Category: Charting Your Career for Success

10 Ways Winners Beat Stress

There are countless ways to beat stress.  Here are ten things I see winners doing that help me.

Winners own their mistakes.

They correct them.  They move forward.  They don’t let the life’s little mistakes lie around and create problems and stress.

Winners don’t apologize all the time.

People who are apologizing all the time aren’t correcting mistakes.  They are just trying to deal with the stress of insecurities without understanding why they feel insecure.

Winners talk to friends.

Just having friends helps us beat stress.  Talking to friends helps gets us out of my own head and into the present moment.  Talking to friends helps me get my bearings.  Talking to friends can also help me deal with the stress of insecurities that can cause me to apologize all the time.

Winners do it now.

Of course, we feel stressed when we keep putting off what we need to do.  I win when we I do the things I need to do.

Winners write it down.

When something is bothering me, I can write it down.  Writing takes the sting out of stress.  If I have something that I need to do but can’t do now, I can write it down.  Having a list creates a plan of action.  Having the plan helps me become more productive.  When I become more productive, I have a sense of accomplishment.  I feel less stress.

Winners eat healthy stuff first.

We have to eat.  Sometimes our cravings are going to make us eat junk.  Winners don’t worry about it.  But they eat the healthy stuff first.

Winners take breaks!

No one can run wind sprints all day long.  Winners take breaks.  Breaks make us more productive.  People who work in virtual offices can easily forget to take breaks.  I stand up.  I walk away from my desk and walk around for a few minutes.  I lie down for a couple of minutes.  I take breaks by getting away from my work. Not taking breaks creates fatigue, which screws up our perspective and stresses us out.

Winners get plenty of sleep.

Lack of sleep causes depression and anxiety.  Lack of sleep creates stress.  I get plenty of sleep and live with a clear, rested mind.

Winners get real!

It is so easy to believe that we have some kind of control about some national or international event way beyond our control.  Get real.  We can’t police the universe!  Being the cop of the universe is completely fruitless and painfully stressful.

Winners get help!

Asking for help does many great things.  First, you might actually get some help.  Second, by getting in contact with someone else, we get out of own head.  Third, we may even make some friends.  Fourth, we may get a lot more things done!  Fifth, we will have less stress in getting things done.

uccessful job search comes from taking simple steps.  Here are ten powerful ideas for landing your next job.

JOB CHANGE TIMING

“The Best Time to Change Jobs”

Changing jobs is one of the most stressful experiences in a person’s life.  That statement does not mean that job changes do not bring high rewards.  Getting married, having children, and buying a house are also among the most stressful experiences in a person’s life.  Yet these experiences are rewarding.  Read more.

To make any major life change successful and rewarding requires preparation, planning, and timing.

INTERVIEW PREPARATION

“12 Things You Should Not Do In a Job Interview”

An interview is a critical step to getting a job.  Preparing for your interview and making good choices in handling your interview questions can turn your interview into a job offer.  Here are twelve things you should not do and suggestions for the correct things to do in a job interview.  Read more.

INTERVIEWING QUESTIONS

“How To Handle The Interview Question What Is Your Greatest Weakness?”

I made the mistake of answering this question honestly during an interview for a promotion.  I did get the promotion.

However, my new supervisor had an annoying habit of reminding me of my answer to that question during our work together.

Being able to answer this question is part of standard interview preparation.  What should I have answered when he asked me about my greatest weakness?  Here are some options that would have helped me.  Read more.

JOB OFFERS

“How to Negotiate a Job Offer”

Employers are more open to negotiating a job offer when they can see that there is a real shortfall between what they have offered you and what you have in your current job.

The simple way to approach the matter is to make a straightforward presentation of the facts involved.  Read more.

JOB OPTIONS

“Finding Jobs That Match Your Skills”

This lists compares skills to jobs to help you find jobs that you will enjoy and do successfully.  Enter any of these jobs into the Job Search engine to find career opportunities.  Read more.

SELF-EMPLOYMENT

“Is it Time for You to Start Your Own Business?”

Prior to entering recruiting, I worked for two terrific companies: Procter & Gamble and Polaroid Corporation.  I did many things that I loved to do.  I took pride in my companies’ brands.  I loved giving presentations.  I enjoyed the travel.  I took fascination in new product introductions.  I found joy in absolutely crushing the competition in shelf space, ad space, and in sales.  However, I had two frustrations.  Read more.

RECRUITERS

“Should You Work with a Recruiter?”

Whether or not you should work with a recruiter depends upon your comfort level in working with other people about your income and upon your career goals and your urgency in finding employment.  The best recruiters can help you in many ways.  Read more.

NETWORK CONNECTIONS

“Your Know Network”

Today I so instinctively take the easy way to finding information and contacts.  I go to LinkedIn, Twitter, Facebook, Job Boards, Business Directories, Google Search, and forget that the best network I have is the one made up of the people I already know.  Read more.

