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Showing posts from September, 2023

Do ‘Lazy Girl Jobs’ Indicate a Need for Flexibility in the Workplace?

In May, a 26-year-old TikToker lit up the internet by coining the newest workplace phrase: “lazy girl jobs.” “A lazy girl job is something that you can basically quiet quit … there are lots of jobs out there where you can make 60-80K, so like pretty comfortable salaries, and not do that much work, and be remote,” says Gabrielle Judge, the influencer behind the viral TikTok term and trend and who’s known as the “Anti Work Girlboss.” She now has nearly 156,000 followers and 3 million likes on her TikTok. Here’s what a “lazy girl job” is, and what experts think about the trend. What is a ‘lazy girl job’? Judge gives a few examples of jobs that lend themselves to this—marketing associates, account managers or customer success managers. She further defines them as: “Safe”—Judge elaborates on this as not having to stay out late at night or be otherwise inconvenienced. Flexible—“It takes the pressure off childcare as a whole,” Judge explains. Specifically, she notes they shouldn’t have

What Is the Performance Paradox, and How Does It Stifle Our Ability to Improve?

To get good at something, we often think it’s just about putting in the reps. Keep showing up consistently and you’ll get better. And it’s true, at least at first. But once we’ve reached a certain level of proficiency, effort and consistency alone are no longer enough for improvement. This is what Eduardo Briceño, keynote speaker and author, dubs the performance paradox in his upcoming book of the same name, The Performance Paradox: Turning the Power of Mindset into Action .  The performance paradox: the illusion of effort-based improvement When it comes to performance and increasing our efficiency and output, Briceño explains that it’s less about the type of performance people engage in and more about the expectations of improvement without change.  “It’s OK sometimes to focus on performance to maximize short-term results. But if we’re doing that every week, then we’re not going to get better, and as a result of that, our results are going to suffer in the medium term and longer t

How to Make Your Office Setup Ergonomic—And Avoid Health Issues

In a post-pandemic world, more and more people are working from home. From 2019 to 2021, the amount of American workers logging in remotely more than tripled . As of 2022, 35% of Americans had the option to work from home five days a week. While working from home has brought about a number of benefits including shorter commutes, higher productivity and a better work-life balance, one issue remains: Employees are still sitting too much. The average American sits between 6.5 to 8 hours a day , and they’re straining their bodies in the process.  Thankfully, if you work at home, you can control your setup and invest in ergonomic products that are better for your body. Or, if you go into the office, you may be able to convince your boss to buy an ergonomic setup for you.  Learn about why it’s important to have the right chair, desk and other products for an ergonomic setup. Then, figure out what will work best for your situation. Potential health issues caused by a non-ergonomic offic

Navigating Inner Growth: Top 10 Personal Development Courses to Explore

Personal challenges arise daily, and we can’t fix them all. Stress, financial concerns and difficulty in relationships can plague even the most outgoing and dynamic among us. But while we can’t fix everything instantly, we can put in the work to improve ourselves. Personal development courses teach the tools and strategies necessary to find calm in the storm, communicate better with others and build resilience. In fact, online personal development classes can even help us achieve our unique personal goals while increasing happiness and well-being . But what is a personal development course? And where can you find the best online classes to master your own inner-growth and outer-development skills? What is a personal development course? A personal development course for adults provides a guided program to help us facilitate our self-growth and personal improvement journey. Conveniently offered online, they often focus on developing various aspects of emotional intelligence such as

Can Dopamine Dressing Make You Better At Your Job?

Have you ever noticed how some outfits make you feel like you can conquer the world, or have you oozing confidence at a party? It has to do with the fashion psychology of dopamine dressing. Mayo Clinic refers to dopamine as a “feel-good neurotransmitter” that helps us feel joyful. The chemical plays a role in several key functions, like mood, learning and attention, and it’s also connected to reinforcement behaviors. “Dopamine is that happy hormone,” says self-described fashion psychologist Dr. Dawnn Karen, labeled “The Dress Doctor” by The New York Times . Karen holds a master’s degree in counseling psychology from Columbia Teachers College, has taught fashion psychology at the F.I.T.’s Center for Continuing and Professional Studies, and founded the online-based Fashion Psychology Institute . She dives into the topic in her book, Dress Your Best Life . She says the academic definition of dopamine dressing, also called mood enhancement dressing, is “a study and treatment of how colo

SWOT Analysis Marketing: A Guide to Unleashing Your Business Potential

Whether you are a small business entrepreneur or an executive for a major corporation, your success depends on an effective marketing strategy . But gaining market share involves more than having a great product or service. Strategic excellence requires a comprehensive understanding of your current market penetration, unseen opportunities for growth, appreciation of your competitors’ latest moves and more. Juggling these dynamic elements at once can be challenging, but your directive remains to fight and win above your weight class. A formalized SWOT analysis marketing approach will get you there. What is a marketing SWOT analysis? SWOT analysis in marketing refers to developing a SWOT analysis with your promotional, advertising, social media and other marketing structures in mind. Unlike a business analysis, a marketing SWOT focuses on internal and external factors affecting brand strategy and overall marketing objectives. As with any SWOT analysis, it involves an entrepreneur or

