From gratitude journaling to yoga sun salutations before you’ve had your first coffee, wellbeing is booming.

In fact, consumers are now spending $1.5 trillion globally on wellness trends and it’s expected that by 2030 the wellness movement will be more tech based, personalised and seamlessly integrated into the working day.

And it makes sense when you look at the figures surrounding wellbeing in the workplace. UK employers are losing £45 million per year due to 17 million sick days taken as a result of mental health issues, including stress and anxiety.

Conversely, FTSE 100 companies that prioritise employee engagement and wellbeing outperform those that don’t by 10 per cent.

While being gifted a watch that prompts you to take five minutes to practise mindful meditation, or a free lunchtime yoga class are, in theory, great solutions to counteract wellbeing shortfalls, the reality is that workers don’t need bells and whistles to improve wellbeing at work.

Instead, some simple tweaks to your usual routine can make a vast difference to your day-to-day and may also help your career in the long run.

1. Open up the lines of communication 

In some of the best workplaces in the world, empathy and support from leaders rank as some of the most important management traits. So if you feel like you need more support from your own boss schedule a meeting with them where you ask for feedback on your performance and your position within the company.

You should also use this time to set achievable goals you can work towards to realign your focus and set your mind at ease about what is expected of you, and how you’re going to get there.

2. Set boundaries 

Do you often end up eating your lunch at your desk or staying late in work because others are and it’s part of company culture?

Not prioritising your own time and creating a work-life balance can have a detrimental impact on your wellbeing. In fact, 54 per cent of Brits would take a pay cut in exchange for more work-life balance.

One of the most effective ways to put some distance between your work and life is to set boundaries and stick to them. From not responding to non-urgent emails to taking your lunch break everyday, setting boundaries can contribute to a healthier attitude to work.

Not prioritising your own time and creating work-life balance can have a detrimental impact on your wellbeing

3. Foster a sense of belonging 

From an employer’s perspective, fostering a sense of belonging is not only beneficial when it comes to employee engagement, it can result in better employee performance.

For workers, a feeling of belonging is important when it comes to feeling included and valued, so use office days to collaborate with your team and make an effort to get involved in social clubs or charitable events being organised by your company.

4. Ask for flexibility 

Flexibility around workplace location continues to be a major concern for UK employees. Recent data found that 60 per cent of UK workers would rather add an extra three years on to their career in order to work remotely or in a hybrid environment, over working in the office full-time for the rest of their tenure.

And if your employer is insisting that you return to the office in a full time capacity, it’s worth having a conversation with them to see if you can negotiate a different arrangement that facilitates remote work.

If your employer is insisting that you return to the office in a full time capacity, it’s worth having a conversation with them to see if you can negotiate a different arrangement that facilitates remote work

5. Reassess your career 

Sometimes, despite your best intentions, wellbeing at work remains out of your grasp, perhaps due to a toxic work culture, or a manager that simply refuses to meet you halfway when it comes to remote or hybrid work.

And if that is the case, a new job in a company that actively champions wellbeing and has put the necessary provisions in place to help employees achieve work-life balance could be the best solution.

In fact, 86 per cent of employees are more likely to leave a job that doesn’t support wellbeing.

If you do find yourself starting out on your job hunt, the Mail Job Board is the perfect place to start your search as it features thousands of roles in companies that are actively hiring.

Discover thousands of opportunities on the Mail Job Board today

Source link

The post Is ‘quiet thriving’ the key to career contentment? Five ways to mindfully flip the switch and take back control of your wellbeing at work appeared first on Minds Valley.

Lydia Stevens, the U.S. acquisitions editor for Urano Publishing, at her office in Gardiner. Joe Phelan/Kennebec Journal

GARDINER — Lydia Stevens spends her days in front of twin computer monitors at her small office, editing, emailing and doing the dozens of tasks required of an acquisition editor at an international publishing company.

Behind her, sitting face out on one of the many bookshelves that line the small room, are the first fruits of the labors of Stevens and her colleagues as they launch the U.S. branch of the Spain-based Urano World Publishing this week.

Four books — “How to be a Grown Up,” by Daisy Buchanan; “This Working Life: How to Navigate Your Career in Uncertain Times,” by Lisa Leong and Monique Ross; “Grief and Renewal: Finding Beauty and Balance in Loss,” by Hector Miguel Ruiz and Barbara Emrys; and “She Who Wins: Ditch Your Inner ‘Good Girl,’ Overcome Uncertainty and Win at Your Life,” by Renee Bauer  —  are the debut titles for U.S. branch of the company and represent the result of some of the work Stevens has done since she was hired nearly two years ago.

“She Who Wins,” is to be released Tuesday, and “Grief and Renewal” on Sept. 25.

And that marks the official start of Stevens’ dream career.

“It’s taken 10 years to get here,” Stevens said recently.

It has actually been longer than that, if you count back to the days of Stevens’ childhood, when she wrote in journals and snuck out of bed to sit at the top of the stairs to read by the light from the hallway. And when her parents caught her at it and sent her back to bed, she would retreat to the back of the closet with a flashlight.

“I used to think nobody knew it about it, but, yeah, they knew I did it,” she said. “My mom was like: Why do you think I give you an hour before I tell you to go to bed?”

After earning bachelor’s and master’s degrees in English and creative writing at Southern New Hampshire University, the Gardiner native worked as a ghostwriter before switching to developmental editing, helping writers with issues like structure, form and plot.

She also served an internship for Paige Wheeler, founder of Creative Media Agency, and for Anthem Press in London. Among her other experiences, she returned to Creative Media Agency as a freelance editor.

When the position at Urano World Publishing was announced, Stevens applied. With her hiring, the U.S. branch and seventh branch of the publishing company outside of Spain would be launched. And with her location in Gardiner, it would join about a dozen other publishers based in Maine.

The plan is to release two titles a month for the first year as the business progresses.

