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Ben Angel
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The Florida family who went viral for a TikTok video that showed how to make their toddler son meet the height requirements for certain thrill rides at the Disney theme parks is now apologizing for the “shoe hack.”
The family has also removed all videos referencing the hack, save for a single apology video, where they claim, “With influence comes responsibility.”
It all started when Ty and Haley Kelly posted a video where they glued flip-flop bottoms to their son’s shoes so he’d meet the 38-inch height requirements for some rides.
Although Ty Kelly described the shoe-gluing as the “ultimate theme park hack,” others weren’t impressed by the couple’s ingenuity, feeling, as one YouTuber commenter noted, as if they seemed to care more “about a youtube video than your child’s safety.”
At first, Ty Kelly responded to the criticism by claiming the “hack” was faked in a now-deleted video.
“I would never condone any other parent trying to put their kid on a ride that they aren’t tall enough for,” he said in the clip. “You don’t know what happened. In the video, you didn’t see him actually go on any rides.”
Ty Kelly also claimed his son is actually tall enough for the rides, but didn’t acknowledge that someone viewing the first video without that context might take his advice seriously.
That changed on Friday when the couple posted an apology video. In the apology, they said they now realize that “what started off as us trying to make an entertaining video for our audience that we thought you’d enjoy quickly turned into us realizing that what we put out on our platforms has more consequences than we initially thought.”
Ty Kelly admitted that while his own son was unharmed from the video, he and Haley Kelly now realize their actions could influence another parent to try the potentially dangerous shoe stunt on their own kids.
Haley Kelly said that she hopes their followers give them the chance “to prove that we love our children” and they take their responsibility as “influencers” seriously.
You can see the complete apology below.
Although some commenters did vow to give the couple the benefit of the doubt, others were skeptical.
One YouTuber commenter said, “You aren’t sorry for what you did, you’re sorry you suffered consequences for your horrible choices.”
A person commenting on the couple’s TikTok page pointed out the weird excuses the family has used since the original video.
“You put out a hack that you claimed you used and then claimed that you didn’t do it because you knew how dangerous it was but despite knowing how dangerous it was you claimed you did and claimed you wanted others to try for entertainment,” the person wrote.
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Opinions expressed by Entrepreneur contributors are their own.
As a business owner, one of the most powerful resources you can build is a network. The stronger your relationships with people around you, both inside and outside of your field, the more opportunities you’ll have.
Life becomes truly powerful when you understand this concept. Connections are what allow you to get anywhere in business. You can’t navigate the world solo, and the stronger your net of relationships is, the easier life will become. They are your biggest piece of leverage.
When you meet someone new, there are two possible reasons for doing so: You need them to help change your life, or they need you to help change theirs. Those changes can be major or minor, but they are always important. Every interaction has the potential to have a lasting impact on either you or them. So, when it comes to building relationships, it’s important to keep a sense of curiosity about the other person to determine how each of you may be able to assist the other. Then be as generous as you can with your time, resources and knowledge.
The benefits that come to you as a result of these efforts not be immediately apparent, but trust me: They pay back in multiple ways — perhaps soon, perhaps at some point in the more distant future. So, mentor generously, and give generously. Be curious about people… listen to them — all will make people remember you and say positive things about you.
Whether or not relationship-building comes naturally, just about everyone could learn to do it better. One trick to finding out how you can help each other is asking thoughtful questions. These are the foundation of communication and are the method through which you control a conversation and build connections.
When you meet someone new, here are a few things to keep in mind to ask excellent questions.
To create any kind of connection, trust is necessary. You cannot have open communication without some level of it, and the key to establishing trust quickly is expressing care. That often means engaging in small talk, which plays an important function in relationship building: It gives us safe ground on which to learn about each other and helps determine whether we want to continue a discourse.
Communication, of course, requires an exchange of information, and it’s important to do so with relatively equal sensitivity, and participation. If you give away something extremely personal too early on, for example, it can make a conversation partner uncomfortable. This can be applied the other way around, too: someone might divulge something personal early on to project vulnerability. Be careful when this happens, because without doing the groundwork of establishing trust, interconnections built too quickly easily fall apart.
Instead, find points you have in common and offer information that’s personal, but not overly revealing. It’s also important to express that you care about the other person’s comfort by being nonjudgmental.
Related: If You Want Your Clients to Truly Value You, You Need to Be Their Trusted Advisor. Here’s How.
After you’ve established trust, things can begin to deepen. At this point, the best questions will help identify what’s important to someone, including what their pain points or problems are. Ask about their goals, plans and perhaps (to a degree) about their personal life. Pay attention to displayed energy: What do they focus on? What makes their eyes light up or what do they go on about at length? By paying attention to verbal cues and body language, it’s easier to grasp the essentials.
When you’ve identified what’s important to someone and the problem they need to solve, you’ll begin to see areas where you may be able to help, or how they may be able to help you. Remember, in this process, that you must offer something in exchange, and without overly drawing the conversation toward yourself. Perhaps what you can offer, for example, is simply information, and/or connecting them with someone in your network.
Related: How to Meet Customers At Their Pain Points
There is always something you can learn from every person, and you’ll gain the most out of every interaction by simply being curious. This requires a sense of humility, but by focusing on others rather than yourself, you’ll build connections more quickly and learn more than you thought possible.
Oddly enough, people who think they have all the necessary information are often those who know the least. By continuously asking questions, even when you think you know the answers, you’ll dig deeper into topics and find underlying motivations, problems and other factors at play in any situation. The takeaway will be arriving at solutions you never would have thought of otherwise.
When you learn what motivates someone, it gives you the unique power to steer a conversation more easily. While questions may focus the conversation on your partner, they also put you in the driver’s seat — giving you the chance to steer the topics.
Related: The 4 Keys to Asking Better Questions
Through asking great questions, you’ll be able to internalize the problems, interests and motivations of those around you, but don’t stop there. Offer help whenever you can, and think of ways of connecting a new contact with other people in your network. By doing this consistently — being open, curious and generous — you’ll become known as a helpful and kind individual, and people remember that.
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Jason Hennessey
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A few years ago, most of us leaders had certain ideas about how an office and team should work: Namely, that we as a team should be together in an office, working 8- to 12-hour+ days every Monday through Friday and weekends as well, broken up only by the standard two weeks of vacation and occasional holiday or sick day. In my company and many others, there wasn’t a lot of flexibility to do it differently — this is what we knew and grew up thinking was correct. It’s how we conformed to the ideals of other leaders and mentors before us. But then the world shifted, and suddenly, remote work was our only viable option. Once lockdowns were lifted, we were still initially encouraged to keep our distance, and schools remained online, which meant parents needed to generally still be home, too.
Eventually, though, schools reopened and we started gathering again. And for many of us, it’s made sense to bring our work teams back together again, too. I have. And it feels great to have that dynamic energy return. But — I’m proud to say — it’s different now.
Covid helped us all wake up. It helped me wake up. We learned that our previous level of inflexibility was unnecessary.
Related: 5 Ways to Turn Your Company Culture Around
During the pandemic, I had to lean into some trust — that my previously all-in-person team could be remote, and we could still produce amazing work and get everything done with the same quality our clients expect from us. And guess what? With the right structure and expectations set, we absolutely did. And in learning to trust more and make the changes I had to, I gave myself permission to make further changes. As we returned to the office, and I started to take stock of things, I realized that I had evolved — and I could bring our culture forward instead of just reverting to the old normal.
And now, I’m seriously ready to move on from Covid and also from tired excuses, barriers, fears and limitations that stop us from doing business how we want to. So, now I ask, what do I want? And what do my employees need?
I realized I wanted to build in more time for rest and recharge — to sometimes go slow to then be able to go faster. I also knew my team, now a mix of in-office and fully remote employees, would benefit from continued flexibility around where they worked and when. And I’d learned that with a solid structure and clear expectations and goals, people did well with the space to make more decisions for themselves.
So, in 2022, we made some big changes. We rolled out unlimited vacation and PTO days. We instituted daylight savings hours, where we all take a break around 3:30 p.m. to either drive home while it’s still light out and finish out the day from the comfort of home, or for those working remotely, pause and pick up their kids from school, take the dog for a walk or move and stretch before coming back refreshed. During summer, we now have shorter working hours on Fridays and also keep work light between Christmas and New Year’s. We’ve also started planning quarterly gatherings to connect and get to know each other better outside of work.
Besides making a positive impact on my team members’ daily lives, these changes encourage me as a leader to take time off that I probably wouldn’t have otherwise. And I’ve proven to myself I can do it — without everything burning to the ground.
Now as we move into 2023, I am making more shifts to build deeper productivity, foster the growth of my team and further evolve as the leader I want to be. After seeing how well things went over the past year, we are adding another benefit in addition to unlimited PTO: Two defined weeks off when we shut down the office, one in the summer and one in the winter, both at times that are naturally slower around seasonal holidays.
Making these changes requires planning and organization, but it’s worth it — for my team and for myself as a leader. As I’ve slowed down myself, I’ve been able to get my own oxygen mask firmly in place. I’ve learned I don’t always need to go 100 mph. In fact, slowing down can be incredibly helpful. It’s the perfect time to look around, challenge our long-held perspectives and grow. It’s the perfect time to build more intentionally, from the inside out.
Related: Great Company Culture Isn’t Magic — Take These Steps to Create It
Being willing to change my perspective as a leader and build culture in new ways has been an incredible gift to myself and my company. If you want to step into a cultural rebirth of your own in 2023, I encourage you to do it. Here are a few tips to get you started:
Honor the team culture that feels right to you — don’t be afraid to center around your personal goals as a leader and lead according to your own North Star, instead of what you may have been “taught” in the past. You aren’t beholden to any old-school way of doing things.
Take it slow, make changes when it feels right, and retract when it doesn’t. Accept that trial and error will happen; changes often won’t be perfect at the first rollout. It’s OK to recalibrate, as you continually move toward what’s best for your company and team.
Don’t think of these changes as handouts to appease your team or to keep up with other leaders. While you might be ready to make some changes, each should be instituted when you feel the time is right, rather than acting from a sense of pressure. Otherwise, you could easily feel resentful if your team doesn’t show the gratitude you might have expected.
