Ive Considered A Thousand Options, Yet Made Zero Progress. How Do I Decide

“I’ve Considered A Thousand Options, Yet Made Zero Progress. How Do I Decide” Help from our Community “I’ve Considered A Thousand Options, Yet Made Zero Progress. How Do I Decide?” * Mark has spent so much time and energy exploring different career directions that he's reached analysis paralysis. Now, he's struggling to work out what's right for him and is scared of choosing the wrong path. How do you narrow down your options and commit? What's your career history and current job? I'm a marketing manager for a financial software company. After my degree, and before my current job, I did several internships in marketing and worked for a technology start-up which had the potential to make a big impact. Unfortunately, while I was really enjoying the work, I found that the founders cared more about empire building than making positive change, so I left that start-up and took some time out to explore my options before taking up my current role. How do you feel about your work? One of the reasons I got involved in marketing was because I thought it would be a good way to combine storytelling and the industry environment to make a meaningful difference in the world. Like a lot of people, I watched Al Gore’s film, An Inconvenient Truth, and got really passionate about issues like climate change and science. Sadly, I've ended up in an area that really isn't shaking any political spectrums in the way I hoped I'd be a part of. I enjoy the fact that I get to interact with people and do some public speaking. But I don't like the stuffy office of a corporate environment, or being trapped in a cubicle all day. I prefer being out and on my feet, being creative and taking action. What would you like to be doing instead? I'd rather be working on problems that affect the world and where I can make a difference. Some of the options I've explored include videography, design agency work, archaeology, charity fundraising, energy conservation and ocean mapping. I've considered thousands of options, but I'm no closer to knowing what to do. All I know is that I'd like to work with people and on an issue where I feel I can use my skills and have lots of learning opportunities. What's the biggest obstacle in your way? I feel overwhelmed by the number of possibilities. I don't want to commit to the wrong choice so I'm avoiding making one. About a year ago I left my job and spent a few months doing some voluntary work with a charity that works with seriously ill children. During that time I thought I'd try to figure out what I really want to do. I did every career test under the sun, read books, met people from different industries, met with career counsellors, spoke with friends, read lots of articles on the internet, looked into taking some more qualifications so that I might stand a better chance of getting a job in science... At the end of those few months, I felt mentally drained with analysis paralysis and like I'd made zero progress, so I went back to my job. I felt really defeated. One of the things I did was ask people of all ages and from different industries how they got into their world. A lot of people were really dismissive of their industries, maybe I was asking the wrong questions or maybe people were being defensive but all I found was a lot of negativity. Now I have a dilemma. I'm in a great job; maybe I should just get my head down and keep working. But then my personal aspirations and today's society suggest I don't need to settle for something that isn't a good fit. I think I'm expecting things to be perfect, even though I know things never are, so instead of making the first step in any particular direction, I'm always trying to grab more information. How can I narrow down the possibilities and decide what path to choose? Can you help Mark? Have you been in a similar situation, or are you in the same boat right now? How do you think Mark could move his shift forwards? Do you know anyone he could talk to? Share your thoughts in the comments below and click the thumbs-up button to show your support. Give Mark a cheer of encouragement by hitting the thumbs-up button here:

Its in 3 days! - Classy Career Girl

Its in 3 days! You still have time to sign up for my BRAND NEW FREE online workshop, How To Ditch Your Dead End Job and Find a Career You Love  on Thursday, October 9th at 6pm PST. (Ready to cut to the chase and reserve your spot? Click here) We already have hundreds registered and I cant wait to chat with you all!  Not only will you learn how I got my career unstuck, but I will show you exactly what I teach to my clients including my Love Your Career Formula that has helped hundreds of women transition into fulfilling and satisfying careers. On this groundbreaking workshop, you will learn: The exact formula to determine what your dream career is so that you never get stuck in a job you hate again. The 5 most common mistakes that job searchers make and how to avoid them. How to set up a simple and powerful job search system that attracts opportunities like a magnet. 5 ways to get over your networking barriers with a networking action plan.  The very first step you should take when job searching (and it’s not updating your resume!!) The 5 questions you must ask yourself for clear direction for your professional future. And more! Heres that link again to reserve your spot in this complimentary workshop. (Remember, its in 3 days). Anna P.S. As you probably already know, (and may have experienced yourself first-hand), finding a career you love is easier said than done. Let me walk you through my steps to getting your career unstuck in 90 days or less.  Reserve your spot here. P.P.S. Just by showing up live to the webinar, you will be registered to win my Ultimate Career Success Toolkit (a $2,000 value!)  Feel free to invite your girlfriends and colleagues but please remember to reserve your spot  HERE

