Still, there are a few tricks that can make career success slightly easier for anyone to achieve. No matter where you are on your career journey, you can benefit by taking the following actions in your workplace:

Find a Mentor

Mentorship is easily among the best programs you can participate in at any point in your career. Studies on mentored individuals have found a “wide range of favorable behavioral, attitudinal, health-related, relational, motivational and career outcomes,” regardless of whether mentorship took place in an academic or workplace setting or at some point during youth. Many organizations are creating mentorship programs as inexpensive and effective career development opportunities for staff. However, if your current employer does not have a formal mentorship program, there are alternative paths for mentorship, such as:

Approaching a business leader you already know. It tends to be easier to develop a mentor-mentee relationship with an industry expert who is already familiar with your work. You might request mentorship from a business leader in your current organization or one from a past employer. If they do not have the capacity to do so, they will likely recommend someone else in their stead.

Networking at an industry conference. Generally, it is a good idea to attend an industry conference every so often as a means of making new connections and refreshing knowledge and skill. Because conferences tend to feature industry experts in lectures and panels, you could have the opportunity to meet and cultivate a mentor-mentee relationship through such an event.

Mentorship can be time- and energy-intensive for both mentor and mentee, so if you are acquiring a mentor outside a formal program, you might need to persuade them to participate. When you make your pitch, you should reference what you appreciate about your prospective-mentor’s career and what you expect from the relationship. You should set boundaries that you both can follow and goals to track through the course of the relationship. Thanks to the guidance you receive from your mentor, you should see remarkable improvements in your career.

Become an Expert

If you enjoy the effort of gaining new knowledge and skills, you might not need to connect with an industry expert — you can simply become one. The internet makes it easier than ever to accrue information about any field, and with dedication, you can establish yourself as a top mind in your industry. You can engage in formal education like online short courses, self-direct your learning with resources like books and attend industry conferences to learn directly from established experts. If there are skills associated with your field of choice, you should deliberately practice them.

Once you have a relatively firm grasp on your field, you should showcase your expertise. You might publish resources of your own, like blogs or podcasts, or else participate actively in industry groups on social media. Your goal should be to amass a loyal following, which should bring your name into the industry spotlight. Once you are recognizable as an expert, employers will be eager to offer you any role or reward you wish.

Most workers quickly discover which jobs are easy and lucrative and which jobs are unfulfilling though nevertheless essential. It is not uncommon for organizations to see a handful of less enviable tasks left to the last minute or neglected entirely because so few workers are interested in devoting their time to activities that they perceive as less rewarding.

In your workplace, you should look for the type of tasks that are necessary to the functioning of the organization but often ignored or reviled by your peers. By taking initiative and completing these tasks with greater enthusiasm than is typical, you will likely attract the attention and appreciation of your superiors. What’s more, by becoming familiar with these tasks, you might be able to identify inefficiencies that are causing them to be so detested by the rest of the workforce, and you might devise solutions that further endear you to leadership. Every organization has such a niche, and discovering yours could catapult you to success.

Simple and easy are not synonymous. Success is never easy; no matter where you start and where you hope to end up in your career, you will need to devote time and effort to achieve your goals. Still, the path to success does not need to be convoluted. Simple strategies like those listed above can work wonders to bring career success into clear focus.

The post Simple Strategies for Achieving Career Success appeared first on Grit Daily News.

Studies and world-class examples show that passion remains an integral part of entrepreneurial success. Without it, entrepreneurs may find it difficult to overcome the long hours, as well as the turbulences that come with building a business from the ground up. A founder’s passion contributes to increases in buy-in rate from investors and the general public.

It was the late Steve Jobs, founder of Apple, that once said “People with passion can change the world for the better.” He attributed much of his success to dedication and passion for what he was doing.

It’s taking that first leap and getting started that is often the hardest. It’s not uncommon for entrepreneurs to fall ‘accidentally’ into their businesses. Many can turn their hobbies or side gigs into a full-time income. However, this requires a bit of fear elimination. Dismantling the constructs that prevent us from pursuing something, just because it seems uncertain. Becoming an entrepreneur not only takes passion but also grit and experimentation to find the right fit.

One entrepreneur drew inspiration from throwing her son’s first birthday party and turned it into a multi-digit full-time entertainment business. Arisineh Hoonanian is the CEO of Little Artist Party. The Los Angeles-based party planning company attracts the likes of well-known names such as the Kardashians, Jessica Simpson, and Lily Ghalichi.

Her advice to aspiring entrepreneurs is to cultivate their passion and don’t be afraid of using creativity to inspire their future businesses. You never know where it can lead to.

Identify your Passion and Become Meticulous About It

Let’s assume your passion is sports. You desire to create a career that has something to do with sports. Now, go attempt to find a job with that in mind.

The fact is, you’re going to have a difficult time because you’ve failed to narrow down your passion to something tangible. What is it you enjoy about sports? Is there a particular sport you favor? Is there a specific element you want to influence? 

Start by identifying something that brings you joy, that you have a fair degree of aptitude in, and most importantly brings value to others. Now your goal is to become the best at it. And to become the best at something, you need to be meticulous about the details and not let yourself become a ‘generalist’. 

Little Artist Party went from throwing one birthday party per weekend to now being booked for 20 on average. This monumental growth didn’t come overnight. A lot of the success, Arsineh attributes to long hours and meticulous preparation. Despite having an entire event planning team, Arsineh ensures every single detail is executed to her standard of quality for every party. 

