How tattoos in the workplace might help you

How tattoos in the workplace might help youHow tattoos in the workplace might help youIn centuries past, tattoos were mostly considered the exclusive domain of tribe members reaching manhood, or seafaring sailors whose skin reflected their travels. In decades past, edgy rock stars hinted at seduction via a glimpse of their forbidden ink, or Let me show you my tattoo, as Gregg Allman famously sang in Im No Angel in 1987. These days, youre as likely to see a generously inked CEO or member of the clergy as you are an aging club kid.A February 2016 Harris poll declared that three in ten Americans have at least one tattoo, with nearly half of Millennials (47%) and over a third of Gen Xers (36%) saying they have at least one. So, does that mean that tattoos are fully acceptable in the workplace? Maybe, but it still depends on your workplace and employer. Despite the prevalence of ink-covered appendages, the jury is still out over whetzu sich tattoos are considered corporate appropriate. Th en again, some people are getting tats of their corporate logos or matching tattoos with their work besties, so its hard to know whats mainstream anymora, so we asked around. Because of the sensitive nature of the question or tattoo positioning, some of the people we spoke to didnt want to go on record at all, since they worried it could potentially offend their employers or negatively affect their careers. To show or not to show? That is the questionEmily Ambrose, who works in hospitality marketing, has eight tattoos, each with special meaning. herbeibeibei Yin and Yang symbol tattoo commemorates her late grandmother, a nurse with a special interest in Eastern medicine and her own Yin/Yang tattoo. While Ambrose freely exhibits her ink at her current position, that welchesnt the case at a previous job working guest services at a high-end boutique inn. I had to keep all of my tattoos covered all the time - even during the heat of high summer, Ambrose said, adding that meant wearing long sleeves, scarves, tall boots or tights all summer long. While Ambrose found the imposed dress code frustrating, she says the impediment to my comfort - and as a result, most likely my gracious guest-facing demeanor - was the most trying. When youre running bottles of wine up and down flights of stairs, or traipsing across lawns at high noon in mid-July, being covered head to toe is less than ideal under any circumstance. Beauty Wellness Expert Jeannine Morrishas three tattoos, including a prominent hand-drawn butterfly on her wrist. While Morris doesnt hide her ink from potential clients, she is sometimes asked to cover up. I do a lot of TV work as a beauty expert and often get hired as an influencer for branded content campaigns with beauty brands. Most of the time when on TV, I dont have to cover up my tattoo, but when appearing on the Dr. Phil-produced CBS showThe Doctors, they made the makeup artist cover it, because they were afraid of copyright infringement if they sho wed it on air, she explained. I told them I drew it myself, but they didnt care. I wore a cobalt blue dress and had to make sure not to get the cover-up on it for hours, which was quite the challenge. As a spokesperson, it really depends on the brand who hires me. Recently on set for a shoot, the client asked that I hold the product with my left hand instead of my right, where the tattoo is. I of course dont mind.Financial journalist Kelsey (who prefers to be identified only by her first name) started getting tattoos at a young age and was constantly asked if theyd hinder her career. For that reason she initially got tattoos in places could be easily covered up.While shes grown more comfortable with having tattoos people can see, Kelsey said letting colleagues or clients know about her tattoos sometimes reveals more about them than it does about her.In the past, sources or professional contacts who are typically strait-laced have felt like it gives them a free pass to ask inappropri ate questions - Where are your other tattoos? and Were you drunk when you got them? are two popular ones. I almost feel like it emboldens people to ask you questions that they normally wouldnt in a work setting or a professional networking event, she says.When a visible tattoo is a professional assetSometimes, the opposite effect happens, particularly for those in creative environments.For example, an art director at a gallery might find her hand-drawn ink inspires ooh and aahs, while a school teacher might see his ink increase his cred with students. Chris, an assistant teacher at an elementary school, previously worked in the restaurant industry where his three tattoos went largely unnoticed. When he first started teaching though, Chris covered up since he worried about how his ink might be perceived.When he realized the school didnt care if teachers had tattoos and noticed the other teachers at his school with tattoos and they werent covering them up, I was relieved and thats wh en I really started to care less about having them covered up. Im not sure if the kids think that Im cooler for having tattoos, but they do ask me about my tattoos from time to time, he adds.The double standard of tattoos for men and womenAttorney Anjali Sareen keeps her four tattoos mostly hidden. I honestly got them all where I did specifically because I knew I was going into a very conservative field - the law - and I didnt even want to tempt fate that I wouldnt get a job because of my tattoos, Sareen says.Now, at the age of 30, I care way, WAY less about what people think, but I have also become not a huge fan of visible tattoos myself - oddlySareen runs her own practice now, so I can do whatever I want, but she says she sometimes chafes against the expectations of her profession.I love tattoos and have a love/hate relationship with my career. The legal profession has a LONG way to go before visible tattoos are accepted, she explains. I absolutely hated the conservatism of th e field and the double standard that women are meant to be all prim and proper but for men, things like a tattoo here or there were more acceptable.Tattoos welcome can be a sign of a more accepting workplace Since tattoo culture can vary intensely from industry to industry, and some find that a tattoo-friendly workplace culture is actually a sign that theyre more free to do their job without other restrictions as well. Ambrose, the hospitality marketing professional, no longer covers her tattoos and says its a huge relief. If were having a more formal event, Ill be more cognizant of my tattoos and how visible they are, but I dont go out of my way to hide them. I feel more free to be authentic to myself - which is in-line with the values of our parent company - and to express myself creatively. And honestly, the less I have to think about covering up my tattoos, the more I can spend time thinking about hospitality and marketing, and how to succeed in my position and to benefit my p roperty.

