Maybe you feel frustrated because you work hard but you don’t seem to reach the level of success you desire. Or perhaps you’ve hit a plateau and aren’t sure how to push through to the next phase of your project. Maybe productivity has become an issue and you’re just not sure what’s the best way to focus your time and energy.

In times like these, it can be helpful to seek advice from those who have made it to the top of their industry. What are they doing that you’re not?

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Take a look at some of these habits of successful people and see which ones you need to adopt: Read more

Are you looking for ways to be more productive? You’re not alone. Pretty much anyone who has a goal finds productivity to be a challenge. Finishing a project, starting a business, making more money, writing a novel, getting in shape, having more time for your family all require you to make constructive use of your waking hours.

Even writer Victor Hugo had to trick himself into writing his great novels Les Miserables and The Hunchback of Notre-Dame by asking his butler to hide his clothes so he couldn’t leave the house and was forced to stay home and write.

While this may not be an option for most of us (since we don’t have butlers and all!), there are ways in which we can enhance our productivity without resorting to such extremes.

Here are my top five favorite productivity hacks: Read more

I am constantly asked by friends and those I work with for productivity tips and tricks. The Pomodoro Technique is one of my favorite and most successful tips. Why? Because it is all about FOCUS.

I use the Pomodoro Technique on a daily basis to write blog posts, complete work projects, limit my time on email, and move my PhD work forward.

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I dare you to find a better leadership quote than the ones listed below.

Anyone who knows me, understands how much I love quotes and I love leadership. So why not a post on leadership quotes. Hopefully they will inspire you to be a better leader for yourself and those around you.  Read more

[guestpost]This is a guest post by Amy Collinsworth who works at Boston University as the Student Outreach Manager for the Center for Career Development and the Educational Resource Center. She holds a bachelor of arts in marketing from Rockford University and a master of science in college student personnel from the University of Tennessee. Amy’s professional background includes working in MBA career management and undergraduate student leadership development. You can connect with her at @AmyCollinsworth[/guestpost]

“Today we will drive to the parking lot at your school, and by using the tool we learned about in the Tony Robbins recording*, you will make the basketball into the basket on your first shot!” dad said. I was not sure what to expect as we drove to the parking lot at Thompson Elementary that breezy spring afternoon, but I was certain my petite 4-foot-tall frame and poor hand-eye coordination would be my down-fall in making the basket. I got out of the car and walked to the hoop, carefully positioning myself a few feet in front of the hoop on the center of the faded white spray painted line.

I took a deep breath and closed my eyes.

Closed Eyes

Photo Credit: .. kai via Compfight cc

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The National Center for Education projects over 1.6 million students will graduate with bachelor’s degree in 2014. And according to the National Association of Colleges and Employers Job Outlook 2014 survey, employers plan to hire 8.6 percent more college graduates in 2014 then they did in 2013.

So whether you are a college grad or someone who is starting a job with a new company, let me start off by saying CONGRATS! You got the job. You were the one the company pick over all the other applicants.

Even though you were the one chosen for the job, the company is still wondering if they made the right decision. So now your first day, your first week is getting closer and closer. What can you do to show your new employer, supervisor, and coworkers that your ARE the right person for the job and they didn’t make a mistake when they hired you?

Photo Credit: SalFalko via Compfight cc

Photo Credit: SalFalko via Compfight cc

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Take a minute and close your eyes. Think about one thing you have always wanted to do. What would you achieve if you had no fear, monetary constraints or obstacles in your way? Envision accomplishing your biggest dream or most outlandish goal. What is that big dream for you?

With your dream in mind, there are hundreds of people who set out last week to turn their dream into reality. Some have been thinking about this dream for years and others for decades. Their dream…to standing on top of the world!

[featured-image single-newwindow=”false”]Photo Credit: Rupert Taylor-Price via Compfight cc[/featured-image]

This first week of April marks the beginning of Everest season. A time of excitement and anticipation. For some, years and months of training and fundraising have ended. And now the hard work begins. Those climbers have arrived in Kathmandu to attempt to complete the dream of a lifetime. So as a tribute to the dream of reaching the summit of Everest (which is something I hope to do one day) here is a 3 step process to get your dreams in order and start accomplishing them.  Read more

While watching game 6 of the NBA Finals, I found myself getting caught up in the excitement of the game. Now I am not a fan of either team. I was just looking for an exciting game that came down to the wire…I got exactly what I wished for.

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Courtesy of Flickr by RMTip21

For those who do not watch basketball, game 6 was between the Miami Heat and the San Antonio Spurs. The importance of this game was if the Spurs won they would be crowned the NBA Champions. Miami was trying to hold them off and force a final game 7. Game 6 came down to the wire with Miami down by 75-65 at the end of the 3rd quarter. With 28 seconds left in the fourth quarter the Heat were down by 5 points and they went on a 6-1 run. In dramatic fashion, hitting two 3-point shoots, Miami tied the game at the end of regulation forcing overtime (click here to see highlights). In the end the Miami Heat won game 6, 103-100 in overtime.

What can we learn from what has been called “The Best Game Ever” or “The Game of the Millenium?” Here are 6 lessons I took from Game 6 of the NBA Finals:

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Well, it is finally here, 2013 has begun…so let the resolutions begin! Did you know that, according to the Journal of Clinical Psychology (Volume 58, Issue 4), “people who explicitly make resolutions are 10 times more likely to attain their goals than people who don’t explicitly make resolutions.”

According to the same study, here are the top 10 resolutions: