Career development - you have the valid passport do you have the visa?

Your first job is always very important as it is the first step at the portals of your career. The poor image makes you feel bad about you and limits your performance. Your knowledge on job, intelligence and all your hard skills simply vanish when you fail to have the needed soft skills.

I enjoy the words of my friends about soft skills "Hard skills are your passport for your career whereas your soft skills are your visa for your career development. With the passport you can go to any country across the globe but you cannot enter without a visa! Here are the simple tips that projects your image and earn good name to move on and ahead in your career growth.

1. PAY ATTENTION TO YOUR APPEARANCE - DRESS CODE

Your appearance matters most. The dressing pattern should be akin to that of others in your cadre across the organization. Most of the youngsters who are just from college to corporate appear as college students and thus fail to impress. Your first look in the eyes of others, especially your team lead (or boss) make them accept or avoid. Adhering to the Dress Code of the organization is thus very important. Casual T-Shirts with words printed on them must be avoided at least initially. One of my friends' son who joined an IT Company wore a T-Shirt with 'O' neck with words both at front and back "BEWARE! I AM HARD NUT TO CRACK". I need not say what would be impression of his boss on seeing this. Unkempt hair, wet-set hair style or modern and novel hair cuts with long dull face put you in poor light.

2. BEHAVIOR & ATTITUDE

Good and polite postures & gestures make good impressions at once. Taking initiatives in greeting everyone you meet with a warm smile make people come closer to you. Please never expect anyone to wish you first - take initiative. Do this for a week at least - then see the results - the other person would take the initiative! A few hand gestures are to be avoided which may change your communication altogether.

3. MONITOR YOUR VOCAL DYNAMICS

Never raise your voice out of joy or anger. Show politeness in your voice. Your humility, respect and humbleness should be exhibited whenever you communicate to your superiors and boss. It is not always what you say but how you say. Most of the youngsters simply make noise and do not communicate. Please practice in front of a mirror and even record it to know how harsh your mode of talking is. Most of the people unwittingly commit blunders in vocal communication.

4. MIND YOUR GAZE AND GAIT

Yes, you have to establish eye-to-eye rapport during your communication process. At the same time mind your gaze. It is more important to take care of your gaze when you communicate to your woman superior or boss. Never stare - shift your gaze from the person time and again while keeping your contact in tact. It is quite natural for a male that the gaze slips down to the chest cage of a woman receiver. One must be very careful on this score - especially the youngsters who are in their first job. Failing to keep monitor your gaze would fetch you bad image.

Walking through the corridors of the office premises is another important aspect to pay your attention. Most of the youngsters produce mini tremors as they walk around. Mind your gait. It should be gentle and decent. Please be careful when you approach dead ends and curves. Harsh gaits may end up in dashing against your seniors and female colleagues and/or boss. Always, give way for seniors and female colleagues at passages where only one can walk. Cranky and jerky walks embitter the onlookers. People may be focused in their jobs and your walk should never be a disturbing factor.

5. BE PUNCTUAL

Be the first to arrive at the work spot. Your seniors / Team Lead / Boss should know that you would be there before their arrival at office. Never stick to tea / lunch breaks when you carryout jobs for your higher ups. Get stuck to your schedules rather. More importantly never leave the office after a day's work without informing the superiors. Lot of youngsters call it a day and leave hurriedly only to be searched by the superiors later and those who want to build their career seek permission whether they can leave or not after apprising the status of the job entrusted to them.

6. TAKE RESPONSIBILITIES

Those who are ready to take responsibilities afresh or are ready to share it enter the hearts of the superiors. There is a famous adage "When you are young, work to learn the job and not to earn money". As a learner, take and/or share responsibilities. Your willingness to share the responsibilities would impress the superiors. Those who are willing to work more are tend to learn more. Once you learn the job well, you are invincible. Whereas, our youngster tend to shed their responsibilities and refuse to accept challenges fearing stress and unnecessary burdens.

