up After an InterviewHow to Follow Up After an InterviewAt ResumeSpice, we offer interview preparation along with resume and cover letter writing, career coaching, and LinkedIn help. One of our clients most common concerns, from entry-level to executive candidates, is how to best follow-up after an interview.There are a few elements that can make your follow-up memorable and it starts while youre totenstill in the interview.Before the interview ends, ask your interviewer about the timeline for making a decision and then request permission to follow-up. For example, if the interviewer tells you theyll have a decision on the next step in the process within a week ask them if its ok if you reach back out to them in a week. We recommend an email over a phone call, as its less intrusive. Be sure to request a business card from everyone with whom you meet so you have their contact information.After the interview, send an email to the recruiter or the hiring manager to thank them for their time and consideration. This should happen the same day as the interview. Keep it brief, polite, and express enthusiasm for the role.We also recommend sending a handwritten thank you musiknote, the same day as the interview. Youre likely one of many candidates for the role when your note arrives, it can help separate you from other candidates. Few candidates follow-up this way, so its a great way to leave a positive impression. In the note, thank your interviewer once again for their time and mention something you enjoyed, appreciated, or felt excited about when learning more about the company and the job.For more tips on preparing for and following-up after an interview, contact ResumeSpice today to schedule your one-on-one interview prep session.

Study Pain actually travels just as quickly as touch

Study Pain actually travels just as quickly as touchStudy Pain actually travels just as quickly as touchAll mammals possess the neuroanatomy to perceive pain, the differences lie in the manner in which the signals travelor so we thought. In order to better interpret pain in children and species that are unable to articulate suffering as artfully as for example, an adult menschenwrdig might, researchers have developed something called a grimace scale. This allows experts to estimate the severity of pain in non-humans according to objective and blinded scoring. It welches previously thought that the travel time for the nerve signals that relay pain in human skin was uniquely slower than the ones that communicate touch, as compared to other mammals. However new findings published in the journal Science Advances posits the contrary.Follow Ladders on FlipboardFollow Ladders magazines on Flipboard covering Happiness, Productivity, Job Satisfaction, Neuroscience, and moreThe ability to feel pain is vital to our survival, so why should our pain-signaling system be so much slower than the system used for touch and so much slower than it could be? explained Saad Nagi to Medical News Today.Humans are equipped with high-threshold and very fast conducting primary afferents.Nagi is the principal researcher behind the latest report and an engineer at the Department of Clinical and Experimental Medicine, and the Center for Social and Affective Neuroscience at Linkoping University in Sweden. Previous research determined that other non-human mammals had ultrafast nociceptors that enabled them to detect pain stimuli almost instantaneously. Using a technique called, microneurography Nagi and his team of researchers were able to track pain and touch signals in the nerve fibers of a single neuron. The team applied brush strokes to these neurons, but they did not react. However, these nerve cells communicated pain signals just as quickly as touch sensitive ones. They applied this tec hnique to a group of 100 healthy participants.The established canon was that in humans touch was signaled by fast-conducting, thickly myelinated afferents, and the pain was communicated by slow-conducting thinly myelinated or unmyelinated afferents. Myelin is a mixture of proteins and phospholipids that help nerves communicate signals more quickly. The new study concluded that pain actually travels just as rapidly as touch.Its becoming evident that thickly myelinated nerve fibers contribute to the experience of pain when it has a mechanical cause. Our results challenge the textbook description of a rapid system for signaling touch and a slower system for signaling pain. We suggest that pain can be signaled just as rapidly as touch, explained Nagi.Twelve percent of the neurons that had a thick coat of myelin exhibited the same characteristics of nociceptors, in that they were able to detect and communicate potentially tissue-damaging events like pinching or stroking.

How Virtual Internships Work

How Virtual Internships WorkHow Virtual Internships WorkVirtual internships are internships done entirely via email, online chat, or phone. They typically offer a great deal of flexibility and remove the necessity of having to live in a certain geographical location. Virtual internships, also called remote internships, are easier to fit into a busy college schedule and offer students an opportunity to gain experience without having to commute to a specific location at a specific time. Finding and Applying Many virtual internships exist in the fields of IT, sales, journalism, marketing, and software development. Jobs in those areas lend themselves to remote work, but you can find opportunities for virtual internships in other types of employment as well. Although the structure of a virtual internship may be different than that of a traditional internship, the application process is usually pretty similar. First, you will probably be asked to send in a resume and titelseite letter and perhaps some hilfestellunging materials, such as writing samples. If the manager likes what they see, you will be interviewed by phone. Before you accept a virtual internship, there are some questions you should get answers to What tasks will you be doing and what will your responsibilities be?Will training or supervision be offered only at the beginning or over the course of the internship?How many hours per week are required for the internship?Is the internship paid?Can you receive college credit for the internship?Will you receive an evaluation or recommendation letter at the end of the internship? Will your supervisor be able to act as a work reference after the internship is over?Could the internship lead to full-time employment at the company? Pros of a Virtual Internship Some of the advantages of doing an internship remotely include You can intern for any company, regardless of location, without relocating Internships are typically for a short period, whether its a f ew weeks or a few months. It can be difficult to relocate your life for the short period of an internship- though many students do it because they want to intern with a particular company.A virtual internship enables students to work for their dream company without undergoing the hassle of relocating.The hours tend to be more flexible Because youre working remotely and not reporting into an office, you may be able to work the hours you want rather than those of a typical workday. The flexibility to work when you want is a great benefit on its own, but it can also free up your daytime hours to work at another job. That situation would be especially helpful if your internship is unpaid. You may be able to earn college credits more easily than with a traditional internship Its typically harder to fit in an internship during a spring or fall semester when you would have a class schedule to work around. Because the hours for a virtual internship tend to be more flexible, it should be ea sier to manage your class schedule and internship schedule in a single semester.You wont have to commute With a virtual internship, you dont need to pay for a car or public transportation to get into the office at a set time. Cons of a Virtual Internship The downsides of a virtual internship include There might be a lack of structure and support An internship can become like a mentorship if your boss excels at providing structured supervision and support. You probably wont get that same feeling of having been mentored if youre communicating only by email and phone.There might be less job training and guidance Similarly, you may get less training on and guidance about the duties of the job from your boss and colleagues at a remote internship than you would if you could see them face-to-face. You wont experience the office environment You also wont be able to learn successful work behaviors such as following office etiquette and understanding and responding to a corporations cul ture. You will miss out on the daily experiences of life in a professional setting.You will have to be more self-motivating Without an in-the-flesh boss to answer to, you will have to muster the motivation from within to do your job. Offsetting the Cons As with any internship, what you get out of a virtual internship is commensurate with what you put into it0. If youre concerned a virtual internship might be a lesser experience, talk about that with the person who would be your boss before you accept the job. If your future boss is able to convince you the internship will be worthwhile, go for it. Similarly, while youre interning, do what you can to make koranvers the experience lives up to the expectations your boss established. In a professional manner, ask for more guidance and support if you feel like they have been lacking.