COUNTER OFFERS

“Counter Offers: The Reason That You Resigned Seldom Goes Away If You Stay.”

Companies give counter offers when the timing works against them to lose a person.  However, unless the reason you resigned have gone away, taking a counter offer means that you are returning to work where have shown disloyalty by looking for another job.  Read more.

GETTING MAXIMUM RESULTS WITH LINKEDIN

Three bonus articles on LinkedIn success.

“How to Pick a LinkedIn Group”

Different LinkedIn groups have different purposes.  Some groups are directories of people in the same industry or who have the same interest.  These groups are terrific for building networks or creating databases.  You can pick nearly any business sector and find that there is LinkedIn group for that business sector.  From there, you can build relationships to expand your network.  Read more.

LinkedIn: Can People Tell that I Have Looked at their Profile?

LinkedIn: Who Can See My Profile?

Interview jitters are a form of stage fright.

If job interviews give you the jitters, you are not alone.  Everyone experiences some feelings of uncertainty from time to time.

Applicants know that another person or other people are judging the things they say and the things they do.  They fear rejection. Many job applicants are nervous before a job interview.  A bad case of the interview jitters works against you.  Instead of having a clear mind, you think less clearly and effectively.  At a time when want to feel poised and confident, you feel tense and uncomfortable.

There are winning steps to turn the job interview jitters into energy and confidence.

Have a light, healthy snack before your interview.

Being hungry or loaded with caffeine can make you feel nervous.  Take a health bar and a bottle of water with you.  Find a comfortable place to relax.  Enjoy your health bar and bottle of water about thirty minutes before your interview.  Give your body time to digest the snack and get the food into your system.

Reduce the amount of caffeine you eat or drink.

You might avoid chocolate bars.  They are great for energy.  The sugar and caffeine can get you energy boost.  However, as the sugar wears off, you can feel an energy drop.  The caffeine can leave you feeling a little on edge.  If you enjoy coffee or caffeinated soft drinks, you may want to avoid them before your interview.  Caffeine from chocolate or from coffee or soft drinks added to the adrenaline of having interview pressure can give you a heavy case of the jitters.

Prepare thoroughly for your job interview.

Know the details of the company.  Know the details of the job for which you are interviewing.  Review your resume.  Know how to discuss your experience in terms of how are qualified for the job.

Prepare questions for the people who will interview you. 

Having questions will show that you are interested in the question.  Having your questions written out will help you remember to ask the questions that you will need answered.

Remember to breath.

Baseball players use this simple technique often.  Watch pitchers right before the windup or batters right before stepping into the batter’s box.  The players will take one or two deep breaths.  You don’t need to master any complex breathing meditation.  Just breathe.

Related articles

Going from Self-Conscious to Self-Confident
Overcoming Intimidating Titles
Turn Your Career Worries into Career Plans
Job Security: How to Stop Scaring Yourself
Clearing the Mental Clutter of Job Stress

Can You Get Rich by Continually Changing Jobs?

Can you get rich by continually changing jobs? Is job-hopping for more money smart or stupid? The answer to those questions depends on the answer to five simple questions.

Is job-hopping for more money smart?

The answer to that question depends on the answer to these five questions.

What is the difference of the total package between the job where you are working and the job where you have an offer?

Are you walking away from retirement savings, profit sharing, vacation, medical coverage, and other benefits? An increase in income is just one part of the package.

What are your promotion opportunities where you are?

Promotions can greatly increase your short-term and long-term earnings.  Changing jobs for more money can cost you in the long end when you career continues to move laterally.

What additional costs do you incur in your new job?

In “Hidden Expenses at a New Job,” I detail the costs that can erase a pay raise and even put you at a reduction in income at your new job.

Is the place where you are going somewhere that you can stay for the long haul? 

Some hiring companies have a dim view of people who change jobs in less than a year or two. They have an even dimmer view of people who change jobs every two years repeatedly. Companies invest money and time in hiring and training people. They want to keep good people to continue to get value out of their investment. They don’t want to hire flakes who will quit every time another company offers a fifteen percent increase.

What is reality?

As a recruiter, I placed hundreds of people in new jobs. The average pay raise for these people changing jobs was two and one half times greater than their annual pay raises at their current or previous company. They came out ahead through these job changes.

Pay raises were not involved in all job these changes. In some cases, people accepted jobs for lateral pay, because the new job fit their needs for various reason.

On the other hand, I placed some people who increased their income fifteen to twenty percent or more. Obviously, pay raises through job changing ever two to three years will result in a person making a lot more money.

But I never saw anyone who was able to change jobs continually for more money.  I did see people who found it increasing difficult to find a new job when they had an employment history of job-hopping.