It’s this level of dedication to quality and customer satisfaction that has driven countless testimonials and allowed the company to expand its services. If Arsineh didn’t have the passion for kids and cultivating the best experiences for these precious years of their lives, it would have been extremely hard for her to pull off this level of execution. It wasn’t just parties she wanted to plan, these were niche parties catered towards challenging the creativity of kids.

Let your Passion be Showcased in the Branding

People will often buy into the entrepreneur, more than they do the product. Don’t be afraid to showcase what you’re passionate about and what you’re working towards. Social media can help business owners establish a more genuine connection with their audience. 

Your passion can be embodied through your branding and messaging. For example, the Little Artist Party website is exuberant with bright colors, images, and headings that reflect creativity, joy, and trust. Its logo is a paint palette reflecting its value of letting kids express their innermost creativity through play. 

“Focusing on marketing is also a big part of expressing my passion. Without having a platform to show our creativity and events, it would have been difficult to present our vision,”, Arisineh comments.

Find the Right People that Align with Your Passion 

It takes a village to build a successful business, but if that village is comprised of the wrong fits, it might come down like the Jenga game.

When you’re ready to take that step to bring on people to assist you in building your company, make sure you’re explicit about your passion and outcomes. People that share your vision are more likely to be more loyal and have higher performance than those who aren’t. It also reduces potential conflict and tension in the workplace if everyone is aligned on the same goals.

Allocating responsibilities can be difficult for an entrepreneur, but is necessary for growth. As Little Party Artist grew, the additional staff and event planners brought on helped monumentally in sustaining the level of quality Arsineh wanted for the parties. She’s especially keen on taking the time to find the right people for the task.

Conclusion

Betting on passion alone won’t get you to the finish line of starting a business, however, it can give you the fuel to persist in the long haul. Passion can also help entrepreneurs identify what they value and set up standards for their businesses. These standards can be reflected across their branding, marketing, to their teams, and final product. The more you hone down on your passion, the greater quality you can produce for your customers, and the more likely you will achieve successful outcomes for your business.

The post Personal Success Tips from the Go-to Celebrities Kids Party CEO & Mom appeared first on Grit Daily News.

“So, you know, this is it,” I said.

She nodded. “You still have time to change your mind.” She urged me to think about it. I was putting my career on hold at a time when most of my friends were blazing forward, making names for themselves. “You’re throwing it all away,” she said. “You’re making a serious mistake.”

Was I making a mistake? At the time I didn’t have good answers to her valid concerns. After all, I had just gotten engaged and I was starting to flourish in my job as a hospitality management lecturer at Reichman University in Tel Aviv. But, my heart was pulling me down a different path. I craved adventure. I longed to explore distant lands –– to find out about myself. I knew I had a window of opportunity to live out my dream. A few hours later, I was on a plane to Kathmandu.

Years have passed from this incredible journey. I have since started my own global consulting company, working with Fortune 500 firms such as Amazon, HP and Bank of New York on their customer advisory boards. I also spend time as a life coach with clients, and many of them are in their 20s. You know something? Few of them have a solid plan to guide them from 18 to 36.

What if conventional wisdom about career building is wrong? What if your twenties are not the right time to start, and the typical trajectory of forty years is far too long? And what if, instead of blindly following this traditional path, you structured your planning around life’s natural cycles and were able to experience much greater joy, excitement and purpose?

Before the age of 36, I had no money, no savings, no retirement plan, and quite honestly, no worries. The year I turned 36, I became vice president of marketing for a publicly traded technology company. My salary hit six figures for the first time and continued to rise year after year. It all happened at the right time.

I know that this mindset runs counter to what you’ve always heard—that you must start saving from the age of four and focus on making money as soon as you’re on your own. Sure, if you can start saving money at an early age, go ahead and do it. The financial logic is sound. But focusing on money at the expense of pursuing your dreams will have a more negative impact on your life than your savings rate.

But I see a much different way forward. That is, structuring our career and life’s journey around five consecutive 18-year phases. The first one, from ages 0 to 18, is what I call the Dreamer phase. This is when we identify our dreams and flesh them out. Then, from 18 to 36, comes the Explorer phase, where we commit to a quest for the one area we are most passionate about. Isn’t it far more natural to spend time searching for that one area than to dive into an area in our early 20s only to discover much later that it wasn’t the best fit?

My advice to all, mapped out in my new book The Principle of 18, is that we step out of autopilot mode and approach our life and career from the perspective of these five consecutive 18-year phases:

The Dreamer, when you identify our dreams and flesh them out.

The Explorer, when you commit a quest for the one area you are most passionate about.

The Builder, when you focus intently on that chosen area.

The Mentor, when you guide younger generations.

The Giver, when you dedicate yourself to a cause.

The Explorer stage, from 18 to 36, is about discovering the one area where you can excel. In the span of eighteen years, you have enough time to fully explore 3 different dreams, allowing yourself to immerse in whatever it takes to realize if this is the professional path you want to take when you turn 36 years old.

Following this approach will enable you to:

Exhaust each dream before you move on to the next.

You have enough time to try out in full three empowering dreams. Five years is a good stretch of time per dream.

Allow yourself enough time to become a “serious explorer,” committing fully to whatever you are trying to achieve, without considering any other alternatives while you are at it. It’s not enough to give a halfhearted effort and then decide to try something else. Fully exhaust the potential of each one of your dreams, even if it takes several years.

