Consider that, better than 90 percent of new businesses fail within the first five years of operation. It stands to reason that those who succeed are doing something right. Aside from a hefty amount of business know-how, the most successful business people have one thing in common: They know how to turn it off.
You may think that the key to a successful business is putting all of your energy into the venture 24/7. You’d be wrong. Here are 10 tips from those in the business world who are sitting on top of the mountain that you’re still climbing: 1.Make Time for Family and Friends The view from the top can be a lonely one. It’s an old adage, but a true one. Why? Because people who ignore friends and family along the way to the top turn around to find that they have none left. Spend time with friends and family on the weekends. 2.Exercise What you choose to do is up to you. The act of exercising can help to clear your mind and, with that clear mind, come up with new and innovative ideas. Whether you hike, bike, walk or swim, do something active. 3.Disconnect It takes some getting used to, but disconnecting can do you a world of good. Don’t send yourself into tech withdrawal by disconnecting for the entire weekend, but do spend at least a few hours without your phone glued to your hip. 4.Get Passionate Everyone has a passion, even if they haven’t found it yet. Find your passion and pursue it on your off time. You can create beautiful works of art, or volunteer at the local animal shelter. Doing something completely different from your business activities can be the refresher that you need. 5.Get Away Getting away from it all is important, especially if you work from home. You don’t have to take a vacation every weekend, but the occasional road trip will do you good. The best tip: Pick a spot you’ve never seen before. 6.Don’t Clean It’s not to say that you should live surrounded by filth, but give yourself an hour to clean on the weekend, do it, and be done. if the only thing that you do on the weekends is household chores, you’ll soon find excuses to avoid it: like work. 7.Volunteer You don’t have to spend your entire 48 hours of free time working for no pay, but you can spend some of it lending a helping hand. Serve meals at the local food bank, clear your elderly neighbor’s driveway, or walk dogs for the neighborhood shelter. 8.Play If the thought of joining a league or team seems like something that will add more pressure to your life, don’t. But do find a way to get out and play. Grab a Frisbee and your son and head to the park. Take the football to the high school and toss it with your friends. 9.Meditate Meditating is the act of quieting the mind. It can be great for you once you learn how to do it properly. You can take a class, read a book or watch a video. Meditating takes practice but, once you understand how to stop thinking, it can be just what you need to recharge the batteries. 10.Plan Take time on Sunday to plan your week. Don’t dedicate more than 60 minutes to the task, but a clear plan will make your week go more smoothly. The most successful business people know that they can’t be all work, all of the time. Spend your days off doing anything but working, and you’ll go back to the grind Monday with a clear head. No matter what it is that you love to do, make the time to do it.
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Job hunting can be compared to dating.
You cannot appear desperate even when you want the job. You need to show that you know your worth and are not afraid even when you get rejected. You trust you will be able to cope no matter what. This doesn’t mean though that you should act lax. Rather, strike a balance. Take control of your emotions. And remember these tips. Never claim you’ll do anything for the job. If you know your worth you would not resort to doing anything asked of you, just so you can land the job. Even when you are indeed desperate when being hired, still manifest optimism toward the future. Talk about your professional background, and company milestones you took part achieving. Be careful though not to imply you’ve already reached the peak of career success. Express excitement about looking forward to future career opportunities. Do not go to the extremes. Make your statements a balance of confidence in what you have reached so far, and the desire to do better and contribute toward organizational growth. Follow up but be careful what you say. The fact that you followed up already shows that you are interested in the job. You need not express it in your cover letter, more so repeat what you stated during the interview. Instead, say you appreciate that the interviewers made time to talk to you. Raise significant points in the conversation, or those advice the hiring manager shared that made the most impact on you. Show that you paid attention during the interview. Don’t get started with the blame game. No one wants a whiner. Admitting your failures isn’t a sign of weakness. Pointing fingers to others is. Never badmouth regardless the role that others played why you lost your job or were laid off from your previous company. Play sort of hard-to-get. Even when you are available to start right away, do not make it obvious to employers. Let them pursue you and show that other companies are also interested in working with you. If you must take out a note with a fake schedule, that’s okay, they would not know after all. As long as you do not drop names, you will do no one harm claiming you are also scheduled for interviews with other firms. Dress decently. So you have learned that the company isn’t imposing any dress code, and that employees get to report in casual attire. Can you then show up in the interview wearing jeans and shirts? No. Stick to the corporate attire as a sign of courtesy. This is the universal dress code after all for job applicants. You shouldn’t worry about being looked upon differently as you enter the office premises. It’s okay for the interviewer to dress casual and you on your suit. It will never work the other way around, unless employers tell you beforehand to come in casual. Don’t be pushy. Wait at least 48 hours before following up. And do not be too demanding on your e-mail. Rather than waiting on the phone or refreshing your inbox every hour, explore other job opportunities. Talk to your friends. Coordinate with the alumni network in your university. Check job postings. When you are not bent on waiting you will not notice the time go by. Just do not forget to follow up so employers will know that you are interested, and to as well avoid your application from getting overlooked. We’ve all been there, a boss or colleague that we just don’t seem to be able to get on with.
