Author: Scott Asai

Helping people develop their leadership skills to advance in their career

Why You Should Be Encouraging Your Kids To Do Sports

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Sport is a huge part of life. Well, not for everyone, but it should be a huge part of your children’s life. Sport is such an important part of life due to the dedication it helps build, teamwork, social skills, and many more. But above all, it helps to show them that there is more out there to the world, and that the possibilities are endless. A career in sport could be one of the best things they do if you let them get there. But a lot of parents don’t actually encourage their child to get involved in sports. Instead, a lot of them are encouraging them to stay indoors! So, to make sure this isn’t you, here’s why you should be encouraging your child you get involved in sports.

Social Skills

School is the first place that your child will begin to build their social skills. But it isn’t always the easiest place to build them. Schools can be a completely ruthless place for some, and the best place in the world for others. Sports isn’t like that, especially with younger children. It’s a chance to express themselves and do something they love. Plus, everyone is in the same boat there, and they’re all developing their skills as they go along. It helps to build confidence among big groups, and confidence within themselves, especially if they begin to get really good at the sport. The main social skills sport builds is dedication, teamwork, communication, time management, and to be honest, there are many more than that!

Range Of Sports

The amount of sports there are out there that your child can participate in is amazing. There is literally something for everyone. From the more tame and relaxed sports such as artery, to the more full contact sports such as football. Whatever your child is interested in, you should encourage them to do. You can do so by helping them feel part of the team with proper equipment. If your child does want to go down the route of football, you can get custom football uniforms for them and their team. It’s the range of choice that they get to choose from that is one of the main reasons why sport is just so fun. If they get bored of one sport, then can just switch to another that might have caught their interest. Some sports can often lead to even better sports as well. For example, swimming could lead to a love for diving, which is a really good olympic.

Staying Active

Staying active is such an important part of a child’s life, but it is one that a lot of parents aren’t actually encouraging. They’re keeping children indoors with technology, rather than simply outdoors and playing in the street. Staying active from a young age helps to boost their metabolism, keep their joints fit and healthy. Staying active is such an important part of child development, so something that they actually enjoy doing that keeps them nice and active is the perfect solution.

Is a Lifestyle Business the Right Choice for You?

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The way we perceive work is changing, quickly. The days of accepting any old job as long as it pays a nice salary and has decent benefits are quickly disappearing, mostly because of the internet and digital revolution; there are so many more options, there’s no need to settle.

Nowadays, people want work to be something fulfilling and meaningful, and they want something that supports their desired lifestyle.

Enter the lifestyle businesses. Essentially, a lifestyle business is one that is set up to facilitate the lifestyle the owner wants to live. They tend to be small, are often run over the internet, and require minimal intervention by the owner.

The financial and personal freedom this business model offers makes lifestyle businesses an attractive option for many people. But as with anything, it’s not for everyone. Here are a few questions you should ask yourself to see if a lifestyle business is the right choice for you.

Where do you find your passion?

For lifestyle business owners, their true passions usually lie outside of work. Many love to travel, hike in remote locations, create art, SCUBA dive and so on, and since these hobbies don’t often pay too well, they set up businesses to help support their pursuit of what they love.

But not everyone is like this. Maybe you’re not all that adventurous, you crave routine or you simply prefer a job where you have to immerse yourself completely each and every day. If this is you, then a lifestyle business may come up short of meeting your professional needs. The whole point of a lifestyle business is to put in a lot of work in the beginning, then step back and let your hard work bring in modest yet sufficient revenues.  

But don’t make the mistake of thinking lifestyle businesses aren’t for the passionate. Most of these businesses have at least something to do with owners’ interests. For example, this coffee subscription service was set up because the owner loves coffee and wants to use it to transform people’s lives and the world. While he may not want to pour hours and hours into running the business, the business itself is in-line with what drives him.

Do you want to make a lot of money?

It’s important to be clear that a lifestyle business is not set up to make the owner filthy rich. Lifestyle entrepreneurs usually know what they need to be happy, and therefore don’t look to earn much above that threshold.

If you are looking to start a business because of the massive earning potential, a lifestyle business is going to come up short. This isn’t to say you’re guaranteed to get rich starting up another company, but the chances of this happening with a lifestyle business are pretty slim. Take stock of your financial needs and desires and this should help you decide if a lifestyle business is right for you.

The takeaway

If you’re someone who finds joy outside of work and who doesn’t need a ton of money, a lifestyle business can be a great career move. But if you’re looking for something more involved and financially rewarding, you might need to look elsewhere.

Author bio: Caroline is a writer and marketer who has been involved with several successful lifestyle businesses. She loves the flexibility, learning opportunities and dynamic environment but fully understands they aren’t for everyone.