Stop chasing opportunities

Stop chasing opportunitiesStop chasing opportunitiesDo you believe that more opportunities equal more chances of success? I sure did.And since we all want to feel important in this world, we think that the way to achieve that is to chase every single opportunity out there.I hear it often This is a big opportunity for me.But that idea is broken. Chasing opportunities is a bad strategy. Its more practical to chase skills and PREPARE for opportunities.Follow Ladders on FlipboardFollow Ladders magazines on Flipboard covering Happiness, Productivity, Job Satisfaction, Neuroscience, and moreThats a small tweak in your mindset, but it changes everything. Abraham Lincoln put it bestI will prepare and some day my chance willcome.Were always desperately looking for the next big opportunity. The next big geschftlicher umgang idea, technology to adopt, a holiday to plan, house to buy, person to seduce, promotion to acquire.What are you pursuing in yourlife?Are you all over the place?Trying to ma ke the best of everything? Chasing every single opportunity on your path? If you do that, this is youYoure just fooling yourself. You want it all, but you lack the courage to say no. So you say yes, and you put yourself in an impossible situation.Many priorities equal NOfocusI must be honest - Im talking to myself here. For most of my life, Ive been moving from one opportunity to the other. That changed about two years ago when I decided to only focus on growing Vartex, my family business, and my blog.And that went well. I said no to everything else. But I was tempted by opportunities the last few months. Consulting, coaching, speaking, writing more books, starting other businesses, creating YouTube videos - things I either did or considered.But all it did was confuse me. I had too many priorities and zero focus. It was time for me to rethink my opportunities.However, its never a matter of finding opportunities. Everyone has opportunities. So its notlage about how many opportuniti es you have, its about how many opportunities you eliminate from your life. And thats not easy.I decided to only focus on my business, blog, online courses, and podcasting. Just four things. Theyre all very closely related. And I say no to every other opportunity.Opportunities are not onlyexternalMost opportunities come from within. Every time you think Should I pursue this? Youre evaluating an opportunity.And that requires a lot of brainpower. So make your life easy, and DECIDE.Decide what you want to focus on in your career.What do you want to excel at? And do exactly that. Nothing else.How many things should I focuson?Thats a tough one. It depends on where you are in life. In the beginning of your career, I would pick one to make things easy. Just pick one skill and give it all your attention.But having just one skill in life will not get you far. When I look at people who are doing well in life, they often have combined several skills to get a competitive advantage.You also dont want to be a jack of all trades. Otherwise, youre okay at many things, but never exceptional at a few.How do I know when opportunity knocks?When you know that it requires hard work to actualize the opportunity. Thomas Edison put it nicelyOpportunity is missed by most people because it is dressed in overalls and looks likework.At the end of the day, an opportunity is just a chance of making something good happen. An opportunity alone means nothing. Give ten people the same opportunity, and youll get ten different outcomes.Opportunity = More Work (which is not always a good thing)Because you dont want to work yourself to death, its best to pick your opportunities wisely. How? I ask myself two questions.What am I good at?This question helps you pick opportunities that align with your strengthsWhat type of work do I enjoy?I dont like to pursue opportunities just because I think it will make me money. Or just because other people are doing something. Those are lousy reasons to do someth ing.And when you answer those questions honestly, you always get a handful of career opportunities. No one is good at 107 skills. And no one enjoys doing everything in the world.Remember that drawing from earlier? Youre chasing all opportunities, but you end up confused.Now, when you decide to pursue a few good opportunities that knock on your door, you get thisLook, life is full of opportunity. You just have to figure out which opportunities youre going after. And yes, thats a hard thing to figure out. You also dont control the opportunities that come your way.What do you control? How prepared you are. So stop chasing everything like a happy dog in the park on a summer day. Just keep things simple, work on your skills, character, and become better at a few things every single day.And when opportunity knocks, dont be afraid of the work, grab it by the head and give it EVERYTHING YOU GOT.This article first appeared on Darius Foroux.You might also enjoyNew neuroscience reveals 4 ritua ls that will make you happyStrangers know your social class in the first seven words you say, study finds10 lessons from Benjamin Franklins daily schedule that will double your productivityThe worst mistakes you can make in an interview, according to 12 CEOs10 habits of mentally strong people

Buridans ass Why more is less (and what to do about it)

