Want happiness 3 effective ways to take charge of your career

Want happiness 3 effective ways to take charge of yur careerWant happiness 3 effective ways to take charge of yur careerAs a new agent at the FBI Academy, happiness was leid a priority. Our instructors took great delight when they uncovered our weaknesses. Once discovered, their dry little hearts made it their mission to push us as far into our discomfort zones as possible.I had trouble with push-ups. My coach made sure he was the one to count them for our interim FIT test. He counted each push-up when we started out. When we hit the ninth push-up, he repeated, Nine, nine, nine. I did the ninth push-up nine times before he counted itAll the while Im thinking, I dont have any reserves left. Ive wasted them all on the ninth push-up. You guessed it I finished the test and missed the critical points I needed to graduate from the Academy.Follow Ladders on FlipboardFollow Ladders magazines on Flipboard covering Happiness, Productivity, Job Satisfaction, Neuroscience, and moreThis was one o f the most important failures of my life because the consequences were tremendous I would not become an FBI werber.Time and time again, I go back to this failure to explain my success in life. The failure was traumatic. I hit rock bottom and was filled with desperation. It was at that moment, however, that I heard my calling. I wanted a career that would provide my life with value and meaning. For me, it was the FBI.Every leader, entrepreneur, and geschftsleben owner will have a different answer. But, to take charge of your career, you will need to dig down and uncover what provides your life with value and meaning. If you want happiness, it will need to be about more than money. If you make money your top priority, your soul will be sucked dry.We all have a choice to make. We can whine about the raw deal life has handed us. Or, we can take charge of our life and focus on the things that truly matter. Because, guess what? Once we find the things that truly matter, we will find somet hing much richer than happiness. We will find contentment and joy.Here are 3 effective ways to take charge of your career (and yes, maybefind a little happinessas well)1. Find A Path with HeartIf there is heart in your path, failure is nothing but another opportunity to try again.Mental toughnessenables you to attack the same problem again and again, but each time youre a little smarter about it. Your tactics may need to change, and you may be required to re-route, but the destination will be the same.If there is no heart in your path, failure will seem overwhelming. Failure will be enough to persuade you to try something new, and you will drift until you finally succeed at something. Average people stop there- at success. And pretend, or hope, that their heart can be found there.Failure can be a wonderful clarifying process. It can fortify your determination to succeed, or it can lead your mind to wander so it can consider another direction in life.Once I realized my career as an F BI Agent was in jeopardy, my calling became crystal clear. I built up the strength to pass the push-up test.How To Make It Work For YouTo take charge of your career you will need to distinguish between passion and heart. Passion is an overused and overworked term. When someone starts talking about their passion, I break into a nervous sweat. It usually means their obsession of the moment. Its easy to be passionate when things work out, and this is what makes passion so seductive. But when passion ebbs, it can evolve into frustration and annoyance.Heart, on the other hand, is deeply embedded into the DNA of your being. It is who you are, stripped of all pretenses and baggage. If your failure is attached to a project that has heart, you will not be deterred by a few bumps on the road.2. Align Goals with Your HeartMany people focus on yearly goals, but that is a big mistake. Instead, identify what brings you a sense of joy. Then create goals to get you there. Lets be honest the real re ason you want to be a millionaire is so you have the freedom to pursue the things that create excitement for youGet clear about what you want. What is the result youre looking for? Do you want better relationships, financial independence, or is there something else?Dr. Gail Matthews, a psychology professor at Dominican University in California, did a study on goal-setting with 267 participants. She found that we are 42% more likely to achieve our goals when we write them down.Over 80% of Americans do not have goals16% say they do have goals but dont write them downLess than 4% actually write them downWithout goals to anchor us, we find ourselves adrift in life. We rely on goals to give us direction, but they only get in the way if they arent attached to something that creates joy and excitement for us. This is better known as the life-deferment plan- someday Ill get around to it.I passed the final physical fitness test and became an FBI Agent. Even in the midst of all the worry and anxiety there was a peace, because at the center of it all I had aligned my goals with where I truly wanted to go in life.How To Make It Work For YouTo take charge of your career, here are some ways you can align goals with your heartName the things that you look forward to in your day or week.Recognize that your dream can also be a calling and that you may have more than one.Stop being a slave to the life or job that is not fulfilling.Minimize time spent on meaningless work.Create time to pursue projects that do create excitement and life. Many of us have financial obligations that necessitate the need for those projects to remain a hobby. Dont give up on them, though.Write your most important goal on a blank sheet of paper and brainstorm ways to make it happen.3. Examine The Labels You Give YourselfThe labels that others give you dont matter as much as the ones you give yourself. Those that are self-imposed are boundaries that can limit where you move. Subconsciously, you may not let yourself cross them.Not an athlete was a label quickly given to me in the first few days of the Academy. I trained but made little progress. I gradually came to understand that not only had my classmates given me this label, but that I had accepted it, too. As long as I kept it, I wouldnt be able to move beyond the self-imposed boundaries.Happiness is not how I would describe how I felt about my situation at that moment. However, I knew that if I wanted to be fulfilled in the future, I would need to find a way to take charge of my career. Sooner, not later. Once I peeled back the label, I found an inner strength that translated to physical strength as well.How To Make It Work For YouTo take charge of your career, here are some ways you can examine the labels youve given yourself, or accepted from othersRecognize barriers that youve placed around yourself.Pinpoint where those barriers came from. Most self-limiting beliefs are imposed on us by family, teachers, or associates from an early age.Disregard limits that have been imposed by others.Respect the boundaries imposed by your own personality. This means you need to be honest about your strengths and weaknesses.Most of the barriers that prevent us from living a full life are based in fear. There are many fears that show up in all personalities, such as fear of failure, success, intimacy, and change.In our relentless pursuit of happiness, weve missed the value of pursuing the things that truly excite us in a deeper and more meaningful way. Take charge of your career, and life, and focus on what is important to you.This article first appeared on LaraeQuy.com.