Take more risks.

This is the best time to take major risks. A risk-taking attitude will serve you well in the Builder phase, too, but the stakes will be higher then. As an Explorer, you don’t have a lot to lose. Start taking more risks so you learn how to push beyond your comfort zone.

Minimize your regrets.

By fully exploring your dreams for 18 years, you are drastically reducing your future regrets. Give each dream your utmost consideration, effort, and energy, using all the resources you have. If you still come up short, you’ll know you gave it your all and you’ll have no regrets about it.

Stop obsessing over money.

It’s more important to find your passion, hone your skills and plan for your Builder years, from 36 to 54. That’s when you should double down on the one area that you can excel at.

There is a time and place for everything that we need to achieve in life. The trick is to find the sweet spot between your talents, passion and what the market needs.

The post Why Your 20s Are Too Early to Double Down on a Career appeared first on Grit Daily News.

Although remote workers (full or at least part of the time) accounted for 43% of the US workforce pre-crisis, many companies have been cautious about jumping aboard the remote work bandwagon. While fully distributed companies (like us) are small in number, organizations with an existing remote culture and capability remain operational during the pandemic with relative ease.

How Do We Capitalize on What We’ve Learned?

Crisis-driven change presents opportunities. While we’re not out of the woods, as we consider the safest way to reopen the country, what have we learned from this large scale test of remote work? And as savvy leaders put their new knowledge to good use, why is ‘remote’ likely to remain a key part of the mix?

New Mindsets: Remote Work Challenges

• At the outset of COVID-19, businesses transitioned to remote work because they had no choice. Not the ideal conditions to run any test. But now that employees have had a taste—no commute, fewer disruptions—they may not want to go back. Leaders who had doubts about remote work may have a change of heart, having experienced the benefits firsthand. The proverbial band-aid has been torn off. Also, leaders under pressure are learning to adopt an agile mindset. Instead of traditional top-down leadership, they now reinforce processes that help teams stay grounded and connected, pivot quickly when things don’t work out, and favor empowered teams that respond rapidly to change.

Finally, Funding!

• This pandemic has reminded companies that they need to be flexible enough to make radical changes to day-to-day operations. As a result, more companies are investing in the technology needed to support remote workers. Funding that perhaps seemed extravagant prior to the pandemic now looks like a prudent investment to keep their workforce safe and their organization nimble.

Evolving Technology

• Fast-changing tech is challenging the idea that in-office collaboration is the gold standard. Tools like Slack and Zoom enable live feeds and face-to-face communications—empowering businesses of all sizes to stay productive and connected. Even new social platforms such as Clubhouse can be utilized to join in on trending business discussions. Distributed teams are particularly sensitive to breakdowns in communication and collaboration, so swift action and the right tech are essential. Certain industries like government, financial and legal services—anyone handling sensitive data—are now forced to find technology solutions that enable employees to work remotely.

Global Flexibility of Remote Work Challenges

• Prior to the pandemic, there was already a strong case in favor of remote working. Research from 2019 shows that 80% of job seekers would choose a job with flexible work options over one without. Recent events show that companies can work and communicate effectively across multiple time zones. It’s giving them renewed confidence in their ability to harvest the best talent—regardless of geography.For start-ups, targeting multiple markets from the outset is essential for survival. An agile global workforce gives them the reach they need to succeed.

Inevitable Remote Work Challenges

Not everyone can work from home, as we’ve seen. And remote work isn’t without its challenges. Research suggests that people feel safer expressing ideas face-to-face , which some believe leads to higher performance levels in-office. Others argue that technology enables teams to feel more connected than ever. Certainly, there’s evidence to suggest that employees with remote working options are happier —and happy employees are productive employees.

Remote Workers For the Win

COVID-19 could prove a catalyst for a better way of working. The transition from office to remote was bumpy for many companies, but the learnings are invaluable. Since it’s no longer a matter of ‘if’ a global crisis arises but ‘when’, the companies who support remote work for the long – term — and encourage workers to develop the skills necessary to succeed remotely — will edge ahead.

The post Transitioning Remote Work Challenges Into a Win appeared first on Grit Daily News.

Here’s a pick-me-up to launch your week on the right foot. Studies show that your morning mood affects your productivity all day. Grit Daily is here to get your work week off to a good start. Pump your fists – it’s time for Monday motivation!

Daniel Hall – Master Freelancer

Some of us have been working from home for well over a decade given our memberships in the tech community. For those of us that long ago added “WFH” into our lexicon, video conference calls are anything but new. Until recently, we were part of a small club who held onto cherished secrets like how to master the art of the unexpected video call – without having to step out of our fuzzy slippers. It’s been a long time that we’ve been privy to hacks like throwing a designer scarf or blazer over pajamas or a sweatshirt and transforming our appearance within seconds by leaving a pair of earrings and a tube of lipstick beside our laptop “just in case.”

Now? The world knows how to dial into a zoom call and how to hack looking great with clever upper torso versus bottom torso instant changeups. But there are still many secrets that the WFH Club hasn’t learned. Enter Daniel Hall, master freelancer, founder of Working Den, and author of the best-selling book, The Million Dollar Freelancer. His earnings and stellar reputation on UpWork (which I know personally, how hard it is to achieve as someone who is also part of the Top 1% Club of the 14 million freelancers registered on the platform — although my earnings pale in comparison!) afford him with enough credibility on their own, but then you see this, in print on his webpage:

“Whilst I earned good money and outwardly appeared to be living ‘The Good Life’, this wasn’t quite the reality. The long hours took their toll and led to several cases of burnout, severe depression and, eventually, suicidal thoughts. What I learnt inspired several of the features in Working Den, and it’s my mission to continue finding new ways to make working from home a healthy experience.”