Buridans aspirin Why more is less (and what to do about it)Buridans aspirin Why more is less (and what to do about it)Imagine a happy, bubbly donkey strolling down an open, rich field.After a few minutes of walking, the donkey finds itself standing in-between two identical, delicious bundles of hay- one on the left, the other on the right.Unfortunately, the poor donkey cant figure out a good reason to choose one bundle of hay over the other. Or, which one to choose first, if it decides to eat both.The miserable donkey swivels its head left and right, deliberating between the two hay choices, and increasingly growing in hunger.After a long while, the poor donkey- paralyzed by the choices available- eventually dies from starvation.This short thought experiment, formally known as Buridans ass, originated from the early 14th-century, nominalist French Philosopher, Jean Buridan.Over 600 years after Jean Buridans thought experiment, psychologists began to conduct extensive experiments to e xplain the paradox of Buridans ass and shed some light on how choice affects ur well-being.Heres what they discovered.The more, the betterIn 2000, psychologists Sheena Iyengar and Mark Lepper published a groundbreaking study that would throw the business and academic world into a frenzy.And it was all because of jam. 1On two consecutive Saturdays, a tasting booth was set up in a gourmet grocery store in an upscale California neighborhood.Two research assistants, dressed as employees, stood behind the tasting booth and beckoned customers to come try our Wilkin and Sons jams.A passerby was presented with one of two anzeigegert tables.On one display, 24 varieties of exotic, high-quality gourmet jam, were spread across the table. And on the other, only six varieties were presented.Each display provided a taste sample of each variety, and a coupon for a dollar if a passerby bought a jar of jam.For several hours, the researchers intimately observed how hundreds of people interacted with e ach display table.Unsurprisingly, more people were attracted to the display of 24 varieties of jam, than the display of six varieties.After all, more choice is always better.Or is it?The paradox of choiceWhen the researchers sat down to count the total number of customer purchases per display, they expected to see higher figures associated with the table of 24 varieties of jam. But, they completely missed the mark.Surprisingly, only 3% of people who walked up to the table of 24 varieties of jam made a purchase. Conversely, 30% of people exposed to the display of six varieties of jam spent their hard-earned money on a jar of jam.Even though more people were attracted to the table with more choices available, they were one-tenth as likely to buy a jar of jam than people who saw the smaller display.The researchers concluded- after repeating a similar experiment with choices of chocolates and essay assignments- that more choice leads to reduced human motivation.A series of follow up stu dies have also shown that increasing the number of choices available creates feelings of anxiety, unhappiness and dissatisfaction. 2But this flies in the face of societies beliefs that more choice is better for our well-being. In actual fact, more choice could leave us worse off.In the book,The Paradox of Choice(Audiobook), psychologist, Barry Schwartz attempts to explain this paradoxAutonomy and Freedom of choice are critical to our well being, and choice is critical to freedom and autonomy. Nonetheless, though modern Americans have more choice than any group of people ever has before, and thus, presumably, more freedom and autonomy, we dont seem to be benefiting from it psychologically.Never have we had so much of choice with respect to love and relationships, work, travel, entertainment, ideas, goals and so on, but can we confidently say that were more satisfied?And, why is more choice detrimental for our well-being?The problem with too much choiceVery little is needed to make a happy life it is all within yourself in your way of thinking. ?Marcus Aurelius,MeditationsThere are several plausible explanations for why more choice leaves us worse off.First, consider the phenomenon of Hicks law- named after psychologist William Hick- which states that increasing the number of choices available to a person will increase the time it takes them to make a decision.Take a few seconds to remember the last time you wasted a lot of time deciding between a number of choices i.e. choices of holiday, house, clothing, food, relationship, ideas etc.Most likely, you can recall how this indecisiveness led to overwhelm, anxiety, high expectations and regret after a final choice was made.Second, according to Nobel prize winner in Economics, Herber A. Simon, there are two types of consumers. They are the maximizers and the satisficers. 3Maximizers are perfectionists. They need reassurance that every purchase or decision is the best one possible.In order to achieve this, the maxim izer embarks on an exhausting search for all possibilities and engages in social comparisons to make a decision.At the end of the research phase, the maximizer feels exhausted, regrets the choice and is dissatisfied with the final decision.On the flip side, satisficers are not worried about the possibility that there may be a better choice out there. They simply make a decision based on their criteria and standards, and are satisfied with their final choice.The problem is that nowadays, most of us are maximizers.We want the best at all costs, and refuse to settle for good enough.As a result of this, we suffer from f.o.m.o (fear of missing out) when making a choice between one of several desirable choices. And after a choice is made, we still feel dissatisfied and miserable.The interaction of both of these explanations and Buridans ass is best illustrated by theInverted-U Curve.In a nutshell, for each new choice added to our array of options, there are diminishing marginal positive b enefits.After exceeding a certain number of choices, the marginal benefits of each new choice becomes nominal and eventually turns negative.The ideal number of choices is at the point where we enjoy the maximum benefit.Through trial and error we can learn to adjust the number of our choices for optimal well-being and satisfaction.Give up on freedom of choiceThe irony is that the freedom of choice and abundance available to us has inadvertently robbed us of the same freedom it promised to deliver.What weve gained in freedom of choice, weve also lost in becoming slaves toanxiety, overwhelm, regret, dissatisfaction and misery.The only way to regain true freedom and satisfaction in our lives, is toembrace hardshipand give up on freedom of choice.P.S.For more ideas on how to make better choices, master focus and productivity in your life, check outthe art of stress-free focus seminar.Mayo Oshin writes atMayoOshin.Com, where he shares the best practical ideas based on proven science and t he habits of highly successful people for stress-free productivity and improved mental performance. To get these strategies to stop procrastinating, get more things by doing less and improve your focus,join his free weekly newsletter.A version of thisarticleoriginally appeared atmayooshin.comasBuridans Ass Why More Is Less (and What to Do About It).FootnotesS. Iyengar and M. Lepper, When Choice Is Demotivating Can One Desire Too Much of a Good Thing? Journal of Personality and Social Psychology, 2000, 79, 9951006.Neural correlates of dueling affective reactions to win-win choices.Shenhav et al (2014).Grant, Adam Schwartz, Barry. (2011).Too Much of a Good Thing The Challenge and Opportunity of the Inverted U. Perspectives on Psychological Science. 6. 61-76.Simon, H. A. (1955).A behavioral model of rational choice. Quarterly Journal of Economics, 59, 99118The concept behind Buridans ass had previously been explored by Aristotle, who wrote that a man, being just as hungry as thirsty, and placed in between food and drink, must necessarily remain where he is and starve to death.

Top Professional Resume Services Reviews!