5 Steps to Become A Manager

5 Steps to Become A Manager5 Steps to Become A Manager Many people reach a point in their careers when they decide theyd like more responsibility. Becoming a manager can be an excellent way for professionals to advance their career development and even earn more money .Managers are responsible for coordinating and overseeing many company projects and everyday tasks. That makes their position a unique one within the company one that holds particular importance for maintaining business success. But becoming a manager isnt always easy, youll often find yourself competing against other qualified candidates and co-workers to snag the position.Here are five steps to take toward becoming a manager in your companyIf you aspire to become a manager, dont stay quiet about it While you dont have to border on obnoxiousness, its still important to let the right people know youre thinking about taking the next step so they can help you get where you want to be. Let your curren t manager or boss know you aspire for more, and work with them to develop the skills you need to eventually make the transition.Ask your manager or boss if opportunities exist for you to become a mentor, or join a professional organization in your industry that will platzset you up with a mentee. This can be an excellent way to show you have the expertise to work closely with others and develop solid interpersonal relations a must in any managerial position. Or, consider taking on a mentor yourself someone who has more experience than you can help you to prepare for more responsibilities.As a manager, youll experience less leisure time, more authority, more leading, and tons of other new requirements. For this reason, its important to strengthen your skills to ensure youre prepared to step up to the plate. Actively assess the skills you already have, and talk to those already in managerial positions to determine what skills you need to acquire. Do your research, stay up to date on industry trends, and seize any opportunity to strengthen your abilities.Its important to put your ambition into action. If you feel as though you need to show your boss how valuable you are before you can have a chance at landing a higher position, consider setting up a meeting and prepare a presentation that highlights your accomplishments and commitments to the company thus far. Provide concrete numbers to describe your accomplishments (increased client leads by 40 percent, or managed accounts of advertisers contributing to a total budget of $200,000) to make your arguments irrefutable.Ask your higher-ups and coworkers to assess your wertmiger zuwachs so far. Do you do a good job of responding to conflict? Do you react well to stressful situations? Are you able to lead a group without trying to take too much controlor too little? Glean feedback from your coworkers or managers to determine where your strengths are and where you need to improve. Not only will this show youre open to feedback and continual improvement, but it will show you value the opinion of individual group members, something that any manager should commit to.Becoming a manager can be an excellent way to advance your career and prepare you for further professional opportunities. As the year comes to a close, make a commitment to taking these steps next year to increase your chances of landing a higher role in your company. Good luckWhat are some other steps professionals can take toward becoming a manager? Share your thoughts belowAre you an employer? Check out our Talent Solutions Blog .Thanks for finding us We cover everything from career advice to the latest company headlines.Were always looking for experts, executives and trends to feature on the Glassdoor blog. Interested? Contact us.

