EXCITING NEWS: I was selected to deliver a national training in San Francisco this November entitled: Personal Finance Solutions for Busy Mental Health Professionals. This 3 hour workshop includes material from my upcoming eBook about Investing. Stay tuned to get first crack at the NEW EBOOK; and it’s FREE to my readers.
“Action is the foundational key to all success.”
Pablo Picasso
Career, life, money; it’s all the same. If you don’t TAKE ACTION, then nothing will happen. Move your life forward.
MAIN TOPIC: The Back-story
Not much grooming for me. I’m more in the camp of, how can I be attractive AS FAST AS POSSIBLE? That said, I never miss my bi-monthly hair appointment. One of the best parts of my trip to “Headquarters” is the forced break from work and the internet, not to mention a plethora of fun magazines to read.
The August issue of Shape had a brief article by Kristin Cooke called “The Best Career Advice You’ll Get for Free.” Succinct writing, with only 3 points, made the article a powerful read. Continue and try out these savvy tips.
PRACTICAL APPLICATION; Take these Steps
1. Embrace Risk
Life is risky and there is no way to avoid it. The risk is magnified if you are interested in going out on your own. To minimize that risk, be smart and do some research first. MAKE SURE THERE IS A MARKET FOR YOUR IDEA. Find out if people are willing to PAY for the product or service and where your idea fits in with the overall market.
Keep your day job while you are testing the waters on your new idea. After you’ve done your research, don’t procrastinate, dive in, and try it out!
2. Connections are your Life Line
After meeting someone, immediately add them to your LinkedIn contacts. Carve out regular time with your contacts to meet in person over coffee or lunch. Don’t forget to keep in touch via email in between the personal visits. Make sure you are on their mind!
Keep your contacts fresh. Use them for job hunting, developing new business, and brainstorm how to help one another.
3. QUIT
This one is my FAVORITE. I know and understand this next one, but I have a really hard time putting it into practice regularly.
Do not work all the time. Time off is as important as time on. Take breaks, take a walk, hit some golf balls, get a massage, change the scenery, have a special lunch with your spouse or kids. What about skateboarding?
How it works; When you walk away from a task, your mind is still working and the break increases your creativity and problem solving ability. It also helps combat burn-out. One of my favorite books, Managing Your Mind; The Mental Fitness Guide, by Butler & Hope, goes into depth about this strategy and adds some research as well.
I am living proof that this one works. After all, I here I am at the hair salon, inspired, and writing this article!
Quit working, take a break, change, your scenery, and increase productivity and quality of life!
Have you tried any of these strategies? What were the results?
ACTION STEPS:
Get a notebook and label it: “(your name) Personal Finance” and keep it by the computer. Use it to keep all of your personal finance goals, thoughts, activities, and plans.
- Force yourself to take a BREAK from work and do something totally different than normal.
- Write in about the “ALTERNATE ACTIVITY” and discuss how it worked out for you.
Image credit: SanforaQ8
YAKEZIE SHORT CARNIVAL
Enjoy this personal finanance reading; stop by their sites to read more.
How to Know When You’re Ready to Invest at Financially Poor
Save Money Help the Environment at Sustainable Life Blog
Don’t Fall Prey To A Victim Mentality. Be Responsible For Your Actions And Live Free at Smart on Money
Wow, very cool Barb! Exactly when and where is this session in SF you speak of? Maybe i’ll stop by!
That would be great! I’ll let you know! Cheers
Congrats Barb on your workshop. I think the quitting one doesn’t get mentioned very much. It’s quite sad because it IS really important. Regards,
Shawn
Shawn, Yes, I also think it is really hard to “take a break” and somewhat counterintuitive. Best regards, Barb
Sorry I’m not in SF, would love to check out the master in action!
I love the last one: Quit! Important point I would not have thought of:)
I also cannot emphasize enough the connections part of the post. Literally, and I’m being serious, every single person I work with got their job because they knew someone. I am the only one who got my job from a job fair. “It’s all in who you know”! – So true.
Finally, congrats on the workshop! I would love to attend, but live in the muggy East Coast. I love SF!
@Car Yea, I’m excited about a trip to San Francisco, maybe we’ll meet another time
@ MFO- Even though it’s sometimes scary making contacts, it’s really important.
Thanks to both of you for continuing the discussion.
I can’t wait to read your ebook on investing! And congrats on your upcoming training. As for quitting, or taking a time out, I find that I often have to walk away from a challenging task so that I can rejuvenate myself. I can solve the problem in my brain while doing other things, like bike riding or watering the plants.
Nice tips, Barb. Some of the best problem solving is done when we aren’t necessarily looking for the solution, in the shower, on a walk, or bike ride.
Yay Barb! Congratulations on the up coming workshop I hope you have a lot of fun doing it.
The third point about quiting is a hard one for me to do. I am either ON or OFF. When I’m ON I usually work until I drop but when I’m OFF no amount of guilt or pressure can get me going again until I am good and ready. Some how that’s always worked for me.
@LittleHouse-Exactly, it’s amazing how answers come when we take a break.
@Ingrid-You bring up a really important point, find out what works for YOU.
Thanks to both of you for adding to the conversation.
Best regards, Barb
[...] The Carnival of Personal Finance at Miss Thrifty featured my article, 3 Amazing Career Tips [...]
[...] Friedberg from BarbaraFriedbergPersonalFinance presents 3 Amazing Career Tips. Her message? “Quit working, take a break, change, your scenery, and increase productivity [...]
I like the advice particularly to ‘Quit’. This is like Google serving free gourmet lunches and all other perks to their employees. There’s a reason behind those perks – to keep their employees productive. This is the same as taking a break or quitting. Going for a marathon will not help you become productive. It usually just leads to more hours of work, because our brains don’t function as it should anymore. Good tip!
Andrew
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