Give your team the responsibility to uphold the culture and grow it. They have a very big part in making sure what you are instituting works, too. For example, give them transparency around who is taking a vacation and who isn’t. Having an open PTO policy that allows peer oversight helps those who take a little more be aware and those who don’t take enough self-manage.
Recognize the role your energy plays in your company’s culture. Lead by example. Do the personal work to figure out what helps you bring your passion to your company every day —then do more of that. Be the mentor you maybe never had as you lean into your own strengths. This will show up in the cultural framework you create for your team to uphold.
We don’t need a new year to change—but it’s as good a time as any.
Related: What Makes a Great Company Culture (and Why It Matters)
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Taja Dockendorf
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Anyone who tells you that writing is easy is probably using ChatGPT.
The truth is being a good writer is a challenging skill to master. It takes practice, discipline, creativity, and a willingness to experiment and screw up.
But you can use certain tried-and-true hacks to be a more productive and effective writer. Whether you’re struggling with writer’s block or feel like you’re really bad at it, try implementing these strategies to make the words fly off the page.
Related: This Is What 300 Writers Say Made Them Successful
Writing takes practice. Carving out some time to write every single day, even if it’s just for 10 or 15 minutes, will inevitably improve your writing. Think of it like working out. The more you train, the stronger you become.
Before writing, give yourself a goal for what you want to accomplish in your 10-minute session. This could be an email to an important client, an essay, a piece of fiction, or a love letter. It doesn’t matter what it is or if it’s good, as long as it gets you in your seat writing something down.
Many writers swear by the Pomodoro Technique. This involves breaking up your writing time into small, focused intervals or “pomodoros,” typically 25 minutes each, followed by short breaks.
Why is this effective? The Pomodoro Technique helps fend off procrastination by forcing you to do it for short periods of time rather than long stretches, which can be intimidating. It also helps you manage your time better by scheduling your writing time and breaks==
One bonus tip: Silence all social media, email, phone, and web browsers during your pomodoros to avoid distraction. It’s only 25 minutes — you can do this!
At the risk of sounding like Captain Obvious, you can’t be a good writer unless you read good writing. That’s sort of like trying to be a good tennis player but never playing tennis.
Reading can be difficult in our hyper-distracted world, with Instagram posts and TikTok videos vying for our attention. Last year a Gallup Poll found that U.S. adults read roughly two or three fewer books per year than they did between 2001 and 2016.
But reading well-written books and articles can help broaden your vocabulary and expose you to different writing styles and techniques. By reading good writing, you will learn much from what you take in, like osmosis. Your grammar will improve, your word choice will get smarter, you’ll have better ideas, and you’ll have an overall appreciation for writing.
“Done is better than perfect,” professional freelance writer, David Hochman, told me on my podcast Write About Now. Hochman has written thousands of stories for different publications, and his advice to aspiring writers is to stop worrying so much about your content.
“Don’t agonize over getting it perfectly,” he says. “It will not happen, especially if you’re the final judge. Sometimes the simple act of just finishing something is enough.
To hear my entire interview with David about writing hacks, check out the podcast below.
It’s a rookie mistake to edit yourself while you write. Professional writers know the best technique is to let it flow in the first draft, getting your ideas on the screen without worrying about perfection. Later, you can go back and edit.
When you focus on writing without stopping to edit, you allow your creative side to take the driver’s seat, generating ideas you may not have thought of otherwise. You also avoid getting bogged down in the details such as stopping to do a “quick” internet search, which takes you down a non-productive rabbit hole for 2 hours.
Related: Want to Be a Better Writer of Books and Essays? Start by Avoiding These Common Writing Mistakes.
One hack that will make your writing stand out from the pack is providing good, sensory details that allow the reader to experience the story rather than simply being told what’s happening. It’s more effective to show what’s happening in a story than simply telling them.
For example, rather than writing, “the room was a mess,” you might write something more descriptive like, “Dirty clothes were strewn across the floor and papers and books were scattered across the desk.”
Or as Anton Chekhov, a much better writer than me, once said: “Don’t tell me the moon is shining; show me the glint of light on broken glass.”
Related: Ken Follett’s Secret Formula for Writing Success
Good writing is concise. Avoid using unnecessary words that might confuse your readers. A good hack is to go through your writing after it’s finished and slash and burn any words that don’t add to your argument. Here are some common culprits:
“Very”: This word is often used to add emphasis, but it can be vague and imprecise. Instead, try using a more specific adjective to convey the same meaning.
“Just”: This word is often used to downplay the importance of something, but it’s often just unnecessary.
“Really”: Just like “very,” this word is often used to add emphasis, but it can be imprecise. Try getting ride of it or using a more specific adjective or verb to convey the same meaning.
“So”: Whenever you write so, especially at the beginning of a sentence, ask yourself if it would be just as good without “so.”
“Moreover; Furthermore; Hence; Therefore” Unless you’re writing a thesis that requires formal, academic language, avoid using puffed-up words that make your writing stiff and boring. Try to write more like you’re talking to a friend.
Remember, writing is hard—even the best writers complain about it. Ernest Hemingway once said, “There is nothing to writing. All you do is sit down at a typewriter and bleed.”
Do your best and learn from your mistakes.
And don’t let ChatGPT do all the work for you.
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Jonathan Small
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There is no lack of stressors in today’s world. Take your pick: bleak economic forecasts, climate change, conspiracy theories; these days, even stray Chinese weather balloons can cause nationwide panic. However, most negative nonsense in the news is often just noise. In particular, the gloomy part is often the attention-grabbing spin predicting the worst possible outcomes, causing unnecessary worry about the future. So how do we combat this noise, stay calm, focused and present for others? Our mindset, self-care and intentional relaxation can get us through just about anything.
Related: 9 Ways High-Performing Entrepreneurs Handle Stress
If we set up our mind to focus on the present, including being present for others, we take the focus off the past and the future. Our actions mold the future we can control in the present. If we worry about potential futures, ironically, we are spending precious energy on what we can’t control instead of what we can gain through action. Keeping focused on the present means mindfully preparing for each day and paying attention to the tasks and people we’re interacting with without getting distracted by past outcomes and possible future ones.
A can-do mindset realized through constant planning, and consistent execution is critical. Building a daily plan encapsulating your key goals is more straightforward than you imagine. Such an approach will help you ignore the harmful noise and focus on the things that move you forward. You’ll need a perspective that anything that doesn’t go according to your plan is good too, and will serve as a learning experience and input for an altered or improved approach. Being grateful for everything that happens as a learning and growth experience is a way to avoid disappointment and becoming discouraged.
Focusing on gratitude daily is fundamental to a feeling of well-being. Looking at adverse events that directly affect you as pathways to learning and growth – you will revise your plan — instead of life’s way of hurting you means you see everything as positive. Couldn’t avoid it? A lesson for the future. Having this perspective puts the focus back on the journey you’ve defined already; you control the goals and action plans and have simplified and componentized them into a daily checklist. This methodology will keep you on track despite unexpected circumstances that will naturally arise.
Related: 20 Wise Insights on Gratitude to Spark a Positive Mindset
A holistic approach to well-being includes regular exercise as a priority, eating and drinking the right things and getting enough sleep. We may tire of hearing about these fundamental things. However, people often underestimate their importance across all other areas of personal performance and health, including spiritual, mental and emotional health. For example, a good walk or workout in the morning will help your mind get clear and help you get ready for your daily routine. In addition, exercise sends positive chemicals to your brain, making you healthier and happier. However, regular exercise is not enough. You also need to watch what you eat.
Without getting into specifics – because each person’s dietary needs are different — the healthier you can eat, the better you will think, function, sleep, work and interact with others because how you feel affects those things. General suggestions that apply to us all are avoiding sugar and alcohol, having too much salt, consuming processed foods, fast foods and anything that has a long list of ingredients. Also, going organic when possible and minimizing unnecessary pharmaceuticals will clear your mind and body of toxins. Lastly, getting detailed bloodwork and talking to a doctor or other professional can help you tweak your diet for optimized health.
Without enough sleep, you won’t be able to focus, your body won’t recover, your mood and emotions can be affected, and your productivity to reach your goals and run your plans will be compromised. So, in addition to regular exercise and diet, getting enough sleep is the third major component of good health. They are all interconnected; exercising and eating clean will make sleeping easier, as your digestion will be easier and better, and being naturally tired will help you get deeper sleep to recharge for the next day.
Related: 12 Ways to Smoothly Start Waking Up Earlier
Busy people tend not to have the time to get sucked into a lot of the negativity that goes on constantly in the world. Instead, they are focused on what they can control. However, it would be best if you took regular breaks for mental, physical, emotional, and spiritual health. Schedule your breaks and also take them ad-hoc when needed. The pandemic has freed many of us from the 9-5 fixed schedule, and thus knowing when and how to take a break and taking it is critical to keep performing at your best.
Many people have also found it very healing to connect with nature, whether in the morning, at noon, during breaks or at night. Simply going outside, leaving your tech behind, breathing in the fresh air, and feeling the sunshine are often more than worth the time; you will naturally feel better and more connected with life. There is a lot of evidence that this sort of thing does make a difference, so if you are inside all day and all night, consider it a red flag and something you can change for your benefit.
Lastly, don’t forget to have fun and laugh alone or with your family, friends and colleagues. Laughter and human connection with those we love, regularly and often, will improve our sense of well-being, help us focus better and be happier. Just a little time with someone you love can be priceless. So don’t forget to prioritize that as part of your day; with health and mindset, you can do it! Never give up trying; revise your plans and keep moving forward.
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Armand Peri
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Great entrepreneurs are able to question wide-held beliefs, make connections between seemingly disparate ideas, and essentially see what no one else can see.
This is what is called critical thinking, and you don’t have to be born with it — it is a skill that can be learned. There are many experts available for one-on-one mentor sessions who can help you to look at things differently, whether that is coming up with new ideas or solutions to old problems. Allie Webb, founder of Drybar, and Jason Feifer, editor in chief of Entrepreneur magazine, are two experts in this arena who are available now for one-on-one video calls through the Intro expert platform.
Critical thinking allows individuals to analyze information objectively, identify and evaluate arguments, and make informed decisions.