Top Professional Resume Services Reviews If You Read Nothing Else Today, Read This Report on Professional Resume Services An affordable research proposal writing services research proposal is among the various kinds of academic writing that requires having the right abilities, knowledge, and experience to acquire excellent grades. Online resume services Chicago are simple to access because you may get in contact with the experts online. You may rely upon such services. To prevent such situation, its best to employ professional resume services. Lots of people have the dream of working at home. The actual individuals highly praise ur essay help site. Professional resume ghostwriting services know we have many difficult things that you must do should you need to acquire work, and perhaps the fruchtwein crucial and most challenging is completing a resume. Some men and women desire to compose their very own resume but want to boost its possible by talking having a professional who can offer them advantageous tips. By reading college paper writing service reviews, you get to understand the pros and cons which offers you a clearer view which to get. Keep your focus on what youre likely to do next and how youre likely to discover another job. Whether youre just starting your work hunting procedure or have been attempting to locate a new job without success for months, you need to contact the Resume Center today to learn more regarding the services offered and how they are sometimes put to use. Download the internet Casino software today and you may play our totally free casino online, and be on your way to the fun and excitement of Vegas style internet casino gamingFor instance, you may include links to your previous experience websites for effortless access in case theyre curious. Utilizing social media is an excellent means to do that. There are a lot of reasons why you must prefer our services. As a conclusion, in general its beneficial to begin employi ng an expert career services. The History of Professional Resume Services Refuted What a difference an expert makes Depending on the received professional resume, its going to be much simpler to adapt it to actual job openings. As an example, with one form of job, your work experience or educational background could be important. Dont expect an employer to select the opportunity to find out whether you truly have the skills being sought. Working from home sounds very desirable to a lot of folks, while its to decrease the cost of the gas required to get back and forth from work or since you get a little child that you hope in order to take care when working at home. There are lots of resources on the net, which allow you to draft the ideal resume, telling you what things to include and exclude, guiding you to state qualifications in their order of relevance and according to the level or job and sector or industry which you are asking for work in. One of the chief issues associ ated with resume writing is that lots of individuals just do not understand how to draft a well-written resume. As a consequence, such students start looking for the best essay help to be certain that their project is going to be produced at the maximal level in accord with all academic standards. Your purpose is to have a prospective employer read your resume and be knowledgeable about the terms you use. If you are looking for for work, then its thought to be very imperative that you comprehend how to offer yourself in the absolute most heart catching way before an employer. The very first thing most individuals do is to prepare their resume or complete a work application, based on the way the prospective employer prefers to screen their applicants. Put simply, it causes a face-to-face interview. For instance, some businesses announce, two to six weeks in advance, that theyll be laying off workers. You have to encourage the feasible employer that youre the ideal applicant for the endeavor. In the United States, an employer does not have any legal right to know your age. Generally, he or she has no legal right to know your health status. The Appeal of Professional Resume Services Moreover writers who need to. Interviews, however, are the purpose of everyone who would like to do the job. Unique kinds of jobs will want to highlight unique things. Then decide which will be contained beneath their various work in the Experience section of the resume. Writing can be a potent kind of self-expression and means of giving birth to a voice on the planet. Leadership is absolutely an ability that includes experience, but not only that. People today accept new jobs for many factors. Getting job isnt very easy in the current world.

Survey Shows 42 Percent of Workers Change Industries for New Positions

Survey Shows 42 Percent of Workers Change Industries for New Positions According to a survey from Right Management polling 7,000 North American workers, 42 percent of job seekers chose to change industries this year in order to land a new position. A further 40 percent chose to change job functions for a new position. Its no surprise that so many people are able to change industries, since many competencies or skills are readily transferable, particularly for people from functions such as IT, finance, marketing and human resources, said Monika Morrow, senior vice-president of career management at Right Management. That so many seem to switch job function is more surprising.Industry-wise, manufacturing, energy, IT, automotive, and finance sectors all experienced hiring increases in 2012.For some organizations in these sectors, they are simultaneously divesting one part of their business while focus ing on growing another, so there are also opportunities for redeployment within the same firm to move from one function to another, Morrow said. Companies are helping employees with training to enable them to up skill or reskill to enable them move to another part of the business.Morrow goes on to suggest that the change in industry or function in order to change jobs may also rely on professional career transition assistance This involves developing a job search strategy, exploring less obvious sectors or opportunities as well as coaching on how to be positioned for a job that may be a bit of a stretch, and specific skill development to credential or qualify candidates to be able to make a switch. Without such experienced support fruchtwein people wont venture far from what theyre familiar with, but flexibility is increasingly the name of the game for a successful job seeker.

