Remember this : You’re not lazy!!

We all have days were we get to the end of the day and feel like we’ve showed up but we’ve nothing to show for it.

We’ve been busy but achieved little!

It’s happens, don’t beat yourself up too much

Make today a good one! 💪

A quick reset:

What happened yesterday that prevented you making progress?

Was it internal or external?

Procrastination isn’t laziness – but it can slowly suck the life out of your goals

Block your time out for your most important tasks, write out the ‘first step to the first step’ making it easier to get started thus avoiding a quick dopamine hit of social scrolling!

Better still, put your phone on ‘flight mode’ or in another room – out of sight, out of mind!

MAKE TODAY A GREAT DAY!

💪

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As a job seeker, what’s 1 new thing you can try today?

Maybe you can work an extra hour longer?

Maybe you can review your CV – what problems do you solve, what proven results have I achieved?

You could spend more time researching and find 10 companies who have those problems

You could research who your ‘future boss’ is in those 10 companies

You could craft a short, intriguing message/email to them or a video message explaining how you can help

Maybe you can just switch off for the day and spend time with family, go walking in nature, or exercise

Maybe you could plan your job search for next week in granular details so you’re ready to attack the market with energy and purpose.

The point is, there is always something more we can do…

What decision will you make today that your future self will thank you for?

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Important tasks versus Urgent tasks … Which matters most?

It’s hard to say without context but if a family member has been rushed to hospital then whatever you’re doing can stop and you urgently travel to the hospital.

A email floating into your inbox when you’re just about to start some deep focus work isn’t as important.

It’s easier to attend to ‘urgent’ work like answering phone calls, replying to emails, finishing a presentation. This is easier to accomplish and provides us with immediate gratification.

“Important” on the other hand is whatever it is that you need to do to take you one step closer to your overall big goal/purpose.

Urgent tasks are precisely the activities we must put off in favor of the most important which although are more challenging, actually get you closer to your end goal.

Do you spend more time on urgent tasks or important ones?

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Are we getting the ‘working day’ wrong?

One of the best ways of measuring your fitness levels is with VO₂ Max which is the maximum rate of oxygen you can consume whilst exercising. The higher it is indicates a higher level of cardio fitness and endurance.

And whilst there are different types of exercise you can perform to improve your VO₂ max, one of the best is HIIT also known as High Intensity Interval Training.

What’s great things about HIIT workouts is relative output to the time you input… You could do a 20 minute workout that can be more impactful on your fitness as jogging around the park for 1 hour.

The key thing is “high intensity’, you’ve got to go at it for 20 min as hard as you can.

Which brings me back to the standard working environment.

Typically employees are coming in and working 9-5, but studies show they’re only productive for about one third of that time.

They’re the ‘joggers’ of the office.

What if you applied a HIIT style working environment to the office where you would have 1-2 hours of ‘high intensity’ interval work (HIIW), followed by 2-3 hours active recovery, massage, light exercise, mediation, reading. (no phone scrolling!)

You could do it 2 maybe 3 times a day.

Just as you wouldn’t run a marathon everyday, why ‘work’ all day?

It’s not about the hours clocked in, but what you actually do within the hours…

Would you try a HIIW day?

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No one is going to call you for your dream job.

Your current job…

❌ a**hole boss
❌ lousy pay
❌ horrible commute
❌ no WFH
❌ no bonus this year
❌office politics
❌ toxic culture
❌ zero training
❌ dread Monday mornings

Your Dream Job…

✅ purposeful work
✅ inspiring environment
✅ boss you can learn from
✅ leaders who listen
✅ colleagues you respect
✅ compensation you deserve
✅ flexible work policies
✅ benefits that actually benefit you!
✅ clear career path defined
✅ personal-career goal alignment!

No one is going to call you for your dream job.

Be pro-active and start the search for your Dream Job today!

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What you say ‘YES’ to today, you are saying ‘NO’ to something else…

REMEMBER!

What you say ‘YES’ to today, you are saying ‘NO’ to something else…

Time is a zero sum game.

If one of your meetings overruns by 10 minutes – something or someone will have to be sacrified later on.

If a collegue or employee comes to you with something ‘urgent’, whatever you’re doing will have to give.

Whatever you CHOOSE to say ‘yes’ to today whether it is in your own mind when organising today’s tasks, or whether it’s a random phone call or meeting… CHOOSE the action that moves YOU further along to your overall primary goal.

And if that’s not possible – keep the trivial short and sweet and to a minimum!

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What will this time next year look like for you…?

If you are sat in the office ruminating what has happened to your once promising career.

Don’t blame anyone but yourself. You’ve put yourself in this position – nobody else.

Lose the victim mindset and ‘man up’! – take responsibility.

It doesn’t matter how old you are or how many mistakes you’ve made – it’s never too late!

Stop feeling sorry for yourself and make a small change in the right direction today…

Stick or twist.

What will this time next year look like for you…?

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Make ‘looking for a new job’ a habit

‘Every habit and capability is confirmed and grows in its corresponding actions, walking by walking, and running by running…therefore, if you want to do something make a habit of it.’ -Epictetus

The old cliche is that ‘looking for a job is a full-time job’, well that’s because it’s largely true.

If you want to find a really good job, not any job but one that excites you, challenges you, fits your values, pays you what you are worth then you’ve got to look for it full-time and make ‘looking for a job’ a habit.

As James Clear said in his hugely successful book, Atomic Habits, the best practice for forming a new habit is to ask yourself,

‘How do I make this behavior more obvious, more attractive, more easier, and more satisfying?’

Ask yourself these questions today and make ‘looking for a new job’ a good habit.

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When to stick and when to quit…

If you are not happy in your current job, There’s nothing wrong with Job hopping if the overall effort is to live a better life. Equally, if you don’t put in the effort then don’t complain if you only live as you’ve begun.

If you’re recently into a new job and it’s not as what you expected that doesn’t mean that you’re committed to it forever. At the same time it doesn’t mean you should necessarily quit before you’ve tried to solve the problem.

But if it does turn out to be flawed, then take the courage to make the change for it will lead to better things.

Doesn’t this just resemble your career?

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So good I did it twice…

Back when I was 28 years old, I took a career break and decided to travel Asia and Australia for a few months…alone and in the unknown, I fell in love with Thailand and decided to stay.

It was easily the best decision of my life.

Around 8 years later, I decided to take another career break, this time travelling around Europe with my newly wed wife… it was an amaizng experience travelling through the Tuscan vineyards, truffle hunting, flamenco dancing in Sevilla, and drinking big beers with friendly strangers at Oktoberfest in Munich. Prost!

One year later we welcomed our son into the world.

Who knows what my life would be like now had I not took those career breaks.

Yes my retirement pot may be bigger and financial independence would come sooner but most likely I’ll never have some of those experiences again and the memories will be with me forever.

Not only that though, taking a break gives you the time and space to think, reflect, learn new things, grow as a person, it helps shape you for the future.

A new improved version of yourself to resume your career with new energy and ambition.

If you get the chance to take an early career break or ‘micro-retirement’ as they are calling it, I highly recommend it – you don’t know where it might take your life!

https://www.wsj.com/personal-finance/mini-retirements-career-breaks-travel-volunteer-ab5ce6f3?mod=djemCJ_h

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