Work, success, and meaning at every stage of your career
Building skills on the job
Since you’re not a machine, you don’t run at optimum speed and efficiency all day. There are points in the day when you’re sharp, focused and energized, and points where you’re sluggish, mentally and physically. The key to success is working with these natural rhythms during your day, maximizing your peaks and resting during the valleys.
This infographic on freelancing comes from Denmark- based suveybee.net.
The 19th century was a time of great change, and two cultural movements created dynamic tension throughout this fascinating period of world history. The Industrial Revolution transformed societies from agrarian economies to manufacturing economies within a few decades. Industrialization launched a dramatic increase in productivity and the standard of living for each country that became … Continue reading Poetical Science: The Woman who Envisioned the Modern Computer
One of the most common phrases you’ll hear in a job interview is the ubiquitous “I’m a team player.” Like any personal quality, “team player” falls on a spectrum, but almost no one talks about it that way. This is one of those characteristics where one end of the spectrum is good and the other … Continue reading Are You a Team Player?
As a career coach, I’ve met people who couldn’t understand why they hadn’t achieved the success they thought they deserved. In some cases, they are sabotaging their own success. Are you making any of these career mistakes?
The dictionary defines “holistic” as “concerned with wholes or with complete systems rather than with the analysis of, treatment of, or dissection into parts.”
It might be easy to assume that self- interest and interest in others’ well-being would be at opposite ends of a spectrum, but that turned out not to be true.
In the 1950s, we imagined a future where robots and machines did all the work for us; we would only need to push a few buttons every few minutes, and watch as tasks accomplished themselves. We’re not quite there yet, but we certainly can accomplish a tremendous amount of work by pushing a few buttons.
Gardening, home improvement, and crafts, of course. We still take on work for pleasure, of course, which is the definition of a hobby. Sometimes, we even monetize our hobby; Etsy is exhibit A. But for the most part, a hobby is something you do for love, regardless of how skilled you happen to be. But does what you do for fun matter to your career?
Yoda is a great career coach. In perhaps his most famous scene, he commands Luke Skywalker, fledgling Jedi, to raise a spaceship with his mind. Reluctantly, Luke agrees to “try.” “No,” interjects Yoda sternly. “Do. Or do not. There is no try.”
