Investing in Yourself and Becoming That Leader Who Makes a Difference

/in /by

StrategyDriven Professional Development Article |Leader|Investing in Yourself and Becoming That Leader Who Makes a DifferenceThere are leaders out there within the workplace that do not make an impact and that do not make a difference, and to ensure that you do not end up as one of these leaders, it is important that you invest in yourself. You are always investing your time and energy into others, and now it is time to focus on yourself. You need to make progress and changes, and to do this, you need to improve what you are offering.

Studying and Developing Your Skills and Knowledge Base

How much you know and how aware you are of the industry, marketplace, and role you are in can determine how successful you are. When you complete your bachelor’s online, you shift your focus and your efforts back onto yourself, and you once again focus on developing your skills and knowledge, which can then be directly implemented into your role. A bachelor’s will allow you to develop those areas or subjects which you may feel are not your strongest areas of expertise. Investing in yourself and in your education will ensure that you are a leader who can implement and bring about change.

What Changes Do You Want to Make?

To make a difference within your business or organization, changes must be made, but do you know what changes need to be brought about and why? Establishing root causes of problems and having the vision to make things better is what you need to be focusing on. A great advantage of studying for your bachelor’s is that it will allow you to see where opportunities for change and development lie. Through studying, you will be able to see how you can look at your business or organization differently, and most importantly, through the eyes of the leader that you are.

What Type of Leader Do You Want to Be?

Not all leaders are the same, and so what type of leader do you want to be? For example, do you want to be one that leads from the front and commands attention, or do you want to be one that leads from the middle or the center of operations? When you know what type of leader you want to be, and you know what style of leadership suits you, then you can implement your ideas with confidence and begin looking towards the future.

Focusing on the Future

Making change can be quick, but quite often, changes happen over time. Knowing where you want to go and where you want to be as a leader is important. Your vision will help shape and define your business or organization, so it is important that you are always focused on the future. Having targets and goals for change is important, as is being open to change and improvement. Nothing ever stays still, and neither should you. A good leader who truly cares about getting results and making an impact will keep pushing and applying gentle pressure to get where they want to.

3 Things to Think About Before You Invest

/in /by

StrategyDriven Professional Development Article |Investment|3 Things to Think About Before You InvestHaving spare cash might not be something that many of us get to enjoy on a regular basis, but those of us who do will want to make sure that we do whatever we can to make the most of that money.

The only thing about investing is that it can be hard to know where to start when it comes to moving your money around.
Even more so, an investment that doesn’t quite work out in the right way can end up doing more harm than good, which is not what you will want to have happen to you.

So, to help you to make the most of your investment, no matter how small or big, we have put together the 3 things to think about before you invest.

Always think long term

One of the best things to do when it comes to investments is to think about it in the long term. An investment made (or withdrawn out of an account) on an impulse rarely works out the right way; instead, you need to think about how it will grow over time.

When you consider everything in the longer term, you are giving your investment the time to grow and develop rather than hoping that it will be an instant payout.

Don’t ever put all your eggs in one basket

When it comes to investment, it is always a good idea to make sure that you diversify. You may have one form of investment that you are much happier working within than others, but it is always a good idea to learn more about other options that are open to you too.

You may discover that shares are a good idea for you or that property is your future. Whatever you find out, just knowing that you have a few options spread out, rather than just one, will give you peace of mind.

Learn about what you invest in

It is always a good idea to understand whatever it is that you are investing in. If you do this, then you can quickly identify what a good idea is and what might be just too good to be true. With understanding also comes the ability to think about what your next steps are, what things you can change in the future to make sure that you are getting the best return for your investment, and that things are going the right way.

Now you know more about investing, and how best to use the money you have already, you will want to make sure that you understand what you are investing in. There are plenty of options out there for you to choose from; for example, if you are thinking about Blockchain, you will want to check out My Blockchain Life or if you’re looking to invest in real estate, FortuneBuilders is a great resource.

A helpful community to ensure that you make the most of your investment and that you may Blockchain work for you.
The main thing to always make sure that you do, before any investment, is to learn how best to invest your money and ensure that you always see a return rather than a loss.

Are You Prepared For The Future?

/in /by

StrategyDriven Professional Development Article |Future Planning|Are You Prepared For The Future?The future is something that most people do not want to think about. The unforeseen can sometimes be quite overwhelming, but the pace at which the future is approaching us is even more so. When it comes to the future, there is so much to think about – from the family you may one day have to the career aspirations you hope to achieve to the house you may one day purchase. You will hope for financial security and a life of comfort and happiness and good health.

