The Most Important Investment of All: YOU

When building wealth it is easy to get caught up in the best investments, plans, strategies, etc.. Remember that at the end of the day the most important investment is you! Here are some quick tips to protect the most important investment of all!

1) Good, Nutrient-rich Food

You must fuel your body and your brain to stay focused, productive and clear while doing business. You want to avoid the caffeine or sugar crash in the middle of meetings. The best way to do this is to ‘snack’ on protein-rich, easy to carry nuts, seeds, cheese, yogurt, etc. If you need to ‘grab’ food, eat real food, not bagels, muffins or pre-packaged snacks. Half a sandwich will get you through your afternoon and leave you satisfied, not starving, focused on work, not the next coffee.

2) Daily Relaxation

Relaxation is FREE and ACTIVE. Investing in daily relaxation simply means carving out time for: a walk, a cup of tea with a friend or loved one, an ‘open heart’ chat (not a gossip or complaining session), enjoying nature or spending time sprawled on the floor with your children, dog, cat, lover or yourself.

3) Non-Judgment

Do you spend [waist] time criticizing yourself and/or others? This is a highly draining and unproductive use of resources. Comparing business models and LEARNING from them is one thing; comparing your company’s growth with others and beating yourself up or gloating about it, is another. Time and focus are lost when we feed our insecurities with other peoples’ perceived success stories. Build your business on a foundation of non-judgment and you will thrive. When you or others do well, learn. When you or others fail, learn. Period.

4) Make You a Priority

Just as you would put off ‘other things’ for a very important client, give respect and attention to you. If you are tired, overwhelmed, exhausted, or elated and busy, make time for you. Sleep when you are tired. Ask for what you need: from loved ones [including children], friends, co-workers/ staff. Clearly communicating your needs will make EVERYTHING run more smoothly. Just as if you were organizing a meeting and dinner for an important client, organize your time / day / week to appeal to and please YOU. You will work better, feel better and be your best client, boss and co-worker.

Password

 

By Vinod Bidwaik

We live in the world of passwords. It starts in the morning when we go in the office. Entry in the office is through your swipe card or thumb impression. It is one type of password embedded technology clubbed with your swipe card or thumb. Once you enter into the office, you laptop or desktop ask the password. You have to enforce to change the password after certain period. Your web based mails have password. Every web site you entered asks registration and you are forced to generate the password. Your ESS (employee self service) has password. Your ERP/SAP access has the password.  You have your Face book account, Gmail account and subsequent passwords.  If you forget the password and you tried to enter the wrong password, your account gets blocked in certain cases. 

In your personal life, you have password for your ATM card, net banking, your housing loan account, D-mat accounts. And if you have multiple accounts, you have numbers of passwords. These accounts and passwords have made the life easy. Everything is on the tip of your finger. Just enter the account and password and have the access to whole world.

But sometimes, it is chaotic. The issue is how to mange and remember these all passwords. People try to make the combination of their beloved persons, birthdates etc. But these can be dangerous when somebody cracks your password, especially in case of your banking account.     

When you forget these passwords, you become anxious. You feel powerless.

We have everything on our laptop. We have access for everything in the world. We feel powerful with this all. We are confident and knowledgeable. We speak on phone, we communicate through e-mails, we update our status on Facebook, and we chat on the communicator. But when we encountered with somebody face to face, we do not have words to share. We have the accounts and password for everything, but we do not have the password for understanding the person seating before us. We know the status of our friend working in another city on Facebook, but we do not know the status of our neighbour who may be in need.

“I share everything on phone and update everything to my wife; she also does the same thing. But when we go at home, nothing is left for sharing, we spend our time watching TV or working on computer.” One of the friends was sharing his experience. “Then, why don’t ask the questions to your wife and kid, at least then will have something. And keep something to share at home.” I suggested.            

We have become so addicted to these smart gadgets that we are losing human interaction and spice in our life. People are either on laptops, ipads, or on phones updating status and checking mails or playing with them. We don’t understand that these gadgets are complementary to make our life simple and not the substitute to the relations.

If we ignore this fact of life, the day will come when somebody will update the status of your death on the virtual community. Virtual community will speak online about you. They will post responses about you. Online community will express condolences on the post.  But you will not have anybody at your bedside. Somebody “hired personnel” from the hospital will do your last rituals.  

Just try to get the password for making life more meaningful and interactive.

How Job Seekers Can Project a More Confident Image

Even the most confident job seeker has a niggle of doubt every now and again. Even if it's only a twinge that wakes you up in the middle of the night, it's there. You're not alone.

But there are ways to become more confident about yourself and what you bring to the table. 

If you’ve been out of work for a long time, self-doubt can begin to set in.

Are you dressing correctly? Is your hairstyle out-of-date? Do you look too old? Too young? Could your communication skills be holding you back? Do you have bad breath, poor posture or a weak handshake? Are you providing unimpressive answers when questioned about your abilities? 

The doubts linger as you attend another networking event. But you square your shoulders, and decide now is the time to impress the heck out of everyone. The advice from others is ringing in your head as you approach possible employers and charge through contacts like a bull in a china shop.

When you’re done, you feel like road kill. You’re exhausted. You have little to show for your efforts, other than jaw pain from smiling too much and a few paper cuts from passing out so many business cards.

Networking, you decide, is not the answer. Anything that makes you feel that rotten cannot be good for you, can it? 

But the problem may not be the networking, but your approach. Because when you put on that fake smile, when you forced yourself into stilted conversations that felt as comfortable as a walking over a bed of hot coals, you doomed yourself to failure.