And it appears there is room in the marketplace for more titles, because demand for books remains resilient, despite fears about the economy, COVID-19 and changes in consumer demand, according to Statista, a global data and business intelligence platform.

Book publishing in the United States has topped $25 billion in revenue, which includes the growing digital audiobook sector.

Stevens spends her days reviewing nonfiction, self-help and inspirational proposals and manuscripts that come by an author query or through a literary agency. Manuscripts that pass that screening will be reviewed by the editorial board, which considers the merits and marketability of the proposals. If a deal can be struck, that begins the editing process, which can include making sure the manuscript is in good shape, and the author’s claims are appropriately supported.

Even as Stevens works on the words of other authors, she has written some of her own. She is a self-published author of four books and has a manuscript with a literary agent. On top of all of that, she is now enrolled in a doctoral program for humanities and culture, with a specialty in women and gender studies and creative writing at Union Institute & University in Ohio. Her creative dissertation is titled “Beautiful Souls,” to encourage women to pursue their creative mediums and look at how that contributes to the arts and humanity and helps women with their mental and emotional well-being.

“What could women do for society if we said to ourselves that we don’t have to put these creative ideas on the back burner because we’re busy with a career or a family or a spouse?” Stevens said.

The completion of the manuscript is still months away. In the meantime, Stevens said she will continue working with authors on their manuscripts and on public relations and marketing, working with cover designers and copy editors and setting up distribution and production — essentially, building the infrastructure that will support the pipeline of ideas that are waiting to see the light of day.

Stevens does not rely solely on queries. She often gets into discussions about books, especially if she is at the Gardiner Public Library. When she is wearing one of her Union Institute T-shirts, a conversation might start with a question about what she is studying and slide right into a book idea.

Stevens also works on outreach and making contacts more formally by attending conferences, including the Writer’s Digest conference in New York she attended in her first year working for Urano.

“I was pitched in the bathroom through a stall door. Please,” she said, “just email me.”

« Previous

Monmouth considers water solutions amid high ‘forever chemical’ levels in wells

Next »

Augusta tax bills being mailed late

Related Stories

Source link

The post Dream career for Gardiner editor brings international publishing branch to Maine appeared first on Minds Valley.

After writing for years about the benefits of certificates and short-term credential programs, especially for working learners, I had begun to feel inauthentic, like a self-help guru who doesn’t take her own advice. So I finally enrolled in one this spring: Google’s “career certificate” program in data analytics, available online through Coursera for $39 a month. 

With more than 6.5 million learners enrolled worldwide, Google is one of Coursera’s “top instructors,” offering a multitude of certificates in a panoply of languages from Arabic to Spanish. I thought I was gunning for a certificate. What I actually got was a lesson in humility. 

Google’s data analytics program is its most popular offering. The program consists of eight separate courses with titles like “Prepare Data for Exploration” and “Process Data from Dirty to Clean.” Course materials consist of short videos, quizzes, readings, and optional practice activities. Students can also post on message boards to engage with other enrollees. 

Production values are slick, with soft lighting and catchy music, and the content is high quality—this is Google, after all. Modules are succinct and logical; the instructors, all of whom are Google employees, are lucid and charismatic. The course does an exceptionally strong job of explaining what data analysts do, with mini monologues by upbeat Google workers describing their backgrounds and jobs. Also laudable is the focus on soft skills, like collaboration and teamwork. One module, for example, talks about the importance of finding mentors and building networks, while another segment tackles how to handle conflicts with colleagues. Instructors are also refreshingly diverse. In an industry infamously dominated by white men, only one instructor appeared to meet that description.

But the program’s central conceit—to “equip participants with the essential skills they need to get a job” with no degree or prior experience required—is also its central weakness. Google’s aim to make the program accessible to all learners means the material is basic, and the pacing frustratingly slow. It’s not until the final module of Course 4, more than 100 hours into the program, according to the syllabus, that students begin to work with formulas for data analysis, like calculating averages. It’s not until the very end, Course 7, that students finally get to work with the programming language R, and even then, we were only introduced to a handful of commands. 

Though I started out diligently enough, watching every video, clicking every link, and trying to channel the enthusiasm of my Google teachers, the format quickly turned monotonous. What should have been a progression toward mastery became an exercise in sheer endurance—which is about when I started to cheat. 

I began watching videos at double speed, skipping optional exercises, skimming through readings, and passing quizzes through trial and error. You only need 80 percent to pass a quiz, and you can take them as many times as you’d like. I also discovered that the written responses required in some quizzes didn’t have to make much sense. I once typed in, “The quick brown fox jumped over the lazy dogs performing data analysis,” and earned 100 percent. 

According to the American Council on Education, which evaluates academic programs, my Google data analytics certificate program should have taken 175 hours and more than six months to complete. My shortcuts got me mine in about two and a half weeks. My certificate—a digital document that I can share with employers—declares my competence in “tools and platforms including spreadsheets, SQL, Tableau and R.” In truth, my knowledge of the programming languages SQL and R goes about as far as knowing they’re not just letters of the alphabet.

One thing I did learn is the difficulty of completing a self-directed program with static content. Humiliatingly, I learned that I personally lack the discipline and dedication to upskill myself. As I clicked through video after video, I could feel the press of chores and other assignments, while my aspirations for learning withered. My dog suddenly needed a walk; I remembered emails I had to return and errands I needed to run. 

I can only imagine how much more challenging this must be for students in different circumstances than my own—workers with physically demanding jobs, small children at home (my kids are big), or stark financial pressures, or those who are perhaps counting on this course as a gateway to a better life. Coursera and Google do not disclose completion rates, and there are many reasons students don’t finish, but I noticed that while Course 1 in my data analytics program listed 1.9 million enrollees in July, just 328,000 had enrolled in Course 8. That suggests an 83 percent attrition rate.

