Career advice for newbies and veterans alike

Just starting out? Looking to make a change? Your success depends on traits and talents that may not be obvious. Try this advice:

• Identify your real skills and strengths. Target what you’re best at—not just the classes you got good grades in, or the jobs you’ve done successfully, but the underlying skills they represent: planning, creativity, persistence, and so forth. These will help you prove your abilities in any job you take.

• Find your passion. You’ll perform best at work you feel strongly about for an organization you can believe in. Be willing to experiment and move around in search of the right job, but when you find it, devote your energy to doing your best work.

• Market yourself. Don’t be shy about letting managers and co-workers know what you can do, and what you’ve accomplished. You don’t have to brag, as long as you’re honest about your abilities and willing to help other people as needed.

• Find a mentor—and be one. Find an impartial mentor for your career who can offer objective advice, feedback, and coaching. Be ready to do the same for the people you meet who might similarly benefit from your experience and expertise. It’s a great way to expand your network.

The Neck Rule

Getting a nasty bug is never a lot of fun and as well as causing cough, sneezes and snorts also messes with your ability to put in good day’s work, get a good night’s sleep, and have a decent workout. So how long after you start to feel better can you can go back to pounding the pavement, swinging the clubs and hitting the weights?

The general rule tends to depend on how your body was affected by the bug. Anything above the neck tends not to be too much of a worry, such as a scratchy throat or a runny nose (with the obvious exception of swollen glands or a really horrible sore throat). Anything below the neck however, such as stomach symptoms, fever, and body aches, should take a bit more time to get over.

In any event, when you are feeling a little better you should still do not much more than warm up exercises; a bit of stretching or walking, perhaps. Anything more strenuous too soon and you risk making yourself ill again. 

Teaching Your Children to be Thankful

It’s no secret that thankful children are happier and more polite but raising children to be thankful for all they have is more important than making more pleasant kids – it’s about teaching them to be caring and sensitive to the feelings of others.

While some may feel that toddlers are a bit young to learn gratitude, children as young as 18 months can start to grasp that concept. They know that they are dependent on mommy and daddy to take care of their needs and those needs being taken care of make them happy and they begin to, even at that very young age, appreciate it.

Teaching children to be thankful can be done easily enough. They imitate the adults around them – especially parents – so be sure to use words like “please” and “thank you” often. Good manners lead to sincere gratitude. Here are few ways to teach your children to be thankful:

• Have your children help with chores and tasks around the house. Give your child a chore that he or she can handle and avoid the temptation to jump and finish it for them. By allowing them to do simple things around the house they learn to appreciate what we as parents do.
• Have your child help with a charitable project. This doesn’t mean take them to the soup kitchen on a regular basis. A nice project could be making a cake or soup for a sick neighbor.
• Teach your children, and encourage them, to be generous. If they have several old toys that they don’t play with anymore, or clothes that they have outgrown but are still in good shape have them donate them to Goodwill.
• Learn to say no. All of our children want something new every time we turn around. But we aren’t teaching them anything if we say “yes” to everything they ask for. Learning to say no for every request and only saying yes to special things will teach your children to be grateful for what they get and what they have.

Teaching children to be thankful can be tricky but it must be done in order to help them become better functioning adults.

Bend, don't break: Dealing with inflexible colleagues

Some people seem unable to see issues from any point of view but their own. Whether they work for you or you work for them, their inflexibility can be a roadblock to your success. Here’s how to work together in harmony:

• Listen. Give your complete attention to the other person, and show you understand by paraphrasing what he or she says.

• Focus on the other person’s position, not your own. Resist the urge to argue. Instead, build some good will by showing how you’re trying to understand his or her perspective.

• Agree when you can. Most of the time you should be able to find common ground. Use this to build the basis for a reasonable discussion.

• Disagree with tact. Stand your ground when necessary, but try to disagree without creating more tension. Explain your own point of view in positive language.

• Show some flexibility yourself. Don’t adopt an inflexible stance of your own in response to someone else’s tough attitude. Remind yourself to stay open-minded at all times.

November is National Scholarship Month... Apply for one today!

Make your skin glow with simple food tips

85% of teenagers and around 50% of adults are affected by acne. There is overwhelming evidence suggesting a link between diet and skin health, and skin health can be improved tremendously by a healthy diet.

One good tip is to cut down on your intake of refined sugar. Even beverages we think of as being healthy tend to have a lot of sugar, which causes a rise in the production of androgen and fat hormones. Curb your sweet tooth by indulging in fruit smoothies, which both cuts down on your sugar intake and increases your intake of fruit.

Eating more fruits and vegetables is vital. They are high in a number of vital nutrients, antioxidants, fiber and phytochemicals that makes them great for the promotion of healthy skin. Plants contain antioxidants that fight free radicals and help to cut down not just on acne but on inflammation and even on signs of ageing.

Hiring Passionate and Motivated Teachers... Sound like you?