Monday, September 28, 2020

AN ELABORATE GUIDE FOR A SUCCESSFUL CAREER

 

AN ELABORATE GUIDE FOR A SUCCESSFUL CAREER

Choosing and working towards your career can be scary and overwhelming for many, and why should it be not? After all, one paths determines the majority of our life period satisfaction and the multiple things entangled with it. Yet it’s not as scary as it generally sounds – it does not matter what age or what setbacks you have faced – one can always start in the now and make the best of the present moment. Here are a few elaborate tips to help you with your career:

1.      Decide what you love and what you wish to do

The very first step (after intent, of course) is to know what you actually want to pursue professionally. It’s okay if you’re a little hesitant or a little unsure, do not let the mind chatter stop you. Choose what you really love – something you wouldn’t mind doing every day, and then look into how you can translate it into an occupation.

It is essential to look into how tangible your chosen occupation is and the scope of succeeding in the same. A large part of your success will largely rely on your passion and willingness for your chosen career path.

 

2.      Take control and be your own decision maker

This starts right at the part of choosing your career. It is absolutely important to not let anyone influence your decision in their way – in short, don’t allow anyone else to determine what is best for you. It’s true to say that no one knows you as well as you do, especially on a deeper level.

To inculcate this habit, you will have to develop self-awareness and a practice to delve into a space of awareness. People’s choices are generally shaped by their life experiences and the present societal views, which are heavily variable and subject to change with time. What is permanent is who you truly are. Therefore, let your life and career be a journey of understanding the same, and take control of your life accordingly.

 

3.      You’re not stuck, act on it and have patience

Many a times, people once having started their careers believe that there’s no going back. Let me surprises you: It’s completely normal. Based on your current financial scenario, it may be easier or more difficult but it is indeed very plausible. You may need an elaborate plan out of it, so start planning. Figure out your finances and responsibilities, act on your dreams, work a little harder and above all, have patience. If you’ve been trying for a really long time, there may still be a longer journey ahead, but I can say with absolute assurance: It will come around.

 

4.      Positivity goes a long way, adopt it

It does not matter what your attitude is, your life and your career will always get hurdles – just a part and parcel of existence. Then why be positive? Because it determines your happiness and how gracefully you pass these hurdles. Everything becomes a little bit easier when you adopt a positive mindset and drop all that negativity and complaining.

You can conveniently flip your career to a clear sky filled with colours via optimism and touch the essence of life itself. Optimism is not something any of us are born with – it’s conditioning. This conditioning can be rewound by consistent mental practice. Try to find reasons to be grateful and happy every single day, no matter what circumstance.

 

5.      Humility, support and acknowledgement

We function through human support – know that we are all connected. Do not be embarrassed to ask for help, but learn to acknowledge anyone who tries to help you through your journey. Humility should be practised at all time, even after you succeed. Exercise grounding exercises and keep the ego quiet – it’s illusory. Support as many people as you can and help them too, out of genuine concern. Do not expect things from people – you are not entitled; nobody owes anyone anything.

Practising gratitude and humility also add on to your optimism, it builds a positive reputation and allows you to spread happiness and positivity to others. You would get into fewer feuds and would teach you handling people better.

 

6.      Take responsibility and be accountable

Since you’re the decision-maker of your life, own up to your mistakes. We all make them, but it’s essential to accept them and learn from them in order to grow. The blame game has never helped anyone, do no push them on anyone else. It is indeed a rare phenomenon when people own up to their errors, take responsibility and fix their mistakes.

It may feel terrible personally and may come up as a weakness in the moment, but in the long run it makes you more credible and trusted in the professional world.

 

7.      Be gentle with yourself

While going through this process if transformation in your attitude, you may also see a shift and feel like you’re not good enough. If you’re not patient enough, you might feel like you’re never going to make it. The thing is – you have to learn to love yourself and love the process. You don’t have to beat yourself up, punish yourself or hate yourself. The motive of your journey should be growth, not a destination.