Problem-Solving: Critical thinking helps you approach problems in a structured and systematic way. This is when you put on your consultant hat with a systematic process: Define the problem -> gather info -> analyze the info -> identify possible solutions -> implement -> evaluate -> make adjustments. By evaluating different options and weighing their strengths and weaknesses, you can arrive at an effective solution.
Decision Making: Effective decision-making requires the ability to evaluate information, weigh pros and cons, and arrive at an informed conclusion. Critical thinking skills are essential for making informed choices in both personal and professional settings.
Effective Communication: This starts with active listening. By analyzing information and arguments, you can articulate your thoughts and ideas more clearly and persuasively.
Practice questioning: The 5 Why’s is a problem-solving method used to uncover the root cause of a problem by asking “why” questions. The idea is to keep asking “why” until the root cause is found. Here’s how to apply the 5 Why’s:
Seek out new information and diverse perspectives: Stay informed and exposed to different opinions, perspectives, and sources of information. This will help you broaden your understanding of the world and refine your critical thinking skills.
Analyze arguments: When evaluating arguments, look for logical fallacies, flaws in reasoning, and biases. This will help you to identify the strengths and weaknesses of an argument and arrive at an informed conclusion.
Reflect on your own thinking: Take time to reflect on your own thoughts and beliefs. Consider how your experiences and background may impact your perspective.
The ability to think critically is rare. And vital. By developing this skill, you can raise your ceiling. You can become a better problem-solver, a more effective communicator, and a more valuable employee. The world is constantly changing and evolving, and by embracing critical thinking, we can adapt and thrive in the face of new challenges.
Let’s make critical thinking a cornerstone of the modern workplace.
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Brad Klune
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Have you ever considered your inability to focus is due to your nutrition, not your lack of willpower?
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Ben Angel
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Opinions expressed by Entrepreneur contributors are their own.
What if everything ran on autopilot? This includes chores, exercise, healthy eating and completing your work. They just happen on their own. The problem is that unless they invent robots, all your work won’t disappear overnight.
It is possible, however, to create a new habit that requires little effort to maintain, with a little bit of initial discipline.
Before going on further, let me quickly explain what habits are.
In short, habits are learned behaviors that become reflexive over time. In many cases, a specific context triggers the behavior. After eating breakfast, for instance, you may brush your teeth automatically.
There are three types of habits: healthy, unhealthy and neutral. For example, taking ten minutes a day to stretch or meditate when feeling stressed can be classified as a healthy habit. An example of an unhealthy habit would be smoking a cigarette whenever you’re stressed. Taking the same route to work or eating the same breakfast each morning are neutral habits.
A habit is a learned behavior, whereas an unconscious behavior, like breathing or blinking, does not count.
Related: 3 Things That’ll Make You a Master of Forming — and Keeping — Great Habits
A habit is different from a routine because you’re aware of it. In other words, habits are repeated actions on autopilot, whereas routines are planned.
Unless you practice routines deliberately, they will eventually disappear. Habits, however, are formed unconsciously.
Intention and effort are necessary for gratitude practice, for example. It won’t run automatically. Exercise is no different. Exercising isn’t going to happen by itself. You will, however, grab a cigarette on autopilot if you have the habit.
To become a habit, a routine should be carried out without conscious thought. For example, say you begin your morning routine by drinking green juice. You can consider it a habit when you start making your juice daily without thinking about it.
The majority of habits begin as intentional, goal-directed actions. As an example, a parent may instruct a young child to wash their hands before eating. In the beginning, a child may only wash their hands to get praise from their parents. It is possible that they need a reminder every time they eat to do the task.
In time, the child will get used to the washing routine and no longer need reminders. Even if the parent doesn’t reward the behavior, the child will wash their hands before meals. Because the behavior is driven more by context than concrete rewards, it can be described as a habit.
It is possible to think of habit formation as the creation of a mental shortcut. For example, a child must take many steps to wash their hands before dinner. To wash their hands, they need to go to the sink, turn on the water, lather on soap and then dry them off. Once the habit forms, the brain begins to group these steps together as a single “chunk.” To put that another way, it interprets these steps as a single behavior.
The good thing about habits? They can save your mental energy. For you to focus on more complicated choices, you may save energy if you repeat certain behaviors automatically. The problem with reflexive behavior is that it is harder to notice and stop them. It can be hard to interrupt habits such as nail-biting at the moment since the brain identifies them as one action.
Now that you have more clarity on what habits are, how they’re formed and the difference between habits and routines, here are a few tips to help you develop good habits and keep them:
“The most important part of building a new habit is staying consistent,” says James Clear, author of Atomic Habits. “It doesn’t matter how well you perform on any individual day.” Consistency is the key.
Because of this, new habits should be so easy that you cannot resist them.
Would you like to build a habit of exercising? Today, you will exercise for one minute.
Do you want to get into the habit of writing? Make a goal of writing three sentences today.
Want to start eating healthy? This week, you should eat one healthy meal.
“It doesn’t matter if you start small because there will be plenty of time to pick up the intensity later,” Clear adds. “You don’t need to join a CrossFit gym, write a book or change your entire diet at the very beginning.”
“It’s easy to compare yourself to what others are doing or to feel the urge to optimize your performance and do more,” he says. “Don’t let those feelings pull you off course.”
Demonstrate your ability to stick with something small for 30 days. After you are consistently on track, you may want to increase the difficulty. Performance is irrelevant at the beginning.
Related: The First Step to Creating Healthy Habits Is Smaller Than You Think
When you decide to develop good habits in yourself, staying optimistic is one of the most essential elements. In addition to helping you overcome negative feelings, positive thinking enables you to deal with stress effectively.
In order to think positively, you do not ignore all the unpleasant things in life and carry on with your daily activities. Instead, you react positively to them all.
If you think mostly negatively about changing your habits, you will have a hard time adopting the new, good one. But, on the other hand, it is easier for your mind to accept something if you view it positively.
So, instead of focusing on the negative, be positive. Remember, with the right attitude, the sky’s the limit.
Find out which people, places and activities are connected with bad habits in your mind. After that, you should change how you behave toward them.
Those with shopping addictions should avoid shopping malls, for example. Also, when your friends take a smoke break, don’t go outside with them if you’re trying to quit.
There is also a link between chronic stress and poor behavior. As such, managing your stress levels will help you avoid triggers.
In the same way, cravings are driven by a desire to change your internal state of being. In other words, you can reduce cravings by identifying how you want to feel. Then, once that feeling is achieved, take an action that is healthier.
Instead of smoking when you want to relax, take a bath. Rather than drinking your third cup of coffee, eat a banana when you need energy.
Researchers from the University of Bristol investigated how people form habits in the real world, asking participants to take a walk before dinner or drink water at lunch. In the study, published in the European Journal of Social Psychology, it was found that it took 18 to 254 days for a task to become automatic. However, the median time was 66 days.
What is the lesson? Creating habits takes time. The more often we practice them, however, the quicker they become, so start with something little and simple.
For example, it’s more effective to do a small amount of exercise every day, rather than trying to go to the gym thrice a week to stick with an exercise habit. Then, as you become accustomed to daily exercise, you can begin exploring more intense forms.
Swish Patterns are used to break unwanted habits and limiting behaviors. In this method, you imagine a situation that is undesirable or triggers you, as well as a version of the situation that would result in a perfect outcome. After that, you swish the two images so that the desirable one occupies more mental space.
The first thing you need to do is visualize yourself doing a bad habit. After that, visualize yourself letting go of the bad habit and taking on a new one. Then end that sequence with a highly positive image of yourself.
Think of how you would feel if you picked up a cigarette, put it down and snapped your fingers. Last but not least, visualize yourself running and breathing freely. You should repeat the process a few times until the new habit becomes automatic.
Related: Form Lasting Habits Using These 4 Strategies
Most of us overestimate our willpower when trying to build a new habit and set a course for the most efficient method to accomplish our goal. For example, suppose you want to become fit through regular exercise. In most cases, you’ll look for workouts that yield quick results, such as running on a treadmill.
However, research suggests that finding ways to make goal pursuit fun will help you persist longer and ultimately accomplish more.
For exercise, this might mean going to Yoga or Zumba classes with a friend, hiking or joining a team sport. For those trying to eat more fruits and vegetables, smoothies can combine multiple servings of fruits and vegetables in one tasty drink.
Overall, a positive experience is critical to habit formation. But it’s often overlooked since repetition is key to sticking with something you enjoy.
Again, it takes time to build a new habit, so don’t expect success overnight. A good habit could require many failures before you become habitual.
As a result of your guilt after your failure, you may stop incorporating that good habit into your daily routine. A solid plan, though, will make it easy for you to get back on track quickly.
You should remember that slipping up is not a failure. It’s a normal part of the process. However, to develop good habits, it’s important to have a plan for dealing with failure. So, make sure you don’t start building a good habit without a plan.
There are two things you need to believe to build intrinsic motivation:
First, as long as you act according to your own preferences, you have the freedom to do so.
The work you do will make you a better, more knowledgeable person.
It is essential to learn how to deal with negative emotions to believe these two things. Additionally, you’ll need a way to measure your progress. After all, progress is an important motivator. The simplest method is to write it down and stick it on your mirror. Writing in a journal or creating a more detailed spreadsheet might also be options.
As soon as we put something on autopilot, we fall into pretty consistent routines, exercising, studying or taking our medication at the same time and place every day. However, research suggests you should deliberately introduce some variability into your routine when you’re just beginning to form habits.
There’s still no substitute for having a first-best plan. For instance, establish a mindfulness habit, perhaps meditating at 7:00 a.m. every day. Likewise, you should also consider mixing in a meditation session around and another at 6:00 p.m.
As you recall, it’s essential to repeat a behavior frequently to build a habit. However, the less brittle your routine becomes, the less likely you will follow through. If you have a flexible habit, you can still accomplish what you need to, even when things go off track. For example, let’s say that a traffic jam prevented you from meditating in the morning; you can still practice mindfulness at noon.
The key to being flexible is to provide yourself with “emergency reserves.” You’ll have these cards on hand for those days when you can’t meditate, for instance. Think of them as your Get Out of Jail Free card in Monopoly.
A challenging goal, like meditating daily, for instance, can motivate you more than an easier one. But if you miss multiple targets, it can be demoralizing. If an emergency arises, having a few emergency reserves each week allows you to miss a day without losing sight of your goal.
Environment plays a huge role in developing good habits. For example, let’s say you decide to eat a clean diet. However, when you open the fridge door, you see all the junk food inside. You’ll have a hard time resisting that, won’t you?
You will have difficulty getting rid of your bad habits if you do not change your environment. It is, therefore, better to alter your environment according to your goals.
Related: 5 Ways to Set Good Habits That Actually Stick
Good habits are built through lifestyle choices. So, what is the best way to change your lifestyle? By improving your daily routine.
In other words, take the time to plan out your day and incorporate healthy practices where appropriate.
Eat vegetables and fruits as soon as you wake up, for instance. Then, you can take a restorative nap during your lunch break. In the evenings, go for a stroll. Just remember to select realistic and healthy practices when choosing them.
Sometimes, this step is overlooked despite being obvious. As you set goals, let your friends and family know about them since they can serve as cheerleaders and hold you accountable.
Evidence suggests that the behavior of those around us strongly influences our behavior. For example, are you interested in starting a regular running routine? It’s probably better to join a running club than ask a few friends who don’t jog to join you. After all, members of the running club already have the habits you’re looking for. As a result, you’ll learn what works and gain friends who will keep you on your toes when you fall behind.
If you want to pick up good habits, try hanging out with people who are a few steps ahead of you. However, don’t overextend yourself. The experience of training with marathoners can be disheartening if you only want to improve your 5K speed.
Overall, it has been shown that socializing with people who are already successful and being inspired by them is crucial for success. The added bonus is that it’s more fun to achieve your goals with the people you like.
In general, journaling is considered a good habit. Why? As well as helping you learn from your mistakes and wins, it enables you to improve your ability to communicate.
You are likely to achieve many victories as well as some mistakes when you implement a good habit into your life. Keeping a journal in which you list all your wins and errors will allow you to easily see all the mistakes at a glance that were not in line with your habits development strategy.
Furthermore, it can help reduce these mistakes so you can remove obstacles to developing a positive habit and replace it with a negative one. In addition to identifying the obstacles, this method accelerates your habit-building progress.
It can be hard to remember to maintain a habit at first. As discussed above, habituation takes time.
One solution would be using an online calendar, such as Google Calendar, iCal, or Microsoft Calendar. With these calendar tools, you can schedule the habits you want to develop. You can also set notifications to remind you when it’s time to start working on a task. And you can even make events that recur monthly, weekly or daily.
Related: Science Says Healthy Scheduling Habits Make People Happier
The probability of you having a bad outcome is much higher if you think that you can’t do the good habit you want to incorporate into your life. The reason? Because it’s hard. When faced with a difficult task, motivating yourself with a can-do attitude is better than judging yourself.
Self-judgment creates a sense of guilt and shame because you take responsibility for your mistakes when you are working on them. In turn, you begin to feel guilty and ashamed. Negative consequences often accompany these feelings.
Because of this, it’s important to think about forming a good habit with self-compassion rather than self-judgment to give yourself some empathy and love, making it easier to do so.
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John Rampton
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Jeanelle Teves is the General Manager of North America at Bugaboo, where she leads the future growth strategy and is passionate about empowering new parents. Before joining Bugaboo, she spent nearly a decade at Nike where she worked on campaigns such as the first launch of wearable technology Nike+ FuelBand, London Olympics, Paris Fashion Week and Women’s World Cup. Today she has secured partnerships with the TODAY Show, GRAMMY Awards, and many celebrity parents-to-be. She sat down with Jessica Abo to discuss what’s on the horizon for Bugaboo and her parental advice for moms and dads looking to be more productive.
Jessica Abo: Jeanelle, whether we have our own children or we take care of other people’s children, we have a lot of moving parts when we’re dealing with little people. Tell us a little bit about your day-to-day life as a working mom and at Bugaboo.
Every day looks different! In the morning, I could be meeting with my Amsterdam-based headquarters team where we talk about future innovation concepts and where I provide my feedback. And in the afternoon, I’ll be working with my U.S.-based team on business results. Outside of this, I am also a mom to two young children, a five-year-old and a two-year-old, and it is so important to me that I’m present for them. My partner is a stay-at-home dad, and we don’t have any childcare support, so we work together to align our priorities and time so that I can show up at Bugaboo and for my family.
What does that look like for you starting from the time you wake up in the morning?
I find it helpful to begin my day by writing, what are the three biggest priorities? And I just ask myself the question, what is going to move the needle? I ask myself this question before diving into any week. Then, I communicate those priorities to my inner circle. Every Sunday evening, I have a meeting with my partner and we review those three priorities for our family. Every Monday morning, I have a meeting with my leadership team and we review the three business priorities. That way everyone around me is united on time, energy and dollars invested, and together we are stronger.
When it comes to the office, what have been some of the biggest wins to date?
When I first joined the company, I was returning to work after just having my son, Maximilian. I was in the very fresh newborn stage and feeding him around the clock. And I’m pretty sure that in my first one-on-ones, my teammates could hear the breast pump going. It became really clear to me at that moment that I wanted to be able to create a flexible company culture and updated policies that live our brand purpose: to empower parents in the workplace. Since then, we have modernized our employee handbook to support families. We’ve extended maternity and paternity care, incorporated reproductive financial support, initiated flexible working hours and half-day wellness Fridays. To be in a position that creates change in the workforce is something that I am deeply proud of.
And what are some of the biggest accomplishments that you’ve had as a mom?
I have found tactics to blend business and family, and feel fully present for my children in the best way that I can. For me, that means giving my full self to my family in the morning. So I am not there throughout the entire day, but I am fully present in the morning. I make my kids a balanced and healthy breakfast. I sit down with them with a cup of coffee and we talk about what my kindergartner is going to be doing that day. I talk to my preschooler about what his day’s going to look like, and I am fully there. And then when I leave for the office, I’m on, I’m in work mode. That is the best that I can do and I protect those mornings.
I love that. It’s almost like you have a morning meeting with your kids, which is amazing. When you think about work mode and you look ahead to 2023, what are some of the things that are on the horizon for the brand?
We have just announced our Push to Zero Campaign, which is our ESG commitment to be carbon footprint net-zero by 2035. What does that mean? From materials and fabrics to sourcing and finishing, every element of our strollers is thoughtfully considered to create a long-lasting product and to reduce its impact on the planet as much as possible. As part of this commitment, as of this year, our strollers will be made with bio-based materials.
What are some of the productivity hacks that you can share with other working parents?
My favorite productivity hack is to find your biological prime time. Everyone has it. This is when you are sharpest and you feel like you have a spark of energy and focus part of that time on yourself. So for me, that is early in the morning, first thing when I wake up and I begin every day with a morning routine that sets me up and I swear by it. I wake up at 5:00 am, again, this is what works for me, and the first thing that I do is reach down and I grab my journal, which is next to my bed, and I write down what I am grateful for.
I drink a ton of water, which is also there right by my bed. And I do a really simple workout. It doesn’t have to be complicated. I work out for 25 minutes and just move my body. From then, I usually have about 30 minutes where I can set up my workday and really write down those three priorities that I want to tell my team before it’s time to get my kids up. And then I am fully with my kids. Filling my cup first, allows me to be extra productive and then give to everyone else for the rest of my day.
Finally, what do you want to say to the parents out there who might be feeling that guilt of, “I’m at the office, but I want to be with my kids,” or, “I’m with my kids, but I still have all of this work to do”?
Sometimes when it’s really overwhelming and you feel like you have a lot to do, you have a lot at your desk, you have a lot going on at home. How can you just be 1% better? How can you be a 1% better teammate? How can you be a 1% better manager? 1% better mom? Those things that at the moment seem to make no difference added up, make a profound change over time. I love the concept of marginal gains.
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Jessica Abo
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One of the most significant shifts we are witnessing is the disruption caused by evolving technologies, such as Artificial Intelligence (AI) and blockchain. While they are still far from being perfectly refined, we are already seeing more significant use of AI and blockchain-based innovations across industries.
Add to this the cyclical nature of the economy — the current downturn and the inevitable headcount reductions — that are making many tech professionals, not unlike myself, wonder what their career in tech will look like five to ten years from now.
There will inevitably be a move towards simple tasks automation in user interface (UI) and user experience (UX) development and design. Neural networks trained on huge data sets are set to significantly speed up and simplify the work of engineers and even replace some of those engineers to some extent.
To stay in demand, I believe it is becoming essential for tech professionals to expand their horizons, including by deepening their knowledge of higher mathematics to help improve their skill set for solving complex architectural and scaling problems. Being able to come up with creative solutions and solve tasks in unorthodox ways is already important, but the trend toward valuing out-of-the-box thinking will only intensify going forward, in my view.
The most in-demand skills in 2020, for example, were cloud computing, artificial intelligence, analytical reasoning, people management, and UX design, according to research by LinkedIn. These skills are expected to remain highly sought after as technology advances and organizations look to leverage innovation to drive growth.
However, It’s not enough to simply possess these competencies because your skills and knowledge must be continuously updated to keep pace with the ever-evolving technology landscape.
To stay ahead of the curve, tech professionals must be proactive in their own continuous learning and professional development.
For example, platforms such as Coursera, Udemy and Codecademy offer a wide variety of courses, ranging from beginner to advanced level, that can help tech professionals brush up on the latest technologies and best practices. Additionally, attending industry events and networking with peers can provide valuable insights into the latest trends and developments in the field.
Learning doesn’t have to be formal or certificate-based. The most important thing is for a person to have a thirst for knowledge, a desire and the drive to want to become a better version of themselves every day, and a good grasp of advanced mathematics and similar STEM disciplines as a strong foundation for continuing to build future skills.
Regarding future-proofing your career in tech, I would stress that soft skills are nearly as important as hard skills or technical knowledge and abilities specific to your field. Soft skills refer to the personal attributes and qualities important for working effectively with others. These include communication, problem-solving, and leadership — all are key for future career advancement.