7. REMAIN AS A WILLING HELPER

Wait for an opportunity to help a sister here a brother there. Helping tendency paves way for excellent Inter Personal Relationship (IPR). Help brings help back to us in manifold. Helpers are helped back always. It may be construed as unnecessary interference when you overdo this . Seek permission humbly and with utmost humility & fraternity - otherwise superiors may doubt you for ulterior motives.

8. UTILIZE OPPORTUNITIES TO APPRECIATE

Appreciating others for right cause, in right proportion, at the right occasion and forum is a virtue. Never lose opportunities to appreciate people. Appreciations take you to lime light and people always crave to be appreciated and recognized. However, please be careful in not crossing your limits. Even genuine appreciations are considered as an act of sycophancy when we cross our borders and limits.

9. LEARN & PRACTICE BODY LANGUAGE

In communication, this non verbal communication forms part of 57 percent. Vocal Dynamics is 36 percent and words are just 7 percent. I always insist practice of body language in communication. It is very important with which body language you communicate. Body language stems from sub-conscious mind whereas all other vernaculars stem from conscious mind. People observe and believe only the body language and not the verbal communication. Your communication fails when your body language fails to buttress the words uttered.

10. REMAIN ENTHUSIASTIC AND SHOW ENCOURAGEMENT

Dull faces, dirty habits and dampened spirits never impress people. Remain active like a busy bee. Activities without encouragement and enthusiasm seldom produce desired results. Activities without results are unproductive. Honey Bees are busy and so are the mosquitoes. Your activities should have a purpose and results. Be a vibrant and live wire youngster. At this age, even after putting in 31 years of industrial experience, still I am vibrant and active. My enthusiasm knows no bounds.

How to Improve Your Memory Power – 7 Effective Techniques

When I was an undergraduate student, I had to take 5 classes in a foreign language to complete my degree.

I took classes in Englisg and Hindi, fulfill my requirement – and needless to say – I’m glad that’s over with.

I’ve literally spent hundreds of hours memorizing verb conjugations. And I’ve probably killed many trees with all the note cards I’ve used up.

The more I memorized, the easier it became – not because I was getting smarter – but simply because my brain was used to memorizing a lot of information every single day.

Pretty soon I was able to memorize stacks of vocabulary cards very quickly. It just took practice, and anyone can do it.

Here are some of the strategies I used to help me memorize my vocabulary terms and conjugation rules quickly:

Make Creative Associations
When I was memorizing a new word or grammar rule, I tried to develop a fun way to make it stick. The more outlandish the association, the better it would stick. For example, let’s say that I had to remember that word “domus” is Latin for home. I would simply imagine a huge dome hanging over moose. (The classical Latin pronunciation sounds like “Dome-oose.”) That association would help me remember the word easily. I know this sound simplistic, but it really works. I would sometimes draw out fun associations on the back of my vocabulary note cards to really make these bizarre associations remembered.

Break-up Your Study Time
Our brains tend to remember less the longer we study. That’s why it’s often easier for us to remember the beginning and end of a lecture than all the details in between. So I found that by studying in short one hour stints helped me remember more. Everyone is different, so find out what amount of study time is perfect for you. You might find that you can memorize more in three one-hour sessions than one four-hour session.

Use Your Mind and Body
Sitting at a desk staring at some grammar rules might work for some people, but I always learned quicker by actively doing something with the information. I would draw association pictures or read my book aloud to help make things more permanent in my mind. I also found that studying note cards while walking around campus was a way to keep myself energized and focused.

Repeat What You Need to Know
One way to help something stick in your mind is to recite it to yourself. Read it aloud to yourself – and then read it again. The key here is to saturate your mind with the content in every way possible. One fun way to do this is to imagine your vocabulary cards or textbook being read by someone you think is funny. Imagine your textbook being read by Jon Stewart. It will at least keep things a bit more interesting.

Reduce the Noise
Some people study well listening to music. It really depends on the subject matter. However, if you find yourself drifting off, or focusing on the words of the song, it’s probably best to dismiss the music for a while. If you enjoy music, listen to some classical music or some other music that helps you focus. You basically want to situate yourself in a place with the least amount of noise interference.