Solar Storage When the Sun Goes Down

Solar Storage When the Sun Goes Down Solar Storage When the Sun Goes Down That star at the center of our solar system, in addition to being the source of all life on the planet, may also be our best hope for clean, safe, and abundant energy. If we could just get the technology right it could power all our needs for the next five billion years or so. The only problem is that pesky shadow it casts on half the planet, called night that and the clouds that dull its shine.In short, the suns intermittency is holding-gesellschaft us back. Systems using photovoltaic cells with lithium ion batteries or photosynthesis with hydrogen are inefficient and imperfect, unable to provide the uninterrupted power that modern life demands.An all-vanadium photo-electrochemical solar cell, that can store energy even when its dark. ansehen UT ArlingtonNow researchers at the University of Texas at Arlington may have solved that problem, at least at a small scale. Their solution essentially combines a redox f low battery, which uses a liquid electrolyte, and a solar cell. Under light, the electrons will be stored inside the material, like in a rechargeable battery, says Fuqiang Liu, a professor in the department of materials science and engineering at the university. Then, when you switch to dark, those electrons will be released spontaneously. This instant and efficient electron storage reversibility is the key to a seamless solar powered future.A lithium ion battery with photovoltaic cells is a closed system with a capacity determined by the batterys volume. But Lius new system is open. That is, the chemical agent, vanadium redox, is stored in an external tank, which can be as large you like. Its greater charge and discharge efficiency (or round trip efficiency, as Lius paper calls it) is owed to the vanadium redox electrolyte, which reacts quickly to electrons on the surface of the cells semiconductor. The faradaic efficiency of the system is 95 percent.Lius system is likely to beat p hotovoltaic cells in the budget sphere as well. Vanadium is cheap compared to the noble metals needed for todays solar cells.Dong Liu (left), Zi Wei (center) and Prof. Fuqiang Liu. Image UT ArlingtonThe only downside of the cell is that its not very portable. Because this is a complicated systemit involves flow and a liquid electrolyte, a storage tank, pump, and control systemsits primarily suitable for stationary applications, says Liu. So you wont be seeing any Reversible Electron Storage in an All-Vanadium Photoelectrochemical Storage Cell powered automobiles hurtling down the highway, saving the world with their zero emissions, anytime soon.But even stationary applications are a ways off. Lius proof of concept cell is about one inch by one inch in size. The storage tank holds less than a hundred milliliters. If you use a large tank the storage can be huge, but to charge the entire electrolyte you need 1,000 hours or so, he says. But Liu sees no hurdles to scaling up. Redox batte ries have already been shown to be effective for massive storage systemsa megawatt system currently helps power Washington State University.We still need extensive research to really understand the system and make sure that it will work when we eventually scale up, says Liu. Assuming it does, it wont be just the adventurous, green minded folk among us that chose to power a house, a building, or even a town with solar. Itll just make good, economic sense.Michael Abrams is an independent writer.Learn more about energy solutions for a sustainable future at ASME Power Energy 2015. For Further DiscussionUnder light, the electrons will be stored inside the material, like in a rechargeable battery. Then when you switch to dark, those electrons will be released spontaneously.Prof. Fuqiang Liu, University of Texas at Arlington