When interviewing candidates for positions at FunCorp, a developer of entertainment tech products, including apps for meme lovers, certain soft skills are the key to success. We look for people who enjoy creating and are not solely focused on completing the tasks set for them. We also want the type of person focused on ongoing personal development with the passion and drive to continue learning and evolving. This type of person will make sure to continue learning to make up for any gap in the hard skills they may possess.
Striving to be a professional committed to ongoing personal development can go a long way. Motivating yourself to keep learning and upgrading your tech expertise can also be challenging. Luckily, several strategies can help.
Setting specific and measurable goals for yourself is a great way to stay focused and remain on track. For example, you could set a goal to complete a certain course or certification by a certain date, or aim to attend a certain number of industry events every year. Breaking larger goals into smaller, more manageable tasks can also make them less daunting.
Another effective strategy is to find a community of like-minded individuals motivated to learn and grow. Sharing progress and setbacks with them can provide a sense of accountability and motivation. Reward yourself for completing tasks or reaching milestones. Continuously remind yourself of the benefits of learning and upgrading your tech skills, such as increased job opportunities or higher pay. Setting yourself up for a brighter professional future should be a great incentive!
It’s also important to find the right learning methods that work for you, such as taking online courses, attending workshops or regularly participating in online forums relevant to your specialization. Keeping yourself updated with the latest trends and what’s happening in the industry can help you to stay motivated and engaged. But it’s also essential to take a break if you feel burnout and revisit your goals with a fresh perspective from time to time.
After all, nothing is set in stone when it comes to thinking about and planning for the future beyond 2023. Despite the recent turbulence, I believe the tech sector is still the place to be. In fact, according to the U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics, employment in computer and information technology occupations is projected to grow 11% from 2019 to 2029, much faster than the average for all other occupations. So the demand will continue to be there as long as your technical and soft skills stay current and well-aligned with ongoing technological advancements.
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Denis Litvinov
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During this time of year, a popular topic is always setting New Year’s resolutions. You’ll find tons of articles on how to set goals, how to stay on track and even how to get back on track if you lose focus. These are all important considerations. But sometimes we need to go deeper to be effective. Sometimes we need to know not just what we want to do and how we should do it, but why.
It’s easy to say that you want to live a healthier lifestyle. That’s the “what.” And it is easy to resolve that you want to accomplish this by eating healthier, exercising more and attending to more self-care. That’s the general “how-to.” And you can break down each of these steps into detail in pursuit of your goal. But the third critical step in the equation for long-term success is often to ask and answer why this is a goal.
Related: 10 New Year’s Resolutions Entrepreneurs Should Make Every Year
Answering the “why” gives purpose and meaning to not only the goal itself, but to all of the effort you will be putting in to achieve it. It’s the motivation and inspiration behind every healthy meal, every trip to the gym, every book you read and anything else you take the time to do to live a healthier lifestyle. And it is often what we fail to articulate when setting New Year’s resolutions.
There are lots of reasons why one might want to lead a healthier lifestyle — more energy, to look and feel better, to be able to participate in long-dormant activities, to model healthier behavior for our loved ones, to live longer. The list is seemingly endless, and no one reason is more important than the other. It is about what is important to the individual. But knowing the reason why and clearly articulating it to yourself is vitally important. It serves as a constant reminder and motivator. It allows you to effectively share it with others. And it serves to help remove or avoid distractions that get in your way.
Making more money is a common resolution. People want to be better compensated for the work they do; they want to feel more appreciated; they want better financial security. Again, all good reasons to want to achieve this goal. But dig deeper — what is truly at the heart of why you want to make more money? What is the next layer? Do you want to be able to start saving and investing toward retirement? Do you want to reduce stress? Do you want to start saving for a college fund or a house? Why exactly is more money important to you? What is at the heart of your goal?
Related: 3 Science-Backed Ways to Break Bad Habits
Resolutions should not be an isolated endeavor. In fact, studies show that sharing your goals with others and engaging others in the ongoing pursuit of your goals yields a much higher likelihood of success. So, there are five critical questions we should ask to maximize the results we want to achieve:
Question 1: Why is this resolution truly important to me? Go deep, and be honest with yourself.
Question 2: How do I make this happen? This should be the specific steps you need to implement. This often comes down to forming positive habits and/or replacing bad habits. It is about discipline and accountability. You need to identify these things in a clear and precise manner before moving on to question 3.
Question 3: Who should be on your team? There is no special award for doing things on your own, and asking for help or partnering with others does not diminish your success. At its core, life is about the relationships we build along our journey, and embracing a team for your goals is just another opportunity to forge new bonds. Your team member(s) should be people who are supportive, honest and can directly contribute to the steps you have spelled out in question 2.
Question 4: When am I honestly ready to start? Pursuing goals is not a linear process without its share of challenges along the way. But momentum is a real thing, and you do not want to start knowing it is not an ideal time to do so. It is vital to ensure you are in the right mindset to begin. That is why the first three questions are so important. But, simultaneously, do not look for excuses or reasons to put off your start. There is no such thing as a perfect time. It is when you decide you are ready and committed.
Question 5: What comes next? There is a natural feeling of accomplishment when you reach a goal, often followed by a bit of a letdown because you have been focused on one thing for so long that it now begs the question of what comes next. This is why resolutions or goals should be seen as lifestyle changes rather than start-to-finish tasks. You can tell yourself, “I want to lose 10 pounds.” You can identify why and who is on your team and how you are going to accomplish it. But in reality, the loss of the weight should be a result of a change in a lifestyle choice that survives the benchmark of the weight loss.
The healthier eating, exercising, etc. that got you to that goal is now a new lifestyle for you. The same concept can be applied if you want to save $100,000 for a house. When you implement a strategy of saving and investing to achieve this goal and bring in the right people to help, there is no reason to stop once you have reached the initial goal. It is a newly formed lifestyle choice you have developed.
Ultimately, the real secret to resolutions is that the process you go through to achieve the goal becomes a permanent part of your lifestyle.
Related: Why Most New Year’s Resolutions Fail and What You Should Do Instead
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John Peitzman
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A lot has been written about employee relations: how to lead and inspire effectively, how to ask for a raise, how to find work-life balance through self-care, how to establish and retain great employees, etc. These are all important topics, and there are many ways to approach the subject matter. But at the heart of almost all employee-related topics, it comes down to one thing: Is the employee happy?
Professional happiness is one of the most subjective topics because it means different things to different people. Some people simply do not care about how much money they make if they have the freedom to live their life without the confines of a typical job. Some people are very focused on how much they can earn and save towards financially-driven goals. Some people love to travel for work while others want to work from home. And others want to do things they enjoy and want to feel like they are contributing to something greater, regardless of the compensation. There are an infinite number of other examples of how people define professional happiness. So, no one definition can be applied to all people.
The key is not trying to come up with a universal definition for professional happiness, but rather the questions to ask in order to create your own personal definition. Here are five questions to get you started:
Related: 7 Secrets to Employee Happiness
Think about this question in general professional terms. Do you like regularly engaging with people? Do you like being creative? Do you like having a set schedule? Do you like working in a team environment? Do you like networking? Do you prefer having oversight or autonomy? Would you prefer to work around other people or from home? Make a list of at least 20 things you actually like to do professionally.
Are you great at creating reports? Do you excel at project management? Do you lead and inspire naturally? Do you love working with numbers? Are you self-motivated and directed, or do you work better with direction? Are you a great presenter? Again, think broadly and make a list of at least 20 things.
Related: 10 Secrets to Finding a Job You Love
As you make the first two lists, you will start to notice some overlaps in your strengths and what you like to do. This is where you begin to define what makes you happy. The intersection of what you like to do and what you can do well is a win-win for any professional situation. Employers get more out of employees who are doing what they enjoy and are good at, and employees work harder and more efficiently when they are doing things they enjoy and things for which they show a strong aptitude.
A lot of people like where they work. They enjoy the people around them. And they enjoy the company as a whole. They just don’t find joy and fulfillment in what they do every day. It is perfectly normal to want a change of scenery, new challenges and new responsibilities. Odds are, you know what you do, the value of it and what your company needs as much or more within your capacity as the key decision-makers above you. And it is equally likely that your employer would prefer to have you contributing at your best. So, consider defining and pitching a new role for yourself that reflects your strength and preferences. It will show dedication and initiative, and it can potentially move you into a role that brings you better professional happiness.
Even if you can’t redefine your role at your current job, taking the time to define a new role for yourself that combines your strengths and preferences helps define what other opportunities you might want to pursue. In business, when people switch jobs, a lateral move often refers to taking a similar job elsewhere with a similar role and pay. And a vertical move often refers to moving to a job with more responsibility and pay. I tend to think that if you move to a job that brings you more happiness, regardless of the role of pay, it is a vertical move. Knowing what you want to do and what value you can bring will help you identify other opportunities that might be a great fit.
Related: Hate Your Job? Ask Yourself These 7 Questions to Find One With More Money and More Happiness
The two things most people do most in this world are sleep and work. This is why you should always be willing to pay more for a perfect mattress and work in a way that brings you professional happiness. It is up to you to define what that means for you and then pursue it with passion and purpose. So, ask yourself these five critical questions, and you’ll be on your way to creating or finding the job you love.
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Hilary DeCesare is the founder of The ReLaunch Co., and the author of RELAUNCH! Spark Your Heart to Ignite Your Life. She sat down with Jessica Abo to talk about how we can achieve our goals in 2023.
Jessica Abo: Hilary, so many people left the workforce in 2022. There was the Great Resignation, Quiet Quitting — how did we get here?
Never in our history have we had three massive types of relaunches happening. We have global relaunches: the pandemic, war and financial crisis. We have business relaunches like the ones you’ve mentioned. And then there are the personal relaunches that can be attributed to relationships or health. It’s the trifecta: All three coming together at the same time, which produces an excessive amount of stress around all of us. So it’s a global relaunch epidemic that’s happening right now.
Talk to us a little bit about the system that you’ve created.
