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.

1. Force yourself to take a BREAK from work and do something totally different than normal.
2. 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

GUEST POST by Mr. Credit Card 

Today, Mr. Credit Card from Ask Mr. Credit Card  is going to share some thoughts about the importance of improving yourself  and learning new skills as an employee. Mr Credit Card has recently compiled a review of identity identity theft protection services, which you might want to check out.

If you hang around the blogosphere enough, you will notice a recurring theme; the desire of many to get out of their JOBS’ and work for themselves. Very often, the reasons cited include:

• Poor job fit
• Spend more time with family
• Hate answering to a boss
• Lack of job security in corporate America

Most the reasons cited above are true to a certain extent. But instead of  drooling about the prospect of starting your own business, why not use your time as a corporate employee to improve yourself and acquire new skills? You might actually find that doing so may get your a promotion or  a leg up when you strike out on your own. Check out these skills to further your career.

1. Learn to delegate – One of the things employees must learn as they progress up the organization is to delegate. We’ve all seen this again and again. The best salesperson on the team is a terrible manager or the smartest programmer stinks as the boss.  There is a transition from team member to manager. Very often, the person who is successful at a specific task fails when he or she gets promoted because they never learn to delegate.

Learning to delegate is a very important skill to learn. You frequently hear successful entrepreneurs talk about working ON their business, not IN the business. If you fail to delegate, you may find it difficult to grow your own business.

2. Learn to be productive – I guess in certain corporate jobs, it is easy to just coast along. But if you want to rise to the top, you have to be productive. That means getting your most important task done first. And not being overly distracted by things that do not really matter.

3. Polish up on presentation skills - Demonstrating good presentation skills is crucial in the corporate world. But they are also very important if you have your own business. After all, you have to pitch to venture capitalists, vendors, and other organizations if you are seeking any partnerships. If you lack presentation shills in a corporate setting,  likely you will be poor at promoting your own business too.

4. Enhance your people skills – Some folks do not succeed in the corporate world because they have poor people skills. You could make the argument that perhaps this is an impetus to strike out on one’s own. And there are many professions where you can get away with poor people skills. For example, a freelance computer programmer or writer may not need these as much as someone in other professions. Still brushing up interpersonal skills can go a long way towards advancing your career or even growing our own business. A business owner needs people skill to deal with employees or his/her business partners.

5. Build relationships – Very often, folks who are shy of promoting themselves view others who are “close” to their bosses as brown nosers. I used to think that way too. However, having become my own boss, I actually appreciate employees who update me,  ask my opinion, and  ask questions when they are unsure. I enjoy a close relationship with my employees. Here is the truth. In the real world, you will only be promoted if you have the trust of your superior and this only happens when you build a strong relationship with him or her. Furthermore, you can only get things done with peers if you’ve built sound relationships.

If you have your own business, the ability to build relationships is even more important. Business owners who lack this skill are at a disadvantage because strong business relationships relate to future success.

6. Get things done – There are many folks who simply do not get things done on time or properly when given a project to do. There are plentiful reasons and excuses. But to be truly successful in whatever you do, you must develop the habit of  getting things done by hook or by crook.

 A key attribute of successful executives and business owners is the ability to get things accomplished on time.

Summary 

 There are many folks who are unhappy with their present jobs for a variety of reasons and want to eventually “start their own business” or “earn passive income”. But I would suggest that even if you are unhappy with your present corporate job situation, there are skills to learn that could earn you a promotion, increase your  job fulfillment and even a higher salary. At the very worst, improving yourself will give you a better shot at success when you do strike out on your own.

So do not moan and groan about your present situation. Instead, make use of your time now to improve yourself (and obviously plan your next venture). You will  be much better off with an action-oriented  attitude no matter what the future holds.