Showing posts with label my. Show all posts
Showing posts with label my. Show all posts

Sorry, Recruiters: My Salary Is None Of Your Business

• 2-minute read •
I am trying something new this year. For me, it is a big step and a scary project but I'm doing it anyway. I am starting a job search even though my job is secure (as far as I can tell) and I enjoy it.

I can tell that I am unlikely to stay in this job for more than another year or two at most. There is no path to upward advancement here. The working atmosphere is pleasant but I am already at the top of the pay range for my job.

That's why I'm looking around. It's kind of like leading a double life. I enjoy my co-workers but I haven't said a word to them about my job search and I'm not going to.

My job is exhausting. How can I land a laid-back job?

• 2-minute read •
First, I think it’s great that you’re interested in looking for a new job because countless people would say, “My job is exhausting,” and then be miserable and do nothing about it. So bravo to you!

Second, with the end goal of landing a laid-back job, we need to work backwards from this point.

Why is your job exhausting? Is it because the tasks are menial and boredom inducing, or, is your job exhausting because it’s labor intensive and you’re on your feet all day? Or are you mentally stretched and your brain is fried each and every day? Combination of the above?

My Problem Is I Can't Take Criticism

• 2-minute read •
I have a reasonably good job and a decent career path but I have one problem.
My manager Al told me “You do a great job, but you give me no opportunity at all to coach you, and that’s a problem. I find it hard to share feedback with you. You can’t take criticism.”
To be honest Al is right. I work hard and I get a lot of praise for my work but I have almost no tolerance for negative feedback. I am honest with Al about it. I don’t know if it’s a character flaw but that’s how I am.

Airline Carry-On Luggage and My 2 Minutes to Success




Your Ad Here

Anyone who knows me knows I do not like to sit still for long. When working at my desk, I take frequent breaks to get up and stretch. This improves my stamina and helps me keep my focus. Not to say that I can't relax – I can sit on a beach for hours. But put me in a long meeting or on a long airplane flight, and I quickly become restless and uncomfortable.

Last summer, I found myself on the nine-hour red-eye flight from Amsterdam to Nairobi. Not too far into the trip, I realized I had to do something or I'd have severe sciatica for days. Since this was the start of a long-planned vacation, an African photo safari, I wanted to arrive in good shape and in good spirits.

Comfort Was Only 2 Minutes Away

My backpack, stuffed in the overhead bin, held what I perceived to be a solution, an inflatable seat cushion I had packed for the long jeep rides we'd be taking through Tanzania and Kenya. I asked my husband Tom to help me pull the cushion out of my pack.

Tom's response to my request was textbook husband-speak:

"Are you sure you want to pull that cushion out of your pack?"

While his question might have sounded reasonable to a stranger, thirteen years of marriage allowed me to quickly translate:

"Now that we're seated with our drinks, magazines and newspapers, are you sure you want me to get up, haul your pack out of the overhead, take everything out of it and dig out the deflated cushion stashed in the very bottom, just so you can see if it will make you more comfortable? And are you sure you want me to put down my work, unbuckle my seatbelt, stand up and go to all that trouble, only to have to get up again, as soon as I've settled back in, and repeat the process to repack the cushion and put it away?"

My response was an unqualified, "Yes! I'm not sure if it will work, but it's worth a try. The two minutes it will take us to do this is a great trade-off for nine hours of comfort."

Tom grudgingly agreed, and we retrieved and unpacked the bag I had so meticulously packed just hours before.

Here's how simple making myself comfortable turned out to be:

1. Move tray table and stand up – 5 seconds
2. Pull down pack – 15 seconds
3. Open pack – 10 seconds
4. Dig to absolute, very bottom and retrieve cushion – 20 seconds
5. Inflate cushion – 20 seconds
6. Repack everything – 35 seconds
7. Return pack to overhead – 10 seconds
8. Sit back down – 5 seconds

Total time invested – 120 seconds, or 2 minutes, for 9 hours of comfort. The entire process required much less time than Tom took to ask me why I really needed to do this and explain why it wouldn't work without saying that he didn't feel like getting up.