How to know if youll be successful

How to know if youll be successfulHow to know if youll be successfulLife is complex and messy. It can be extremely difficult to get traction, let alone find motivation.But motivation is something you can learn to create at will. Becoming deeply passionate is also within your creative control. As a result, you can completely predict your own success. You canchooseto become as successful as you desire.Follow Ladders on FlipboardFollow Ladders magazines on Flipboard covering Happiness, Productivity, Job Satisfaction, Neuroscience, and moraHeres how1. Turn Success Into A Game, Not AGrindLife is a game, play it. Mother TheresaWe hear a lot about people grinding these days. That sounds awful Grinding day in and out is a path to burnout and misery.The best performers in the world dont grind, theygame For example, Warren Buffett became good at selling because as a child he would go door-to-door selling chewing gum. But he welchesnt focused on making money. Instead, he was fascinated trying t o figure out which flavors sold best. Even back then, he was trying to make predictions. Hes still playing the same games.According to author, Daniel Coyle,If it can be counted, you can turn it into a game.Rather than practicing in a tedious and boring way, youre far better-off turning your practice into a game. This is why CrossFit is so successful. There are objectives where you start and complete new challenges.I recently had this experience learning Spanish on the app,Duolingo. I started seeinghow manyobjectives I could complete in a single day, and how many days I could compete challenges in a row.2. Know That You CanSucceedIgnition (n) The motivational process that occurs when your identity becomes linked to a long-term vorstellung of your future. Triggers significant amounts of unconscious energy usually marked by the realizationThat is who I want to be. Daniel CoyleTheres a moment when you see what you want and a voice organically speaks within you I could be that.This exper ience is pivotalHow could you ever become an Olympic Athlete if you didnt at some point see it and believe it in your mind?Put simply, you need to have an identity shift. No wannabe ever made it big. At some point, they either gave up on their dream or stopped being a wannabe.During my research as a graduate student, I studied the difference between wannabe entrepreneurs and successful entrepreneurs. None of the wannabes actually saw themselvesasentrepreneurs. They hadnt had the shift where they fully identified themselves as entrepreneurs. Conversely, successful entrepreneurs saw being an entrepreneuras who they were.That identity shift happened as they began investing money into their entrepreneurial goals, and as they made the conscious decision this is WHO I AM. Your identity follows your behavior. Therefore, this shift wont happen untilafteryou begin acting into the new role you plan to play. You dont start with faith. You choose to have it. Its a conscious choice, followed by behavior. Then identity and motivation follow.3. Stop HidingItWhat other people think of you is none of your business.If you want to remain mediocre at something forever,keep it to yourself. If you want to become extremely successful, then openly share your dreams with your loved ones.Harmonious passion is about living an integrated, rather than a compartementalized, life. The mora aligned you become on who you are the mora congruent all areas of your life will be. Moreover, the more honest you are with the person you intend to be, the more support and love youll get from friends and family. Theyll also hold you accountable to your dreams and goals if they see you elend making progress.How can you involve key people into this quest?How can you connect this passion with other areas in your life?4. Create A Vision ThatWorksIt doesnt matter what your geistesbild is. It matters what your vision does. Peter M. Senge,The Fifth DiscipleWhats your vision?More interestingly,what does your vi sion cause you to do?Rather than worrying so much about what your visionis,you should be thinking about what your visionis doing. What is it doing to you? What is it doing to your environment? Your behavior? Your relationships? Your aspirations? Your income? Your impact?Are you and your external world transforming in powerful and inspired ways? If so, then your vision is working. If not, then adjust the vision to ensure it focuses on execution and transformation.Thats the fruchtwein important consideration - is your vision working?5. Practice Privately 510X Than You PerformPubliclyPrivate victory always precedes public victory. Stephen CoveyKobe Bryant was always the first person in the gym and the last to leave. He worked harder than anyone else. He had more coaches and trainers. He was always pushing his own limits and perfecting even the smallest facets of his skillsets.When practice becomesthegame for you, thats when youre about to explode in your progress.Why?Because practice i s all about perfecting skills. True practice and learning force you to deeply examine the chinks in your armor. You are only as strong as your weakest link. In a world that tells you to ignore your weaknesses, true practitioners do the opposite.6. Carry A Notepad EverywhereI take notes like some people take drugs. There is an eight-foot stretch of shelves in my house containing nothing but full notebooks. I trust the weakest pen more than the strongest memory, and note taking is in my experience one of the fruchtwein important skills for converting excessive information into precise action and follow-up. Tim Ferriss, in the blogpost,How to Take Notes Like an Alpha-GeekYour mind can be like a well. It takes pumping the well for a while to get the ideas and creativity flowing. However, if you get the well pumping, then all of you have to do is keep it going. You can get to the point where the ideas and insights keep coming coming coming.Your responsibility at that point is to take not es. If you ignore those subconscious promptings, they will stop coming. Taking note, adjusting your mindset, and shifting your behavior is HOW you pump the well. Its how you keep the ideas flowing. You must continually be shifting the connections and model.7. Quickly Address Mistakes, Or Youll StopLearningIt is tempting to think that just because one understands certain principles one has learned about the discipline. This is the familiar trap of confusing intellectual understanding with learning. Learning always involves new understandings and new behaviors, thinking and doing. Peter M. SengeLessons are repeated until learned.According to Brain-scan studies, if you do not address a herausforderung in 0.25 seconds after a mistake is made, then you probably wont do anything about it. Youll shrug your shoulders and keep going. This is really bad for learning. Youre just more deeply engraining the negative behavioral cycle into your brain.Performance experts have found that if you addr ess your mistakes immediately, you can learn more in 5 minutes than most people do in 30 days. If you simply address your problems and the spot, correct them, and learn better ways, then you dont have to continuously repeat the problem.8. Face Your Pain, Or It Will Be Buried And Stunt YourGrowthIf you dont know how to control your emotional reactions and theres a refractory period, and you let that emotional reaction linger for hours or days, it turns into a mood. So you say to someone, Whats wrong with you? The person says, Im in a mood. Then you say, Why are you in a mood? They say, Well, this thing happened to me five days ago and Im having one long emotional reaction. If you keep that refractory period going for weeks and months, youve developed a temperament. If you keep that same refractory period going on for years, its called a personality trait. Dr. Joe DispenzaLearning and growing are emotional and often painful experiences. Sometimes, things happen in life that you didnt plan for nor were you responsible for traumatic experiences.Whether caused by you or someone else, when you go through a painful experience, that experience can only become one of two things to you. Its either going to become a long-term problem, or its going to become a core strength.When you experience a powerfully emotional experience, you experience what is known as a refractory period which is your physiological response to an experience. That period should ideally be short, but often people dont cope well with experiences. Sometimes. the refractory period of a certain experience can lastyears.For example, you have a really intense experience and that experience changes you. Until you directly face and walk-through that issue, it will always be a part of you. In fact, you will remain the same person emotionally until you learn that lesson. I know people who had rough experiences as teenagers who are still subconsciously playing out the same emotional experiencesfrom that episod e. They havent learned or changed since that event.This is a painful and ineffective way to live. This is not to diminish the pain and suffering that people have gone through, or the negative ripple effects that have since been created. Its simply speaking to the truth of the matter the only way out isthrough. You cant avoid it. You must face your deepest fears or youll always be a slave to them.In a recent interview, Josh Waitzkin described an experience where he almost died. He was doing underwater breathing techniques and accidentally passed-out. Rather than allowing a long refractory period to occur, he said that he was back in the water 2 days later.He didnt want that traumatic experience to become a lifelong weakness. He didnt want to train his body to live in the trauma. He walked straight into the trauma and pain and fear and quickly re-established his relationship and control over the