Daniel Hall, founder Working Den

Whoa. There was definitely more to the story here. So, as a follow-up to our previous Monday Motivation column on burnout, we asked some questions of Hall. He was gracious enough to share his time and insights for this article and the accompanying podcast which dives much deeper into the topics highlighted below.

GRIT DAILY: Tell our Monday motivation readers about the gestation of the Working Den. How did it all come about?

DANIEL HALL: Basically, I started making huge changes to my own life in 2019. I’d been doing it wrong ever since I started working from home back in 2012 and I just had enough in 2019. I either had to change things or my life wouldn’t have been worth living. I did lots of research and found great ways to improve the way I did things whilst working from home, so when the pandemic happened I knew lots of other people would end up with the same problems I did and I knew what I had learned could help them. I spoke to my neighbor, Bertie van Wyk, quite a bit over our respective fences during lockdown and he happens to be a ‘workplace expert’ who had spent lockdown teaching people how they should be working from home. So, I already had a lot of knowledge through my experience. And having sought out answers to the problems in 2019 through a lot of research, I had a lot of ‘expert backed’ knowledge and recommendations that I knew of, too.

GD: You have a lot of credibility given your track record; how did you ensure the credibility of the advice offered on Working Den?

DH: When I decided to start building such a site in early April, I sought Bertie’s advice as he had been teaching people how to work from home as a career. And I wanted every bit of advice to be science / expert backed, so I sought out experts for every feature that I launched the site with.

GD: Working Den can help so many people, including our Monday motivation readers. Why did you choose to enter the market offering it as a free service, supported only by advertising?

DH: I actually chose to enter the market as a paid service and had developed the site to be software. There was a whole process that people had to go through when using the software; there was a login, every person had their own dedicated area, etc. I launched the site, and it was a paid site for a week or so. And then I decided to make the site free. There were a few considerations for this:

1. With people struggling with the problems I did, I didn’t think it right I profit from people and put a barrier to use of the service at a time when people could benefit from it.

2. The site will be a lot more valuable if we build up a userbase now and monetize “additional extras” in the future. A big, happy userbase will be more receptive to any future features or services we offer if they know us and trust us.

GD: Your WFH Advice Song is so random: I love it! Shall we expect a video to go with it?

DH: The song was played on Ireland’s biggest radio station, RTE, last week but it didn’t receive much attention. If it starts receiving more attention, then I’d consider creating a video for it, but, at the moment, it’s not worth my time or expense creating a video for it.

GD: What’s the reaction been to Working Den? Is it what you expected?

DH: Well, so far, I’ve been approached by several companies asking to invest in the site (some through accelerators). A company messaged me wanting to white label the site and offer it to their clients “as their own” and charge them for it (which I obviously turned down) and I’ve had a few people add me on LinkedIn thanking me for creating the site. It has been well received. I didn’t expect people to message me about investment this early. It’s not something we are currently looking for, but it is flattering nonetheless, and it shows we have a good idea. The Slack Group is only 3 weeks old and has 580 members and a lot more engagement already than I would have expected by this stage.

Monday motivation tips to work from home

Since Daniel Hall is one of the leading authorities on the subject of working from home, we thought that the Monday motivation tips on how to successfully navigate WFH should be come directly from him and the experts behind Working Den. Given the high rate of burnout, the increased likelihood of impaired eyesight, chronic disease, repetitive strain injuries, stress and so on, these tips are the secrets that need to be shared with everyone.

#1 – regularly stretch your neck and spine throughout the day

We can get “locked up” frozen in position hour after hour at our desks. The act of sitting for so long is already problematic enough but it’s exacerbated if our desks and monitors aren’t properly set up. Let’s begin with doing these neck and spine stretches suggested here.

#2 – follow the Pomodoro timer method

The Pomodoro method typically recommends 20 minutes of concentrated effort, followed by a break of 2-3 minutes, but you can adjust your timing accordingly. Working Den suggests that you set a timer for 45 minutes. When the timer goes off, stretch for 5 minutes until you return to your desk for another 45-minute sprint.

#3 – let your stress out

WFH leaves us with few options when it comes to venting about whatever – or whomever – is stressing us out. Sure, we can gripe to our furry friends curled up beside us, but that’s not the bilateral engagement we need. Most of us vent to or take it out on our spouses – and that’s not a solution for a long-term relationship. So, the Working Den has a de-stressing solution which involves focused breathing, reflection and meditation.

Extra bits of Monday Motivation

If you like podcasts, well, wouldn’t you know, we’ve got those, too! Three of them, in fact: 1) Like a Boss with snappy insights; 2) wine down and chill; and 3) Monday motivation. All three are available on all streaming channels including Apple, iHeart Radio, Spotify and more. Tune in! Finally, if you like my writing, check out my new novel, The Battle for Humanity, it’s a thriller you won’t be able to put down.

Have a fabulous week and don’t forget to check out the Working Den for tips on health, wellness and productivity!

Photo by Ketut Subiyanto from Pexels

The post Monday Motivation: Working from Home with Daniel Hall appeared first on Grit Daily News.

The punctuality problem

Well, to be fair, maybe today’s column should be about competing priorities but we’ve recently covered that topic. To be fair, and to wholly embrace a mea culpa attitude with full accountability, there’s still a whole lot of day left! Besides, Monday motivation can boost you any day of the week. Okay, let’s get to it.

Punctuality, that’s the Monday motivation theme of the day. We all have that one friend who takes hours to get ready yet is always late. As in, for everything. Yup, the kind of friend that you can easily make jokes about being late for his/her/their own funeral, as distasteful as that may be to poke fun about.

Admittedly, driving around the world’s largest cities poses challenges with respect to timing because you never know how bad traffic is going to be. By design, trains are supposed to run on time but that doesn’t happen with 100% reliability. Today may simply be the day the gods have divined as the day that they’re going to eff with you. Whatever the reason, the odds of you being late in a major metropolitan area are probably higher than if you live in the ‘burbs.

“Five minutes early is on time. On time is late. Five minutes late is unacceptable.” ~Forbes

But that was pre-COVID. Nobody is really driving around on a daily basis anymore. Public transportation is not the crowded-fight-grandma-for-her-seat milieu that it was as recently as six or seven months ago. For the most part, we’re putting on a nice top paired with our yoga or pajama pants, brushing our hair to look quasi-groomed, perhaps dabbing on a bit of concealer and making our way downstairs or to the kitchen to load up a zoom room. So, why are people still late for everything?

Monday motivation tips to improve punctuality

Punctuality (or the lack thereof) is one of those bad habits that people are actually comfortably talking about – and owning up to. With the host of inappropriate behaviors out there, this is probably one of the easiest ones to look beyond, to overcome and to admit that it might be time to work on correcting. Yet, for whatever reason, which defies logic, being late is a chronic, ubiquitous problem.

A 2017 (okay, that’s the most current data that I could find) survey by CareerBuilder found that 30% of Americans show up late for work each day. That’s outrageous! When asked why, those with a punctuality problem cited that traffic was to blame nearly 40% of the time, over-sleeping 32% of the time and bad weather 26% of the time. Anything “chronic” is synonymous for “always,” and represents an essentially permanent state. If you are routinely missing deadlines, unable to complete any work or assignments on time, missing meetings or not even getting through half of what’s on your daily schedule, there’s an issue. Actually, there are likely multiple issues.

Well, we can’t control the weather (let alone the climate change challenge but we’ll leave that there for now), nor can we control how long you sleep, but we can make some Monday motivation suggestions on how to overcome your punctuality problem. Because, it is a problem; not just for you or your employer, but it can also negatively impact your personal relationships. Nobody wants to be that annoying friend who is ALWAYS late: for many people, being late is considered downright rude.

And no, the easy answer is not setting your clock ahead which my hubby does and it drives me mental. That doesn’t work for me: instinctively, I know that he has adjusted the time to x minutes fast so I always do the math and know what the real time was anyway, so what’s the point? That said, I am pretty punctual so this isn’t a behavior that I have to really work at it (but yes, sigh, there are plenty of others!). Instead, let’s try these tips below to improve punctuality:

#1 – set a reminder or alert

You may be one of those people that needs a nudge. Fine. It’s not a crutch. Setting an alert a few hours before you have to begin getting ready or to remind you that it’s almost time to leave is a useful tool. Take advantage of the technology to do this and make it part of your ritual for getting ready.

#2 – plan for tomorrow – today

Before you go to bed, make planning for tomorrow part of your night-time routine. Take a look at what’s on the calendar for you. Do you have to be somewhere? When? How long does it usually take to get there? By mentally mapping out your day, which is an organization tip, you’ll be better prepared to hit the day running from the moment you wake you. You’ll be less stressed and more likely to be on time.

#3 – change your mindset

Surprise! You’re not that special. You don’t command enough attention to warrant making other people feel less about themselves and be forced to wait for you. Once in a while is fine – we all hit that bad traffic jam or weather catastrophe. But you need to really think about the message that your chronic disregard for punctuality is sending to others. Get your head wrapped around how it’s rude to be tardy and that could spark the change in behavior that you need to motivate yourself to do things differently.

Extra bits of Monday motivation

If you like podcasts, well, wouldn’t you know, we’ve got those, too! Three of them, in fact: 1) Like a Boss with snappy insights; 2) wine down and chill; and 3) Monday motivation. All three are available on all streaming channels including Apple, iHeart Radio, Spotify and more. Tune in! Finally, if you like my writing, check out my new novel, The Battle for Humanity, it’s a thriller you won’t be able to put down.

Have a fabulous week!

Photo by Quốc Bảo from Pexels

The post Monday Motivation: Timing is Everything appeared first on Grit Daily News.

Digging out of a no-win situation

No doubt we’ve all heard the expressions, “behind the 8 ball” or “stuck between a rock and a hard place.” They’re essentially the same although the latter originated in ancient Greek mythology, referenced in Homer’s Odyssey and the former is a contemporary version first appearing in print during The Great Depression. Rather fitting that we’re bringing it back today, one century later, in an eerie echo of history repeating itself. In a nutshell, these expressions highlight that you’re in what seems like a no win situation. But, with Monday motivation coaching and a can-do attitude, winning is possible!

