Jim Rohn once said, “For things to change, you have to change. For things to get better, you have to get better”. What are you doing to get better? What are you changing in your life? The well known definition of insanity put forth by twelve step programs is “Doing the same thing over and over and expecting different results.” You can complain about the weather, your job, your health, and your life, but until you decide to change what you are doing, you will always get what you’re currently getting. This isn’t rocket science, but very few people are willing to do the hard work of change in order to make their lives better.
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Living the Great Adventure
Helen Keller has always been very inspiring to me. She was born deaf and blind, yet engaged with life in ways few of us could match. She knew adversity far greater than your or I will likely ever encounter, but she never let that get in her way. One of my favorite quotes attributed to her is, “Security is mostly a superstition. It does not exist in nature, nor do the children of men as a whole experience it…Avoiding danger is no safer in the long run than outright exposure. Life is either a daring adventure or nothing.”
Job Interview Tips
Over the course of my career I’ve conducted too many interviews to count, and the same principles hold true today as they did twenty-five years ago. There are a few keys to remember in any job interview.
- Dress professionally – If you want a professional job, dress in a professional manner. Even if the culture of the company is extremely casual, you don’t work there yet so dressing down is not an option for you. This applies to requesting Continue Reading…
The Self-Evaluation Form
Many companies these days ask their employees to fill out a self-evaluation as part of their performance review process. Self-evaluations tend to cause a universal sense of dread. Most put off filling out the form as long as possible and then agonize the entire time they work through it. Worse still, there is a tendency to rush through the process simply to get it out of the way. The self-evaluation form is your chance to sell yourself and to let your boss know all the things you’ve accomplished since the last review. It’s your opportunity to shine and can be a relatively painless endeavor when you approach it with the proper attitude.
3 Keys to Becoming Indispensible
To be truly successful in life, you must have a differentiator, something that sets you apart from everyone else. Seth Godin writes at length about this in his excellent book, “Linchpin”. Until you make yourself indispensible, you will simply be another face in the crowd. This is all very well and good in theory, but how exactly do you develop your own differentiator that allows you to stand out from the pack? I believe it’s a combination of the things you do and the things you stop doing.
How to Stay Focused
Photo courtesy of Jeroen van Oostrom
Maintaining your focus is one of the major keys to success. Those who achieve their highest goals in life are generally the ones who are best able to maintain their focus on the task at hand. Today’s society is filled with distractions and we have grown accustomed to instant gratification and constant competition for our attention. Life is full of shiny baubles, high-tech gadgets and various other toys of interest. With that in mind, let’s look at a few ways to improve your focus.