Career Options for Communications Majors

Career Options for Communications MajorsCareer Options for Communications MajorsCommunications majors study the best practices for conveying information on interpersonal and organizational levels. When you graduate, you should know how to write and speak effectively and persuasively. You will have strong interpersonal, time management, and critical thinking skills. You will be detail-oriented and adept at information gathering. In addition, you will be able to work independently and as part of a team. This major can prepare you for a wide range of careers. Many communications majors choose to work in mass communication and media, film, music, television, journalism, public relations, and advertising, among others. Lets take a look at 10 such careers. Marketing Manager Marketing managers assess the demand for a companys products and services and then help decide how, where, and to whom to sell them. They also help set prices. They collaborate with public relations and sales staff and with product developers. This requires excellent interpersonal skills. Such work also requires marketing managers to be good at gathering information and communicating effectively. veranstaltung Planner Event planners, also called convention and meeting planners, make sure events run smoothly. They choose locations, hire vendors, and arrange lodging and transportation for attendees. They must be detail-oriented and excellent at time management. Event planners also musthave strong communication and interpersonal skills. Lobbyist Lobbyists are, by definition, communicators. They are paid (although some volunteer) to persuade legislators to act in the best interests of the groups the lobbyists represent. As a communications major, you have almost all the skills and knowledge you need for this career, but you will need to learn about the legislative process. A minor in political science would be advantageous, as would internships or volunteer work with legislative staffs or lobbying organizations. Sales Representative Sales representatives, working for manufacturers and wholesalers, sell products to retailers, government agencies, and organizations. They do not sell to the public. Their job is to convince clients how selling these products will help grow their profits or contribute to achieving other goals. Your ability to speak and write persuasively will be an asset in this career, as will your strong interpersonal skills. Advertising Sales Rep Advertising sales reps sell time during television and radio programming and space in magazines and newspapers and on websites and outdoor media. They must be able to persuade companies that advertising in the media they represent is the best way to reach customers. You will make good use of your strong communication skills. Human Resources Specialist Human resources specialists are responsible for hiring and retaining a companys or organizations employees. They recruit, interview, and hire job can didates and answer employees questions about company policies and benefits. This occupation will make good use of your strong speaking and interpersonal skills. When it comes to checking candidates backgrounds and keeping records, being detail-oriented certainly willbe an asset. Producer Producers deal with the business behind making movies, television shows, stage productions, and even video games and computer software. They coordinate personnel and tend to budgets and schedules. The amount of time you will spend dealing with other people will make you thankful for the excellent communication and interpersonal skills you attained while earning your degree. Attorneys Attorneys give advice to their clients in criminal and civil legal cases. They represent them in court and at hearings. Attorneys need excellent speaking and writing skills which you will have after earning your undergraduate degree. They also mustbe adept at gathering information, which is another of your skill s. Admission to law school requires that you have a bachelors degree, but it can be in any major of your choosing. Graphic Designer Graphic designers employ visual elements to communicate messages through print and electronic media. As a communications major, you learned about using words to convey messages. Yourcommunication skills augmented with technical training in graphic design can put you on this career path. Management Consultant Management consultants are hired by companies who want to become more efficient or profitable. The consultants, who work for firms or are self-employed, help them achieve these goals. Your strong communication, interpersonal skills, and time management skills will allow you to succeed in this career.

Study Workplace wellness programs do not save employees money or make them healthier

Study Workplace wellness programs do not save employees money or make them healthierStudy Workplace wellness programs do not save employees money or make them healthierOver 50 million workers are currently enrolled in workplace wellness programs - an $8 billion dollar industry promising to help you shed pounds and kick start healthier habits so that you can save your boss money on healthcare costs. But a new study from theNational Bureau of Economic Research found that unterstellung programs did not significantly save employees money or make them healthier.Are wellness programs entirely useless?Researchers offered 3,300 randomized employees at the University of Illinois a spot into their wellness program while recruiting 1,500 others to be in a control group that would not take part in the program. The researchers said they designed their wellness program to be as effective as possible according to industry standards.After a year, the researchers found that there was no significant difference in health costs, health behaviors, employee productivity, or extra trips to the gym between the two groups.Researchers did find that wellness programs financial incentives made an impact on getting employees to participate in health screenings - but only up to a point. Paying employees to participate in health screenings worked better than offering zero dollars, but the researchers found only a 4% difference in participation between paying employees $100 versus $200, suggesting that one hundred dollars may be enough to get employees to show up for a health screening.Our main hope is that this study provide credible evidence on the impacts of these programs in a space where credible evidence is lacking for how big of an issue workplace wellness is, the studys co-author David Molitor said.Why are wellness programs ineffective at changing health behaviors? The study suggests that wellness programs are a self-selecting process where healthy employees are the ones most likely to opt into them Selection into wellness programs is associated with both lower average spending and healthier behaviors prior to the beginning of the study.In other words, the employees most likely to join wellness programs are healthy employees with low health-care costs who need it the least.When your employer encourages you to sign up for its corporate wellness program, feel free to sign up for the swag and gym motivation. Just dont expect immediate results.