It’s really designed to help you weather the storm because you’re going to have another relaunch. What is a relaunch? A relaunch is a transition. And what we all hope to have happen is a successful transformation. And that’s what we help women do is get to that point to be able to relaunch themselves successfully and avoid the traps that can fall when things are starting to come together where it’s like, “Oh my God, yet another relaunch, another relaunch.” So not having to take a step back but constantly be moving forward.
What are some of the other traps that women fall into?
When you are at a higher level of stress, a natural way that your body is trying to get out of this situation is fight, flight or freeze. We’re not able to accomplish everything that we want because to get back to operating from a sound level, you require a power source. The power source that I’ve created is called 3HQ™. The three H’s are the head, the heart and the higher self. Using this trifecta is what allows people to become manifestation magnets, to elevate themselves in their business and their personal lives.
Can you break down each of these for us? Starting with the head.
A lot of times you hear, “You gotta get out of your head.” When you are spinning into a negative thought spiral, there is nothing positive about that. When we talk about the head, we’re talking about you being able to get out of your own way and to be able to very clearly look at your identity of where you are right now and where you want to go, and making sure those two match.
So how do we get from that place and move into our heart?
In order to get into that heart center, you have to realize that a thought is triggered before an emotion (this is scientifically proven now) and we want to make sure that we can control our thoughts. When you can control your thoughts, then you can control the emotion that is attached to them. What many people don’t realize is that thoughts and emotions repeating over time create our belief system and many of these were triggered when you were young. It’s when the heart and the head are working together that you can then tap into your higher self–that best version of you.
We want to bring you to a higher level so that when you think about goal setting, you start to realize that what you really need to be doing is goal betting, and that’s betting on you.
This is all so fascinating. Hilary, what made you want to come up with all of this in the first place?
I spent over 10 years in Silicon Valley at a Fortune 500 tech giant, and then I started to actually help the CEOs, entrepreneurs and venture capitalists that were supporting these types of companies. I realized I wanted to be changing people’s lives in a bigger way. My book, RELAUNCH! Spark Your Heart to Ignite Your Life, shares my own anecdotal stories and those of my clients to exemplify how 3HQ™ really manifested. If we can master 3HQ™ within ourselves, imagine where we can take business leadership and revenue to expand our businesses as we move into a 3HQ™ world.
So what’s the first step in all of this?
You have to tune in. You’re tuning in and realizing that you have negative thoughts — emotions that are coming up for you, and realizing that you have limiting beliefs. Once you do that, you can change the channel. When you’re feeling stuck, this is when you tune in to elevate yourself, and then you say, “What is the first step I can take?” It’s that first step and doing what you need to immediately act upon.
And was there ever a time in your own life that you had to tune in and change the channel?
I was raising quite a bit of capital for one of my companies and I was at Niagara Falls. I’m walking along the edge with a gentleman that’s also helping me raise money. And I had this intuitive hit to get away from the edge, and as I turned around in my stilettos, I literally came six inches away from this guy. Now you may be saying, “Oh my God, was he trying to push you off? You never know, right? But I tuned into how I felt and I had to change this channel. Well, two years later, this guy who was one of my board members, actually took down the company. I got a call from the SEC and they were investigating him for a Ponzi scheme. You talk about tuning in and changing the channel? This channel had to be changed and I did it.
And to date, your company has helped more than 6,000 entrepreneurs and C-suite executives. How do you help them?
There are many different ways to work with The ReLaunch Co: you can work with us on a one-to-one basis, in a group coaching capacity, or bring us in to train the executive leadership team to understand that businesses have thoughts and an identity that could be potentially holding you back. We take you through a step-by-step 3HQ™ process toward that higher version of your company where you’re actually going to break through that revenue ceiling.
What’s next for you and The ReLaunch Co.?
What’s next for us is perfecting 3HQ™ from a growth perspective. C-Suite executives may know the secret, but it’s getting it to midline management, the employees and the culture of the business that will allow us to create an impact on a global level. That’s what we are destined to be able to do for others.
And finally, Hilary, what do you want to say to the person out there who’s feeling stuck? Perhaps their New Year’s resolutions have already fallen flat? What do you want to say to that person?
Very few actually meet their goals and are able to understand that they’ve been thinking externally about everything. This is the year to bet on you. If you take that first step to relaunch now, it will be a different year for you.
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Jessica Abo
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Self-care has become an all-encompassing term that has strayed from the importance of everyday commodities that keep us in good health and spirits. Though pampering and “treat yourself” moments still have value, here are ten ways to invest in yourself to produce long-lasting, positive results.
Related: 8 Self-Care Tips From Wildly Successful Entrepreneurs
It’s never too early (or too late!) to start saving for the future. Depending on your employment status, there are different retirement savings accounts. 401(k)s are the most common since these are employer-sponsored and often come with an employer match. However, freelancers also have options, such as a SEP-IRA or a high-yield savings account, to put away extra, tax-free dollars for retirement.
Self-care first includes taking care of your physical health. It’s easy to discredit regular checkups when you’re feeling healthy, but make this the year to get your blood work done. It creates a baseline for your health to identify areas needing improvement or extra attention.
Also, choose areas in your life where you can make small changes. Improving your health doesn’t always mean a drastic overhaul; it may be as simple as drinking more water or adding an extra 30 minutes of exercise to your day.
Related: 3 Key Tips for Optimizing Your Physical Health as an Entrepreneur
Many people with health insurance aren’t sure exactly what it does and doesn’t cover. If you’re unsure, talk with your HR representative or your health insurance provider to get an overview of deductibles, co-payments and other supplemental benefits you may not be aware of. Then, decide if the health care plan makes sense for your current lifestyle.
Are you paying for benefits you don’t use, or do you need additional benefits that aren’t covered? Selecting the right plan will help ensure you have what you need without paying the extra expense for anything you don’t.
Maintaining healthy cognitive functions through new pursuits gives a boost to the brain. Get curious and find what speaks to you. This can be anything from exploring local museums, embarking on different hiking trails, learning a new language or reading more books.
There’s no limit to what you can do, and these activities can ignite more creativity and motivation in your work. While it may be helpful to look to others for inspiration, make them enjoyable so you’ll want to make them a regular occurrence.
Mental health has been at the forefront of people’s lives over the past few years, as many have experienced burnout. We often equate productivity with a value that drives us to go beyond our means and leads to anxiety, stress and depression. Take note of your everyday stressors and see how to reduce or eliminate them. Then, replace them with relaxing outlets that allow you to recharge.
There are various ways to prioritize mental health, from practicing positive self-talk to meditation to scheduling an electronics-free day. You may have to try different solutions before you find one that fits.
Related: 5 Ways to Protect Your Mental Health as an Entrepreneur
Consistent sleep is one of the essential factors of good health but one that is often overlooked. For many, it can be challenging to wind down from the workday. Therefore, you must “train” your body to prepare for sleep by getting into a nighttime routine.
Create a sanctuary for yourself to improve your sleep habits. Enjoy a soothing cup of herbal tea, perform a skincare routine, and snuggle in with a good book rather than scrolling through your phone. Additionally, ensure your bedroom is dark and cool for ideal sleep comfort and turn on soothing sounds if it helps lull you to sleep.
What have you wanted to try but have always held back? Maybe it’s public speaking or contributing to a blog. Whatever “new” has been on your to-do, make a plan, schedule it on your calendar and go for it. It’s common to hold back from these activities due to fear of the unknown or failure, but trying new things helps create confidence and can be the catalyst you need to push you to the next level.
Boundary setting is crucial to relationships yet can be difficult to master. It doesn’t always involve simply saying no to people’s requests. Instead, it requires protecting your own values when people violate them. Setting boundaries may mean spending less time with certain people, removing yourself from toxic situations, or declining invites to events that don’t improve your life. Explore areas where boundaries will help you grow, and keep in mind growth itself is a work in progress.
Related: How to Set Boundaries to Build Thriving Relationships
Learning how to enjoy time spent alone is a valuable gift. We are inundated by a false sense of connection through the internet, which often makes us feel lonelier than ever. Then, we overschedule our calendars to make up for human connections, only to feel drained afterward. Slow it down and plan a few solo dates a month to see how it feels to be truly present with yourself.
For those who aren’t used to spending quality time alone, it can feel awkward and uncomfortable initially, but these stem from your own perceptions. Take in a matinee, sit in a coffee shop and read, or enjoy a concert or event you’ve wanted to attend. Alone time has been linked to improved stress management and greater life satisfaction, so it’s worth trying to give yourself more time.
Related: Turns Out, Those Who Like Being Alone Can Be More Creative
Getting active can take on several directions. It can be physical, emotional or spiritual. The point is to engage with people and pursuits that feed your soul. Whether volunteering within your community, setting yourself an exercise goal, or learning more about personal development, there are endless ways to get active and invest in yourself this year.
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Kelly Hyman
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“Everybody has a plan ’till they get punched in the mouth,” Mike Tyson famously said in 1987. History teaches us that we will face conflict when we don’t plan and often when we do. Over 60 years ago, President Dwight D. Eisenhower said, “Plans are worthless, but planning is everything.” We learn valuable information during the exercise of planning and not just the understanding that even the best plans can and will change.
When planning for your business battles, do you ever really know what is ahead, and most importantly, what to do? Strategic planning can help create mechanisms and mindsets to allow you to respond to the battles ahead, but it is not a one-time thing or a “set it and forget it” activity.
It is a plan that shows the way forward for your business, spelling out your company’s goals and why they are important. It can also guide you by outlining things to consider when responding to opportunities and challenges.
Related: Why Having a Strategic Plan for Your Business Is Essential
I believe in one- and three-year strategic plans and re-establishing them each year. Just keep in mind that a strategic plan is a roadmap for a company to achieve its goals. It’s also a tool to unite your teams, motivating them with clarity, direction and focus.
Not that you wouldn’t want to have a list of items you want to achieve long-term (I do have one), but because we live in a world that is changing faster and faster, we must adapt our plans in an agile way and harness the power of technology and systems to help us.
Companies need to be fluid and mobile. In a changing world, the future is no longer easy to predict based solely on the past. What we need is a strategy that breaks away from the old three-ring binder plan already starting to gather dust on the shelf and instead devises one that is adaptive and directive.
This is why the one-to-three-year timeframe helps and why a 10-year timeframe is obsolete before it even begins.