Stay Positive (if possible)
You’ll remember far more information about a subject if you try to find it interesting. If you think the topic is boring and useless, than you’re going to make memorization that much harder. Look for some sort of connection on how the subject you need to learn about fits in with your life.

Study When You’re Most Productive
Everyone has their best study time, and often it’s during the daytime. There’s just something about memorizing and studying when it’s daytime that can keep you more motivated and more focused. I find that I’m most productive during the early morning. I often go to a coffee shop around 6:30 a.m. and just drink coffee while I write and study. Find your best time to study and keep on that schedule. It will do wonders for your memory power.

Manage your Anger to improve your Life

First, you must determine that your anger is a problem or else you cannot do anything to solve it. Ask yourself how frequently you get angry, and whether you overreact, or whether your anger is in proportion with the situation at hand. Do you find yourself pouting or holding grudges? Does your anger scare others or yourself and does it have a negative impact on your lifestyle. Do you feel yourself beginning to lose it and then do you feel as though there is no control to it?

If you answered yes to any of the above, then you certainly have problems with anger and you must understand that there are terrible consequences to this kind of anger. You might destroy many important relationships in your life, you might create a dangerous or hostile living environment, you will not be as productive at home or work, you might endure health problems and excess stress, you might get into trouble with the law, and you might even be tempted to engage in some violent behaviors.

First, you must determine that your anger is a problem or else you cannot do anything to solve it. Ask yourself how frequently you get angry, and whether you overreact, or whether your anger is in proportion with the situation at hand. Do you find yourself pouting or holding grudges? Does your anger scare others or yourself and does it have a negative impact on your lifestyle. Do you feel yourself beginning to lose it and then do you feel as though there is no control to it?

If you answered yes to any of the above, then you certainly have problems with anger and you must understand that there are terrible consequences to this kind of anger. You might destroy many important relationships in your life, you might create a dangerous or hostile living environment, you will not be as productive at home or work, you might endure health problems and excess stress, you might get into trouble with the law, and you might even be tempted to engage in some violent behaviors.

Everyone gets angry, that is a fact of life. But some people do not have as good control over it as others. You have to understand what triggers your anger, which people, situations or events make you furious and livid? You need to understand that you have triggers and then you must Observe, Analyze, and Change.

As you begin to observe, this is the first step in determining the roots of your anger. You must take notice of what situations and incidents cause you to lose all control. What actions are you doing when your anger begins? What are the people around you doing and what kind of environment are you in. When you get angry, how high is your stress level, and did you sleep well the night before. You need to be able to distinguish certain features that might provide some insight into a pattern of anger that you might fall into once in a while. Once you determine your pattern, you are now aware and you can stop yourself when you find yourself falling into your pattern. When some component of your pattern occurs, quickly remind yourself not to fall prey to it.

Next, analyze exactly what is triggering your anger. Anger is not always irrational, because sometimes there is a very good reason, but more often than not people's emotions get so wildly out of control, they don't stop to decipher the actual problem. Stop and think, what is making you so angry? Is it a foul mood that is transferring to anger? Is it hurt? Or helplessness? What is happening around you that is causing you to get angry and that is the best way you can deal with it. You have to understand what mood you are in and to see what the actual sane and rational reason is that is causing you to react.

Finally, you need to figure out how to change these patterns and reactions. If you see yourself about to get angry, take a deep cleansing breath three times. If a person is your trigger and you feel yourself about to explode, calmly tell that person to leave or excuse yourself so that you do not lose your control or cool. You have to take these steps and at first it will feel like you are repressing yourself, but actually you are simply changing your pattern of response. How you choose to respond is up to you, and choosing a healthy way will keep you healthier and happier.

Move Beyond Your Circumstances

“I would rather have a mind opened by wonder than one closed by belief.”

- Gerry Spence

No matter what is going on in your life there is always a solution.

Regardless of what aspect of your life you may be struggling with; you can totally change any undesirable circumstance. First you have to believe it.

Many people have absolutely no confidence in a better future; they accept things just the way they are as if they have no way of changing a thing.