Michelle Tillis Lederman, an adjunct professor at New York University’s School of Business, says the problem is that people think they have to be something they’re not in order to impress others. She says that unless you’re “authentic” in your interactions, then you wind up feeling stressed, depressed and anxious about your efforts.

“Think about what is the real you. There should be an internal message that will tell you if it’s not feeling right,” she says.

That means that if you’re more introverted, glad-handing dozens of people, passing out business cards and plastering a big grin on your face as you wade through crowds at a big event, for example, isn’t going to make you feel successful and may only erode your self confidence.

“Define beforehand what a successful event is going to be for you,” she says. “It may not be meeting 30 people or passing out 20 business cards. Maybe it’s meeting one person and calling this person later to talk about something you have in common.

In her book, “The 11 Laws of Likability,” (Amacom, $16.95), Lederman outlines some ways to bolster your self image and help you project an authentic image that will attract others and help lead you to the success you desire.

For example, Lederman says the words we choose can often send the wrong message. If we frame our responses in a negative way, then others may see that, also.

“Often, it’s just small shifts. Instead of saying you’re not employed, say that you’ve been out networking, volunteering and learning new skills,” she says. “Focus on action instead of lack of results.”

She also suggests using strong verbs. For example, instead of saying that you’re “considering” what job you may apply for, say that you’re “deciding” what job to apply for.

At the same time, it’s important to give yourself little pep talks so that when you do interact with others, you project more confidence, she says.

Lederman says it doesn’t do any good to beat yourself up about what you’ve done wrong in your career or job search, but makes more sense to focus on what you learned from your mistakes and how you’ll handle them differently next time.

For example, maybe you’re upset you took too long to fill out an application and a desired job went to another candidate. Tell yourself that now that you understand the process better, you’ll respond more quickly and decisively to job possibilities, she says.

The Blue Ribbon

A professor was in the habit of giving his students a little gift at the end of the school year - a blue ribbon with the words "Who I Am Makes A Difference®" printed in gold letters on the ribbon.

As she gave each student their ribbon she explained why he had appreciated teaching them, and why his course had been different because that particular student had been present.

One day it occurred to her to see what effect this little custom would have on the community. She gave each student 3 blue ribbons instead of one, and told each of them to give one ribbon to someone they knew who, in their opinion "made a difference." She also told them to give the 2 other ribbons to that same person, with instructions to hand them out to others who had made a difference. After that the students were to come back and report what happened.

One student who had a part-time job gave his ribbon to his boss, a grumpy fellow who nevertheless appreciated the honor.

"I admire everything you've done," the student said to his boss. "I think you're a creative genius and a real fair guy. Will you allow me to pin this blue ribbon on your jacket as a sign of my appreciation?"

The boy's boss was surprised but also pleased. "Yeah, sure, why not?" he said.

"And will you take these 2 other ribbons," the student continued, "and give them to someone you think makes a difference, like I did for you? It's for a project we're doing at school."

"All right," the boss replied.

 That night the boss returned home wearing the purple ribbon on his jacket. He greeted his 14 year old son and said, "Something strange happened to me today. One of my employees gave me this ribbon. See what's written on it? 'Because you make a difference.' He gave me another ribbon just like it

and told me to give it to someone who's made a difference for me,someone who is very special and means a lot to me.

"I had a pretty hard day, but on the way home I said to myself,'There's only one person I want to give this ribbon to.' I know I tell you off a lot because you don't work hard enough at school,because all you think about is going out and having fun with your friends, because your room's always a mess... But tonight I want to tell you that you are very very important to me. You and your mother make all the difference in my life, and I'd like you to accept this blue ribbon as a sign of my love. I don't tell you I love you very often, not nearly enough, I know. But I do love you, and I think you're a wonderful kid!"

As soon as he stopped talking his son burst into tears.His whole body shook with sobs. His father took him in his arms and held him close, saying, "That's okay, it's all right. Did I say something wrong?"

"No Dad." his son replied, "It's just that... I decided I was going to kill myself. I was going to do it tomorrow. I had it all planned out. I wanted to kill myself because I was sure you didn't like me, even though I tried hard to be good. Now that's all changed..."

Communication In Office

Posted on September 23, 2011 by weblinkindia 

Communication has a predominant role to play in today’s highly competitive corporate environment. Effective communication significantly helps in increasing the productivity of a workplace and in better deliverance of work. Any business enterprise has employees from different strata of society as well as from diverse cultures and backgrounds. Owing to this diversity, clear and effective communication becomes a pivotal tool for the management to achieve the goals set by the organization. Clarity in communication is the single most important factor, which unites the entire workforce and makes it work towards the accomplishment of the objectives set by the organization.

Let The Words Build Relations

Excellent Command Over Language and Clarity are some of the recommended workplace communications skills that are usually recommended in most business enterprises. The language used for communication in a professional workplace must be clear & crisp and everyone must be able to comprehend it. Lack of effective communication can result in low motivation among employees and wastage of organizational resources. Poor communication skills breed disrespect and misunderstanding among the contemporaries and leads to other professional complications. An ideal organizational culture is built in an environment, which promotes open and clear communication.

Earn Respect By Giving It

One of the most important aspects of workplace communication skills is Courteousness. One must always be courteous while conveying the message to a colleague, as it fosters a feeling of mutual respect and is a part of professional etiquette. One must be careful about the pitch and talk softly, while conversing in a professional ambience. One should maintain a low volume while speaking and the workplace communication should always be kept precise and to the point. That drives home the relevant point and saves the time of the colleague.

Last, but not the least, one needs to use formal and cordial method of communication at workplace as it creates a positive influence and makes a favorable impression.