Policy makers and pundits often talk blithely about re-skilling and upskilling American workers, as if access to a training program is all it takes to transform 20th-century-trained workers into a 21st-century labor force. But my experience underscored that people also need a support network—access to other humans, who can provide mentorship, guidance, motivation, and community. Almost anybody, including those who have been out of school for a long time, is theoretically capable of learning a complex set of new skills. But they can’t be expected to do it on their own. 

A second lesson I learned is that there’s no free lunch when it comes to education and training. Data analyst jobs pay as much as they do because it’s impossible to learn everything you need from a single online course. Google acknowledges as much in the final modules of its program, where it encourages students to build a portfolio and provides extensive links to additional tutorials in coding, data visualization, and other skills. Providers need to make clear that a certificate is only the first step toward a career, not a substitute for the deep knowledge, professional networks, and work experience someone needs to truly succeed in a field. (See main article.) 

I still believe that quality certificate programs can help jump-start, restart, or advance careers. But they’re neither a stand-alone solution nor a silver bullet. My experience in the educational trenches provided another useful reminder: that the champions of policy prescriptions sometimes need to take their own medicine.

Related

Source link

The post How I Earned (Hacked) a Google Career Certificate appeared first on Minds Valley.

BUDAPEST, Hungary — A year ago, Trey Hardee found himself alone in a hotel room, hitting rock bottom.

Struggling to cope with the realities of life in the aftermath of a successful track career, the father of three, a two-time world champion and Olympic silver medalist in the decathlon, was thinking about ending his life.

“I read my journal entry from that night,” the 39-year-old told The Associated Press in phone interviews this summer from Austin, Texas, where he lives. “I don’t know who that was.”

His darkest moment came in July 2022 at last year’s world championships in Oregon, as he was gearing up for another day in his role as a TV analyst. At this year’s world championships, which open Saturday in Hungary, Hardee will again be behind the microphone, but much more at peace, and hoping his story might serve as a cautionary tale for the hundreds of athletes who struggle with mental health.

“I went and sought out counseling and figured out a way to mature in that relationship I had with it,” he said of his 14-year competitive decathlon career that ended in 2017.

Hardee’s story isn’t unfamiliar to world-class athletes who retire. Often, they don’t know what to do next. In Hardee’s case, those questions were exacerbated by something he didn’t realize in the days, weeks and even years after his retirement became official: In his rush to move onto “normal life,” he’d forgotten to give his career the fitting sendoff it deserved.

“I never grieved the loss of it, in the same way that you might grieve the loss of a loved one,” Hardee said. “Without that process, without doing any of that, it was like a wound and a disease that just went untreated for me for five years. I spent the entirety of my third, fourth, fifth year after retirement really struggling and really feeling ashamed and not knowing why. I was ashamed of being ashamed.”

United States’ Trey Hardee takes a throw in the decathlon javelin throw during the athletics in the Olympic Stadium at the 2012 Summer Olympics, London, Thursday, Aug. 9, 2012. Credit: AP/Matt Dunham

Telling the world about such a thing, even years after the fact, is a relatively new phenomena among elite athletes. For decades, so many feared that revealing any misgivings about their mental well-being could be perceived as a sign of weakness — to opponents, to coaches, to people who made decisions about who goes on Olympic teams.

The COVID-19 pandemic and the chaos it wrought in many Olympic athletes’ lives played a big role in shifting that dynamic. Simone Biles, Noah Lyles and Sha’Carri Richardson are among the high-profile athletes whose paths have been fundamentally altered because of mental health. All have been unafraid to acknowledge their reality.

“It’s OK to not be OK,” was the mantra spelled out by Biles and others after the gymnast shockingly withdrew from the team all-around at the Tokyo Olympics two years ago.

Hardee said the recent death of Olympic gold medalist Tori Bowie hit especially hard. The 32-year-old champion sprinter, who died alone at home of childbirth complications in April, had a history of mental-health issues — her bipolar disorder was listed on her autopsy report. Hardee knew Bowie from being on the same teams and used to talk to her at photo shoots.

United States’ Trey Hardee reacts after falling in the 110-meter event of the decathlon during the World Athletics Championships in London Saturday, Aug. 12, 2017. Credit: AP/Tim Ireland

“It’s just a heavy, heavy sadness,” Hardee said.

Jess Bartley, the director of mental health for the U.S. Olympic and Paralympic Committee, said despite some significant shifts in the public’s attitude, there’s still “tremendous stigma” attached to mental health.

She said helping athletes navigate retirement, both before and after they hang it up, is among the most important missions her department tackles.

“There’s a lot of information and research coming out around the fact that, in the back of your mind, you might actually be worried about” retirement, she said. “So why would you not think about retiring? Why would you not think about how your skills are transferable” once you retire?

In his early 30s and with one child — he and wife, Chelsea, would go on to have two more kids — Hardee thought he was set for success after his track career ended.

He found new roles and new purposes — as a family man, a track commentator for NBC and a high-performance trainer. He felt he had turned the page so effortlessly.

Maybe too effortlessly.

Hardee concedes he struggled to voice his concerns. It was difficult to let anyone in — not his wife, who could have offered her own insights as a retired world-class pole vaulter, or his friends, some of whom also forged similar career paths as elite athletes.

Hardee said that in retirement he didn’t utilize any of the mental-health services that have become increasingly available through the U.S. Olympic and Paralympic Committee and USA Track and Field, both of which played a role in his training over the years.

“You don’t know what you don’t know,” he said of the benefits of the later counseling he underwent.

“You can plan and plan and plan, but unless you’ve been talking to a professional and you’ve been really working just on yourself — and this isn’t about a job, this isn’t about having a fallback plan, this isn’t about a safety net. This is about your soul and your consciousness.”

Now, a year after his darkest moment, things look and feel different around the Hardee household.

