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LinkedIn – Why You Should Have It
by Scarlett Uribe
I recently found out that LinkedIn was launched in 2002. It’s been around longer than Facebook, Snapchat and even Instagram. But it didn’t start to become popular until 2007 and only finally reached 500 million users in April of 2017. So the question is: why is LinkedIn important? Why should you set one up if you haven’t already?
Here are the top 5 reasons:
- Showcase your skills
LinkedIn is a place where you can have a “live resume”. You can link your work experience direct pages as well as add skills.
- Get notified of open positions quickly
Using your previous work experience, profile and interests, LinkedIn will recommend open job positions.
- Network! Network! Network!
One of the most important things you can do when beginning your professional career is to network and connect with anyone and everyone on LinkedIn. These connections can help you in unexpected ways in the future. Don’t miss a chance to connect with those who can share their knowledge and experience with you.
- Applying for jobs is a two way street
When you are looking for a new position, make sure that you research the company! Not all positions and organizations are a right fit for you. “If the company knows what it’s doing, you should get a good, solid feel for its culture and its people to make sure it’s a fit for you before diving into the interview process or accepting a job” (TopResume).
- Build your personal brand
This is the chance you get to show and tell others why they should hire you, what makes you different and get you on the map. A professional headshot and a powerful LinkedIn summary can make a huge impact when recruiters and future employers search you on google.
Below are some links to article you might find useful when setting up your LinkedIn:
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How to Spice Up Your Resume!
by Amanda Bursach
- Use a common, clean font!
Times New Roman or Arial are always great options.
- Spell check/and fix mistakes
Proof-read all writing before saving your document to avoid grammatical or spelling errors.
- Add LinkedIn profile
Have a LinkedIn profile? Attach the link!
- Update your skills section, include any new skills you have developed recently.
Before applying for a new job, update your resume with the skills you developed from your most recent employment.
- Read it out loud
Read your resume out loud to a friend or family member to check for fluency and coherence.
- Emphasize results rather than responsibilities
What were you successful at? Focus on the result and your successes rather than what your
responsibilities were.
- Relate your accomplishments specifically to the job you are applying to
How do your skills from your previous experiences relate to the position you are applying for?
- Use power words
Examples of power words are: Attained, Accomplished, Overcame, Outperformed.
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Balance Life and Work
by Sarah Johnson
The biggest risk of an unbalanced work and home life is burnout!
If you’ve experienced this or are currently struggling to be excited about your job, you are not alone! About 3/4 of all teachers report that they find work stressful. That means, between the 4 teachers you may share a pod with, 3 of you are likely burnt out!
There are seemingly endless to-do lists and let’s be honest, there will never be enough hours in the day to accomplish everything you’d like at a level in which I know educators expect of themselves. Most every teacher I’ve worked with seems to fit the “Type A” personality. According to WebMD, If you are a Type A personality, you are likely to be characterized as:
- Driven
- Being a hard worker
- Having the determination to succeed
- Being very quick to make decisions
- Likely to multitask
- Goal-oriented
- Organized
I’m sure you are nodding “yes”, to that checklist of traits! Of course, all of these characteristics are very admirable, but they may also be adding a lot of stress to your life!
The “Pareto Principle” states that 80% of our results come from 20% of our efforts. When we can figure out what exactly that 20% is, we can focus our efforts and eliminate much of the other 80% that doesn’t produce results.
First, realize that you cannot do everything-no one can! Start being more strategic about where to focus your time and energy. Then in the words of our Disney friend Elsa, “Let it go”! That’s right, I’m suggesting that you make a change! Just start with one thing that you can let go of! It’s all part of the work smarter, not harder mentality. Small changes can make a huge difference!
In our endless efforts to find success all day at work, we tend to be exhausted by the time we get home. Unfortunately, those closest to us may not be getting our best. Prioritizing your time and focusing on what matters most will give you the freedom to have time for the things that you want! You spend so much time taking care of others, don’t neglect yourself. You cannot pour from an empty cup. Finding a balance is crucial, otherwise, that burnout is inevitable! The Resilient Educator website has a great infographic (see below) with 5 Tips for Restoring Work-Life Balance! Review these tips and find one thing that can personally work for you, and make that change today!
Once you’ve mastered adding (or subtracting) that one thing, find another-and get closer to that work and home balance that you, your family and friends deserve! Send me an email at officeteam@behaviorrx.org and share your experience. I will select one person to send a $10 Starbucks gift card!
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Personal Mission Statements
by Scarlett Uribe
This week in my finding purpose class we were given an assignment to write our personal statements, which sparked a 40 minute conversation on their purpose and usefulness. I wanted to dive a bit deeper into this and found a great, easy-read article on Indeed. I wanted to share my findings with you.
What is a personal statement?
“A personal statement…defines your values, who you are and how you define success.”
Why should we have one?
It can help you have a better understanding and view of your values. It’s helpful for reflecting and deciding if your current activities, priorities, and goals are in line with your values. If not, it could serve to help redefine your goals and change your current engagements.
Here’s a look at my personal mission statement for some ideas on how to start shaping your own!