Related: 5 Actionable Strategic-Planning Tips To Boost Business Efficiency
If strategic goals are your long-term objectives, operational goals — or, as we call them, lead measures — are the daily milestones that have to be reached to achieve them.
While aligning your business goals with your strategic goals can be hard to do every year, we must make an effort. Don’t forget that the actions you take each day should mostly roll up to achieving your goals.
For our franchise brands and us, our three main goals each year are franchisee success, revenue and profit. Each brand determines success, but revenue and profit numbers change each year. What’s important is to have your main strategic goals supported by lead measures — actionable items you will do each day and week that will lead to accomplishing the goal.
So, for example, if you are a salesperson and have a goal of $XXX sales this year (revenue), what do you need to do to make those sales?
Look at your sales funnel to determine the steps and the quantity of each step you need to make your goal: how many leads or prospects; how many points of contact, calls, presentations, discovery days and follow-up calls; or how many applications?
Related: How to Fall in Love With Strategic Planning
One recipe for disaster is never doing the most important things and always doing the urgent things. While balancing them, you should stay focused on the most important goals.
It’s not about “to-do” lists or checklists — it’s about your goals. The only thing worse than not having goals is having too many goals. I believe that three primary goals per year and two to three lead measures for each are good.
While there are set goals and trackable lead measures, don’t forget that there’s never only one way to get something done; there are multiple ways.
So, encourage your team members to do what they feel is right. Find out what they want to do rather than just telling them what you would do to achieve it. Weaving that strategy into your planning together will help you get better results.
In The Power of Positive Leadership, author Jon Gordon famously advised us not to focus on the numbers. We must trust the process, and when we keep doing things the right way, the numbers will eventually rise, those wins will come, and the desired outcomes will occur.
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Ray Titus
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We all like to be celebrated and cheered on. But how would you feel if no one or very few people cheered for you after you’ve accomplished making it to the next step in your goal, or when you went from 20 sales to your first 100 sales? Or how about when your business launch that you worked so hard on was a success? I’m sure for a lot of us, it wouldn’t feel good. The hard truth is, those who we feel should celebrate our accomplishments and milestones with us are often not the ones who do. We have to learn to be okay with that.
In all honesty, that was a hard pill for me to swallow. For years, I’ve genuinely cheered people on and supported them. I love to see anyone working on and accomplishing their goals. So, when I wasn’t receiving the support that I had been giving for years, I felt slighted. And it wasn’t because I felt that someone owed me. It was more so, “Hey, we can get so much further when we support one another. So, why aren’t we?” But then I was so busy working on my projects that I didn’t have the capacity to worry about who wasn’t supporting me. I tend to focus more on those who do support me.
Related: Stop Worrying About Why Your Family and Friends Don’t Support Your Business
It’s not easy to get to a point where we can say “I’ve invested so much of my time and finances in making my dream come true, and I’m finally here.” So, it’s understandable to be proud of yourself and want others to be proud of you as well. But when we expect others to be our cheerleaders instead of us being our own biggest cheerleaders, we set ourselves up for frustration and maybe anger at times.
In Be Your Own Cheerleader: An Asian and South Asian Woman’s Cultural, Psychological, and Spiritual Guide to Self-Promote at Work, Neelu Kaur writes, “Alongside being a super rock star in your role at work, your other job — and actually the most important job you will ever have — is to manage your mental health. This is no easy task and takes constant vigilance of what you allow in and out of your precious mind. The other piece of mental health management that is quite challenging to control is the internal dialogue you have with yourself. The inner critic can run the show and your job is to make sure you keep it in check. The inner critic doesn’t rule the show; you do. You ultimately have a choice: Are you going to work for your inner critic or are you going to manage and lead your inner critic? Empowerment comes from a place of managing the negative inner dialogue.”
I love this passage because although the author is speaking in terms of the workplace, it’s something we should apply to our personal and professional life. Life would be so much better if we did. We must learn to be our own cheerleaders and recognize the benefits of it. Hopefully, these five tips I’ve shared will help you.
No one cares more about what your goals are than you. You know what your vision is and how you plan to make that vision a reality. No one else understands that, so you can’t expect them to care just as much as you. Of course, it’s nice to receive support of any kind while on your journey, but don’t weigh yourself down with negative emotions if you don’t receive it.
Related: How to Deal With Unsupportive Friends and Family
It’s freeing and a confidence booster to celebrate yourself. It doesn’t matter the size of the milestone you’ve reached or what the accomplishment is. Celebrate everything. The more you celebrate yourself, the less you will care about those who didn’t celebrate you.
Write your goals down, and once you’ve reached them, be proud of yourself. Give yourself a mental high five, and maybe treat yourself to something nice. Speak positively to yourself. I’m a firm believer in manifestation being a real thing, so I often speak what I want in my life as though it is. Know and understand that you are deserving as much as anyone else.
Being your own best friend means supporting and motivating yourself just like you would a friend — showing up for yourself when others cannot or will not. You will gain more self-awareness, confidence and compassion for yourself in doing so.
Practicing writing positive affirmations is another way to cheer yourself on. Affirmations motivate you, challenge you, and push you to reach your full potential in life.
Related: 7 Ways to Keep Yourself Motivated
So, celebrate your accomplishments even if no one else does. Don’t expect anyone to be supportive, and also don’t be angry if they don’t. Showing yourself the same support you would a friend, will boost your confidence and happiness.
In conclusion, being your own cheerleader isn’t about being arrogant or thinking you’re better than anyone else, but it’s about making sure you don’t feel the need or desire to count on others to validate you and your accomplishments. It’s also about keeping taking steps to keep your mental health in check.
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Athalia Monae
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As Robert Greene wrote in his book, The 48 Laws of Power, “… your reputation is the cornerstone of your power. It will protect you and help influence how the world judges you, at least to some extent. Reputation is like a wizard: With a wave of the wand, it can double your power and drive away your pursuers. Whether the same deeds look great or terrible depends a lot on the reputation of the doer — who, in our case, is an entrepreneur.”
How can you create your management philosophy, master the ability to make an impact beyond your business and make it work for you? All of it is about building a powerful personal brand, which reflects who you are and what your company is. Your reputation may even determine the business value for investors or partners. The importance of embracing personal branding is noticeable to many well-known entrepreneurs, athletes and even scientists. So, here are a few tips for building a reputation that will become a real asset for you:
Related: Before You Grow, Focus on Building a Strong Reputation
Think beyond just selling a product, concept or service, but lifestyles and dreams as well. For example, WeWork isn’t just a coworking space — it is, as per its ex-CEO Adam Neumann, a place where you can create the life you want, join a community, develop friendships and even meet the love of your life. At least that’s what Neumann was telling everyone (new hires, potential investors and his wife, Rebekah). The approach certainly paid off.
Of course, there is also Elon Musk, who has forever been focused on conquering space. He’s selling a dream of interplanetary travel through SpaceX — and successfully, as the company just recently managed to raise $750 million at a $137 billion valuation.
But we have to exercise some caution … dreams can play tricks on us. Mark Zuckerberg’s vision of a meta-universe where billions of people spend hours working, communicating and playing games in virtual and augmented worlds has yet to be proven. Meta’s flagship VR game, Horizon Worlds, remains glitchy and unpopular, and investors are concerned that the company is spending too much on its metaverse gamble. Still, Zuckerberg seems confident the strategy will pay off, with long-term project investment planned for the foreseeable future.
Numbers and statistics matter of course, but so does your dreamy vision. Unless you’re straight-up lying about your project’s KPIs, focusing on the bigger picture instead of profits is a wise choice. Ultimately, it’s the investors’ job to check the viability of your business idea.
Don’t be ashamed of the qualities that make you stand out from the crowd and attract attention. These qualities will become your business card and assist you in successfully navigating difficult situations. For example, your reputation as an honest businessman can provide you with powerful advantages ready to be leveraged against rivals or in negotiations.
Musk has always been focused on breakthrough innovations, positioning himself as a man with no limits. His core value and strength is seeing the impossible and taking it as a challenge, continuously pushing the boundaries of what was believed possible. This consistent approach, even when combined with impulsive decisions, has allowed him to establish his personal brand as one able to move the stock market with just one tweet.
One main indicator of a successful PR strategy is being able to Google yourself or your brand and find convincing results. What counts as “convincing” depends, of course, on your goals. If you need the ability to borrow a lot of money, make sure the media portrays you as a trustworthy and prospective entrepreneur.
“Google me,” says Neumann (ex-CEO of WeWork) to the bank clerk in the show WeCrashed after being offered a ridiculously small loan. After a quick search, the clerk sends Neumann to one of the bank’s top managers, where the entrepreneur immediately becomes a VIP client — and secures a line of credit worth millions. “Google me, boo,” says singer, actress and entrepreneur Patti LaBelle to those who doubt that she’s still working at the age of 78.
I personally received accreditation for a significant business event, thanks to a publication in Entrepreneur. The event organizers could Google me and see who I was and what I represented. Many of my past clients have also found information about my agency through expert comments I’ve posted. My own example clearly shows that people tend to trust people familiar to them. A personal brand allows someone to “know you” — to remove the stranger status and replace it with a trusted one. All other things being equal, we will always prefer investing our time and money in someone we know.
Related: 4 Mistakes You’re Making That Can Jeopardize Your Reputation
Staying true to yourself and being able to speak your truth boldly is the core around which you can build a personal brand in any field. This approach inevitably both attracts and scares people away, but the alternative is much worse. Once you settle on pleasing everyone, you become interesting to no one.
Cristiano Ronaldo has always been deeply committed to his standards of excellence and has made sure to live up to those values. Early in his career, he was perceived as arrogant because of his strong belief in his own abilities and big dreams. Despite all the criticism he received, he remained true to those values and never settled for less to please others. His results speak for themselves.
Oftentimes critics and competitors will do or say things that make us want to hit back and try to ruin their reputation. But you better think twice before taking any action.
The famous inventor Thomas Edison believed that any mechanism could work using direct current. When the Serbian scientist Nikola Tesla announced that he had managed to construct a mechanism running on alternating current, Edison was outraged. He decided to trample on Tesla’s reputation.