Some of the pictures and memorabilia that had been stashed away in closets or dusty corners, lest they bring up memories of the career he was trying to leave behind, are re-emerging. One of his favorite pictures — of him throwing a discus — now has a prime spot near the piano.

To one of the world’s most finely tuned athletes, a man who had to master not one, but 10 different events to become a two-time world champion, the simple act of placing some memories of his career back into the foreground represented one of his most consequential breakthroughs.

“It took a while but I got back on my feet,” said Hardee, who also opened up about mental-health struggles in a podcast titled “Life Beyond The Game” with former NFL offensive lineman Joe Hawley.

“And then once I was on my feet I regained my balance. And then once I regained my balance, I started looking up. And after I started looking up, I started to climb out. I’m at a place right now where my head is above the edge of the well or the cave and I’m breathing fresh air again.”

“I can see the sun,” he said. “I can see life.”

Source link

The post Decathlete Trey Hardee’s mental health struggles began after celebrated career ended appeared first on Minds Valley.

Dan Harris meditating.

Ten Percent Happier

hide caption

toggle caption

Ten Percent Happier

Dan Harris meditating.

Ten Percent Happier

I’m going to let you in on a little secret: I’m addicted to possibility.

It’s not exactly “grass-is-greener” syndrome. It’s more like the excitement that comes out of the place in between change. When you’ve altered course – and in your heart of hearts, you’re not sure if it was the best choice – there is so much possibility in all the unknowns ahead.

I’ve made a lot of changes in my life. I’ve lived in three different countries, eight U.S. cities. I’ve bounced around in all kinds of jobs: teacher, retail salesperson, bartender, news producer, war reporter, radio show host. You get the idea. At one point I was working for an NPR show called the Bryant Park Project out of New York and a recruiter from ABC News called me up. A few months later I was starting over again in a new city – Washington, D.C. – with a new company in a medium I had zero experience with – television. It was terrifying. It was also exhilarating, the newness of it all.

When I was there I met this guy named Dan Harris. Well, I didn’t really “meet” him so much as say words into a camera after he said my name. Dan was one of the anchors for ABC News at the time and it often fell to him to read the introductions to my stories on the air. We had actually met in real life a few years earlier when we were both reporters covering the religion beat – me for NPR and him for ABC. But in 2008-2009 I was the correspondent and he was the bigwig anchor who I thought was destined to sit in that chair for the rest of his career.

In 2014, Dan Harris published a memoir that was also a beginner’s guide to meditation, called 10% Happier. It became such a hit that he made a huge change himself. He launched a meditation app and started a podcast all about mindfulness, and eventually left his job at ABC to focus on this new venture full-time.

When I started this whole spiritual search, and this radio series, I knew right away that I wanted to talk with Dan. I wanted to understand what had happened to provoke such a big change in his professional life. And as someone who has, at times, fallen under the spell of change – as someone who was for many years always on the move – I wanted to understand what he has learned by sitting still.

The cover of Harris’ bestselling book that changed his career.

Ten Percent Happier

hide caption

toggle caption

Ten Percent Happier

This interview has been edited for length and clarity.

Rachel Martin: Part of your origin story is this moment that you had on set when things started to go haywire in your brain.

Dan Harris: Yeah, I’ve been dining out on this freakout for a while. But yes, on the set of Good Morning America in 2004, on a warm June morning, I was filling in for Robin Roberts and I would come on at the top of each hour of the show and read some headlines. I had filled in for her many times before so I didn’t have any reason to foresee what was about to happen. A few seconds into my spiel, my lungs seized up, my heart rate started to rise, my mouth got dry and it became impossible for me to speak, which is very inconvenient if you’re a news anchor. And I had to bail out and toss it back to the main hosts of the show. It was just terrifying and humiliating.

Martin: So what changes did that provoke?

Harris: It’s not a neat and tidy story where I had the panic attack and then became a Buddhist. That’s not what happened. But I did make some immediate changes, one of which was that I stopped doing drugs. Part of the panic attack was fueled by the fact that after having spent many years in war zones I, very stupidly, started to self-medicate with recreational drugs, including cocaine.

I learned that even though I hadn’t been doing drugs that often, and I wasn’t high on the air, it was enough to change my brain chemistry and make it more likely for somebody who had a preexisting proclivity for anxiety and panic to have a panic attack. So I quit doing drugs, I started seeing a psychiatrist very regularly for many years and then eventually through a combination of psychotherapy and my beat as a religion reporter, I stumbled upon meditation and that made a really big difference for me.

Martin: You’ve spent many years at this point thinking about mindfulness, but it’s really changed in America — I mean it’s a huge industry now. As someone at the center of the American mindfulness movement … is mindfulness the same as Buddhism?

Harris: No.

Martin: Are you a Buddhist?

Harris: Yes.

Martin: You are?

Harris: Yes. I’m a Buddhist and mindfulness is not the same as Buddhism. Mindfulness as it’s currently practiced in the West is, in my opinion, a great thing. There are critiques of the modern mindfulness movement that I actually think have validity, and yet I still think it’s a great development, a positive development for the species, frankly.

One of the critiques is that in the West we’ve taken one of the active ingredients of Buddhism, mindfulness, and pulled it out of its original context, and that can lead to some misunderstandings. I think that’s actually true as far as it goes, but I don’t think it should doom the entire enterprise.

Mindfulness was one of the qualities of mind that the Buddha, a genius who lived 2,600 years ago, talked about to his followers. You can kind of understand mindfulness as a quality of self-awareness that allows you to see how chaotic your mind is without getting carried away by it. We have this rushing river of thoughts and urges and emotions, but we don’t have any visibility into this nonstop cacophony in our minds, and because we don’t see it clearly it just owns us most of the time. And mindfulness is a way to kind of step out of the Matrix and to see how wild the mind is – to see the contents of your consciousness so that you don’t get carried away by it.