Slim & Husky’s Uses Their Artisan Pizza as a Means for Social Change and Community Empowerment

You might say it started with Wu-Tang Clan. Although the group’s song “C.R.E.A.M.” (“Cash Rules Everything Around Me”) cemented itself into the minds of longtime friends and college roommates Clint Gray, Derrick Moore and E.J. Reed, they never knew it would one day inspire the business model for their fast-casual restaurant empire. For the co-owners of Nashville’s Slim + Husky’s Pizza Beeria , PREAM (“Pizza Rules Everything Around Me”) is their business mantra. To them, it encompasses everything they can achieve through pizza, which includes using food as a vehicle for social change. To understand how the friends went from living together at Tennessee State University and sharing a love for WWE wrestling, to spearheading a business that became a 2023 semifinalist in the prestigious James Beard Foundation Awards for Outstanding Restaurateur , you must first understand one thing: Everything is easier when you’re doing it with your best friends. That’s what Gray, Slim + Husky’s (S+H)

From Small Salon to Celebrity Skincare: Mario Badescu’s President Shares the Secrets to Creating a Legacy Brand

On a vacation in Arizona a few years back, as we wandered around in the hot sun and bemoaned the dry air, a friend pulled a small plastic bottle from her bag. “Anyone want a spritz?” she asked, spraying down her face and neck with the contents of the unassuming white-and-green container. The refreshing substance, I’d soon learn, was Mario Badescu’s Facial Spray with Aloe, Cucumber and Green Tea , and after that first spritz in the Arizona heat, it’s been a staple in my skincare routine. Few facial products have ever insinuated themselves into my life and my medicine cabinet as quickly as this one, a fact I share with Mario Badescu’s president, Joey Cabasso, when we sit down to talk about his timeless skincare brand. “That’s exactly what we try to do,” he replies, and you can hear the pride that swells in his voice. “We love to hear those stories of word-of-mouth.” Mario Badescu history Mario Badescu may be a big name in skincare now, but the brand comes from humble beginnings. Its

5 Steps to Gaining Deeper Self-Awareness—and How it Can Transform Your Life

One day in seventh grade, a girl sat next to me on the school bus. She was the kind of person who made fun of everyone. She said, “Nick, I don’t even have to start with you. You’re already too messed up.” That specific incident started a chain of thoughts in me that were really hard to shed. I embraced the idea that I was hard to love, that I wasn’t good enough and that I was inferior. As we go through the different stages of our lives, we inevitably let people’s ideas about us shape who we think we are. It takes some real work to undo this damage, but that work is the key to life-changing self-awareness and self-acceptance.  Here’s what I’ve learned about how to become truly self-aware. 1. How to Be More Self-Aware: Question Your Beliefs Becoming more self-aware starts with challenging the ideas you hold about yourself. Ask yourself probing questions: Is that thing I believe—that I’ve always been told—true? What ingrained idea from my upbringing did I adopt? What are the things

Can I Use Life Insurance as a Retirement Plan?

Life insurance is vital to your financial planning if you have young children or someone who depends on your income. Most people know that life insurance helps your family if you pass away and they lose your income. But did you know that, in some cases, life insurance can also be a savings tool to help you supplement income from your retirement plan?  A life insurance retirement plan (LIRP) can help you add to your retirement savings, but it shouldn’t be the only way you save for retirement. Before you buy a policy to use as a LIRP, it’s essential to understand the benefits and drawbacks, when it makes sense to use one and how to include life insurance in your retirement planning .  What is a life insurance retirement plan? To use life insurance as a retirement plan, your policy must be permanent life insurance with a cash value component, typically a universal or whole life policy. With permanent life insurance, the policy contract remains in effect until you die or stop making th

Intimidated by AI? Don’t Be—Here’s How to Leverage AI to Increase Your Company’s Revenue

The age of AI is here. Three in four small business owners report that they are interested in using it in their business. Yet, 46% say they have a beginner’s level of understanding of what it can do for them, according to a poll of 480 businesses across the U.S . by Constant Contact. This leaves quite a few with much room to learn, improve and understand exactly how they can leverage AI for their business needs, to ultimately make more money as they do less work. Some businesses, on the other hand, have already seen increased profits as their productivity rises with AI tools. Brooklyn, New York-based Jen Glantz, founder of Bridesmaid for Hire, has been using a maid of honor speech writing tool that helps anyone with writer’s block write a speech in minutes. “We created the tool using AI and trained it with over 200 real maid of honor speeches that I wrote for clients. The tool replicated my writing style and writes speeches with a human and conversational tone. Plus, the experience m