Career Resolutions for the New Year - Personal Branding Blog - Stand Out In Your Career

Career Resolutions for the New Year - Personal Branding Blog - Stand Out In Your Career Every New Year is a new beginning. This means now is a great time to reflect what has/hasn’t worked for you this year and start thinking about what you want to change in your career for the next year. Then, make a plan and start applying this plan to your career. Most of the people find it difficult to realize all of their New Year’s resolutions because they are easier said than done. Therefore, you need an actual action plan to stick to your goals and you need to prioritize them. Also, don’t have overly ambitious goals. Otherwise, you can get disappointed easily and quit working on your resolutions along the way. The key is having goals that you believe you can achieve in 12 months if you put your energy and some effort. Below are some popular New Year’s resolutions that will help you build your own list: Get a Promotion: First, find out if your company has a policy for promotions. Then, talk to your manager about the requirements of getting a promotion. Ask him/her what you need to accomplish in order to get promoted and get his/her help to identify the next steps such as future responsibilities or the tasks you need to work on. Find a New Job: If you are not happy with your current job, instead of looking for a new job elsewhere, you can consider taking a new position within your current employer. You have more chances of achieving your goals within your current employer since there are people who know you and the company has already invested in you. First, identify a position that interests you within your current employer. Afterwards, find the hiring manager and the other employees working for him so that you can establish a relationship with them. Finally, convince them that you are the best candidate for that position. Continue Your Education: If you have Bachelor’s degree, you can start taking classes for a Master’s degree. Most universities have evening classes for busy professionals. If you don’t have the time to physically attend a class, you can also consider online degree programs or attending professional certification programs that can help you get ahead of the competition. Expand Your Network: You can attend industry events, seminars and conferences. These are great for following the trends and innovations in your industry and network with other professionals in your area. Make yourself a goal to attend at least 1 industry event per month. You can use social media to stay connected with the new people you meet as well as with your former friends and coworkers.