That’s an incredibly useful thing that the Buddha talked about, and I’m glad that we’re practicing it increasingly in the West. And there’s all of this evidence to show that meditation or mindfulness meditation techniques have all of these benefits for the brain and the rest of the body, and even for our behavior. But that’s not the whole Buddhist story.

Martin: Right. So these things are separate. You can practice mindfulness and not necessarily ascribe or define yourself as an adherent to Buddhism.

Harris: Absolutely.

Martin: Is the difference then that mindfulness is Buddhism without the sacrifices that the religion mandates?

Harris: Buddhism is such an interesting thing or not-a-thing to consider. Is Buddhism a religion? Yeah. Is it a philosophy? Yeah. Is it a science of mind? Yeah. It’s so many things and I think what is true is that you can practice parts of it. So I’m a Buddhist, but I won’t sit here and pound the table and say that enlightenment and rebirth are real because I don’t have any evidence.

Buddha was very clear – this is why Buddhism appeals to skeptics like me – he was clear that we should not take anything he said at face value. The phrase he used in the ancient Indian language Pali is “ehipassiko,” meaning: Come see for yourself.

Rachel Martin and Dan Harris were once coworkers at ABC News.

Screengrab via Wayback Machine

hide caption

toggle caption

Screengrab via Wayback Machine

Rachel Martin and Dan Harris were once coworkers at ABC News.

Screengrab via Wayback Machine

Martin: As someone who’s known you from afar for a long time – I mean, you were the anchor guy who read my intros to my [weekend reporting] – this is a big evolution for you, Dan.

Harris: Yeah.

Martin: It’s a big change. But I guess I’m interested in the process by which you arrived at this point. When you were first introduced to meditation, did it take you a while to start to identify as a Buddhist?

Harris: Oh yeah. And I’d still say I’m a secular skeptic in some ways. One of my favorite descriptions of Buddhism is that it’s not a thing to believe it; it’s a thing to do. And I see Buddhism as a set of practices that help you understand fundamental truths in your bones.

What changed my mind about Buddhism was recognizing that this practice that I was doing, this practice of meditation, was rooted in this ancient tradition that had this incredible intellectual infrastructure around it. That took my secular mindfulness and made it just way more interesting.

Martin: Do you think Buddhism works in American culture?

Harris: Yeah. One of the hallmarks of Buddhism is that it adapts to any culture it enters. I think that’s largely beautiful and I think we shouldn’t lose sight of the fact that this is in its origin, an Asian tradition. And uh, I think one of the mistakes I think I’ve made is to get overly focused on the scientists and the western teachers and to deemphasize the Asian roots of this practice; that’s a mistake that I’m trying to rectify as my career progresses.

I think it’s quite easy for white people in white-dominated Buddhist communities to lose sight of the roots of the practice. And I would just say that that’s a blind spot that should be looked at.

Martin: What do you think about the corporatization of Buddhism in America?

Harris: I think I lean toward both-and here. Like this is a cliche, but you gotta speak to people where they are. I’m interested in what works to make people happier or less miserable, however you wanna frame that. And I also think the critiques of the corporatization, what’s often called McMindfulness, that can be true at the same time. I agree with some of the critiques and I feel that at the end of the day more mindfulness is better than less mindfulness. I’d rather see this stuff get out there even if it’s not the way I would personally do it.

Martin: Yeah.

Harris: Are you meditating?

Martin: So it’s interesting you should ask. I tried right after 10% Happier came out, and then like most people, life happens and you don’t anymore. My excuse forever was that I had this job that I had to get up super early in the morning for, and if you don’t carve out that time in the morning then you can’t find the time.

And then there have been different periods where a bad thing will happen to a family member or something and I’ve tried to get back into it. There’s just a lot of dark stuff in your head sometimes and it takes real skill I think. It’s hard, Dan.

Harris: I didn’t ask that to get you to beat yourself up. I hear two things in there that I think are really legit. One is it’s hard to find the time. That’s super true. And the second is that it’s hard to do the practice. Even on a good day it’s hard to meditate because the mind is all over the place. But if you’ve got something upsetting going on in your life, well it’s quite possible you’re going to get a front-row seat IMAX movie of that if you meditate.

Martin: Right.

Harris: All of that is true. I guess I would just say that everything we know about the science of habit formation and human behavior change is that one of the most successful things is to start very small. Aim to do one minute most days, or two minutes. That can be a really good way to start.

As for the practice itself and how distractible we are, people often tell themselves a story about how they’re bad meditators when they get distracted. But it is the waking up from distraction and starting over that is success. The whole point is to get distracted and start again and again and again. Because when you wake up from distraction you’re seeing how wild your mind is. And then when you see it, when you get familiar with the chaos of the mind, then it doesn’t own you as much. That’s mindfulness.

Tune in Sunday nights to NPR for Enlighten Me with Rachel Martin during All Things Considered.

Source link

The post Dan Harris’ mindfulness journey changed his career — and life : NPR appeared first on Minds Valley.

Ryann Holmes

Sara Elise has made a name for herself as a multi-hypenate creative who is dedicated to living a fruitful life filled with pleasure. Describing herself as a “pleasure doula,” she lives this life with the help of holistic wellness, BDSM kink play, and by prioritizing the search for joy. These concepts, specifically, the idea of living abundantly, are the thesis of her recently released self-help book, A Recipe For More.

Long before she wrote it, she lived a life filled with pressure. Elise started out as an investment banker after business school, doing what was suggested by her parents as a path to what many consider to be success. However, the world of investment banking brought her nothing but stress.

“I realized how wildly unhappy and unfulfilled I was,” she says. “That just made me question everything and think about why I had never considered happiness or fulfillment before, and why many of us don’t consider happiness or fulfillment — or even beyond happiness, why I hadn’t considered wholeness or fulfillment before.”

The things she questioned included the industry she worked in that has historically been oppressive to marginalized communities, the overall nonstop productivity forced upon her by capitalism, and her interests outside of work altogether. Thus began her slow journey into seeking out a new way to live. She left behind her investment banking career and started to lean into the idea of exploring her interests in the culinary, hospitality, and wellness spaces.