The problem is that most people fantasize about this happening but do little to make it happen. It is up to you to ensure that the future progresses as you envisioned, which is why planning is important.

If you want to have a financially stable future, you must begin when you are young. Sure, you can always figure out an economically secure future in your 30s and 40s, but the sooner you start, the better off you will be.

Set achievable goals

If you want to save for retirement or intend to buy a house one day, you must begin with the potential that is right in front of you. Planning your near future will make a huge difference in how you feel. When you have completed the smaller objectives in front of you, you will have a much better picture of your long-term future.

Make financial plans

So you know what you want in the end, but how do you intend to get there? What plans do you have to ensure that your income grows in the way you want it to? Financial planning entails paying off loans and tracking your spending to determine what you can afford and when. Start paying off the loans that are costing you the most in interest first, and then proceeding from there. Considering the interest you owe on them, credit cards should be the first to go. Your financial plans should include what you owe on your house and other expenses, and whatever is leftover should be set aside for investments. If you’ve established a savings goal, you can determine how much you can put into your future and how much you need right now.

Think about your career

When planning your future, begin with what will get you there: your job. Your work will take you as far as you can go, so if you want to increase your salary, you should start searching for a better job as soon as possible. You can then set out a strategy for where you want to be in ten or twenty years’ time. This gives you time to recertify if appropriate, or to find out which companies you need to be a part of to thrive elsewhere. There are all kinds of opportunities out there – just find the right one for you.

Your future is dependent on your plans now, and time moves so rapidly that you can not wait for the future to happen before taking action. Create a list of the things you need to prepare for, and you’ll be better placed to deal with anything unexpected that life throws at you.

Designing a Home Office That Aids Your Professional Development

/in /by

StrategyDriven Professional Development Article |Home Office|Designing a Home Office That Aids Your Professional DevelopmentOver the past year, many professionals within business, management, and analytics – and, indeed, across many other sectors, too – have found themselves working from home on a more regular basis. This has led to a huge shift in the ways in which staff are able to communicate and interact with one another, in addition to affecting the very nature of their work.

Inquiring about an aspect of a document you’re uncertain about, querying decisions, and monitoring the effectiveness of staff have all been rendered much more difficult, while working from home has become the norm.

This new way of working limits human-to-human interaction, making it difficult to observe and question exemplary staff to help your own development, and making feedback a much lengthier process. However, as remote working seems to be becoming the norm in large corporations such as Spotify and BP – at least for part of the working week – it makes sense to start considering the ways in which working from home can help aid your development.

In this article, we discuss office set-ups and designs that are conducive to focused work patterns and that can help enhance your professional development even while you’re not sat in the office.

Finding the Perfect Spot

Many workers underestimate the benefits of a designated space within the home that is entirely dedicated to the production of work. The key is identifying a space within your home that has a surface you can work at (preferably a desk or a table), lots of natural light, is not affected by noise as much as other areas of the house, and that has all the equipment you will need. Ideally, the room you choose requires a door that you can close, to avoid interruptions from pets or children when on conference calls, and block out any distracting noises throughout the day.

A Comfortable Space

While you obviously would prefer to avoid creating a space that is too comfortable and disrupts your working frame of mind, you also need an area that doesn’t distract you from your focus – heightened feelings of discomfort can prevent you from concentrating as effectively as you would otherwise.

A key element of this is the maintenance of the room temperature. Too cold, and your digits will stiffen and your brain will work slower, slowing your progress down and inhibiting your thinking and problem-solving skills; too hot, and you’ll become lethargic and spend a vast proportion of your time trying to cool yourself down. Investing in a variable heating center for your home office could make all the difference! Refurbished PTACs from ptac4less.com/ are perfect for room renovations or additions. They allow you to control the temperature of your working space to make it optimal for you.

Additionally, investing in ergonomically designed seating will do wonders for your posture, enabling you to sit in an upright position comfortably and type at the same time, while cushioning your lower back. Combined with a raised, padded mousepad and a screen that can be adjusted for your comfort, this will allow you to focus entirely on your work output.