“I will be a lifelong learner, creator and innovator. I will enjoy the simplicity of life while discovering its natural beauty. I will add to it through the development of my personal skills, talents and pursuit of my passions.”
Take some time to write out your personal mission statement and place is somewhere you can see it often! It makes a difference!
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The Comfort Zone
by Sarah Johnson
It’s time to get uncomfortable!
The saying goes, “If you keep doing what you’re doing, you’re going to keep getting what you’re getting”!
We all love to live in our comfort zone! We feel safe and secure, everything is predictable, it minimizes uncertainty and, well, it keeps life going.
What might happen if we break through that ceiling we’ve placed on ourselves? Yes, we are comfortable-but are we living out our true potential? Have we felt purpose or meaning in our life? Have we achieved things we previously thought impossible? Have we done hard or scary things, overcame them and became something more through the struggle? Have you found your passion and true happiness in life?
If you answered “no” to any of those questions, it’s time to take a reflective trip and consider unpacking all the things that hold you back! Most of us are so afraid of rejection or failure that we convince ourselves that we aren’t good enough and we never take the chance to achieve our dreams! Here is your wakeup call: most successful people have failed way more than they’ve succeeded!
But what they didn’t do is give up! Being persistent is the key and you don’t have to take my word for it!
Take the advice from someone who has experienced more setbacks than most and yet also found tremendous success. Albert Einstein is considered a true genius and truly lived and believed that, “Failure is success in progress”. If Albert Einstein gave up after his first failure he would never have been led to win the Nobel Prize in 1921 for Physics and notably be considered the most influential physicist of the 20th century.
Basketball legend Michael Jordan has said, “I’ve missed more than 9000 shots in my career. I’ve lost almost 300 games. 26 times, I’ve been trusted to take the game winning shot and missed. I’ve failed over and over and over again in my life. And that is why I succeed.”
As educators, we are the model for our students. We need to show them what happens when we get uncomfortable, step out of our safe bubble and move into the growth zone where success and magic can indeed, truly be found!
It might take baby steps to get there for some, and that’s ok! Keep moving, keep pressing forward, keep trying and keep getting closer to living out your dreams!
What have you done this month to get uncomfortable? Send us a message at officeteam@behaviorrx.org. We can share some ideas in our next newsletter!
Here are a few suggestions to get you started:
- Visit a new place-near or far
- Learn a new skill, hobby or talent
- Try new, different and cultural foods
- Unplug, look up and enjoy the world around you
- Say yes to something you normally would decline
- Make a new friend or rekindle an old friendship
- Seek new adventures and thrills
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Setting Systems vs. Setting Goals
by Scarlett Uribe
Setting goals is something I’m sure all of us are pretty familiar with. Especially this time of year. It’s when all the gyms experience an increase in attendance. According to GymDesk, about 12% of all new memberships for each academic year are opened in January. It’s when new budgets are followed to a T. It’s when the dust is blown off personal development books and healthy, organic meals reign at the dinner table.
But being guilty of this myself, gym attendance begins to dwindle after a month or so. People go back to their old habits of eating out 3 times a week. Books collect dust on the bookshelf again and are replaced by TV remotes and video game controllers.
So the question we all face at the start of a new year is this:
How can we focus on becoming a better version of ourselves without getting burnt out a few weeks in?
James Clear, the author or Atomic Habits speaks on this topic:
“You do not rise to the level of your goals. You fall to the level of your systems. Your goal is your desired outcome. Your system is the collection of daily habits that will get you there.”
Want to read 30 books by the end of the year? Your system would be setting aside time to read every day.
Want to learn a new instrument? Your system would be to practice a little bit each day.
Want to run a marathon? Your system would be to give your body the right nutrients and train it daily.
Systems are all about the things you are doing in your daily life to maintain the changes long term. Setting systems is the basis for accomplishing any goal you might have, and not automatically reverting back to old habits once they’ve been fulfilled. We set goals to win one time. But we set systems for the purpose of continuing to win.
Check out the following links for more on setting systems:
Systems vs Goals: Why You Need Systems, Not Goals
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What Are YOU Reading?
Apple uses iOS
Microsoft’s uses Windows.
Many cell phones and tablets use a Droid OS
What is your “operating system”, who “coded” it and what year(s) was it written in?
Is how you think, helping you create the life you deeply yearn for?
We change our clothes and sometimes our hairstyles- but very rarely do we “update” the way we think: our very own and very individualized “human operating system” is rarely up for updates.
Want to see the world differently?
Look at someone you admire and ask them (or read about) how they see the world.
Want to earn differently?
Study someone who has excelled financially.
Want to lead in a better way?
Emulate someone’s stories about how THEY proved themselves as a leader.
Want change?
Research what you want to change and what you could change it to.
Books, better said the “best” books, are ones that can EASILY inspire you to grow, learn and live in many better ways: they can help update your own OS.
Here are 4 of the BEST books:
The Compound Effect by Darren Hardy:
How much does a penny become if you double it’s value for 30 sequential days? Over $3M.
The Alchemist by Paulo Coelho:
A story of a young man in southern Spain, driven to sell his inheritance (50 sheep and very comfortable life) to pursue a dream.