Achieving a successful career is often a direct by product of self-confidence and self-esteem. The fastest path to achieving it is to be gentle with yourself.

 

Work hard, enjoy the journey and have a wonderful career!

 

Sunday, September 27, 2020

FINANCIAL LITERACY: A 21st CENTURY SKILL

 

FINANCIAL LITERACY: A 21st CENTURY SKILL

And How Can It Help Students Finance Their Careers

 

Everyone’s aware of finances and its importance for a sound life, everyone’s aware of literacy and we pay immense weightage to it, but what exactly refers to a combination of two essential parts of life?

WHAT IS FINANCIAL LITERACY?

In the most direct connotations, financial literacy is the ability to make well-informed and encouraging financially responsible behaviour.

Such behaviour is often inculcated and is considered a skill to be learnt. It provides people with the ability of managing finances, with a controlled and balanced expenditure along saving money for further objectives and a smooth life. It also enlightens the person with methods of increasing income and life quality, essentially about understanding the basics of investing early on.

The primary principles of financial literacy include:

1.      Skills and knowledge for preparing a budget

2.      Monitoring spending habits

3.      Handling debts and planning retirement

4.      Beneficial saving methods

Lack of financial literacy can lead poor, uninformed and unsound financial choices that disturb a person’s economic background and life quality, and has far reaching consequences both in the short term and the long term.

 

FINANCIAL LITERACY FOR STUDENTS?

Financial literacy becomes an essential for students to be aware of basic management skills while handling their monthly allowances or planning for higher education. Yet, national surveys from OECD International Network of Financial Education (INFE) reports show that the lowest levels of financial literacy exist among young adults. Growing up in a challenging world, students need to learn to take charge of their own financial future.

Research (CNBC) also shows that students with an early education in financial management have a better grip and handling abilities as adults. What may seem meagre now, turns into a must as smaller choices turn to bigger decisions, independent living, and a sound mind. It helps them to better manage risks, plan and prepare for the rainy days (we all know how uncertain life is!), avoiding debts and investing for future goals.

 

WHAT DOES IT MEAN TO BE FINANCIALLY LITERATE?

1.      Becoming Future Ready: If it isn’t obvious enough, better financial management ensures a secure future. This manifests itself through providing the tools for self-sufficiency, financial stability and money management, by empowering and equipping viable knowledge, skills and confidence.

Schools, while focussing on core skill development in critical thinking, creative thinking, communicating and collaborating, often forget about this life skill essential for not only survival, but thriving in the real life.

Becoming future ready includes saving money, differentiating between wants and means, budgeting and planning for higher education financial needs.

 

2.      Becoming Smarter: As per the World Economic Forum, students need an amalgamation of traditional skills and ‘Social and Economic Learning’ to be capable of effectively communicate, collaborate or solve complex problems. Understanding the relevancy of money in life and making well informed decisions are directly linked to making smarter decisions for the future and having a long-term vision.

These skills and skill combinations equip a person with the ability to implement and experiment with the challenges and tasks of everyday life.

 

3.      Becoming Independent: Understanding the basics of finances enables people to be self-reliant in terms of money. Students can prepare for their own higher education by making sound decisions in terms of their financing options such as student education loads.

Budgeting will allow these students to quickly get out of debt after graduating. This is achieved by preparing long-term and short-term budget plans by saving and investing in the right places, and also permit them to pursue their future prospects

 

 

4.      Becoming Employable: The art of planning is not linear – financial planning will equip you with the necessary skills and knowledge to plan jobs, expenses, taxes and much more. It makes you goal-oriented, helps you become more professional and organized in your ways. It allows you to have long-term vision, work towards it and allowing you to not only save more, but eventually earn more.

 

5.      Dreaming Big: The correct way to sum up all of what financial literacy does, it allows adults to dream big and not be limited by financial constraints. It allows you to fight through setbacks without struggling for survival, so that you never have to give up on your dreams. It allows working hard and plan in a structured way to live life in a desired manner and provide happiness and fulfilment to all.

 

Nothing ever makes someone as future-ready and success-oriented as financial literacy does!

 

Thursday, September 3, 2020

REWARDING CAREERS IN THE MODERN WORLD: VERSION 2020

 

REWARDING CAREERS IN THE MODERN WORLD: VERSION 2020

 

Opting a career path is one of the most puzzling decisions and a burden young minds have. What they choose today will determine a major chunk of their lives in the future, and they must choose what is mentally, emotionally and financially fulfilling to them. It would’ve been easier if life were slower-paced, changes weren’t exponential and each human weren’t unique. But it’s not, hence, they cannot opt for what their parents did or what our neighbours did, and they must opt for something that is not or will not be outdated in the coming years. Relevancy is just as important, and to mould our passions into a tangible income source. Here’s a list of such topics that will allow youngsters to shine in their future.

1.      Counsellor: Counselling can be challenging at times but with growing technology and hectic lives, people are learning to understand its value and their demand is on the ever rise. It is also very noble and adds value to people’s lives – listening to their problems and help them overcome these – is always worth the challenges it poses. Actively making a change in people’s lives can be your source of joy as well, and is a great career path for sensitive or empathetic youngsters. One of the best ways to get into it during the present times is to take an online course in counselling. With the new normal and keeping safety in mind, while also not wasting any time into your education, an online course can make scheduling and optimizing your time relatively easier in an at-home environment.

 

2.      Web Developer: Technology has been ever-growing since the last decade, but it has never played as much a significant role as it did with the changes brought about by 2020 and the decade that is going to follow. A new virtual world has emerged, where all communication and interaction among businesses and individuals has moved online. Businesses that did not have an online presence yet, need it more than ever and they need it fast – way before than they can be forgotten. Consequently, there is a rise in the need for experts in the field of the internet technology and this need shall continue until the next big technological revolution far ahead of us, making web-development one of the most potential career paths to choose from for people who have a flair for science and technology.

 

3.      Digital Marketer: As much as companies need someone to handle the technicalities of building an online presence in 2020 and the coming years, they also need someone to combine the art and science to be able to market their products. Succeeding on the internet is probably far more difficult that the traditional way as businesses continue to compete on a global scale for an audience. There are subtle differences in a traditional marketer and a digital marketer, and people who can bridge this gap and bring about an audience is another field with immense scope, almost just as much as a web developer. The key difference lies here in passion, where someone who has a deeper interest in the creative industry opts to be a digital marketer instead of a developer.

 

4.      Graphic Designer:  To move one step ahead on the creative scale, the design industry has been influencing lives since its inception. As it collides with communication and technology, a branch called ‘graphic design’ is born. A very rewarding career that blends with content creation and gives businesses a professional and powerful touch in the way they communicate to the masses. It is a unique art to tell stories through imagery, too influence and to cast an ever-lasting impression on the viewership, thereby making graphic design a very specialized career. To fight the online global competition that has risen on the internet for market, graphic design is path and trust us when we say: Companies know it and they value it more than anything, especially in these trying times.

 

5.      Social Worker: Another sure-shot of a career path for our empathetic readers, being a social worker is another way to add value to people’s lives and lighting up the world. A hands-on career to get into, being a social worker will allow you to help someone in need everyday where their smiles are adequate to fulfil and add meaning to your own life. With a pandemic, social workers are needed more that ever to ensure ease in extending resources to all and providing a bridge between systems meant to help people and those in genuine need of help. Adding a human touch to public assistance, a social worker build meaningful connections everyday and witnesses the impact of their jobs.

 

It does not matter what career path you choose as long as it fulfils you to the core. Gary V. once stated that it matters more on how you make your money rather than how much. Remember to choose a path that adds value to yourself and others, with a little hope and a lot of hard work, all career paths can turn to success. Do research, prepare yourself, connect and you’re good to go!


Best Wishes