High-Paying Programming Languages You Can Learn

High-Paying Programming Languages You Can LearnHigh-Paying Programming Languages You Can LearnEver think about becoming a computer programmer? Online news site Quartz made a ranking of salary value in programming languages, from highest to lowest, based on job postings. Here are five programming languages you can learn to make yourself more competitive and earn more money, and you can learn many of them online. Ruby (on Rails) Ruby is a great language for web applications. Many major web services use it, such as Twitter and Hulu. And then theres Ruby on Rails, which is the most used framework for Ruby. Many agree that its easier to learn than other languages, such as C. The Quartz article ranks Ruby on Rails as the highest-earning programming skill. You can find many Ruby tutorials online. Objective C The programming language behind OSX and iOS apps, its easy to see why Objective C is an in-demand language. iPhone owns a huge share of the U.S. smartphone market, and countless businesses have iPhone apps. If youre interested in giving Objective C a try, theres a great tutorial at Code School. Python Python (named after Monty Python in the 1980s) is, like Ruby, an intuitive language to learn and use. It has a rabid fan base and is the backbone of the popular Instagram social network. Python is a scripting language that has multiple examples of implementation in different industries, including the film industry Industrial Light and Magic uses Python to extend their software capabilities in-house. Theres a whole list atPython.org with further examples. If youre interested in learning more about Python, check out this overview on the Treehouse Blog. Java Java is one of the most popular programming languages in the world, and for good reason It has very little operating requirements, meaning it can run on multiple platforms. Java is also part of the framework for building Android applications, so its a language that is in demand even today.Oracle prov ides Java documentation to help get you started. C C (originally known as C with Classes) is the oldest programming language on this list. It was first introduced in the early 1980s. Its the backbone of every single piece of software that you use every day. C is used for performance-intensive tasks, such as video compression. Cplusplus.com has a tutorial that can help you get started. You Dont Have to Pick Just One Knowing one of these five languages can help you earn a higher salary, but you dont have to specialize in just one. If possible, familiarize yourself with a few of these languages. Then, if one kistes out of style, you have another language proficiency to fall back on. As weve seen in the past, specializing can lead to you becoming obsolete in your field. In any field, you should always be learning new skills and technologies. And with all the free/affordable online options available, it is easier than ever to level up.

5 Outdated Pieces of Career Advice - FlexJobs

5 Outdated Pieces of Career Advice - FlexJobs5 Outdated Pieces of Career Advice -career counselor with wisdom to share. And while some of the unsought advice we receive is actually quite useful, some of it can be less than useful, and even outdated.Check out these five outdated pieces of career adviceFrom an article about this very subject, we invite you to ignore these outdated pieces of career advice.Your resume can only be one page. Unless you are fresh out of college or have very limited experience, two page resumes are A-okay nowadays.Every job has to go on your resume to present a complete account of your professional history.Unless your job search goal is to bore recruiters and better your chances for rejection, dont put every job youve ever had on your resume. Break it up into sections like Relevant and Additional Work Experience, and use only the most related experience you have.When your interviewer asks about your weaknesses, offer up a positive framed as a weakness.Using a strength as a weakness is just silly. Recruiters want you to be honest and tell them an area that you know you need to improve in. The key is to choose a weakness that is fairly easily overcome, and to stress that you have identified this as a weakness because you want to improve upon it.Your resume and cover letter should be written in formal language.While we dont recommend writing your resume and cover letter as though they are quick Facebook messages to close friends, its okay to drop the uber-formal language for something more conversational. Let your personality shine through and skip the template-style letter for something from your heart. Tell them why youre passionate about the job and what youve done to merit being hired.Include an objective at the top of your resume.This one is even a little bit hard for me to let go, only because in my days as a college career advisor many moons ago, I often recommended objectives on resumes for my students. But times change and so do job search norms, and a much more effective section on your resume is a Summary of Qualifications, which should be tailored for every job to which you apply.For five other pieces of outdated career advice, check out U.S. News World Report.