If you hold onto this limiting belief you will continue to experience lack and you will more than likely never change a thing. But, if you start to open your mind to new possibilities; you will be able to take the steps in the direction of claiming your desires. Beyond your circumstances is a world that exists which you have to learn to tap into.

You learn to tap into it by consciously controlling your subconscious mind.

What you tell yourself about an event or situation is imprinted in you mind as reality. Your subconscious can’t differentiate from what’s real or imagined; therefore it’s important to choose your thoughts wisely.

Once you begin to shift your beliefs from impossibilities to possibilities you will be on the path to creating a more fulfilling life on any level.

As you open yourself up and tap into your latent potential; what you can achieve is limitless. Your faith will be revealed by your courage to let go of your old, limiting beliefs and trust in the certainty of reaching your goals.

Have you ever wondered why some people are successful and others aren’t? Why some people have money and others live paycheck to pay- check? All of our circumstances; whether positive or negative; are a reflection of our belief system. If you don’t like how you are living; it’s time to learn the secrets of tapping into the power that exists inside you.

It’s not something you have to go get, you already possess it. You simply need to learn to believe in your future again. Learn the technique of redirecting your mind to thinking positive, empowering thoughts. Decide what you want and then go after it with a passion and confidence that is backed by an unquestionable conviction of your ability to attain it.

Possessing this new found burning desire will make you unstoppable. It gives you a “purpose” you didn’t have before; which will become your driving force. As you persevere in moving in the direction of realizing your dreams; you will find yourself attracting to you those people and circumstances that will help you in achieving exactly what you desire.

This is called, “The Law of Attraction.” We attract into our lives that which we believe and whatever we continue to think about all day will be what we experience. So, when you grasp the concept that you really do have the power to change any aspect of your life; you can begin to take the right steps to take yourself beyond on any given circumstance

Secrets of the Most Successful College Students

College-admission letters go out this month, and most recipients (and their parents) will place great importance on which universities said yes and which said no. A growing body of evidence, however, suggests that the most significant thing about college is not where you go, but what you do once you get there. Historian and educator Ken Bain has written a book on this subject, What the Best College Students Do.  that draws a road map for how students can get the most out of college, no matter where they go.

As Bain details, there are three types of learners: surface, who do as little as possible to get by; strategic, who aim for top grades rather than true understanding; and deep learners, who leave college with a real, rich education. Bain then introduces us to a host of real-life deep learners: young and old, scientific and artistic, famous or still getting there. Although they each have their own insights, Bain identifies common patterns in their stories:

Pursue passion, not A’s. When he was in college, says the eminent astrophysicist Neil deGrasse Tyson, he was “moved by curiosity, interest and fascination, not by making the highest scores on a test.” As an adult, he points out, “no one ever asks you what your grades were. Grades become irrelevant.” In his experience as a student and a professor, says Tyson, “ambition and innovation trump grades every time.”

Get comfortable with failure. When he was still a college student, comedian Stephen Colbert began working with an improvisational theater in Chicago. “That really opened me up in ways I hadn’t expected,” he tells Bain. “You must be O.K. with bombing. You have to love it.” Colbert adds, “Improvisation is a great educator when it comes to failing. There’s no way you are going to get it right every time.”

Make a personal connection to your studies. In her sophomore year in college, Eliza Noh, now a professor of Asian-American studies at California State University at Fullerton, took a class on power in society: who has it, how it’s used. “It really opened my eyes. For the first time in my life, I realized that learning could be about me and my interests, about who I was,” Noh tells Bain. “I didn’t just listen to lectures, but began to use my own experiences as a jumping-off point for asking questions and wanting to pursue certain concepts.”

Read and think actively. Dean Baker, one of the few economists to predict the economic collapse of 2008, became fascinated in college by the way economic forces shape people’s lives. His studies led him to reflect on “what he believed and why, integrating and questioning,” Bain notes. Baker says: ”I was always looking for arguments in something I read, and then pinpointing the evidence to see how it was used.”