Why Feedback Beats Performance Reviews

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Performance reviews are like going to the dentist. They suck.

Even if you get a positive response, the build-up always provides anxiety.

Managers, I’m here to say there’s a better way: (daily, or at least weekly) feedback.

Millennials may seem more high maintenance than generations in the past, but deal with it.

As their manager, how well you’re doing your job relies on how well your team is doing theirs. With true leadership the bucks stops at the top. Before blaming others for their shortcomings, ask yourself if you’ve equipped them to do their job effectively.

Performance reviews are lazy. They scream, “I don’t want to invest in giving you feedback consistently so instead I’ll wait until later to deliver the bad news.”

Newsflash: the best performance reviews should NEVER be a surprise.

If people know what they are supposed to do and how to do it, you’ve done your job as a manager.

Effort is controlled by people.

Skills are controlled by managers.

This isn’t a cop-out for workers, but instead a challenge to ask your manager when you don’t know the answers. Managers, 50% of your time will be spent on interpersonal issues at work. If that sounds overwhelming, don’t take the job!

Coaches are the current model for great managers. They are hands-on, communicative and focus on helping those around them perform better.

Companies, if you’re still running performance reviews for anything more than raise qualifications stop.

Procedures need to be evaluated for their purpose otherwise you’re in jeopardy of upholding tradition for tradition’s sake.

Consistent feedback is better.

How Companies Can Offer Work Life Balance Perks

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Work life balance is a desired state by most (excluding workaholics/those married to their career).

But talking about it versus providing it can be challenging.

As a company, how can you creatively offer this perk?

According to this Forbes article, Millennials crave healthcare benefits which fit under the category of: wellness.

Instead of looking at work life balance as separating your personal from professional life, picture it as one encompassing circle. If you do that offering wellness becomes simple.

Let me explain. Mental health has recently become a priority to workers because it’s preventative. Rather than offering gym membership reimbursements, offer Headspace or a Life Coach as an alternative. As long as it positively affects the company’s bottom line, what difference does it make what “means” helps achieve that goal?

Consider the paradigm shift from a recruitment standpoint. Companies should be looking at ways to enhance worker’s personal lives since that has the biggest impact on performance.

When I work as an external coach my goal is for each employee is for them to leave better than when they came in (to meet with me). That means doing whatever it takes to minimize distractions so workers can get focused. Usually their “issues” have nothing to do with work. If something’s wrong relationally outside of work, it’s brought into the office. That’s what I mean by one encompassing circle.

Most management philosophies emphasize getting workers focused, but in my opinion it’s just the opposite. Hone in on removing distractions and you’re freed up to do your best work.

This translates directly to work life balance because focusing on wellness tactics that actually work matter. Understanding the “why” behind people’s motivations is key to unlocking optimal productivity. Evaluating current programs, gathering employee feedback and ultimately measuring data will reveal the wellness solutions you’re searching for.

Why The Internet Is Good For Business

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If you’re working online, there’s a good chance you’ve been doing so for a while. Either as your main source of income or as a side hustle, you know how much of a lucrative market the internet can be. But a lot of people don’t realize that! At the same time, a lot of people who are trying to make their way online don’t know the extent of what they could really do to boost their profits, and thus everyone needs a bit of a helping hand. If you’re one of those people, here’s a list of reasons for you to think over.

Easier to Find Jobs

The internet is a great place to find people, as almost everyone has an online presence these days. And that makes it a lot easier to find the kind of people you want to work for, or the people who need your services. Of course it’s still a competitive job market, but with at least 79 job sites out there for freelancers to peruse at their leisure, you’re going to have a lot more freedom to find your niche.

And you can apply to any job at any time from anywhere, meaning you’re going to have a lot more flexibility in your life. So no longer do you have to cope with the daily grind of life; you can immediately change your schedule whenever you want, and even take a plane to another country as long as you have a laptop and a wifi signal to your name!

Plenty of Easy to Find Resources

If you’re using the internet regularly, there’s a really good chance you’ve got a list compiled somewhere of every site or application you could use to make it through a hard time. And from just a few search terms that probably weren’t even spelt correctly! Never before has such a trove of information existed right at our fingertips.

When you’re in business, the principle remains the same. Take the most troubling parts of business: marketing, accounting, or inventory management etc. When you’ve got a quick access portal to a lifeline like Qdos Accounting packages, you’re going to have a much better day at work. Not only that, but you’re going to go from strength to strength.

You Can Reach Anyone, Anytime

There’s a huge pro to not needing to communicate face to face: you can reach anyone no matter what time it is, and pass on urgent messages immediately. Simply leaving someone a text means you’re going to be able to pass on tasks and a to do list that needs completing stat, taking a lot of pressure off of yourself and any employees you might have.