The Battle Over Attorney Resume Samples and How to Win It

The Battle Over Attorney Resume Samples and How to Win It Attorney Resume Samples No Longer a Mystery Its important to abide by that word count. When you learn how to begin your letter, you will need to learn how to format the whole thing. Dont use compound prepositions or wordy expressions when a a couple of words can be utilized to mean precisely the same thing. Again, persuasive language is critical. Once you are aware of how to start a deckblatt letter, youre require a resume. Your letter shouldnt be more than 1 page. You might also see Termination Letter. A cover letter needs to be punchy throughout. The Attorney Resume Samples Game In precisely the same way that you could reference resume samples, the subsequent Attorney cover letter example can help you to compose a cover letter which best highlights your experience and qualifications. Although there are several strategies to compose a cover letter, the next format has worked well for students before. Youre going to find an engaging cover letter opening you can shape to satisfy your requirements. Writing a wonderful cover letter is among the critical prerequisites in the work search practice. Your cover letter is your very first introduction to a possible employer. Always remember, it is most likely going to be read by a busy person with a very short attention span. It is as important as your resume because it is often read first and plays a vital role in your quest for an interview. You will need to understand how to begin a cover letter without lots of cred. After youve written your amazing cover letter providing more info on your expertise and the way it is related to the job that youre applying for, its important to format it correctly before sending it to any recruiters. Most job seekers do notlage understand that prospective employers are in fact on the lookout for reasons in your cover letter to throw your resume out. As your first writing sample, it has to convey to the employ er which you are devoted to serving its customers and its larger mission. It is essential that you dont become discouraged, as employers want to find individuals with good attitudes. Ensure youre describing the business and your job properly. On the reverse side, even in the event that you ought to be asking for work to find a cafe manager, you could be better suited to go over your prior comprehension in the restaurant marketplace at the exact top of ones resume.Try to remember that the objective of a cover letter isnt to repeat whats in your CV. Now you understand how to commence a cover letter that links to the work description. Your covering letter produces a highly effective first impression, so make it simple for the recruiter to find that youve got strong potential as a solicitor by following the advice above. Because yes, you do have to compose a customized cover letter for each job that you apply for. Below, youll discover examples of several attorney resumes to assi st you locate the best one for your circumstance. An attorney is someone who offers a tafelgeschirr linked to law. He is a busy person. For an entire collection of uses for the waiver you should speak with a professional immigration lawyer. You may opt to keep an excess copy of the documents at your residence or office, or perhaps you decide to provide a copy to one or more of your representatives. Your letter should explain what you can do to help your customer, not what it is that youre selling, she explained. A cover letter isnt a transmittal letter, and you can not be aware of how time-consuming its to craft a good one. Your attorney cover letters ought to be in the suitable format. You may want to state which you will speak to the employer in a few weeks to follow-up and actually do so. You would like to include your complete name (obviously), email address, contact number, and a mobile phone number if the two arent the exact same. A few of the jobs like Senior Attorney require you to be quiet alert because there is chance of facing large amount of competition. The laws regarding wills and trusts are extremely technical, and it is probable that a change that you try to make without a lawyers help is not going to have the effect you intend.

Morgan Stanley Technology Analyst Program

Morgan Stanley Technology Analyst Program Join the Morgan Stanley Technology Analyst Program (TAP), a 15-week intensive training program where youll learn about Morgan Stanleys cutting edge technology platforms, roll up your sleeves in innovative labs and business projects, meet leaders and mentors who will support your career, and prepare to truly make an impact at the firm on Day 1.This video was originally published by Morgan Stanley. Visit Morgan Stanleys page on PowerToFly to see their open positions and learn more. One of the biggest challenges in almost all industries today is achieving gender parity. Gender diversity provides huge benefits in the workplace. pWhile some industries have made significant advancements in gender diversity, some industries lag further behind... and the construction industry is well-known for being in the latter category. If someone says, construction workers, youll likely picture a group of men in yellow hard hats analyzing an architects plans or laying bricks on top of a scaffold. And men at work signs only help to reinforce this image.pThis stereotype is rooted in reality. When was the last time you actually spotted a woman on a construction site? Or hired a female plumber or carpenter? Your answer is most likely never. In fact, the Bureau of Labor Statisticsreports that only 3.4% of the total of 8.3 million construction employees are women.pBut the construction industry has a lot more to offer than steel-toed boots and hard hats, and it needs women to help advance the industry in this era of rapid change. Here are 5 reasons why women joining the workforce or looking to make a pivot should consider a career in construction.h21. Fuel Innovation/h2pNot only is diversity the socially and morally right thing to do, but it is also actually an excellent business strategy. pResearch presented in the Harvard geschftliches miteinander Reviewshows that diverse teams develop more innovative ideas. This is further supported by a study conducted by Gallupon the performance of gender-diverse teams versus single-gender teams, which found that the difference in backgrounds and perspectives led to better business performance and problem-solving. h22. Capitalize on Demand/h2pThe construction industry is currently experiencing a labor shortage. The industry itself is booming and projected to be one of the fastest-growing industries, with total spending projected to exceed $1.45 trillion in 2023/a. However, most construction companies are unable to meet the rising demand. pAccording to the Associated General Contractors of America/a, more than 80% of contractors are experiencing difficulties filling hourly craft positions that represent the bulk of the construction workforce.pAnd demand isnt limited to individual contributor roles. Given the industry boom, there are a number of open stable and high-paying roles (any project managers out there?) waiting for the right candidateh 23. Leadership Opportunities/h2pAccording to the Bureau of Labor Statistics/a, women compose only 7.7% of the total 1 million managerial positions in construction.br/pBut given the highly collaborative nature of construction work, more women in leadership roles would help drive innovation and enhance productivity.Furthermore, as a woman in construction in a leadership position, youd have the unique opportunity to drive change for the industry and make it a more attractive option for other women.h24. High-Income Potential/h2pSalaries for many skilled positions in construction are on the rise, making a construction career a prime choice for women looking for a high-paying job,pThe 2018 Construction Craft Salary Surveyconducted by the National Center for Construction Education and Research revealed that salaries for many skilled craft areas are increasing. Project managers and project supervisors topped the list at $92,523 and $88,355, respectively. The next set of highest-paying jobs include those of combo welders ($71,067), instrumentation technicians ($70,080), pipe welders ($69,222), power line workers ($68,262) and industrial electricians ($67,269). Of the 32 categories of workers in the survey, 19 positions earned an average salary of $60,000 or higher.h25. Sense of accomplishment/h2p The construction industry can give employees a unique sense of achievement. Yes, the job is stressful and the work can be demanding, but nothing beats the feeling of being able to build something from the ground up. pHow many professionals in other industries can point at a school, a hospital, or a skyscraper and say I helped build that?pThe construction industry has a long way to go in combating gender bias and supporting women in the workforce, but given the current demand for workers, theres no better time to pick up a sledgehammer (figurative or literal) and smash the gender stereotypes plaguing the construction industry.