“That launched me into the creation of my catering company. And then in my catering company, I just began to dive even deeper into not just food, but holistic wellness and thinking about how every aspect of what we consume influences our lives. So it kind of just became a natural progression for me,” says Elise.

After her career pivot, she started sharing more of her experiences and thought processes with others regarding the importance of doing life differently. In addition to a growing love of holistic wellness, she also opened up about her autism diagnosis and queerness. Soon enough, many people in her circle asked to “pick her brain” about these topics and many others could relate. She found herself offering what she refers to as “wellness coaching” to help guide people in holistic healing so that they can feel better in their lives. Through her work, Elise offers clients more hands-on, solution-based, supportive approaches. She does wellness coaching sessions with clients who often find her from various speaking engagements or through her website and social media presence.

One of the biggest aspects of her work is helping fellow queer people working through their identities and relationship to themselves, which can be difficult for anyone but especially those whose very existence is at odds with dominant culture. “As a member of the LGBTQIA2S+ community, wellness coaching has been a meaningful offering that I’ve been able to provide for folks looking to integrate all aspects of their identity into their life. The foundational structure of my coaching is based in holistic wellness and supporting people in living a full and free life, which is hard to do when you feel like you’re stifling different aspects of who you are.”

HarperCollins

The purpose of Sara Elise’s work with her clients, and A Recipe For More, is to give everyone the tools to live their lives with their own vision of joy in mind, all while prioritizing rest. She points out that under cis-hetero patriarchy, the life path set out of 40+ hour work weeks, heterosexual nuclear families, depending on western medicine, and simply living just to get by does not work for everyone. If this path doesn’t work, thinking of other ways to experience life, including connection and community, is a valuable option. One way to do this is by having closer relationships with friends.

At the end of the book, Elise hosts a roundtable with some of her closest friends. The topic of discussion is queer friendship. Queerness is not just about who you engage with romantically, but also about operating outside of cis-hetero rules to gain richer connections with others. Friends are often seen as less important than blood family or romantic relationships by dominant society, but the author and her friends discuss how everyone can change this by making deeper bonds with their friend groups.

“I think my friends and I were able to get to that place very naturally because of the types of foundations that we’ve been building together, which are based on showing up and supporting each other, consistently committing to each other, shared experiences and radical honesty. Another one would be communicating through conflict,” she says. “But I think the effortless communication of just being able to send a photo or a sound or a little gift without having to say much is because we’ve put so much effort into building a foundation that feels really secure.”

When asked what Sara Elise hopes are for herself and the future of other Black, Indigenous, queer folks, she says it’s all about going about every day differently, choosing ease.

“My biggest hope is that we can all create the lives that we want for ourselves that are filled with rest and pleasure and joy and connection without having to always prove ourselves,” says Elise. “I think that’s the ultimate freedom when we can have those things and that type of fulfillment without always feeling like we have to do something outside of ourselves to get there.”

When asked what she does that brings her joy, Elise mentions her Substack newsletter, where she can create and produce labor on her own terms without having to worry about turning a profit to live, and perusing the city of New York. She immerses herself in both things these days, particularly the latter at this time of year.

“I always just love the change of season, this spring to summer shift in New York. ‘Cause I am a New York super fan, so I’ve just really been enjoying being out and walking around the streets of Brooklyn and going to the parks and walking around the city, ” she says. “It’s just like seeing all the trees moving and all the flowers and folks being out and celebrating. There was a dance party at the park by my house yesterday. I love seeing the city come alive again, as it always does this time of year. It’s always very inspiring for me. Brings me a lot of joy.”

Source link

The post Sara Elise Left A Career In Investment Banking To Help Others Learn How To Live A Life Of Ease appeared first on Minds Valley.

Each year during the One University Awards, dozens of employees are recognized for achieving Years of Service Milestones. Recipients at the 2023 ceremony included faculty and staff who achieved 20, 25, 30, 35, 40, 45 and even 50 years of service to Syracuse University in 2022.

In an era when the median number of years workers stay with a single employer nationwide is 4.1*, employees with a long tenure at a single organization are becoming something of a unicorn.

What’s the secret to a long and fulfilling career? Three 45-year employees celebrated at One University—Ann Marie McGinnis, David Jensen and Marie Sarno—share some of their stories, memories and advice for those earlier in their career journeys.

Ann Marie McGinnis, Data Analyst, College of Arts and Sciences Advising

McGinnis

Standout memory: “I was on my way to work one beautiful late summer day in the mid-90s and Captain Scott King was reporting on traffic from the air. On this day, instead of reporting on typical vehicle traffic he reported on a line of students stretching from Steele Hall to College Place, across the Quad and beyond.

“As the person who managed the [class registration] process, I knew it would be a challenging day ahead. Administrators vowed to never let it happen again. I put together a plan to change the way we handled registration for new students during the summer months. This new system, AutoReg, was put into operation 27 years ago when I moved to the College of Arts and Sciences and had the tools to develop a system to create schedules for first-year students. New programs have come to market since the creation of AutoReg and the University currently uses Schedule Builder for this process.”

Tech, then and now: “After a few years with the registrar’s office, I became the manager of the registration process, which at the time was an arena-style process. It all happened on one day, starting at 8 a.m. and concluding around 2 a.m. for staff who needed to finalize the process. My worst fear was dropping any of the trays of punched cards as we carried them from Archbold gym to Machinery Hall, where the cards were put through the card reader.  Now, registration is a self-service process that is both efficient and easy. I must admit I enjoyed the arena style and can honestly say I miss those days.”

Advice to someone just starting their career: “Keep an open mind. Change is inevitable and it is easy to resist change that may not seem to be in our best interest. I have found that if I maintain a positive attitude and try to look at things differently it does work out to my advantage.”