Maintaining Calm

An often-underestimated aspect of a home office is the requirement for calm. Busy rooms with lots of visual and auditory distractions can cause sensory overload and make it more difficult to focus on your work. A room painted in neutral colors is preferable, as busy patterns and bright, popping colors again can disrupt your thinking process and add to feelings of stress. Instead, it would be beneficial to invest in calming artwork, depicting soft seaside or country scenes, or paintings with soft blues and greens. This also means that you have a professional-looking space for those inevitable Zoom meetings and conferences!

If you are the type of person that benefits from music when working, curating a playlist of instrumental music and themes is generally best. Studies have demonstrated in the past that classical music is particularly conducive to focus and concentration.

Keeping plants and fish has also been suggested as a way of invoking calm in a space; creating your own aquarium (well-researched, of course) would not only add to a relaxing yet focused atmosphere, but they also provide a calming visual that you can use to stimulate ideas and configure solutions.

Many believe that working from home has negatively impacted the professional development of staff, particularly those transferring from other sectors or who are just starting out in their career. However, there are ways of designing your home office set up in such a way that you are not only able to complete your work effectively, but that enables you to flourish.

How to Write a Professional Development Plan

/in /by

StrategyDriven Professional Development Article | How to Write a Professional Development Plan

It doesn’t matter if someone has long-term or short-term goals. The path to success always comes with a proper plan. That is the reason why a development plan may help people reach their goals more effectively. Yet, many people don’t know how to write a professional development plan. There are a couple of stages they need to go through to complete the process successfully.

First Step: Remain Objective and Analyze Yourself

People need to ensure they understand their weaknesses and strengths. However, it is not only important to improve the skills that will bring them a job or business success. They also need to have in mind their personal characteristics and habits that can potentially become a distraction.

That especially counts when we talk about transferable skills. For instance, organizational skills are the ones that need to be at the highest level. People need to organize their time properly, design their workspace to make it inspirational for working, etc. If they need to improve that, they should write it down in their professional development plan.

Second Step: Identify the Career Goals You Want to Achieve

There is no universal definition of the term success. For some people, that would be the improvement of financial stability. On the other hand, others would focus on flexible work hours, expanding a business to another country, etc.

Still, people often make a common mistake. Long-term goals are inspirational, and they motivate people to work hard every day. However, it is not going to be enough to say “I want to become rich one day”. Every long-term goal contains many mini-goals that people need to pass.

For instance, let’s imagine that an entrepreneur wants to become a content writer and start a personal blog. He realized that it can be a good way to improve the brand identity of his business. However, his content writing skills are not at the highest level. Short-term goals would be the improvement of SEO knowledge, vocabulary, etc. In other words, a person should improve the weaknesses determined in the previous step.

Third Step: Finding the Best Method to Reach the Goal

The long-term and short-term goals may seem impossible to achieve at first glance. However, with hard work, persistence, and a good plan, all the goals become achievable.

Let’s use an example of a person that wants to improve his graphic design skills. One way to do that is to subscribe to a course published by a professional designer. Despite that, finding a mentor that is willing to share his knowledge and skills is also an excellent alternative. Whichever option people choose, they have to be sure it will bring them positive results. That is the reason why they have to research all the available options.

Fourth Step: Determine the Deadlines

Planning a professional development without a proper deadline is impossible. However, the timeline needs to be realistic and motivational at the same time. For instance, if someone started a small business three months ago, it is hard to believe that person will be an owner of a multinational company for one year.

The purpose of the deadlines is to remind people they should be self-discipline. Making excuses and delaying completing some duties will never help anyone to make professional development.

Fifth Step: Check the Plan Once Again

After going through the previous four steps, people should write down their plans. However, that doesn’t mean people should start their journey without double-checking everything.

All the goals need to be SMART. For those that do not know, SMART stands for specific, measurable, achievable, realistic, and timely. In that way, they will determine whether a certain part of the development plan requires changes or improvement. It is essential to realize immediately if some pieces of information are missing as well.

Final Thought

The development plan will not mean anything if its creator deals with a lack of self-discipline. Whatever people write down, they need to respect it until the end. With a high level of discipline and a clear and realistic development plan, success will come.

About the Author

StrategyDriven Expert Contributor | Linda FergusonLinda Ferguson started her career in a local company as a content writer 5 years ago. Now, she is the CEO of https://subjecto.com/essay-samples/ thanks to her determination and complete dedication to work. Linda has always been passionate about academia and writing. Besides her busy work schedule, she manages to find time for attending conferences that keep her up to date with the latest news in the industry.