Evolving minds (youre always on your way to another version of yourself)

Evolving minds (youre always on your way to another version of yourself)Evolving minds (youre always on your way to another version of yourself)Why do people behave the way they do?For centuries, philosophers and psychologists have debated personal identity, and what makes a person. And although today we know a lot mora about what it takes for a person to persist in time, we certainly dont know everything.Anas Nin, the great French-born novelist, once wrote Life is a process of becoming, a combination of states we have to go through. Where people fail is that they wish to elect a state and remain in it. This is a kind of death.Follow Ladders on FlipboardFollow Ladders magazines on Flipboard covering Happiness, Productivity, Job Satisfaction, Neuroscience, and moreSince you were born, you have encountered innumerable people, experiences, books, films, and cultures that have continuously shaped your perception, cognition, memory, knowledge, etc. Even though you the same person, it is i ndisputable that you have evolved over the years.Change isnt simply an important aspect of life - its life itself. Your mind and body are changing every second of every day.Daniel Gilbert writes in his book, Stumbling on Happiness,Human beings are works in progress that mistakenly think theyre finished. The person you are right now is as transient, as fleeting and as temporary as all the people youve ever been. The one constant in our lives is change.All of our experiences are constantly changing us.Your natural personality (e.g, introvert/extrovert, and character traits) may not significantly change. A major personality change usually isnt part of this evolving process.Although a persons behaviour may change under different circumstances, personality is fairly stable and not easily altered, says Dr Michele Leno, DML Psychological Services, PLLC.But your worldview or reality about life and living it keeps changing to shape you into who you think you should become. You dont possess the same consciousness as your younger self.Many people today still believe that who they are now is pretty much who they will be forever, according to researchAfter examining the responses of more than 19,000 people gathered over four months in 2011 and 2012, the researchers - Daniel Gilbert, a professor of psychology at Harvard University and author of the book Stumbling on Happiness, Jordi Quoidbach, of the National Fund for Scientific Research in Belgium, and University of Virginia psychologist Timothy Wilson - discovered that even though most people acknowledge that their lives have changed over the past decade, they dont believe change is constant.How you think and everything you consider to make informed decisions about your life and career is still evolving.If you are a life-long learner, you evolve rapidly than you realise because of the different mental models, ideas, and life principles you learn about every day.The reality is, we are constantly changing, evolving, and being changed by everything around us. You are either becoming a better version of yourself or worse version of yourself if you are not open to growth.Recognising that we are constantly working to evolve ourselvesis critical to success, says leadership development expert Liz Bentley.She calls this process stepping into your power.Your consciousness (and the physical body) is in a perpetual state of reassembly, always becoming with or without your consent.For millions of people, emotional struggles sabotage their ability to demand the best of themselves as they evolve. So they end up living the realities and expectations of others.To take complete control of your evolving process, and move closer to the best life you want for yourself, you need to improve your self-knowledge and notice when your environment or people around are drawing you to their perceptions and whether thats what you want for your future self. Adjusting your self-conception to account for this truth may be profoun dly liberating.The French philosophical giant, Michel Foucault, once saidI dont feel that it is necessary to know exactly what I am. The main interest in life and work is to become someone else that you were not in the beginning.In life, we never cease to become, even when you pursue happiness, marriage, or a better retirement, and ultimately get what you want, that new reality changes what you want about life, and has an effect on your worldview going forward.Our environment, our relationships, and our perspectives will remain in continuous change, and with this change will arise new difficulties, new directions, new understanding.As we evolve, we take pride in the accomplishments of each passing stage of life, but time will demand that we continue to roll and change.The important thing to remember as you evolving is to aim to become better than who you were yesterday and not to hang on to who you were and limit your potential growth. Be careful of the natural temptation to hold ti ghtly onto the past.To latch onto and aim to maintain a particular state or stage of life is an untenable fantasy and a deliberate rejection of potential metamorphoses. Whether we wish it or not, existence is always interfacing with and altering us, as we are it. To accept this truth is to reorient oneself away from delusions of destination. To deny it is to reject the opportunities offered by change, to yield to what Nin calls death, writes Jordan Bates.To change is to vacate the past and move ever-closer to a better end.But careful you dont become anything. The possibilities are endless and exciting. Your future reality and what you become should be a choice you alone should make. Beware of the influences around you.R. Buckminster Fuller, a renowned 20th-century inventor, systems theorist, author, designer, and futurist once saidI live on Earth at present, and I dont know what I am. I know that I am not a category. I am not a thing - a noun. I seem to be a verb, an evolutionary p rocess - an integral function of the universe.Integrating this idea into my own life has been a gradual and ongoing process. I endeavour to immerse myself in my chosen experiences and open myself up to new and better transformational experiences.And the more Im able to do this, the more I feel that, though changing, I am precisely where I need to be - not stressing too much about the past, or worrying endlessly about the future but making the most of the activities and environments available to me presently.Closing thoughtsYou cannot stop change, you can shape it.You are constantly changing - on a journey you have no choice but to take - embrace the inevitable and shape it to your advantage.Personality traits are fairly stable for everyone, but different perceptions, worldview, and exposure to diverse environments and culture are changing our minds about life and living it.You and I are in the processes of becoming, and choosing to see ourselves in this light can have a big impa ct on your understanding of human transformation.This article first appeared on Medium.

