Browsing Tag

millennials in business

Indie

Goal Setting for 2021: Empathize and adapt

Goal setting for 2021: Empathize and adapt

Holy crap this year is almost over. Of course, the stress, pain, and confusion of 2020 won’t magically disappear on January 1st, we know this. Nonetheless, it’s a chance to start anew. Goal setting in 2021 will look different than it did in 2020. We’ve learned that life can change on a dime and sometimes you just can’t plan around certain life events.

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Sober Up Your Monkey Mind

The (Drunken) Monkey Mind

This is perhaps the aptest description for your mind I’ve heard. Buddha described the human mind as being filled with “drunken monkeys.” In other words, he is saying that without discipline, our mind can be a wildly uncontrolled space. (Forgive me, as much as I searched, I couldn’t find a direct citation here – it seems like fairly common knowledge – but if you’d like to dive deeper into the origins of this expression – forgive me twice because here’s a Wikipedia article).

Your brain wants to work and it’s not always linear. On any given day, we have over 6,000 thoughts.  We’ve trained it to work. Of course, there’s nothing inherently wrong with this, but there is another integral piece of the puzzle here. The brain also needs rest, and our hearts and minds sometimes need a break.

Test it out.

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Build Company Culture – Guerilla Style

Build company culture like you would a grassroots movement – guerilla-style.

Now hear me out; Building company culture, to a degree, is up to the employees. It is more of a grassroots effort than most of us believe.

A quick Google search shows articles rife with recommendations for leaders to help build up their people. CEO’s value is partially built on their ability to establish and maintain “company culture.” Millennial employees, rapidly entering an filling the workspace, are looking for good pay, ample time off, a sense of doing good for their world, and a great company culture at work. Photo by Helena Lopes from Pexels

Overall pay, benefits, hours, work safety, etc. fall solidly to the dictation of the C-suite and other leaders. However, employees control much of the mood and overall culture than the CEO herself. Continue Reading

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Availability Creep

Availability Creep

Availability creep is my current nemesis, and it’s yours too.

As I sit here in my snowy retreat in the woods, I find myself checking – and replying to – my work email. I came here to escape and get away from the hustle of my day-to-day. Yet I keep dragging myself back into it, afraid I’ll miss something, or checking in just out of habit. Even writing this short article I’ve checked it three four lots of times.

As a card-carrying, somewhat-reticent, member of the Millennial generation, I admit I live my life for my free time. While I love working, growing, and being a professional. Let’s be honest though, I do all of this in pursuit of my ideal personal life. The harder I work, the more I can enjoy outside of work. The more success I see in the office directly translates to more awesome vacations like this one.

For me, as with many young workers, I’m building the life I want to live.

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What are You Doing with Your Life?

 

Driving into work today, I was listening to a brilliant podcast, Song Exploder. So here I am, breezing down the freeway, looking at the cool, low-hung clouds in a truly unusual foggy Arizona sky, and completely engrossed in Episode 92.

The podcast’s founder, Hrishikesh Hirway, gives the stage to the artist at hand, and bit by bit, the artists discuss each element of a song. The brilliance of this method is that the listener hears first-hand the intention of the song’s creators. For the music lover who is not a composer, you learn a bit about composition as well. Continue Reading