So let’s dig into being behind the eight ball. This theme is especially personal this week as I’ve been piled under gobs of work (paid and unpaid) and desperately trying to ensure that all of my deliverables have that standard of quality required to uphold my reputation as a content marketer. Doing so has required that I make some hard choices; I’ve had to skip a couple of Grit Daily posts (thank you, readers, for your continued support and patience!) and I’ve had to tell a couple of clients, “no.” That latter bit is especially hard to do as I always try to find a way. Today’s Monday motivation theme is all about “finding a way.”

Monday motivation tips to get in front of the 8 ball

Take it from me: I’ve learned the hard way. “Finding a way” to get it done does not mean sacrificing your sanity. Or compromising your mental and physical health. Yessss, I’ve often worked into the wee hours of the night only to be back at my desk a couple of hours later before the sun has come up. Not sustainable!

[Without these Monday motivation tips] “we would have been so far behind the eight ball, we would have been off the table.” ~Trevor Pryce

It’s easy to feel overwhelmed and get caught up in wanting to do what you feel is right versus holding your ground to do what you know is right. Deep down, Monday motivation aside, you know that you shouldn’t stay chained to your desk day or after day, trapped inside without air or the feeling of sunlight on your skin. Think about it – that’s what they take away from prisoners as punishment for their crimes! So, why do we voluntarily set that as our own fate?

#1 – set boundaries

Yes, yes; we’ve heard it a thousand times before. Set boundaries. And hold firmly to them so that they are not encroached upon. Easier said than done, of course.

As freelancers, we want to take on that extra business or client because it typically correlates with revenue. And, for those of us that are not trust fund babies, revenues are important. There’s also (at least for me) a moral obligation where you recognize that your client (especially repeat clients) relies on you to get the work done that they need. There’s not much worse than the feeling of disappointment that you’re letting someone down.

Your choices? Compromise yourself so that you find a way to get it done no matter what. Shoddy quality be damned. Okay, that kind of works for the first week or two but it does catch up with you – limited sleep, exercise and being incessantly chained to your desk is damaging in many ways. Your spirit will be broken, your health will suffer and your client won’t be getting that 100% quality that they’re accustomed to receiving from you. It’s not fair to anyone. So, Monday motivation says – set boundaries. Tell them that you can’t get to it until three weeks from now – if that’s too late, they’ll hire someone else.

#2 – honesty really is the best policy

Here, we all need a bit of mea culpa (Latin for “my bad”). Be truthful, tell your client that you have been snowed under and are unable to deliver on what they need. Take on part of the job or, if you feel that you’ve compromised the quality of their work, offer them a discount to reflect your awareness and culpability for not delivering to the standard expected. Offer to help them find a Plan B.

Most clients welcome honesty. Some even herald it as “refreshing.” Of course, we live in a yin and yang world where there are opposites to everything. Yes, I’ve had a couple of clients lash out, blaming me for being unable to do their work and that’s tough to hear. But, for those few hours that I do sleep each night, I sleep peacefully knowing that I am doing the very best that I can for everyone, to honor my clients, my family and myself.

#3 – reduce your To Do list

If you’re a regular reader of Monday motivation, you know that I’m a To Do list gal. I have scrap papers, lab notebooks, Trello cards, Slack lists and employ just about every old school and new school modality there is to keep track of what I have to do. There are days when my pile of To Do list scrap papers start to haunt me and disturb my sleep. After a few days, the pile has a hodge-podge of scratched off items, circled items and some yellow highlighted items with a few written in red or purple and in different directions.

It becomes overwhelming. So, I purge. I move all the “in another lifetime” items to a list that I can’t see to make my desk organized and calm once again.

I take all the “must do” items and put them on another list, written in an orderly way. Then, I create another list (oh, I know, I hear the “OCD” chant coming through the screen) and list out ONLY the few things that I have to do today. That’s it. Then I crush them, one at a time, crossing each item off extra exuberantly as if I’ve safely navigated Charybdis, the treacherous whirlpool, and blithely skipped past Scylla, the people-eating monster.

And then, with that, I have a bit of time to walk in the fresh air, shower, spend some time with my family and sleep peacefully; waking refreshed and ready to put the 8 ball behind me.

Extra bits of Monday motivation

If you like podcasts, well, wouldn’t you know, we’ve got those, too! Three of them, in fact: 1) Like a Boss with snappy insights; 2) wine down and chill; and 3) Monday motivation. All three are available on all streaming channels including Apple, iHeart Radio, Spotify and more. Tune in! Finally, if you like my writing, check out my new novel, The Battle for Humanity, it’s a thriller you won’t be able to put down.

Have a fabulous week!

Image by wsyperek from Pixabay 

The post Monday Motivation: Behind the 8 Ball appeared first on Grit Daily News.

Your Life Plan

Okay, there are admittedly some of us who are struggling to find our “why” and others who don’t have a clear plan on what to do with our lives even if we sort-of-kind-of know our “why.” However, most of us do have some sort of life plan. And, as loose as that life plan may be, we’ve somehow affixed a certain date or milestone to our life plan. For example, by the age of 30, I will have had my first child or be promoted in my career to Director. Then, when we approach or pass those dates and haven’t achieved that part of our life plan, we are crestfallen; deeply saddened that we didn’t hit it.

Our Monday motivation column today deals with that sense of being overwhelmed and those feelings of being “behind.” What many of us forget is that these are deadlines set on an artificial timeline that doesn’t really exist. It’s one thing if you are regimented in your daily, weekly, monthly and annual goal-setting and planning and you recognize that you’re falling behind that plan. Even then, what do you do in that case? You make adjustments to make sure that you hit the goal – even if it is slightly later than planned – but you hit it. You’re the Type-A personality who has the focus, discipline and accountability needed to track what you’re doing and stay on track. But what about the rest of us mere mortals?

