I was invited to join this site, Happify, which seeks to help you build more happiness into your life in a variety of ways. Since it is beta right now, you can only join via invite. It just so happens, though, that I have 5 invites to give away.
Here is some more info on Happify…
At Happify, we’re on top of all the latest cutting-edge research. And it’s that research that informs the interactive, science-based online experience we’ve developed for you — to teach you the skills of happiness. Optimism, self-confidence, gratitude, hope, compassion, purpose, empathy – these are all qualities that anyone can own.
You just have to learn how. And doing so will change your life.
Add you comment below about why you would like an invite to Happify and I will send them out on a random basis. Make sure to include your appropriate email address so I can send you the invite.
Al Roker talks about getting started in his career and some of his best advice for anyone building a career. It is great that he says some things that I say all the time to people and in my writing, too.
A great article from Forbes on how and where to “invest” in your career. One item they mention is using a career coach. This is something I have been doing more of lately. If you are interested, you can check out this page — Douglas E. Welch Career Coaching.
You are accountable for your own success. As such, it is your responsibility to discover your special gifts, attributes and capabilities that can give you a competitive edge and the greatest probability to have a flourishing career. Career management requires quality networking, being in the right place at the right time, earning a voice at the table, knowing your unique value proposition and how to use it, managing your personal brand, being influential – to name a few essentials. But in the end, all of these factors require one important thing: a personal commitment to manage and invest in your career the right way.
Lots of good advice and pointers to additional material in this article from US News and World Report. For me, the most important messages are the need for self-motivated entrepreneurship and self-leadership in any worker today. You need to feel that your work has a bigger purpose and bigger rewards than simply paying the bills. I personally believe that the only way to do “great” work is to have an intrinsic love for that work. Otherwise you work will be only “good” and perhaps just passable.
What do employers’ value? What are they really looking for? According to Natasha Dalzell-Martinez, a research director with Apollo Group, parent company of University of Phoenix, these are the top 10 qualities employers seek today. As a job seeker, employee, and/or a business of one, you will want to develop and promote these qualities in terms that are quantifiable and meaningful to your future or current boss. Try developing these qualities by picking up the books mentioned.
Everyone wants to make money in their career, but many of us also want to have the biggest effect possible on the world. We seek out ways to do good as well as live good using our work and enterprise as the engine for the good.
They panel discussion from Yale holds some interesting thoughts about how to engage in social good while also being good to your career and life.
For all Yale students considering investment banking, Doug Hausladen ’04 has a message for you: Do not go to the dark side.
The undergraduate organization Net Impact hosted an event to launch its organization on Tuesday that aimed to inspire Yale students to explore the field of social enterprise — or socially-conscious entrepreneurship. The panel included Hausladen, Ward 7 Alderman and the co-founder of ActualFood; Barry Nalebuff, co-founder of Honest Tea and professor at the Yale School of Management; Maxim Thorne LAW ‘92, former vice president of the National Association for the Advancement of Colored People; Cary Krosinsky, senior vice president of TruCost; and Kate Cooney, an SOM professor. At the talk, the speakers explored their definitions of social enterprise and suggested an alternative to traditional careers in business or non-profits.
Here is an excellent article on why many first-time freelancers fail. I know i have faced many of these issues myself and readily identify with the problems presented. That said, while freelancing can be — let us say — challenging, it can also be tremendously rewarding and provide you ways to put your family above your career. I have often said that I have forgone more money for more time with my son, now 14. I like to think that our relationship remains strong because of the time I have had to engage with him as he has grown up. This is so important as he enters his high school years. It is hard to believe that he only has 3.5 years before he is off to college and on his own, so I have been very happy with my decision to freelance, even if I a may not be a monetarily successful as some of my peers.
There’s quite a fetish for failure-as-fodder these days. Search “failure” on popular business sites like Forbes, Entrepreneur, or Inc, and you’ll get loads of articles on how it can be a great teacher.
I have to admit: I used to party on this bandwagon. Rally people to feel free to fail, as if it encourages higher-levels of creativity. Self-destruct certain projects just to see what happens.
Then the Harvard Business Review released their Failure issue. And I saw the cult of failure for what it was: a misguided attempt to ease anxiety.
This got me thinking. Do I have to fail at being a first-time freelancer to learn to be a successful freelancer? The answer is an unequivocal NO.
Listen, failure can be a great teacher—especially if you learn from someone else’s failure.
So, if you are a first-time freelancer and would like to become a seasoned one without having failed—then read on to learn the top ten mistakes first-time freelancers make and how to avoid them. Achieving success doesn’t require you to fall flat on your face first.
I write on a lot of different topics here on WelchWrite.com, some of which you might also be interested in. Infrequently, I like to share events that are happening on the other WelchWrite blogs. I hope you find them interesting — Douglas
Eric Ligman from the Microsoft SMS&P Partner Community Blog posted a large collection of Microsoft-related ebooks available for free today on his blog. The books run the gamut from Visual Studio to Windows Phone 7 and area all available as PDF downloads.
If you work in a Windows computer environment, this could be a great resource for you and your career.
I have been working with some of my CareerCamp co-chairs to develop a veteran-specific CareerCamp here in Los Angeles for many of the same reasons listed in this article. Veterans have some very specific career needs that could be well addressed by fellow veterans sharing their experience and advice in an unconference setting.
After spending nine years on tour with the Navy, Michael Barrett found that adjusting to civilian life — especially finding a stable and well-paying job — was a tough and arduous process.
“It’s a difficult transition, because we don’t have a profession to speak of,” Barrett explains. “We’re handicapped in that regard, and we’re less marketable in the work world.”
While entrepreneur Jonathon Lunardi was researching veteran suicide with his brother-in-law, Paul McDonald, he became familiar with Barrett’s sentiments and saw a need to help veterans bridge the gap and become successful in the civilian world. Together, Lunardi and McDonald started Veteran Central, a job resource and development network exclusively for veterans. Lunardi, now the company’s CEO, told Mashable that the startup focuses on job placement and tools for young, blue-collar veterans.
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