Quick tip: Find a mentor
Does your company have a mentoring program? About 70% of Fortune 500 companies do. Even if you don’t have a formal way to seek out a mentor, consider doing the legwork to find one on your own.
Category: Personal Development
Don’t quit: Fix it
That’s the advice Marilyn Carlson Nelson received from her dad when she was 13 years old. Today Nelson, owner of the $40 billion Carlson Cos., is one of the world’s most successful entrepreneurs and philanthropists.
The OREO approach
What does an Oreo cookie cream filling have in common with administrative professionals? Everything! Without that cream, there’s no magic center that holds it together. You’re left with two chocolate disks sitting there waiting for something special to happen. The special ingredient: you.
Intimidated? Fight the feeling
Sara feels like retreating into her shell whenever a certain VP, with his bellowing baritone of a voice, talks to her. Sam shuts down in meetings when an opinionated co-worker dominates the conversation. Feeling intimidated is like having a heavy chain around your ankle. Here are some tips for combating the feeling.
Spoke-and-wheel goal setting
Break down a big goal into smaller pieces by envisioning a wheel and spokes. At the hub is your long-term goal. The spokes radiating from the hub are what determine your daily actions.
Put down your work and read awhile
Rather than wait for your company to foot the bill for a class or conference, turn to online sources, such as eHow.com and good-tutorials.com, or the instruction manuals shelved in your IT department.
Financial finesse is a click away
On the money front, it’s time to get back to basics. An oft-repeated piece of advice is to keep better track of the money we spend and save. To help with expense-tracking, tap into online tools. The best of the breed recently chosen by Money magazine and Slate.com are Mint.com and QuickenOnline.com.
You’ve learned it … now apply it
You return from a conference brimming with new knowledge. But when it comes to applying what you’ve learned, you fall flat. Why is it easier to learn new things than to apply them? Anxiety and old habits get in the way, says Dr. Harry Martin. The solution: Put more focus on what happens after training.
Summer camp wisdom
“I live by something my summer camp counselor from Maine told me when I was 9 years old: ‘Love many, trust few and always paddle your own canoe.’”
Saving vs. spending
Americans are spending less but not necessarily saving more as the economy slides. According to a survey by Bank of America, 62% are either behind schedule or have not started retirement planning …