situation. Therefore, that experience became an incredible blessing and learning and exper ience.9. Have Fun MilestonesCelebrate small victories often. Mourn failures quickly. Do whats necessary without fanfare. Chris BroganA key component of mastering anything is creating fun, engaging, and relevant milestones throughout the learning process.For example, if youre trying to learn a new language, buy a plane flugticket for 3 months in advance so you can test your new language skills in an immersive way. Plan to eat at fun restaurants and to see interesting things. Reward yourself in a way that links directly to what youre trying to master.10. Invest Big OnYourselfBeyond a certain point there is no return. This point has to be reached. Franz KafkaDreamers invest their money and time into distractions while doers invest their time and money into their dreams.The financial investment willmake it realto you. This is a huge part of ignition (see 2 above). When you start acting in ways that excite you, and in ways that reflect the future identity youre trying to create then you begin identifying with that future self here-and-now. You signal to yourself who you are by the actions you take. Your behavior shapes your personality and identity.This is one of the most important moments you can have. That moment where you say,Whoa, Im actually doing thisThat moment is deeply connected with the moment where you say inside of yourself,I can be one of those.11. IgnoreEveryoneFor the first couple years you make stuff, its just not that good. Its trying to be good, it has potential, but its not.But your taste, the thing that got you into the game, is still killer.And your taste is why your work disappoints you. Ira GlassKeep your eyes only on the people whoinspire you. You have good taste.The worst thing you could do is worry about what your peers think. When people begin worrying about what their peers think, their motivation becomes clouded and confused. They stop doing their work for the internal reasons that got them excited and they begin trying to fit in, or to be impressive to the wrong people.12. Focus On Challenges And Quests, NotTimeDeep practice is not measured in minutes or hours, but in the number of high-quality reaches and repetitions you make basically, how many new connections you form in your brain. Daniel CoyleIn his book,Living with a SEAL,Jesse Itzlertells the storyof being inspired by a certain Navy SEAL and consequently inviting him to live at Itzlers home for a month. Itzler admitted being in a personal rut and wanted to shake himself out of his routine.Day 1 SEAL asked Itzler,How many pull-ups can you do?Itzler squeaked out eight shaky pull-ups.Take 30 seconds and do it again,SEAL said.30 seconds later, Itzler got on the bar and did six, struggling.Take 30 seconds and do it one more time,SEAL said. 30 seconds later, Itzler got on the bar and did three, at which point his arms were exhausted.Alright, were not leaving here until you do 100 more,SEAL stated. Itzler was puzzled.Alright, were gonna be here a long-time. Cause theres no way I could do 100.However, Itzler ended-up completing the challenge, doing one pull-up at a time. Thus, SEAL convinced Itzler that he could do way more than he thought he could.Like Itzler who shattered a mental barrier by completing 100 pull-ups, you too can get out of your rut by pursuing tangible objectives.The concept isDo something and dont stop until its complete, no matter how long it takes.If it doesnt suck, we dont do it.You can apply this principle to anything. You can do a homework assignment and just do it until its complete. You can write an article and stick-to-it until its published. You can do 100 pull-ups, or run 5 miles, and go until youre done.Who cares how long it takes?The best practice is objective-based. Not time based. In fact, you want to eliminate your sense of time as much as you possibly can.Living in the dimensions oftimeis a 95 mindset. Living in FLOW is about dissolving into timelessness. Its about enjoying what youre doing for the sake of it. One of the fastest ways into flow is by pushing yourself to achieve certain things, daily. If youre weightlifting, your reps or objectives could be to do a certain lift perfectly a number of times. If youre a musician, it could be playing a certain song or part of a song 510 times perfectly in a row.Make it a game. But more than anything, focus it on successfully completing a certain objective. Dont build your practice around time and effort. We live in the results economy where results are what matter more than anything now.13. See How Much You Can Do In A SingleDayOnly those who will risk going too far can possibly find out how far one can go. T. S. EliotEzra Taft Benson was a religious leader who simultaneously served as the 15th United States Secretary of Agriculture during both presidential terms of Dwight D. Eisenhower.Benson grew up on a farm in Whitney, Idaho. One day in 1915 at the age of 16, he was hired by a neighboring farmer to thin a field of sugar beets. He took h is short-handled hoe in hand and looked out over the sugar beet field. Here was the thought that came into his mindIf I work as hard as I can, I wonder how much I can do in a day?He started just as the sun came up and worked almost without stopping until sun down. Then he realized how much he could do. He had thinned a full acre of beets in just one day Which was an insane amount for one person. When the farmer saw what Benson had done, he was shocked. He dropped two silver dollars and two five-dollar gold coins into Bensons hand. Benson could hardly believe his eyes 12 dollars at that time, and for a 16 year old farm boy, was a small fortune.As he walked home he was walking on air and he felt like the richest man in town.The question Benson asked himself is a question YOU need to ask yourself.How much can you get done in a single day?How much can you get donetoday?This isnt about being busy, but rather, about being productive. Its also about pushing your own limits, and seeing how far you can actually go. Most people are trying to see howlittlethey can do. If youre one of those people who can seehow muchyou can do, yeah14. See How Much You Can Give In Your RelationshipsYou can have everything in life you want, if you will just help other people get what they want. Zig ZiglarWhen youre driven to give and to serve, you become more empathetic and relevant. Because its aboutthemand not you, you can actually listen and discern what they need. Youre not calculating your next move. Youre not thinking about what youre going to say next. Instead, youre actually listening. Youre actually discovering what other people need.15. Deep Focus, Then Deep ReflectionI think of the learning process of an undulation of deep learning and periods of surfacing and reflection. Josh WaitzkinSuccess is not a marathon. Instead, success is a series of sprints. You push yourself beyond your limits and then you rest/recover.Some sprints may be a week. Other sprints may be a few years. What ever the case, you need periods where you surface from the intensity and reflect on what the heck just happened. You get feedback. You open yourself up to trusted friends and mentors. You re-adjust your path if you need to based on what youve learned and based on the post-reflection process.Recovery, resting, and reflection are essential to becoming brilliant at what you do. If youre not prioritizing these, then youre on a path to burnout. Moreover, if youre not taking time to reflect and recover, theres a good chance youre going the wrong direction without even knowing it.16. Never StopLearningDont believe your own press. Joe PolishWayne Gretzky is considered the greatest hockey player to ever live. Yet, he was known by his teammates to continually look like a fool. He was always trying new things in practice and falling all over the ice. He failed a lot more than his teammates.The problem with success is dull your motivational edge and drive. In order to keep yourself sharp, you n eed tonever stoppushing your boundaries, not matter how good you become.The moment you stop learning, testing, and trying is the moment you go backwards. If you dont use it, youll quickly lose it.17. Avoid Luxury Like ThePlagueWe love comfort. We love state-of-the-art practice facilities, oak-paneled corner offices, spotless locker rooms, and fluffy towels. Which is a shame, because luxury is a motivational narcotic It signals our unconscious minds to give less effort. It whispers,Relax, youve made it.The talent hotbeds are not luxurious. In fact, they are so much the opposite that they are sometimes called chicken-wire Harvards. Top music camps especially ones that can afford better consist mainly of rundown cabins. The North Baltimore Aquatic Club, which produced Michael Phelps and four other Olympic medalists, could pass for an underfunded YMCA. The worlds highest-performing schools those in Finland and South Korea, which perennially score at the top of the Program for Internatio nal Student Assessment rankings feature austere classrooms that look as if they havent changed since the 1950s. Daniel CoyleFor most people, success is not really about the work itself, but about the luxuries success can give you.World-class performers keep things simple. They arent afraid to enjoy luxuries and make good money. However, when it comes to their work, they are simplistic. They maintain the scrappiness and drive as they had when they were first starting out.ConclusionWhat does success actually look like to you?How much are you investing in your dreams?Can you see yourself where you want to be?Are you going to get there?Ready toupgrade?Ive created a cheat sheet for putting yourself into a PEAK-STATE, immediately. You follow this daily, your life will change very quickly.Get the cheat sheet hereThis article first appeared on Medium.