The Energy Bus by Jon Gordon:
Read about how a flat tire, the near loss of a job lead to learning Ten Rules when getting on “Joy’s” bus change a man’s mindset, life, family and future.
Can’t Hurt Me by David Goggins:
The “really hard” stuff you’ve complained about trying to do in your life, is more a 3 out of 10 than a 10 out of 10. Read/listen to David Goggin’s up and down pathway from being a 325 pound pest control guy to becoming the only guy who has completed every elite military training program in the US.
Want to do, be, earn, have, think better in your life?
Upgrade your OS- your life’s stories with someone else’s stories, who has a GREAT way to go about thinking and living.
The best time to plant a tree is 20 years ago. The second best time?
Today,
Shane
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Message from Shane
What a great time of year to reflect on so many things, just having passed Thanksgiving and looking at the Christmas season right now. We are so immensely blessed and fortunate to live in this time and part of the world we live in. Never in the history of mankind have a people had so many comforts and plentitude.
Of note, going into the new year is an opportunity to change our focus slightly, which sometimes has us question our decisions and paths, like Alice did when she asked the Cheshire cat when she was lost:
“Would you tell me, please, which way I ought to go from here?” The Cheshire Cat: “That depends a good deal on where you want to get to.” -Alice in Wonderland
Where are YOU headed?
If you are reading this, you are most likely an individual who has chosen a path of service or ‘which way you ought to go’ in your life- service to people, service to hearts and service to humanity. The path you are on is likely THE best, in creating more peace in the world and in yourself. Deepening our awareness of all we can be thankful for and give, can certainly be an immensely rewarding decision to bring more peace and fulfillment into our own lives and those in our families.
As educators, you might be referred to as empaths, givers or care-takers or builders, even ‘human development specialists’. Whatever the name, you make the world and the people in it- better. We at BehaviorRx are grateful for you. The world needs more of you. Youth are elevated because of. Minds and hearts are inspired because of you. Thank you for being on this path with us!
Our wishes of peace, fulfillment and joy to you and yours this holiday season. Thank you for all you do and your affiliation with BehaviorRx!’
Best regards,Shane Mosley, President
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A Gratitude Mindset!
by Sarah Johnson
During this time of year we tend to contemplate all the things we have to be thankful for. Being thankful is an expression of gratitude.
As teachers, we are continually trying to help students foster a Growth Mindset. This process helps students to believe in the potential they have for growth and to recognize what they can become.
Gratitude and a Growth Mindset are similar. Both cause you to reflect and focus on the positive. If we could combine these two components into a “ Gratitude Mindset”-the ability to be grateful for what you have and see the best in everything, the rippling effects would be so powerful in our society, in our classrooms and in our homes.
A Gratitude Mindset could be summed up in one quote from John Wooden, “Things turn out best for people who make the best of the way things turn out”. When we cultivate an attitude of Thanksgiving in our lives and choose to focus our time and attention on what we appreciate, we will be able to see and feel the shift of our Gratitude Mindset. We can become more resilient, better connected, have more hope and be happier than we could have imagined.
“Studies show that gratitude increases optimism, produces positive feelings and boosts happiness”. When we go a step further and record our gratitude, it can have even longer lasting effects, up to 6 months longer! Find a way to share your gratitude this month and write it down! Share a gratitude post on social media and tag BehaviorRx for a chance to be featured!
Whether you write in a journal, select an app, utilize social media, call or write a friend or family member or simply add slips of paper into a gratitude jar-you will find that you have so much more to be grateful for! -
Types of Intelligence
“According to Psychologists, there are four types of Intelligence:
1) Intelligence Quotient (IQ)
2) Emotional Quotient (EQ)
3) Social Quotient (SQ)
1. Intelligence Quotient (IQ): this is the measure of your level of comprehension. You need IQ to solve math’s, memorize things, and recall lessons.
2. Emotional Quotient (EQ): this is the measure of your ability to maintain peace with others, keep to time, be responsible, be honest, respect boundaries, be humble, genuine and considerate.
3. Social Quotient (SQ): this is the measure of your ability to build a network of friends and maintain it over a long period of time.
People that have higher EQ and SQ tend to go further in life than those with a high IQ but low EQ and SQ. Most schools capitalize on improving IQ levels while EQ and SQ are played down.
A man of high IQ can end up being employed by a man of high EQ and SQ even though he has an average IQ.
Your EQ represents your Character, while your SQ represents your Charisma. Give in to habits that will improve these three Qs, especially your EQ and SQ.
Now there is a 4th one, a new paradigm:
4. The Adversity Quotient (AQ): The measure of your ability to go through a rough patch in life, and come out of it without losing your mind.
When faced with troubles, AQ determines who will give up, who will abandon their family, and who will consider suicide.
Parents, mentors and educators, please expose your children to other areas of life than just Academics. They should adore manual labour (never use work as a form of punishment), Sports and Arts.
Develop their IQ, as well as their EQ, SQ and AQ. They should become multifaceted human beings able to do things independently of their parents.
Finally, do not prepare the road for your children. Prepare your children for the road.”