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It’s all in how you look at it.
With a goal of career improvement on the list for many this year, I’ve been sharing ideas about job crafting—steps you can take to boost your satisfaction at work without necessarily changing positions. In the past 2 weeks, I’ve talked about tweaking who you work with, how you work with them, as well as shifting your job tasks to make your professional life more pleasant. This week, we’ll cover how to change your mindset to make the job you’re doing seem more meaningful. As an example, in a former work role, I served as a customer service rep...
read moreMaking your job your own. A job crafting success story.
You know that coworker who drives you nuts? How you wish you could cut out your interactions with her, or at least keep them to a minimum. And how wonderful it would be if you could spend more time working with the Customer Care team; they’re always so fun and professional. But alas, this is your job and you can’t always have things your way…or can you? Last week I wrote about the concept of job crafting, a theory coined by researchers at Yale University describing the process of sculpting your job to increase your satisfaction and...
read moreMaking your job the one you want.
This time of year, many of us are aiming to make progress toward greater career happiness. “I want work with more meaning, a specialty that better fits my unique talents,” are hopes I frequently hear. I want this for all of us, too, yet I also understand that we need to keep putting food on the table. So after hearing their goals I’ll usually ask, “What’s your bottom line income target?” For the majority of people, it’s not much less than what they’re already earning, and often over $50,000 each year. This translates to a pay rate of about...
read moreBuilding a habit for success.
A blank slate, fresh start, and new beginning; that’s the glorious gift we’re given each time the next year begins. And you, along with me and 40% of the US population, may have defined some hopes for 2018. Yet when it comes to achieving our aims, the odds are against us: research shows that of 100 goal setters, only eight will have success. Yet there’s a secret weapon that can help us join that minority group of winners, and that’s habit. Turns out that about 40% of what we do in any given day is driven by routine. An event triggers a...
read moreDo you WOOP?
Happy 2018! If you’re like me, you’re excited to have a clean slate of opportunity to focus on as the New Year begins. Part of my eagerness is tied to creating fresh goals to work toward. Dr. Gabriele Oettingen, professor of psychology at New York University, developed this process for identifying and achieving motivating aims that make you WOOP with anticipation: W – Wish: What is an important wish you want to accomplish, and over what time period? Choose a goal that is meaningful, challenging, and feasible. Oettingen suggests keeping your...
read moreBetter outcomes for 2018
Despite this being “the most wonderful time of the year”, it can be a tough season for many. As we size up our successes (or lack of them), and combine that assessment with high expectations for the holidays, the result can be stress and depression. If you’re looking back at 2017 and thinking, “Well, that didn’t go exactly as I’d hoped,” what you say to yourself next can make the difference between 2018 turning out better, or worse. Educational psychologist Kristin Neff, Ph.D., in her TED Talk on youtube.com, recommends that rather than...
read moreTips to increase employee engagement
Hoping for a better worker experience in 2018? You’re not alone. In the world of human resources, disengaged employees—those who are lackluster about their work– are a huge concern. They cost companies thousands of dollars in lost productivity, drag down morale, and leak their lack of interest to customers, all of which impact growth and profitability. Worst of all, disengaged employees aren’t rare: over 70% of workers fall into this category. But now more than ever, business leaders are determined to turn this around, and these...
read moreLessons from Marie Curie
Would you sign up for this career? For years before you could even begin your profession, you would have to, as a member of a discriminated-against population, work much harder than others in your field to be taken seriously. Then, when an opportunity presents itself—one that you yourself have uncovered through diligence and persistence—you would need to execute three years of tedious, dangerous, unpaid labor to produce one quarter of a teaspoon of a substance that proves your worthiness. You will then share your trade secrets and give away...
read morePlanning your Encore Career
Over Thanksgiving I took an airboat tour through a section of the Florida Everglades. On the ride, I experienced a career insight that hit me like the tail of a 10-foot alligator. The way it happened was this: my husband, daughter and I paid for our ticket, climbed aboard the boat, and soon we were gliding into mangrove alleys in search of wildlife. Our hunt was rewarded with up-close views of gators, dolphins, raccoons, and several glorious birds. The guide, Captain Mike, appeared to be in his early 60’s. He educated us about the habitat and...
read moreHoliday Job Searching. Give Yourself A Gift This Year.
As Thanksgiving leftovers dwindle, job seekers wonder if opportunities for the year are dwindling, too. While in some cases businesses do slow down in December, others are ramping up. Closing the year with maximizing deductions is a goal for many, so often companies aim to get new hires in place to be able to write off recruiting expenses in the previous year. If you’re in the middle of a search, or considering starting one, this may be an ideal time to put in some extra effort for these reasons: The majority of job seekers view December as a...
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