How to (painlessly) reinvent yourself when life demands it

How to (painlessly) reinvent yourself when life demands itHow to (painlessly) reinvent yourself when life demands itIn these fast-paced times, it seems like change is the only constant we have. Some people accept change gracefully, while others hold on kicking and screaming. But today its more important than ever to embrace change and be able to reinvent yourself. Why? Because innovation is changing markets daily, because our global economy has leveled the playing field and introduced more competition than ever before, and because life occasionally compels us to move in a new direction - like it or not.Whether youre switching jobs in a competitive market, starting a new career, or experiencing a transition in your personal life, upheaval can be really frightening. But its also a priceless opportunity to reinvent yourself.When you face a setback in your life, you have two choices. Remain stuck or move forward its that simple. Life is too short to spend it stuck and miserable. Take ac tion now to change your life or get ready to watch life pass you by.Reinventing yourself demands change. No matter how dire your circumstances, you can make changes today that will prepare you for a better tomorrow. You may have to find a new way to make a living, or start over in a new city, or take a big risk that terrifies you. Still, you have to be willing to change. It may not always be easy, but it sure beats staying stuck for the rest of your life.Realize its never too lateDuring the course of your lifetime, you will be called upon to reinvent yourself, time and time again. Dont let yourself stay stuck in what you know. Make the fruchtwein of the resilience you now have under your belt with overcoming previous challenges and strive for new horizons. As you envision this new version of yourself, what are some steps you can take today to put that new self into action?Take an honest look at your lifeMuster the courage to look at your life and figure out where youve gone wrong, a nd the changes you need to make to get back on track. Own up to the mistakes you have made and take responsibility for the part you played in getting yourself stuck. Krasnow points out that this kind of brutal honesty is not for the faint of heart. It requires courage to take full responsibility for your life and most importantly for the failures in your wake. But if you can sit down and face your own mistakes, you will free yourself up to learn from the painful consequences you are facing today.Move forward just do itChange is not rocket science. We all have a tendency to make life so complicated when it doesnt have to be. Simply make a decision to move forward. Dont try just do it. People say theyre going to try to change. Try? There is no such thing. Theres doing it or not doing it. Try is a word that you should eliminate from your vocabulary right now.Dream bigThe only real challenge in creating the life youve always wanted is your inability or unwillingness to free up your fant asie to envision your dream in all of its glory. In other words, you are only as successful as your perceived limitations. How often do you limit yourself when envisioning the success you are capable of achieving? Dont settle for the limited vista of your present-day life. Instead, allow yourself to be willing to travel well beyond the bounds of the landscapes you may not be able to imagine today.Stay focusedOnce you decide to make a change in your life, its time to get serious and focus on your goals. Think of life as a journey in a train that travels on a track. Each track leads to a specific destination. Make a point of staying on the track of your choice, without getting distracted and switching tracks. If you stay focused, you will certainly reach your desired destination.Pace yourselfMaking a major life change requires a steady pace. You work at it each day and keep at it (and then keep at it some more). Remember that extraordinary creations are not built in a day through occa sional bursts of effort, but rather are crafted over long periods of time with daily, steady tasks. Its a marathon stop exhausting yourself by sprinting from place to place. Instead, stay on course with your goals and remain consistent.Know that failure is not an optionWhen you realize that failure is not an option, it becomes clear that there is no stopping at the first obstacle you encounter along the way. There is an opening, even in the most stubborn of barricades. Where is the opening in your current wall of obstacles?Is there a secret passage you had overlooked but is now emerging in front of you? Take that hidden path and forge ahead. Just keep your eye on where you want to go and you might find that a setback along the way was actually a shortcut to your desired destinationWe all know that change is not the most comfortable part of our lives. But know that the process of transformation is a gratifying experience, providing you find the courage to do it. You can adapt. You ca n take a new path in your life. And you will undoubtedly be better for it in the long run.Paul G. Krasnowis the author ofThe Success Code A Guide for Achieving Your Personal Best in Business and Life.He is a financial representative at Northwestern Mutual Life Insurance Company, where he has been a top producer for 40 years.