To do this, he was going to publicly prove that alternating current machines were hazardous and blame Tesla for it. Edison subjected many pets to fatal AC shocks. This did not seem to be enough, so he approached the New York State Prison authorities with a proposal to execute a criminal using alternating current as a demonstration of its lethality. However, he miscalculated the voltage, and while the criminal was electrocuted, he did not die. The execution had to be repeated.
Edison’s reputation suffered greatly as a result, and Tesla’s notoriety only increased. Don’t go all in on these disparaging attacks — they will likely draw far more attention to your vindictiveness rather than the qualities of the person you’re attacking. If your reputation is strong, you can use more subtle techniques like satire and mockery to weaken your opponent. It pays to be charming and witty.
It’s true that for someone to get results, they must not be afraid to shine brightly. However, history shows that sometimes it’s an equally good idea to dim the lights a little.
Nicolas Fouquet was the Superintendent of Finances in France from 1653 to 1661 under King Louis XIV. His political career was brilliant … while it lasted. Fouquet’s rapid ascent up the political elite’s ladder, combined with his wealth and unconcealed ambition, raised his prestige but made him countless enemies at court. Ultimately, he lost favor with the young king of France, probably as a result of his extravagant display of wealth and increasing societal influence. The king imprisoned him from 1661 until his death in 1680. The lesson here is that sometimes it pays to lower your own brightness to achieve your goals.
Neumann, at one point, very clearly used his fame to influence his partners’ decisions. However, when his reputation got out of control, his misdeeds began to embarrass investors. As the company began to prepare for their IPO, the board of directors decided to put him in the shade and take on a CEO without such a controversial personal brand.
Related: Reputation Management In An Increasingly Transparent World
All in all, building a personal brand is crucial for everyone — you never know when it will come in handy. If you are an entrepreneur, your reputation will make it easier to attract funding. For a top manager, it will help increase value in the hiring process. The more people in your target audience that know about you, the more benefits you can realize in the long run. And that’s equally true for someone who wants to launch a rocket into space or the person looking for a job to build it.
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Evgeniya Zaslavskaya
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Work environments aren’t limited to traditional offices these days. Many opt to work anywhere with Wifi to create a better work-life balance. Others travel extensively for their jobs, heading from city to city with few home stops in between.
When traveling for work in any capacity, it’s convenient to have a “go” bag packed with your favorite beauty essentials. It takes the guesswork out of packing and ensures you are stocked up before boarding your next flight.
Related: 5 Beauty Products Every Traveling Entrepreneur Needs in Her Suitcase
Here are ten must-have beauty items to keep you looking polished and professional wherever you are.
A pack of travel-sized face cleansing wipes can easily be tucked into a carry-on and used in a pinch. Get rid of dirt, grime and old makeup easily when a full facial cleanse isn’t an option. Find wipes with soothing ingredients like aloe or eucalyptus to perk up the senses and calm the skin.
Also, make sure they’re alcohol-free to avoid stripping the skin of needed moisture post-flight. Simple Exfoliating Facial Wipes with aloe vera, pro-vitamin B5 and vitamin E are gentle yet effective for all skin types. When you’re in a hurry but need to wipe the slate clean, so to speak, these will be your saving grace.
Related: Packing Hacks for Business Travelers
Studies show people sleep better in dark, quiet environments, which makes an eye mask and earplugs an essential travel combination. It’ll help you sleep more comfortably on a plane, train and in your hotel room.
It’s easy to fall off your natural sleep cycle when traveling from time zone to time zone, which is the first thing that will affect how you look and feel. Protect your sleep schedule for the sake of not only your beauty routine but, more importantly, your overall health.
Related: How CEOs Optimize Their Sleep Schedule
It’s amazing what a swipe of lipstick or tinted lip balm can do to make you feel immediately put together. A bold color can feel empowering, while a neutral tone can add just enough of a hue to feel poised and ready to go. Remember to keep lips moisturized by sloughing away dry, cracked skin and applying a lip treatment at night. Then, tuck a favorite shade into your “go” bag and keep a reserve at home so you’ll always be prepared. Get the pigmentation you desire with the hydration you need to keep lips flake-free.
Dry shampoo buys time between washings to keep hair looking and smelling fresh. Adding dry shampoo gives a boost to limp locks and helps out with oily strands. Spray directly at the root and allow the product to absorb before styling. It’s a simple solution to give life back to your hair when stretched for time. Plus, it keeps hair from drying out from washing it too much.
A go-to for travelers is Act+Acre Plant-Based Dry Shampoo. Its clean, scent-free formula does the trick when heading straight from the plane to an important meeting or from a day in the office directly to a business dinner. Plus, the small travel-sized container can be discreetly tucked away and pulled out to use whenever needed.
Related: The Must-Have Items in These Entrepreneurs’ Travel Bags
Climate changes can quickly dry out the skin leaving behind a tired appearance. A lightweight moisturizer keeps skin healthy, supple, and bright. Choose one with SPF for sun protection and a formula designed for your skin type. Neutrogena’s Healthy Skin Face Lotion contains SPF 15 and alpha-hydroxy acid to boost skin tone.
Also, if you want to limit the use of a heavy foundation, a tinted moisturizer works as a good substitute, such as EltaMD UV Daily Tinted Broad-Spectum SPF 40. It provides light coverage without the caked-on finish foundation can often have if the skin is too dry.
Those who wear contacts already know the importance of eye drops when traveling. However, even if you don’t need glasses, eye drops soothe tired eyes after a long commute or after hours of looking at a screen. There are several name-brand options, but generic eye drops work just as well to brighten up the eyes and keep them from feeling so dry.
Related: 5 Ways to Use Eye Contact in a Business Meeting to Get What You Want
Mascara is one of the top beauty essentials many refuse to leave home without. It’s another product to pack to make the eyes pop. Opt for a smudge-proof formula like CoverGirl Smudge Proof Mascara that’ll stick with you during a day of travel without smearing. Add a few coats but avoid layering it on too thick to keep the look natural and business-appropriate.
A hydrating under-eye concealer helps to camouflage dark circles and instantly brighten up the face. The trick is to tap the product into place rather than rubbing it back and forth with a brush or beauty sponge. CoverGirl Turblend Undercover Concealer is ideal for all-day wear, providing a matte finish. Use the third finger to dab it under the eye and smooth it out gently. A concealer stick is important when traveling for work to keep the face looking fresh.
Related: 15 Business Etiquette Rules Every Professional Needs to Know
A blush stick provides a two-in-one advantage when used as a blush and eye shadow and doesn’t require a brush to apply. Stick to a neutral shade like the Charlotte Tilbury Moon Beach blush stick, a peachy, rose gold hue, and use clean fingertips to blend into the cheekbones for a natural-looking flush. Work situations don’t necessarily require a full face of makeup; sticking with a few beauty essentials can keep you looking polished.
Though floss may not be deemed a true beauty essential, it’s necessary to have it with you at the ready. Nothing is worse than experiencing an entire meeting or client dinner with food stuck between the teeth. Never get in this type of compromising position (and subsequent embarrassment), and remember to add it to your bag.
Consider these ten beauty essentials part of your travel arsenal to prepare you for wherever your work travels take you next.
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Kelly Hyman
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As entrepreneurs, we are constantly striving for success and are driven by a desire to achieve our goals. But what if that drive for success extended to our desire for material possessions? Many people view materialism as a negative trait, but the truth is that having a strong desire for material possessions can actually be a powerful tool for fueling entrepreneurial success. Here’s why:
Materialism can be a powerful motivator. A strong desire for material possessions is not only an important factor in whether or not you get rich, but it’s also a critical element of your entrepreneurial success.
When you have a strong desire for material possessions, you’re more likely to set goals and then achieve them. You are also more likely to stay motivated after you start working towards something specific.
Related: How to Find Inspiration Everywhere
In order to achieve your goals, you need to have a clear vision of what they are and how they will look when they’re achieved. Materialism can help with both of these things by allowing you to imagine a future where you have more possessions than now. This imaginative exercise helps give substance to the concept of success and sets a goal for where you want your life to go in its current state.
If we don’t envision what our lives could be like in five years, 10 years or 30 years from now — if we don’t see the possibilities available — we fail ourselves right out of the gate when it comes time to make decisions that affect our futures (like choosing an education path).
If you have a strong desire for material possessions, it may encourage you to think outside of the box and come up with new ways of doing things that are unconventional.
One way materialism can help entrepreneurs think outside the box is by encouraging them to take risks. Many entrepreneurs are driven by the desire for material possessions and are willing to take risks in order to achieve them. When an entrepreneur is focused on a material goal, they may be more willing to take a chance on an unconventional idea, even if it carries a high degree of uncertainty. This can help to foster a more entrepreneurial mindset and can lead to more innovative solutions.
Related: 5 Brain Hacks To Boost Your Motivation
Entrepreneurs can benefit from being materialistic by having a tangible goal to strive for. For example, if your goal is to be able to afford a luxury car, you can use that as a motivator to work harder and smarter.
You might make a plan to increase your sales or find ways to cut costs in order to reach your goal. The specific nature of the goal will help you stay focused and make it easier to measure your progress.
When people get caught up in day-to-day tasks without having any sort of vision for their future careers or lives, they often lose sight of what truly motivates them and why they’re doing these certain things in the first place. Materialism provides a strong foundation on top of which other motivational forces (like financial security) can be added for greater effect over time as well as helping individuals develop new ideas about how to best accomplish their dreams
The power of materialism can be helpful in many ways. If you have a strong desire for material possessions, this may help you visualize your future and further develop the ideas that will bring about your entrepreneurial success. Materialism also encourages people to work hard towards their goals and keep on going when they feel like giving up. In addition, once you start working towards something specific, having the motivation of wanting more possessions can keep you going when times get tough.
Related: 3 Keys to Entrepreneurial Success
It’s important to remember that true success and happiness are not just about accumulating material wealth. Balancing material desires with other important aspects of life, such as relationships, personal growth and community involvement, is key to a fulfilling life. However, when channeled in the right way, the power of materialism can be a powerful force for driving entrepreneurial success.
So, consider embracing your love for material possessions, and let it fuel your drive to achieve success in your business!
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Roy Dekel
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