The internet is good for business because you can run internal operations on an international scale, making it a lot easier to take the market by storm. It also means you can compete on the same level as any of the bigger businesses, and take on clients from anywhere in the world.

Brand Intimacy: Loyalty Defined By Millennials

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Brand intimacy is defined as:

“leveraging and strengthening the emotional bond between a person and a brand”

Apple, Disney and You Tube were voted the Top 3 most “intimate” companies by Millennials.

This metric is crucial because branding is about how you make a customer feel. Not to be mistaken by what a company defines its brand as.

In a customer-centric economy the feedback your customers provide shapes your brand. Apple, Disney and You Tube have done the best job in terms of making Millennials feel good about their purchase.

But what these three companies offer is much deeper than financial satisfaction, they provide an excellent experience.

If branding is rooted in how you feel, transactions aren’t good enough. The way someone interacts and associates with your product/service determines whether they’ll become a returning customer or not.

Relevant brands focus on empathy. They try to relate to the customers desires. It’s much more than value, packaging and delivery.

Another note is Apple, Disney and You Tube are not trendy. They’ve established their identity over time and have a strong fanbase that thrives even amidst a recession.

No company is fool proof or indestructible, but in a world that bombards people with marketing the only way to survive is through referrals and devoted brand ambassadors.

Brand intimacy is the new customer loyalty and Millennials are leading the way with “all the feels.”

Taking Your Graphic Design Career To The Next Level

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There’s no doubt that you have to love what you do to become a graphic designer. Aside from the technology and digital knowledge, you’ll need to succeed; you must have an understanding of all things visual, and how things appear to an audience or the mass market. You’ll have a skill of providing information clearly, and ensuring that a brand or company’s values are represented through type and forms across the board. It may have started in your sketchbook at school when you were constantly drawing lettering, cartoons, or characters. And, thankfully; you’re now living in an age where you can take those initial sketchbook ideas and create something visually pleasing on a large scale, across a plethora of platforms.

Graphic design surrounds everyone, even those who don’t realize what it is; it will be impacting their thoughts, feelings, and choices in everyday life. Therefore, a graphic designer needs to keep their creativity alive, while designing something that will influence the masses, and also ensure that their clients like what they do, which is no easy feat. These tasks and duties reiterate that you need constant passion and drive if you’re heading into design, and ready to develop and evolve, as technology and demand do. The following are some ideas and inspiration for designers who want to take their career to the next level but feel a little unsure of where to turn next.

New Ways To Communicate

If you’ve been working on 2D graphics for the web or for print; you might be looking to expand your horizons and see where your design skills can take you next. A great form communication through design and one that’s growing in popularity in a digital age is motion graphics and animation. Therefore, it’s worth doing your research, learning Adobe After Effects, and getting to grips with bringing your graphics to life. You’ll need to develop your understanding of how music and motion can create impact, and look into designers who are paving the way for young creatives. Those who understand and utilize motion graphics can often head into directing, and becoming the lead creative in a number of different fields. So, it’s well worth making that typeface do something more exciting than just sitting on the screen.

Have A Side Hustle

Every creative needs an outlet where they’re able to experiment. However, it can be challenging when you’ve got a traditional 9-5 job, and your clients want you to work within set boundaries. You’ll never develop or evolve if you’re not using your free time to create things that excite you. Use your lunch hour to hop on Behance, or set yourself an imaginary project to complete in your evenings and at the weekend. Polish a personal online portfolio so that others can see what you’re capable of; who knows who might get in touch for a collaboration or potential side project. Never stop learning or seeing what others are doing; graphic design is a career that continues to evolve at lightning speed, so it’s vital that you try your best to keep up.

4 Life Lessons Millennials Learn From Childhood Sports

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Trying to be a leader in the company that you work for is not always an easy thing to do. You have to stand up and be the guiding force for a number of employees; stress, much? Millennials want to have it all and then some, and rightly so, as long as they are willing to work for it, the world is their oyster. The thing is, not everyone necessarily knows how to be a good leader, and that’s where you need to look back into the past to work it out.

Almost every single child between the ages of five and fifteen participates in some kind of organized sport. Participating in sport can offer many different lessons to those involved. There are just certain values that sport teaches you that you carry into your adulthood without even realizing it most of the time. Millennials who want to be great leaders should look back on their past and draw some inspiration from their time on the field. Below, we have some of the life lessons that participating in sport can get for you, so that you can be a far more effective leader in the office today.

Discipline. One of the things that you would have learned on those weekends at the baseball diamond is what is a fungo bat used for. You’d remember how it was used to practice, practice, practice and your coach would always use it to help you to learn how to hit a fly ball. The discipline that you would teach yourself by being determined to hit every one of those poppers can carry over to your current role. You need to remember to push yourself toward success, and that’s exactly what baseball teaches.