It can be a really stressful situation to be in and you can often feel powerless and unable to fix the problem, but often understanding how to communicate better and use communication strategies to deal with difficult people at work can really help the working relationship. A certain amount of conflict is healthy in the workplace and can drive more productivity, but there comes a point where it will damage working relationships, and create a bad atmosphere and working environment. Here are our top 5 tips for dealing with difficult people in the workplace: Neuro Linguistic Programming (NLP) can be a very helpful alternative to solving problems with different and sometimes clashing personalities in the workplace. NLP can help you to learn new communication techniques for all different types of personalities that you may find challenging.Above all things, you need to keep calm in stressful situations. Screaming and shouting at someone, or looking like you’re throwing a tantrum won’t impress the boss, or any of your colleagues. If you feel as though you’re about to blow your fuse, take a short break, remove yourself from the situation and do something totally different – perhaps a minute of fresh air or taking the time to make a cup of tea will be enough to calm you down and remove you from a potentially explosive situation. Above all things, you need to keep calm in stressful situations. Screaming and shouting at someone, or looking like you’re throwing a tantrum won’t impress the boss, or any of your colleagues. If you feel as though you’re about to blow your fuse, take a short break, remove yourself from the situation and do something totally different – perhaps a minute of fresh air or taking the time to make a cup of tea will be enough to calm you down and remove you from a potentially explosive situation. Mediation can be a possible way to resolve conflict in the workplace. It won’t suit everyone and many people shy away from mediation as they don’t want to make a ‘big deal’ out of the situation, or feel they can handle it on their own. Sometimes, though, mediation can be a great way to resolve the conflict with the help of a neutral party, and a way to move on from the problem. Don’t take it personally. Whatever the problem with your colleague, remember not to take it personally. This can be easier said than done and it can be all too easy to let negativity take over and feel the other person is attacking you personally, but chances are this isn’t true at all and it could be a combination of stresses from work and home life that are making them act this way.If all else fails, why not try avoiding the person wherever possible. This might not always be easy or practical, but getting on with your own tasks and workload, and ignoring the troublesome person unless your work really requires communicating with them is sometimes the easiest way to deal with it. Although it isn’t necessarily going to be a long-term solution, it may help to distance yourself from the problematic person, which will alleviate stress and reduce the risk of arguments or tension in the workplace. If all else fails, why not try avoiding the person wherever possible. This might not always be easy or practical, but getting on with your own tasks and workload, and ignoring the troublesome person unless your work really requires communicating with them is sometimes the easiest way to deal with it. Although it isn’t necessarily going to be a long-term solution, it may help to distance yourself from the problematic person, which will alleviate stress and reduce the risk of arguments or tension in the workplace. A good source for useful information on types of conflict and conflict resolutions in the workplace can be found here. |
AuthorBen Colins is a career coach, writer on business topics, blogger and resume writer at Craftresumes. He is also a Bacon evangelist. Pop cultureaholic. Incurable social media guru. ArchivesCategories |