11 Methods to Build Brand at In-Person Events - Personal Branding Blog - Stand Out In Your Career

11 Methods to Build Brand at In-Person Events - Personal Branding Blog - Stand Out In Your Career How are you building your personal brand at in-person events? The following answers are provided by members of  Young Entrepreneur Council (YEC), an invite-only organization comprised of the worlds most promising young entrepreneurs. In partnership with Citi, YEC recently launched  BusinessCollective, a free virtual mentorship program that helps millions of entrepreneurs start and grow businesses. 1. Be Yourself and Be Curious First, as the cliche goes, be yourself! Its the most comfortable you. Second, be curious. I love asking questions and using fellow entrepreneurs as sounding boards for potential collaborations and future business. When youre surrounded by smart people, use your resources to come up with mutually beneficial ways to work together. Reciprocal altruism, people! It makes people want to work with you.    Samantha Fishbein,  Betches LLC   2. Read Up on the Event My colleagues and I read up on the event before we attend to be knowledgeable about the event itself and the people who will be in attendance. We try to make our branding memorable. We are consistently finding new ways to make our business cards eye-catching so they grab people’s attention and interest.    Bryanne Lawless,  BLND Public Relations   3. Invest in Authentic Relationships Avoid turning networking into an algorithm, and invest the time and emotional effort to transform a business card into an authentic relationship. Oftentimes, it’s the people who I genuinely enjoy spending time with who end up coming through with a helpful business development lead or connecting me to a useful resource down the line.    Kelley Weaver,  Melrose PR   4. Tell Your Story Storytelling: Everyone loves good stories, and can naturally relate to them easier than outright self-promotion or highlighting your latest success. Its more about how you arrived at success than the actual success. Be consistent with your story, and always be yourself. Fluff will quickly deteriorate a personal brand image and, ultimately, future business opportunities.    Kristopher Jones,  LSEO.com   5. Genuinely Listen to People In todays world where we  used to do multitasking while chatting with friends and colleagues, it is hard to be present in an in-person conversation. We have the tendency to lose interest in what the other person is saying if it is not relevant to us. The most important thing that I do during an in-person meeting is to genuinely listen to people I meet and just be present in the conversation.    Shilpi Sharma,  Kvantum Inc.   6. Stop Imitating Others Most events are full of people who are copies of one another. Develop your personal brand by dressing differently, and have ideas of your own to talk about. Stop imitating others and develop confidence in your own approach.  Ask yourself who you really are. That authenticity is what establishes genuine brands like  Gary Vaynerchuk  wearing sweatbands or  Dave Asprey  wearing blue-blocking glasses.    Matt Wilson,  Under30Experiences   7. Speak at Events I attend  conferences related to my industry,  which I believe is the most important out-of-office activity to improve your personal brand.  I consider the best way to  help build this is by being a keynote speaker at many events, or alternatively just as effective is setting up a company booth. The latter enables me to  interact with various people,  and  at the same time helping me  get recognized.    Luigi Wewege,  Vivier Group   8. Focus on Why Youre There I catch myself wanting to help everyone, all the time. My suggestion: Dont do it! Stay in your lane and focus on why youre at the event. If its to network, be a ninja and do the following: One, find out if the person youre meeting is the right person for you to meet. Two, shake hands. Three, determine if there is a win-win that can be created and follow up with a video. Yes, a video: It works.    Abhi Golhar,  Real Estate Deal Talk   9. Talk With the Host I introduce myself to the host and ask them if there are any people in the room they suggest I meet. Doing so allows me to quickly identify the few people in the room that really matter to me and my business, and gets me a warm introduction.    Christopher Kelly,  Convene   10. Offer a Helping Hand In networking situations,  single-mindedly  pushing our  own agenda can often feel inauthentic and pushy. Ive found â€" for me â€" a  more on-brand strategy  is to offer assistance. Even when networking  with  high-profile individuals  in tech and entertainment, Ive discovered surprising outcomes from offering help,  from reciprocal offers of  business deals to stays  in European castles.    Cooper Harris,  Klickly   11. Afterward, Connect on Facebook Instead of LinkedIn I found connecting on Facebook instead of LinkedIn to be much more effective in growing your personal brand and building the relationship after the in-person networking event. I really like how the next time I see them I can bring up how their vacation was or their kids birthday looked like a lot of fun. This is a much easier way to build a relationship.    Alex Chamberlain,  EasyLiving

