Worker Bee Mondays ♥ Actions for Success

Whoa, is it really already Monday again?  Yes, they come so fast.  I hope you had an excellent Thanksgiving weekend.  I got to eat turkey and karaoke, what more could a girl ask for?

This week's article is from a Forbes contributor about the Top 6 Actions the Promote Career Success.  I don't know about you, but I can always use some more tips when it comes to this arena, so let's see what we can learn on a Monday.  :)

1. Gaining Clarity
You must understand exactly what you want and what matters most to you.  It can't be some vague, nebulous notion like "I want to do something meaningful."
 
2. Transforming Desperation Into Inspiration
We must learn how to "turn our desperation into inspiration"... to move away from feeling desperate, victimized and out of control in the face of your professional challenges.

3. Enforcing Your Boundaries
Once you know what you want, you have to be strong enough to protect your boundaries, honor your priorities.

4. Committing Yourself 1000%
To be successful in life and work, it takes commitment that doesn't wane.

5. Communicating Powerfully
Highly successful professionals and entrepreneurs are typically very captivating storytellers.

6. Nurturing Empowered Relationships
Invest time and energy in building mutually-beneficial relationships and solid bonds.



Motivation Monday

I hope you have a wonderful week honeybees! XOXO

Worker Bee Mondays ♥ Childhood Dream Jobs

Think about your childhood dream job and what got you excited about it... what you wanted to accomplish and see if you can get the spark back in your current job recommends a career expert.  Read more here.

The Top Childhood Dream Jobs for Men
1. Professional or Olympic athlete
2. Airplane or helicopter pilot
3. Scientist
4. Lawyer
5. Astronaut

The Top Childhood Dream Jobs for Women
1. Teacher
2. Veterinarian
3. Writer, journalist or novelist
4. Doctor, nurse or EMT
5. Singer

What was you childhood dream job?  I wanted to be a singer!  And it looks like I was not alone... #5 baby!

"You need to ask yourself 'what was it about this childhood dream job that got me so excited?'...the 'why did I want to do that?'...'what was I hoping to accomplish?'...that can help you to get the spark back into your current job," Williams said.

Read more: http://www.businessinsider.com/the-dream-job-you-had-as-a-child-has-a-lot-to-do-with-your-current-success-linkedin-2012-11#ixzz2CRTzjPCx

"You need to ask yourself 'what was it about this childhood dream job that got me so excited?'...the 'why did I want to do that?'...'what was I hoping to accomplish?'...that can help you to get the spark back into your current job," Williams said.

Read more: http://www.businessinsider.com/the-dream-job-you-had-as-a-child-has-a-lot-to-do-with-your-current-success-linkedin-2012-11#ixzz2CRTzjPCx

Worker Bee Mondays ♥ The Best Jobs of 2012

Is your job on the list of the top jobs of 2012?  Let's find out!

According to CNNMoney

Number 1 ♥ Biomedical Engineer
The deets:
♥ Median pay: $79,500
♥ Top pay: $124,000

You need a degree in biological engineering or electrical, mechanical or mechanical engineering.

It's also the highest-paid engineering job!
 
Number 2 ♥ Marketing Consultant
♥ Median pay: $92,100
♥ Top pay: $208,000

Marketing consultants help business owners get their products out there!
  
Number 3 ♥ Software Architect

♥ Median pay: $119,000
♥ Top pay: $162,000

You need a computer science or related degree and great communication skills to work with the company's tech unit and management.
 
Number 4 ♥ Clinical Research Associate
♥ Median pay: $90,700
♥ Top pay: $129,000

You need a degree in science, sociology or psychology and possibly a certification and then you can work with clinical trials, a growing field!
  
Number 5 ♥ Database Administrator
♥ Median pay: $87,200
♥ Top pay: $122,000

The database administrator is in charge of keeping a company's information accessible and safe.
 
Number 6 ♥ Financial Adviser
♥ Median pay: $90,200
♥ Top pay: $206,000

It's easier to get hired with a CPA, CFP or CFA and you can help people handle their finances.
  
Number 7 ♥ Market Research Analyst
♥ Median pay: $63,100
♥ Top pay: $97,700

This is a great job for someone who likes numbers and wants to get inside the consumer mind to track what they want!  There can be long hours, but there are going to be lots more jobs in this area!
  
Number 8 ♥ Physical Therapist
♥ Median pay: $76,7000
♥ Top pay: $99,000

You need a doctoral degree in physical therapy, but don't worry it only takes three years to get it!  
 
Number 9 ♥ Software Developer
♥ Median pay: $84,200
♥ Top pay: $121,000

You need a degree in computer science and to stay on top of the latest information in the field.
  
Number 10 ♥ Occupational Therapist
♥ Median pay: $74,900
♥ Top pay: $102,000

You need a master's degree in occupational therapy and a license.  You help people learn to perform everyday tasks on their own.

To read the full article and more details on each job, click here. 

My favorite is the Marketing Consultant because I think it's a job I could do and it would be so much fun!  Is there a job on this list that you like?  Or do you already work one and think it's one the best jobs of 2012?

Worker Bee Mondays ♥ Tips & Tricks

“Change is scary but almost all change is good.”
--Kate White, former editor-in-chief of Cosmpolitan

I pretty much need to tattoo this on my arm.  This is how much I don’t like change.  But I know that is something I just need to get over.  I should probably read this book!

Kate White wrote the book “I Shouldn’t Be Telling You This.”  She was the editor-in-chief of Cosmopolitan for 14 years.  The book is described as filled with pearls of career wisdom on how to get ahead.  I think I will be ordering this on Amazon soon… and of course I’ll let you know what I think.