Change Is Simple – Not Changing Is What Is Hard

My 2-minute investment paid off with 9 hours of comfort. Anyone, including yourself, can apply my cushion experience to living their career dreams. All you have to do is be willing to invest your time and energy today to ensure your comfort tomorrow.

Avoid spending any amount of time coming up with reasons why you can't, won't or shouldn't do something. JUST DO IT. Whether a change is large or small – a simple step toward comfort (like getting my seat cushion) or a major shift in your career – that change is often just 2 minutes away.

Are you doing today what you need to do to invest in your future career comfort? Or have you stopped yourself from investing time, energy or money because you've convinced yourself it won't work or it will be too much trouble?

Are you resisting a change that is so simple yet comes with rewards that can be so great? The timid mice in the book Who Moved My Cheese illustrate this principle. They starved rather than venture out in search of food. The few who were willing to invest energy and effort changed their futures. These mice didn't have to make a huge change – all they had to do was step outside their usual path – and their reward was staying alive rather than starving.

Which mouse are you and which mouse do you want to be? Each day you have the ability to take simple steps that can change your career and ensure your future comfort. Skip a television show and read a book, go on a diet, start an exercise program, save some money or pull out your seat cushion.

Start with 2 Minutes

Making a change and taking action is not always comfortable. After all, even inflating a pillow takes some effort and an investment of lung power. The changes needed to enhance your career will certainly require more than 2 minutes. But why not start with at least 2? Before you know it, you'll be putting your time and energy into mastering new skills, overcoming your resistance to change and pumping up your courage to take a chance on yourself.

For a lifetime of career satisfaction and happiness, you can make a career change with no more discomfort, relatively speaking, than it takes to blow up an inflatable seat cushion.

This small investment of 2 minutes can change your life from a good one to a great one.

Your Ad Here

That's not my job!

It’s the end of the week and the to-do pile of work on your desk doesn’t show any signs of getting smaller. Your boss walks into your office and asks you to a ‘little’ job and you can’t say no, which results in you taking on more work than you can realistically manage.

It is a natural response to want to accommodate the requests of your superiors, after all, they pay your wages and can help make or break your career. And, you don’t want to disappoint them or give the impression that you are too lazy to help, or feel that you are letting everyone else down.

But, there is also the very real risk that you can sabotage your career by saying ‘yes’ all the time. Your credibility and reputation can be irreparably damaged if you end up failing to deliver on something you've committed to.

So how do you decline extra work without offending anyone or risking your job?

If you have always accepted the demands of your manager without question, then it may be more difficult to break that pattern of behaviour and maybe even daunting.

If you are overloaded with work, you need to take steps to remedy the situation because when your workload is excessive, you cross over the line between ‘positive’ and ‘negative’ stress and start to feel out of control.

If you can’t say ‘no’ then you are in danger of becoming stressed, fatigued and even resentful of your peers or superiors, particularly if you end up having to work through your lunch break or staying longer than everyone else at the end of the day.

When saying ‘no’, try to remember that the person making the request probably has no real understanding of what your existing workload might be or perhaps they don’t fully appreciate the time involved for you to carry out their request.

The most effective tactic could be to avoid confronting your manager about your overall workload. Instead, restrict your negotiation to a specific task or project that is taking up too much of your time.

A blunt refusal to help will simply burn bridges and damage goodwill. Instead, simply explain your existing commitments and perhaps propose another way or another time that you could offer assistance.

If you say ‘no’ make sure that you do not fall into the trap of being over-apologetic. Say what you need to in a concise way so that it doesn’t sound like you are trying to make excuses to avoid taking on the extra work.

And, stand your ground. If people get the impression that they can talk you round then they may persist until you give in. Don’t.

Saying ‘no’ will get easier as you go along, just remember to think it through so that the person who is being refused can see that you have seriously considered their request.

Human nature dictates that we all have the need to feel accepted and liked by others. But, someone who is assertive and fully aware of their capabilities and limitations, who is able to calmly evaluate requests made of them and judge whether to agree and communicate their decision in a confident and clear manner is going to be looked upon favourably.

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