8 Ways to Improve Your Productivity in 2018 - CareerMetis.com

8 Ways to Improve Your Productivity in 2018 It’s that time of year again to start our New Year’s resolutions. One common resolution is to be more productive with our time. We’re all guilty of procrastination on some level, and 2018 can be the year to banish it for good! Okay, well maybe we can all settle for just getting a little more work done.Here are eight ideas to improve your personal productivity in 2018.1.Keep your brain sharpevalEver walk into a room and forget why you’re there? It happens to the best of us, but it’s a sign that the brain isn’t running as smoothly as it could.Imagine how much time you’d save if only you didn’t have to stand there scratching your head, and then retracing your steps to remember what you needed from that room.If you want to stay productive, your brain is your most powerful tool. When your brain is sharp, not only will you remember more, but you’ll be able to process information faster and make better decisions.To keep your brain working at its peak, eat three balanced me als every day and avoid excess alcohol.Alcohol affects the brainby diminishing your memory and overall cognitive abilities.2.Actively avoid distractionsHere you are sitting down to finally tackle your work email, and you get a Facebook notification that your best bud just went live. How could you miss that?So, you watch and then tell yourself you’ll just spend five minutes reading updates after. Then, it’s time for that email. But something else comes up.Technology addiction is a major source of distraction these days, but it’s not the only one. To avoid distractions, put your phone on airplane mode or “do not disturb” while you’re working on something important.evalAlso, avoid opening your browser or other apps while you’re working. And set a beginning and end time for each task.For example, you may plan to read emails between 1:00 p.m. and 1:30 p.m. If you have a deadline, you’re less likely to get distracted and walk away from what you were doing.3.Remain flexible Scheduling is an important part of being productive, but it’s important to understand that things don’t always go according to plan. If something important comes up while you’re going about your day, remain flexible. You should be able to create a new plan on-the-fly to account for everything you have to do.Sometimes, you simply can’t do everything. In these moments, just let it go. As long as you’re trying your best to improve productivity, there are always things you can add to tomorrow’s plan.4.Create a routineevalA good routine could be the difference between being productive and being a procrastinator. When you handle one thing every day at the same time, there’s no question about what you should be doing at that moment. You just do it because it’s your routine.If you don’t already, start by getting up at the same time every day. Your morning routine should include exercise and breakfast to set the tone for a healthy and productive day.From there, focus on add ing any repetitive tasks to your routine. Some spontaneity is good, but a day full of the stuff leaves too much of your day open for procrastination.5.Take more breaksTaking breaks when you’re trying to get things done may seem counterintuitive, but recent research tells us that we may be more productive after a break.Onestudyeven suggests that we’d be doing ourselves a disservice to focus on a single task for a prolonged period of time.But just because you’re breaking from one thing doesn’t mean you can’t be productive in another area. Maybe you need to take a break from work, but you can use that time to work on your exercise goals with a walk around the building.6.Focus on measurable resultsMotivation is a key factor in staying productive, and there’s nothing more motivating than checking items off of your to-do list. Start your day with things you can easily check off, and then you can spend some time on tasks that will remain ongoing.Next, make it a habit to measure results from your tasks. If you can track progress and know that your efforts are producing a good outcome, you’ll be more motivated to continue with other tasks. Sometimes, that feeling of accomplishment is all that keeps us going.7.Try a productivity appIf you’re stuck, consider trying one of the many productivity apps on the marketplace. Many of them are free to use, so it’s worth a shot. What works for one person may not work as well for another, so keep trying different things to see what sticks.evalHere are a few popular productivity apps:Pomodoro â€" Instead of being one app, Pomodoro is a category of productivity apps based on the Pomodoro Technique, which purports that we’re most productive when we take mini-breaks every 25 minutes. Developed by Francesco Cirillo in his college years, this technique allows you to focus only on one task for a short period of time before you take a break and get back to work. The idea is kind of akin to the concept of taking everythi ng day-by-day. Instead, with the Pomodoro technique, you’re taking everything in 25-minute increments.Any.do â€" Any.do has a simple interface that most users appreciate. It consolidates your calendar, emails, and to-dos and allows you to set reminders for anything. This app can help remind you to keep your day on schedule.Gyst â€" Gyst is an app that helps you stay organized by consolidating texts, contacts, and calendars in one place. You can also use this app to help prioritize.If these don’t resonate with you, don’t worry. There are more to choose from on iTunes or Google Play.8.Learn to delegateThe great thing about these tips is that it doesn’t matter how productive you are today. Regardless of whether you spend your days scrolling through Facebook, going from meeting to meeting, or chasing the kids around the mall, you can use these tips to make more out of the time you have.

Being Present... Always

Being Present... Always Being Present Always Being present is important for everything you do. Last night, I was participating on Twitter for the Monday evening #InternPro chat, and the discussion revolved around this topic:  Dont throw in the towel yet: How Will You Make the Next 30 Days Matter? by @CoachJennie. The reason for this chat conversation? A lot of people looking for jobs simply throw up their hands in December, thinking that its a blow-off month where the holidays become all-consuming and not much hiring gets done. This belief couldnt be further from the truth. The good news is that there are a lot of companies preparing the budgets for the coming years. The numbers are in this year, and they are catching their breath. It is in this pause that by you being present, and in the moment, you can make your move to stand out, connect, and build that meaningful relationship youve been seeking with a target hiring manager. Most people know that anything worth doing means being in it for the long run. Giving up so close to the finish does nothing to get you any closer to what you want or desire in life. You have to commit 100%, and see it through to the end. And sometimes if you quit, you miss the most important lesson of all: how failing the goal could have taught you something new about yourself or what is really important. Being present in the now keeps your eyes and mind open to additional possibilities. It keeps you focused. And if you give up before times up, you may miss opportunities that others will snatch. Never give up on the present. To do so compromises the future. And by being present and not obsessed with whats ahead, you find the opportunities that present themselves which help you get what you want.

CEO Rich Sheridan explains how he created a joyful workplace - The Chief Happiness Officer Blog

CEO Rich Sheridan explains how he created a joyful workplace - The Chief Happiness Officer Blog This is awesome: Rich Sheridan, the CEO of?Menlo Innovations?explains why he created a joyful workplace and how joy has business value. Rich will talk much more about this at our International Conference on Happiness at Work in Copenhagen in May. See the program and get your tickets here. Thanks for visiting my blog. If you're new here, you should check out this list of my 10 most popular articles. And if you want more great tips and ideas you should check out our newsletter about happiness at work. It's great and it's free :-)Share this:LinkedInFacebookTwitterRedditPinterest Related