One interesting tip from this article is that “Meetings are always better smaller.  I would never do a meeting with more than six people.  You get more done and there’s more energy in the room.”  I know the bigger meetings that I have been a part of have been less productive and purely about getting information across to a large group.  It makes sense that a smaller meeting is going to get everyone involved.

“Everything good comes from networking.”  This is one I know is true.  Networking is something we all need to be constantly working on… it’s never too late to start.

Another great idea from the book is doing one career-related thing a week.  I have already started to try and set aside a bit of time to focus on career and actually schedule it in.  How did I ever expect to make in progress if I’m never leaving myself anytime for career work?  So I definitely think this a GREAT idea.

“Never give up on yourself, especially when you face rejection,” Maia Belay said. “The only time you’ve lost completely is when you stop believing in yourself.”

This is most certainly easier said than done, but it’s good advice nonetheless from a recent graduate who was able land an on-air broadcast journalism job less than a year after her graduation.

Worker Bee Mondays ♥ Company Culture

"If they don't buy in, maybe they don't belong."

You need to fit the company culture.  At least that's what several CEOs say.  They want to find and keep employees that fit the company culture.  Definitely something to keep in mind when you're interviewing for your next job... you won't know if you fit the company culture if you don't even know what it is!  So study up before that next job interview.

Worker Bee Mondays ♥ Inspiration from Steve Jobs

What do you think of when you think of Mondays?  I can't help, but think of work!  So I'm going to be introducing Work Bee Mondays with some tips to help make the most of your 9-5 job.  Hopefully, these tips will help you make the most of your work week and get ahead.♥♥♥

This week I'm going to be sharing some inspirational Steve Jobs quotes from an article from Gadgets.

♥ In Playboy magazine in February 1985: "If you want to live your life in a creative way, as an artist, you have to not look back too much. You have to be willing to take whatever you've done and whoever you were and throw them away."

♥ At the Apple Worldwide Developers Conference, May 1997: "I'm actually as proud of the things we haven't done as the things I have done. Innovation is saying no to 1,000 things."

♥ Talking about work at the Stanford University's Commencement address on June 12, 2005: "Your work is going to fill a large part of your life, and the only way to be truly satisfied is to do what you believe is great work. And the only way to do great work is to love what you do. If you haven't found it yet, keep looking. Don't settle."

♥ Talking about him being fired from Apple at the Stanford University's Commencement Speech 2005: "I didn't see it then, but it turned out that getting fired from Apple was the best thing that could have ever happened to me. The heaviness of being successful was replaced by the lightness of being a beginner again, less sure about everything. It freed me to enter one of the most creative periods of my life.[...] It was awful tasting medicine, but I guess the patient needed it. Sometimes life hits you in the head with a brick. Don't lose faith."

♥ Steve Jobs gave an interview in "60 minutes" in 2003 in which he shared that his business model was inspired by The Beatles: "My model for business is The Beatles: They were four guys that kept each other's negative tendencies in check; they balanced each other. And the total was greater than the sum of the parts. Great things in business are not done by one person, they are done by a team of people."

♥ In an interview to BusinessWeek in 1998: "That's been one of my mantras - focus and simplicity. Simple can be harder than complex: You have to work hard to get your thinking clean to make it simple. But it's worth it in the end, because once you get there, you can move mountains."

♥ In a statement to The New York Times, 2003: "[Design is] not just what it looks like and feels like. Design is how it works."

♥ In an interview to The Wall Street Journal in 1993 "Being the richest man in the cemetery doesn't matter to me... Going to bed at night saying we've done something wonderful... that's what matters to me."

♥ Talking about Death at the Stanford University commencement speech, June 2005: "Remembering that I'll be dead soon is the most important tool I've ever encountered to help me make the big choices in life. Because almost everything -- all external expectations, all pride, all fear of embarrassment or failure -- these things just fall away in the face of death, leaving only what is truly important. Remembering that you are going to die is the best way I know to avoid the trap of thinking you have something to lose. You are already naked. There is no reason not to follow your heart. ... Stay hungry. Stay foolish."

I'm definitely a person that doesn't remember to stop looking back.  It's really easy to get caught up in all our past mistakes and the bad decisions we made.  Regret is hard.  It's hard on your soul.  Steve Jobs was so right and we just have to let all of that go and throw it in the trash.  It's not doing us any good to carry around the baggage of regrets or things we wish that we had done differently.

I'm also one of those people that tries to everything, but Steve Jobs' quote about innovation reminds me that half the battle is too focus and learn to say no to 1,000 things.  Wow, this would be hard for me.  But I think a lot of what I'm missing is a strong focus.

I was actually at Steve Jobs' Stanford University commencement speech in June 2005.  It's when I graduated with my my Bachelor's in Communication.  He encouraged us to love what we do.  For the past several years, I have not loved what I've been doing.  So I understand firsthand how hard it can be to not love what you do.  But I think it's also important to do what you need to do also.  If you need to pay your student loans, there is nothing wrong with working a job you don't love.  But try your hardest not to get stuck and don't give up on finding something you do love.  We do spend soooo much of our lives working and it may as well be for something you believe in.  I currently work for a non-profit organization who has a mission that I believe in.  So while I may not be passionate about answering insurance questions, I can stand behind what the company stands for, which makes a huge difference.

You say getting fired can be a blessing?  This is one that I hope we all never have to experience, but I'm glad to know that even Steve Jobs says so! :)

"And the total was greater than the sum of the parts"... this is a GREAT one we should all post up in our cubicles or your office (I'm jealous of your office by the way).

Focus & Simplicity - this is one that should be posted in my cubicle for sure!

"There is no reason not to follow your heart. ... Stay hungry. Stay foolish." Let's try it this week. XOXO