Ask big questions. Jeff Hawkins, an engineer who created the first mobile computing device, organized his college studies around four profound questions he wanted to explore: Why does anything exist? Given that a universe does exist, why do we have the particular laws of physics that we do? Why do we have life, and what is its nature? And given that life exists, what’s the nature of intelligence? For many of the subjects he pursued, Bain notes, “there was no place to ‘look it up,’ no simple answer.”

Cultivate empathy for others. Reyna Grande, author of the novels Across a Hundred Mountains and Dancing with Butterflies, started writing seriously in her junior year in college. “Writing fiction taught Reyna to empathize with the people who populated her stories, an ability that she transferred to her life,” Bain notes: “As a writer, I have to understand what motivates a character, and I see other people as characters in the story of life,” Grande says. “When someone makes mistakes, I always look at what made them act the way they do.”

Set goals and make them real. Tia Fuller, who later became an accomplished saxophone player, began planning her future in college, envisioning the successful completion of her projects. ”I would keep focused on the light at the end of the tunnel, and what that accomplishment would mean,” she tells Bain. “That would help me develop a crystalized vision.”

Find a way to contribute. Joel Feinman, now a lawyer who provides legal services to the poor, was set on his career path by a book he read in college: The Massacre at El Mozote, an account of a 1981 slaughter of villagers in El Salvador. After writing and staging a campus play about the massacre, and traveling to El Salvador, Feinman “decided that I wanted to do something to help people and bring a little justice to the world.”

6 Simple Self Improvement Tips

You will find yourself achieving new levels of fulfillment by incorporating them into your daily life. If personal development and growth interests you, there is a good chance you are constantly looking for reliable techniques that will stimulate your progression. Any tactics that can kick start your personal growth and show you fast results would be fondly looked upon.

After years of study in the self improvement arena, I have found the following strategies to be invaluable. Any chance I can give back to others that have that same thirst to better themselves; I consider it a privilege knowing that I was once in the exact same place.

Expect to Achieve

While many think that the majority of people who are successful in the world are smarter than they are, that simply is not the case. The real secret here is to expect to win before it has ever happened. I can’t stress enough how important this is. Your mindset has a hugely powerful effect on whether or not you will attain your dreams and goals.

Note that I didn’t say you need knowledge to win, because the fact of the matter is having a bold and determined expectancy goes a lot further than actually having the knowledge. The knowledge will come with conviction and persistence.

Keep a Daily Journal

You will be hard pressed to find an ultra successful person who doesn’t adopt a personal daily journal. We can’t keep track of everything that passes through our minds and this is when a journal comes in extremely handy. Whenever something strikes you as something you would like to do, accomplish or feel passionate about, get in the habit of writing it down. It will give you a sense of self-awareness and will skyrocket your confidence in yourself.

Meditation

Known to be a fabulous stress reliever not to mention the other health benefits like aiding in digestion and even slowing your heart rate, this is one of the most overlooked of the techniques even though it could very well be one of the most important. It drastically helps in avoiding worries and anxiety because it clears your mind of all the negative thoughts useless thoughts that we all feel from time to time. Your sleep will be more restful and it will help you make the most of the other techniques shared here.

Write Action Plans & Specific Goals

The simple act of putting pen to paper has a dramatic effect on clarifying your goals and aids with the expectancy I talked about earlier. This habit of writing down goals is mandatory if you want to actually achieve those goals. Dreaming is one thing, doing is quite another. All of these written goals should lead you to your ultimate long term goal and perfect life.

Daily Affirmations

Getting in the habit of reading aloud positive affirmations each and every day will lierally change your character, your personality and ultimately change the actions you take every day of your life. I have found that reading these out loud when I get up in the morning and before I go to bed at night to work very well. You can’t help but change your inner self by doing this religiously every day.

Be Well Rounded

All areas of your life are affected by all other areas of your life. By that I mean, if you have bad relationships for example, your finances and even your health will suffer also. Problems in your relationships, your health or finances will zap the necessary energy to make the most out of all of these areas of your life. Personal development and success will become much more difficult as a result.

In order to accomplish great things, living a balanced life is so important, a life of great emotional fortitude, financial security and physical stamina. Be well rounded in all of these areas and you will inevitably reap the rewards.

To great success in your life!