Positive 3 ways to stay positive and be happy in life

Positive 3 ways to stay positive and be happy in lifePositive 3 ways to stay positive and be happy in lifeWeve all received the well-meaning advice to stay positive. The greater the challenge, the more this glass-half-full wisdom can come across as Pollyannaish and unrealistic. Its hard to find the motivation to focus on the positive when positivity seems like bedrngnishing more than wishful thinking.The real obstacle to positivity is that ur brains are hard-wired to look for and focus on threats. This survival mechanism served humankind well back when we were hunters and gatherers, living each day with the very real threat of being killed by someone or something in our immediate surroundings.That was eons ago. Today, this mechanism breeds pessimism and negativity through the minds tendency to wander until it finds a threat. These threats magnify the perceived likelihood that things are going - and/or are going to go - poorly.When the threat is real and lurking in the bushes down t he path, this mechanism serves you well. When the threat is imagined and you spend two months convinced the project youre working on is going to flop, this mechanism leaves you with a soured view of reality that wreaks havoc in your life.Maintaining positivity is a daily challenge that requires focus and attention. You must be intentional about staying positive if youre going to overcome the brains tendency to focus on threats. It wont happen by accident.Positivity and your healthPessimism is trouble because its bad for your health. Numerous studies have shown that optimists are physically and psychologically healthier than pessimists.Martin Seligman at the University of Pennsylvania has conducted extensive research on the topic. Seligman worked with researchers from Dartmouth and the University of Michigan on a study that followed people from age 25 to 65 to see how their levels of pessimism or optimism influenced their overall health. The researchers found that pessimists health d eteriorated far more rapidly as they aged.Seligmans findings are similar to research conducted by the Mayo Clinic that found optimists have lower levels of cardiovascular disease and longer life-spans. Although the exact mechanism through which pessimism affects health hasnt been identified, researchers at Yale and the University of Colorado found that pessimism is associated with a weakened immune response to tumors and infection.Researchers from the University of Kentucky went so far as to inject optimists and pessimists with a virus to measure their immune response. The researchers found optimists had a much stronger immune response than pessimists.Positivity and performanceKeeping a positive attitude isnt just good for your health. Martin Seligman has also studied the connection between positivity and performance. In one study in particular, he measured the degree to which insurance salespeople were optimistic or pessimistic in their work. Optimistic salespeople sold 37% more po licies than pessimists, who were twice as likely to leave the company during their first year of employment.Seligman has studied positivity more than anyone, and he believes in the ability to turn pessimistic thoughts and tendencies around with simple effort and know-how. But Seligman doesnt just believe this. His research shows that people can transform a tendency toward pessimistic thinking into positive thinking through simple techniques that create lasting changes in behavior long after they are discovered.Here are three things that Ill be doing this year to stay positive.1.Separate fact from fictionThe first step in learning to focus on the positive requires knowing how to stop negative self-talk in its tracks. The more you ruminate on negative thoughts, the more power you give them. Most of our negative thoughts are just that - thoughts, not facts.When you find yourself believing the negative and pessimistic things your inner voice says, its time to stop and write them down. Literally stop what youre doing and write down what youre thinking. Once youve taken a moment to slow down the negative momentum of your thoughts, you will be more rational and clear-headed in evaluating their veracity.Evaluate these statements to see if theyre factual. You can bet the statements arent true any time you see words likenever, always, worst, ever,etc.Do you reallyalwayslose your keys? Of course not. Perhaps you forget them frequently, but most days you do remember them. Are younevergoing to find a solution to your problem? If you really are that stuck, maybe youve been resisting asking for help. Or if it really is an intractable problem, then why are you wasting your time beating your head against the wall?If your statements still look like facts once theyre on paper, take them to a friend or colleague you can trust, and see if he or she agrees with you. Then the truth will surely come out.When it feels like somethingalwaysorneverhappens, this is just your brains natur al threat tendency inflating the perceived frequency or severity of an event. Identifying and labeling your thoughts asthoughtsby separating them from the facts will help you escape the cycle of negativity and move toward a positive new outlook.2. Identify a positiveOnce you snap yourself out of self-defeating, negative thoughts, its time to help your brain learn what you want it to focus on - the positive.This will come naturally after some practice, but first you have to give your wandering brain a little help by consciously selecting something positive to think about. Any positive thought will do to refocus your brains attention.When things are going well, and your mood is good, this is relatively easy. When things are going poorly, and your mind is flooded with negative thoughts, this can be a challenge. In these moments, think about your day and identify one positive thing that happened, no matter how small.If you cant think of something from the current day, reflect on the pr evious day or even the previous week. Or perhaps there is an exciting event you are looking forward to that you can focus your attention on.The point here is you must have something positive that youre ready to shift your attention to when your thoughts turn negative. Step one stripped the power from negative thoughts by separating fact from fiction. Step two is to replace the negative with a positive.Once you have identified a positive thought, draw your attention to that thought each time you find yourself dwelling on the negative. If that proves difficult, you can repeat the process of writing down the negative thoughts to discredit their validity, and then allow yourself to freely enjoy positive thoughts.3. Cultivate an attitude of gratitudeTaking time to contemplate what youre grateful for isnt merely the right thing to do it reduces the stress hormone cortisol by 23%. Research conducted at the University of California, Davis, found that people who worked daily to cultivate an attitude of gratitude experienced improved mood, energy and substantially less anxiety due to lower cortisol levels.You cultivate an attitude of gratitude by taking time out every day to focus on the positive. Any time you experience negative or pessimistic thoughts, use this as a cue to shift gears and think about something positive. In time, a positive attitude will become a way of life.Bringing it all togetherI realize these three tips sound incredibly basic, but they have tremendous power because they train your brain to have a positive focus. They break old habits, if you force yourself to use them. Given the minds natural tendency to wander toward negative thoughts, we can all use a little help with staying positive.This article originally appeared on LinkedIn.