Respect. Playing in a team includes respecting those around you and your leaders. You may be the person in charge of your team, but you’ll have a whole management board above you that you need to listen to. Their inspirational effect on you will teach you how to have respect for their leadership and help you to learn how to be a better leader yourself.

Overcoming Adversity. Sports are hard. Not many people could get up and do what an athlete could do on a daily basis. Everyone goes through hard times with their career, athletes included, and you can really bring your skills of overcoming adversity to the office to help you get out of your own rut.

Resilience. As with the sports field, you cannot always win at work. There will be times that you will fail, but a failure is nothing but a first attempt in learning. You can overcome whatever you need to with the right level of resilience.

We’re not suggesting you hunker down with the latest video game in the hope of learning sporty life lessons, but there is so much that sports could teach you. Drawing on old inspiration can reignite the fire that you feel in your job – don’t be afraid to grab it with both hands.

My 3 Thoughts On This Millennials And Their Careers Infographic

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1. Single vs. Promotion – Context people. 41% said they would end a relationship for a life-changing promotion. Those are single people talking. For those who are in their 20’s and career matters more, you aren’t interested in a relationship anyway. For those who are in their 30’s, men and women differ on this, the pressure you feel to get married and start a family will change your answer. Hypothetical vs. reality is much different. Career may come before relationships for Millennials, but it doesn’t mean they don’t care or that stereotypes are accurate.

2. I’m Picky – Same as when people respond, “he/she’s not my type.” That’s your ego talking. Why admit you’re hurt? Instead blow it off, blame someone/thing else or defend your standards. Relationships are about compromise, but don’t confuse that with settling. People who reach their 40’s and are still single are unwilling to change their lifestyle. They say they want to find someone, but what they really want is to live on their terms. No matter how self-confident you are, anyone can leave you. Living in fear isn’t the answer, but understanding it’s more about what you give than receive in a relationship is healthy.

3. Time to Settle Down – 35 is the average age based on what? Reality shows like the Bachelor, Married At First Sight and Are You The One are far from it. Saying you’re ready for marriage isn’t like stating you’re hungry. Timing is the biggest factor. You can’t force something to happen if it’s not there. “35” may be your ideal age, but your partner may feel differently. Expectations lead to disappointment. It’s fine to have them, but similar to a business plan you better be ready to pivot. Once again this is based from an “I” statement. Problem is a relationship is a “we” scenario. Rather than focus on an age, focus on the person you want to be with and go from there.

Quirky Markets That Are Worth Investing In

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Millennials may not be known for being a very rich generation, but that doesn’t mean that they should completely give up any hopes of making worthwhile investments. No matter how little they have got saved up in their savings account, it will still be worth considering putting some of that cash into the investment markets. That’s because investments do a lot more work compared to savings that are left in regular bank accounts, and over time investments can increase considerably in value.

Not too sure what to invest in? Here are some quirky markets that could be worthy of your cash.

Burger Restaurants

The food industry is going through a renaissance at the minute. Thanks to people posting about what they are eating on blogs and Instagram, lots of restaurants and cafes are thriving. And some that specialize in certain foods are doing a lot better than others. Take burgers, for example. They have been one of the most popular foods for decades, and that popularity doesn’t seem to be slowing down anytime soon. So, you might want to consider buying some stock in a burger chain.

Self-Driving Cars

AI is no longer restricted to sci-fi movies – in fact, it’s about to become mainstream in the form of self-driving cars. Companies, such as Elon Musk’s Tesla, have been developing these types of cars for quite some time now, and they are almost ready to be used by the public. So, if you want to invest in some space-age tech, then this could be the best option for you. Make sure you buy earlier rather than later so you can get stock at cheap prices before it starts to take off!

Water Companies

Water might seem fairly boring and straight-edge, but there are actually some really cool developments going on in this industry right now. Companies are developing new tech and tools, like oil water separators, that can help protect the environment from any potential contamination. The more nifty tools like this that are created, then water companies’ stocks will be likely to rise by quite a bit!

Streaming Services

Everyone seems to stream their TV shows and movies these days. Now that services like Netflix and Amazon Prime have become so popular, more and more of these kinds of businesses are offering new and exciting streaming services. And as more people switch from traditional TV-viewing to these streaming platforms, they will be a very safe place to put your investments.

Organic Food Companies

There has also been a major increase in the amount of organic food that people are buying and consuming. To keep up with this demand, more companies seem to be opening their doors to customers every month or so. Again, as with the streaming services industry, the organic foods market seems like a good one to watch.

It’s important to remember that your money isn’t always guaranteed to grow when you invest is – it could also drop in value. But, with the right research, you will stand a good chance of picking the best investments for you.