“What gets measured gets done.” ~Peter Drucker

Monday motivation tips to Lose that “Behind Schedule” Feeling

Over the next few weeks (lucky you – a sneak preview!), we’re going to try to crack all the nuts related to “being late or behind” here on Monday motivation. The first relates to feeling behind, overwhelmed and chronically missing deadlines. The second deals with being chronically late as in the opposite of being punctual for appointments and meetings. Today, we’re dealing with that feeling of being behind schedule on our life plan.

#1 – stop comparing yourself to others

Others haven’t faced the situations that you have. You are unique and you’re the only who who has had the cumulative collection of experiences and the timing of those experiences. You’re on your own timeline, not anyone else’s. Even if you think that you’re at the “extreme” end, either super early or super late on the typical bell distribution curve – you’re still ON the curve! Comparing yourself is a Monday motivation hardship that will wreak havoc on your self-confidence and leave you feeling overwhelmed that you’re somehow behind on your life plan.

#2 – remind your network that it’s YOUR timeline not theirs

We all have those “well-intentioned” members of our inner circle. Sometimes, that’s a parent, or an aunt or big brother or BFF that means well but it comes off as annoying and critical. “When are you going to do X … when I was your age … by the time that I was in college …” or whichever other permutations run through your head. It can get annoying after a while.

Tune them out. If they continue to harp on a timeline or milestone, remind them that you are on your own timeline. If you want to keep things to yourself, tell them that it’s personal and set a boundary. Perhaps you want to open up and invite them in to help keep you accountable? Fine, then frame it so that they understand the difference between a goal that you hope to hit by a certain age versus a goal that you are aiming to hit. That can change the trajectory or your relationship with that person and have a profound effect on your mental psyche around the feeling of being behind on your life plan.

#3 – give yourself permission to slide, allow a “fudge factor” timeline

Fine, add a little fudge time, but not too much. Consider a pre-check-in date (perhaps 6-months earlier?) and then a check-in date. Re-evaluate everything at that pre-check-in date. Ask yourself if you still want to hit that goal. Be honest but don’t berate yourself if that goal is slipping. Ask yourself what you can do to change things so that you can put yourself on a path to be one step closer towards that goal every month over the remaining six months.

Reflect on how important it is that you hit that goal on time versus hit it at all. What happens if you don’t hit it? Will your life be impacted that negatively or is it something that you can live with if your frame your mindset around it differently? Think back, why did you originally set that as a goal for your life plan anyway? Was it truly your goal or one that those around you set for you? Be honest, not critical.

Extra bits of Monday motivation

If you like podcasts, well, wouldn’t you know, we’ve got those, too! Three of them, in fact: 1) Like a Boss with snappy insights; 2) wine down and chill; and 3) Monday motivation. All three are available on all streaming channels including Apple, iHeart Radio, Spotify and more. Tune in! Finally, if you like my writing, check out my new novel, The Battle for Humanity, it’s a thriller you won’t be able to put down.

Have a fabulous week!

Photo by Andrea Piacquadio from Pexels

The post Monday Motivation: Running Late on Your Life Plan? appeared first on Grit Daily News.

It’s that time of year …

Not quite that time of year that we’ve been accustomed to our whole lives. No, there’s an eerie new normal that overwhelming many of us, creating decision fatigue, crippling our prioritization abilities and rendering us emotionally drained at the end of each day. That’s adding to our stress. Because, of course, we all needed One. More. Thing. We now have to prepare for back to school, to make adjustment for childcare, our jobs, how our children will learn and how we’ll manage everything and everyone on our plates. Monday motivation today is unpacking all that we’re feeling.

Hand-sanitizer, check. Multiple masks? Check. Crazy schedules with hybrid learning and children sometimes in the classroom and sometimes, not. Ready. School sports and playdates? Suspended altogether or at least postponed for the interim. It’s a lot to gear up for and so much more involved that the typical buy a new backpack, water bottle, pencil case, binders, first day of school outfit and so on. Suddenly, it’s become this really big thing that eclipses the simplicity of back to school.

Can you believe that tomorrow is September 1^st? There’s something about that date that strikes at our core; it marks the unofficial end of summer. We can choose to be saddened and impacted by that or look at the opportunity for a fresh start, a new year, albeit an academic one but a new chance to experiment with different things. Let’s use the date as a milestone marker that is more positive than simply marking time around how long the pandemic has been wreaking havoc.

Monday motivation tips to prepare for Back to School

For those of us without children, we may be teaching or offering other services designed to support working parents. Either way, stress is rising so today’s Monday motivation column is dedicated to preparation tips for back to school. As it is the case for so many things, a plan to track to can make all the difference and keep us from feeling totally frenetic.

#1 – set up the night before

After you (or your child) has eaten dinner and before you begin winding down for the night, look at what is on tomorrow’s calendar. Is it an in-person day? What are you going to wear? Lay it out. What time is the first online event? The last? What preparation work needs to be done now, or early in the morning, in order to be ready for the day’s events and initiatives? If you’re home schooling, create a schedule and stick to it.

“Plan your work and work your plan.” ~Napoleon Hill

Make that calendar clear to all who need to see it including blocked out “Do Not Disturb” times. Consider having the calendar visible in a centralized location or grant everyone shared access digitally. As a household, review all of tomorrow’s activities for each member of the household – do this together after you finish dinner.