David Jensen, Library Technician, Acquisitions and Cataloging, Research Excellence

Jensen

Most dramatic memory: “Sept. 11, 2001. I listened all day to NPR as I continued cataloging in special collections. When the first tower collapsed, I went out into the special collections reading room to relay that news—the only time in my life the word ‘aghast’ applied. The University sent an email saying they wanted to send representatives to residence halls to offer counselling and asking anyone with counseling experience to contact them.

“I had done informal suicide counselling with people who already knew and trusted me but that is hugely different from grief counseling, especially with strangers—so I ignored that email.

“With trepidation [after a third email from the University] I wrote back specifying that informal suicide counseling was just too different from grief counselling and that I am not qualified, and that if they wanted me regardless, I thought it would have to be with older students. They took me at my word and assigned me to Washington Arms (juniors and seniors). There they had a TV on in the common room, so that is where I saw my first pictures of 9/11 while I watched the students around me.

“With one definite exception the students were engaged with each other, seeming not in denial or subdued or otherwise off balance. I could only see one person who clearly needed someone to talk with, a young lady who was quite ‘shell shocked’—but I could not shake off the parallel that in a very broad sense, 9/11 was an intrusion by strangers, and if I approached her, it would be an intrusion by a stranger.

“When she left the room, I immediately got her name from somebody, and when the Washington Arms director returned, I made sure he knew to seek out that student. I very much felt for that person who was clearly overwhelmed.”

[Editor’s note: This anecdote was condensed from its original version.]

Biggest transformation on campus: “Computing has to be the biggest sequence of transformations. When I was a freshman at SU in ’73, people were allotted a rationed amount of computer time per year, and the interface was called a DECwriter: a huge freestanding interactive typewriter that printed on a supply of fan-fold paper from a box on the floor.”

Advice to someone just starting their career: “Be sure you love what you do. The people you work with may come and go, the technology may change, your work location may get moved around—I think it is most important to love what you are accomplishing.”

Marie Sarno, Program Specialist and Academic Advisor, School of Education

Sarno

Most meaningful accomplishment: “In the variety of roles I played, my ability to see the big picture and small details at the same time helped make a difference in the student, faculty and staff experience in the School of Education. I began at the school during the first year they admitted freshmen directly to the school (vs. upperclass internal or external transfers) and after they had done major restructuring. That gave me opportunities to create new initiatives, impact policies and learn about and involve myself with a variety of different academic services and issues. It set the stage for the rest of my career.”

Tech, then and now: “When I first came to the University, computerized mainframe records were just beginning. There was no email, and desktops had typewriters!  Registration was still in a large gym with students collecting and turning in computer cards for each class.”

Other transformations on campus: “Student expectations and needs seem to have grown. Mental health needs have grown (and maybe we all are more aware of them). Technology has greatly impacted their lives and perhaps helped increase their expectations for service, in some cases expecting more immediate action. There are more Universitywide initiatives in the area of diversity, and attention to health and wellness.”

Advice for someone just starting their career: “I learned a lot from attending meetings and reading the catalog and eventually websites. I got more of the big picture that way (beyond things directly related to my position) and met some helpful colleagues. It’s important to embrace the importance of details related to your work. Interact with your work colleagues and help to create a workplace that is serious about what needs to be done, but also congenial enough to create fun moments that will have you laughing in the years to come!”

Thomas McGinn, residential community safety officer, and Nancy Rothschild, senior associate dean of admissions, were also honored with 45-year milestone awards this year. To see the full list, visit the One University Awards webpage.

*Source: U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics, 2022

Source link

The post Memories, Tech Advancement and Job Advice: 3 Longtime Employees Share Career Highlights appeared first on Minds Valley.

Here are some reasons why writing a self-help book on gratitude can be a game-changer for your career:

1. Increase your credibility

When you write a book on a topic, you become an authority on that subject. People will look to you for advice and guidance, and your credibility will increase. This can lead to more opportunities, such as speaking engagements, media interviews, and consulting gigs.

2. Expand your network

As you write your book, you’ll need to do research and reach out to experts in the field. This can lead to new connections and collaborations. You may even meet people who can help you with your career goals.

3. Develop your writing skills

Writing a book is a significant undertaking that requires discipline and focus. As you write, you’ll develop your writing skills and become a better communicator. This can help you in many areas of your career, such as writing reports, emails, and presentations.

4. Create a passive income stream

Once your book is published, you’ll have a passive income stream. You’ll earn royalties from book sales, which can provide financial stability and freedom. This can allow you to pursue other career opportunities or take time off to travel or spend time with family.

5. Help others

Writing a book on gratitude can help others find happiness and fulfillment in their lives. This is a rewarding experience that can provide a sense of purpose and meaning in your career.

If you’re considering writing a self-help book on gratitude, here are some tips to get started:

1. Choose a unique angle

There are many books on gratitude, so it’s essential to choose a unique angle. Consider your own experiences and expertise and find a way to make your book stand out.

2. Do your research

Before you start writing, do your research. Read other books on gratitude and learn as much as you can about the topic. This will help you develop your own ideas and insights.

3. Create an outline

Create an outline for your book. This will help you organize your thoughts and ensure that your book has a logical flow.

4. Write every day

Writing a book takes time and discipline. Set aside time each day to write, even if it’s just for a few minutes.

5. Get feedback

As you write, get feedback from others. Join a writing group or hire an editor to review your work. This will help you improve your writing and ensure that your book is the best it can be.

In conclusion, writing a self-help book on gratitude can transform your career in many ways. It can increase your credibility, expand your network, develop your writing skills, create a passive income stream, and help others. So, if you’re passionate about gratitude, consider writing a book and see where it takes you.

The post From Grateful to Great: How Writing a Self-Help Book on Gratitude Can Transform Your Career appeared first on Minds Valley.