#2 – the daily wrap

Conversations are going to be challenged and we’re all going to have to be more creative than asking the perfunctory, “How was school today?” With children attending classes online, there isn’t going to be much variety or excitement in what they’ll be exposed to day-to-day. Make the daily wrap a dinner tradition and make it fun.

Give everyone the chance to speak and share what was cool about their day and what was not so cool. Then ask questions like who had the worst bedhead? The best outfit? Did anyone get caught sleeping on screen? What was the most interesting thing you learned today? And make it so that everyone has to answer, not just the children in school but the adults as well who can comment (in general) about work themes and what was learned, what was good, what was challenging and so on. Monday motivation themes here get expanded to self-confidence, communication, relationship-building and other soft skills with this tip.

#3 – buy a handbag or backpack organizer

You’ve seen them before – they are compartmentalized fabric “buckets” designed to carry cell phones, earbuds, tissues, hand-sanitizer, pens, lip balm and all sorts of other goodies. They can be a lifesaver on busy mornings when everyone is scrambling. Stock the organizer with the essentials like a clean facemask and other necessities in today’s pandemic reality. Every Sunday, make a point of restocking the organizer so that everyone has exactly what they need to get through the week. These days, planning for health and safety is critically important.

“By failing to prepare, you are preparing to fail.” ~Benjamin Franklin

Extra bits of Monday motivation

If you like podcasts, well, wouldn’t you know, we’ve got those, too! Three of them, in fact: 1) Like a Boss with snappy insights; 2) wine down and chill; and 3) Monday motivation. All three are available on all streaming channels including Apple, iHeart Radio, Spotify and more. Tune in! Finally, if you like my writing, check out my new novel, The Battle for Humanity, it’s a thriller you won’t be able to put down.

Have a fabulous week!

Photo by Julia M Cameron from Pexels

The post Monday Motivation: Tips on Preparing for Back to School appeared first on Grit Daily News.

The Power of a Smile

When you smile, your body releases neuropeptides which help fight off stress. Their release triggers dopamine, serotonin, endorphins and other mood modulators to kick it into gear. The result? It’s kind of a combination of a mild pain reliever and anti-depressant. Some reports even suggest that lower blood pressure, a boosted immune system and better relationships result in people who smile regularly. Plus, we all know that smiles are almost as contagious as yawns! Let’s get smiling, people…

But how did smiles come to be a welcome gesture in humans? Primates and, indeed, most other animals, use teeth-baring as a warning to ward off attack. It’s not a friendly gesture at all! Yet, in humans, the smile has been adopted as the universal greeting for peace and kindness. Here’s the interesting theory: primates, when they clamp their teeth together and bare them, it indicates submission and the experts believe that the human smile may have evolved from there.

“Life is like a mirror – smile at it and it will smile back at you.” ~unknown

Monday motivation tips to smile more

We all want to be happier and putting on a fake smile isn’t going to cut it. So, we need to dig in and do things that truly make us happier. You can do it! There has got to be one teeny weeny little thing that makes you smile?!

#1 – compliment someone unexpectedly

Maybe you’re not that flowery, showy kind of person who’s always gushing over your friends’ clothes, hair, nails or whatever. Or maybe you are that person? If you compliment others often, think about pulling back a bit and “saving” your compliments for the times that they can really make a difference. Has that led to more or less compliments being returned to you?

And if you’re not someone who gives compliments very often, it’s time! Doing so once in a while makes your comment meaningful and boosts the mood of the recipient – that can make your relationship with her/him/them stronger. Not to mention that it’s just a nice thing to do.

“Smile at a stranger – it just might change a life.” ~Steve Maraboli

#2 – boost your ego

You need to do something that makes you feel good, proud and puts a little shot of adrenalin into your ego. Maybe you have a favorite outfit that makes you look fabulous – wear it! Stand in front of the mirror and smile at your reflection. Perhaps you’re a creative person and you can generate a graphic or video or meme or something that others will notice on social media and like. Whatever you need to do, do it! Tell yourself that you ARE worth it, you are good at X and that you deserve to be happy. Smile – you’re ALIVE, you’re here and you’ve got enough spare time to read this article. Life’s not that bad…

“Smile. It’s free therapy.”  ~Douglas Horton

#3 – acknowledge that you’re unhappy

Okay, some things have transpired which are cutting into your happiness vibe. It happens. Acknowledge that you haven’t been as happy lately and think about why that is – that’s the first step to changing things up. How much of what is making you unhappy is within your control? And what can you do to make yourself smile? Go on YouTube, find funny cat videos (I’m not kidding) or anything that will make you smile. Do this regularly until you notice that your unhappiness levels are dropping.

If you really want to smile today, check out this viral video about packing on the COVID-19 pounds! It’s spot-on, funny and done brilliantly. Check out “The Fridge Again.”

Extra bits

If you like podcasts, well, wouldn’t you know, we’ve got those, too! Three of them, in fact: 1) Like a Boss with snappy insights; 2) wine down and chill; and 3) Monday motivation. All three are available on all streaming channels including Apple, iHeart Radio, Spotify and more. Tune in! Finally, if you like my writing, check out my new novel, The Battle for Humanity, it’s a thriller you won’t be able to put down.

Have a fabulous week!

Photo by nappy from Pexels

The post Monday Motivation: Get Your Smile On! appeared first on Grit Daily News.