One of the biggest benefits of self-help is that it can help you develop new skills and knowledge. Whether you’re looking to advance in your career or strengthen your relationships, learning new skills and gaining new knowledge can be incredibly valuable. This can include everything from taking courses or workshops to reading books or listening to podcasts. By investing in yourself in this way, you’ll be better equipped to handle new challenges and opportunities as they arise.

Another important aspect of self-help is personal growth and development. This involves taking a deep look at yourself and working to improve your mindset, habits, and behaviors. By doing so, you can become more self-aware, which can lead to greater confidence, resilience, and emotional intelligence. This can be especially helpful in your career, where the ability to communicate effectively, manage stress, and build strong relationships is crucial.

Self-help can also be a great way to improve your relationships. By working on your personal growth and development, you can become a better partner, friend, and colleague. This can involve developing better communication skills, learning to be more empathetic, and becoming more open-minded. By doing so, you’ll be better able to connect with others and build stronger, more meaningful relationships.

Ultimately, the case for self-help is all about investing in yourself. By taking the time to focus on your personal growth and development, you can become a better, more successful, and more fulfilled person. Whether you’re looking to advance in your career or build stronger relationships, investing in yourself is one of the best things you can do. So why not start today?

The post The Case for Self-Help: How Investing in Yourself Can Boost Your Career and Relationships appeared first on Minds Valley.

‘I realised that the strongest performers weren’t those with the higher IQ. It was the ones who persevered.’ Angela Duckworth, author of Grit. Photo: TedTalks

Self-help books can be a great resource when it comes to self-improvement and boosting your career. From improving your communication skills and building relationships with colleagues to nurturing your confidence and self-esteem, books can give us the tools and strategies to find success at work.

From new releases to bestsellers, here are some of the best reads about cultivating a healthy, fulfilling career in the modern workplace.

Why Has Nobody Told Me This Before? by Dr Julie Smith (2022)

It’s no secret that our workplaces are unhealthy. Excessive workloads, stagnant pay, job insecurity, discrimination and toxic cultures and environments have had a serious impact on our mental health. According to a survey of 30,000 people by AXA UK and Centre of Economic and Business Research, more than a fifth (21%) of UK adults are in emotional distress, defined by the study as ‘struggling’.

Although self-help books are no replacement for professional support and treatment, having a practical guide can help – something clinical psychologist Dr Julie Smith provides in her latest book. It’s an easy-to-understand therapy toolkit designed to help readers understand and manage various mental health challenges from anxiety and depression to low motivation.

How To Fail by Elizabeth Day (2019)

Despite our best efforts, things go wrong and it’s almost impossible to avoid failure at work. We mess up job interviews, our technology stops working and we make poor decisions, but failing isn’t always a disaster – and it can be a good learning opportunity. Inspired by her popular podcast, How To Fail is Elizabeth Day’s funny and insightful outlook on the benefits of things going wrong.

Both a memoir and a self-help book, How To Fail discusses work, dating, babies, families, friendships and more. Day explores why we fail and how it can make us stronger and more resilient.

Read more: What to do if your company backtracks on remote working

If You Could Live Anywhere by Melody Warnick (2022)

Until fairly recently, your job dictated where you lived. If you wanted to work in publishing, you lived in London. Launching an app meant living in San Francisco. But now, with more people choosing to work from home either full-time or part-time, where we live is less dependent on our jobs.

Story continues

Almost half of working adults were working from home at times during the COVID-19 pandemic. According to ONS data, 24% of people worked from home part-time in May 2022 – and more than eight in 10 workers said they planned to do hybrid work in the future. However, the place you call home still matters and finding the right place is essential for your happiness. Melody Warnick looks at how to find the right location for you while doing the job you love.

Read more: How to ask about work-life balance in a job interview

Grit by Angela Duckworth (2016)

Some people may be naturally gifted, but most have to work hard to succeed. Whether it’s practising an instrument for hours on end or honing your communication skills, achieving high often requires what psychologist Angela Duckworth calls ‘grit’. She speaks to CEOs, students, parents and others about how perseverance got them where they are – and why natural talent isn’t necessarily an indicator of success.

Deep work by Cal Newport (2016)

Modern work is distracting. We’re bombarded by Twitter notifications, pinged on Teams and many of us find it hard to sit down and focus without scrolling on our phones. Cal Newport, an associate professor of computer science at Georgetown University, explores the benefits of switching off from our distractions – and helps you learn how to focus again.

He advocates for “digital minimalism” and challenges the idea that we all need to be engaged with social media in order to achieve success. It’s a practical guide to cutting down on your screen time, something many of us could benefit from.

Read more: How to look for a new job while you’re working full-time

Presence by Amy Cuddy (2015)

Even the most confident of us get anxious from time to time, whether it’s in a job interview or before a big presentation. Frustratingly, these jitters can stop us showcasing our skills and abilities – and can set us back when it comes to career progression.

Harvard Business School professor and social psychologist Amy Cuddy examines how to overcome anxiety in stressful situations with some helpful, practical tips. She looks at how the mind and body are connected and how body language and posture can be used to overcome nerves.

Be A Triangle by Lilly Singh (2022)

Research suggests self-esteem is linked to positive work outcomes, such as job satisfaction and higher income. However, a lack of self-esteem and confidence at work is something many of us struggle with. According to one 2019 study, 79% of women and 62% of men regularly feel a lack of confidence on the job. Imposter syndrome, doubting your abilities and feeling like a fraud, is common.

Comedian Lilly Singh, the New York Times bestselling author of How to Be a Bawse, suggests that triangles are the ideal model for building self-esteem in this short book. Triangles have got a strong foundation and they are difficult to knock over – an ethos we should apply to ourselves.

Watch: When should I start paying into a pension?

Download the Yahoo Finance app, available for Apple and Android.

Source link

The post Seven self-help books to boost your career and your confidence appeared first on Minds Valley.