How to prevent burnout even when youre in love with your job

How to prevent lassitudo even when youre in love with your jobHow to prevent burnout even when youre in love with your jobDo you feel passionate about your job? The vast majority of professionals we surveyed recently said they were. Deloitte conducted a marketplace survey of 1,000 full-time U.S. professionals in a range of industries to better understand the drivers and impact of employee burnout. And we were surprised to landsee the role passion plays in the prolonged stress that leads to burnout.With 87% saying theyre passionate about their current job, you might think the number of burned out employees would be relatively low. Youd be wrong.Three in four respondents told us they have experienced burnout in their current job, with more than half telling us they felt burned out more than once. Of course, passion does help to mitigate burnout somewhat - rates were higher among those who reported bedrngnis feeling passionate about their job.But in some ways, passion may also contribu te to burnout. When we asked survey respondents why they dont use all of their vacation days, the top reason cited was, I worry that issues would arise if I was away from my work.Passion is a wonderful thing. It drives purpose, engagement, and productivity. But when you become so passionate about one aspect of your life that you forget about the others (like vacation, for example) then it can be a sign of trouble.I know this from personal experience how easy it can be to miss the warning signs of burnout when you are passionate about what you do. But here are some lessons I learnedabfertigung before you check-out Mindfulness can be a powerful thing. Take the time to check-in with yourself and reflect on how you are feeling in body, mind, and purpose. Awareness is half the battle when it comes to preventing burnout.Make recovery a priority Dont let your vacation days go to waste. And dont forget to make recovery a daily part of your life. Small breaks throughout the day can have an i ncredible impact overall.Let go This may be one of the hardest things to do when you are passionate about your work, but its important to trust in your team members. Whether its delegating projects, requesting coverage for your vacation, or simply asking for help, your colleagues can have your back because youll have theirs as well.Get your move on Whether its a leisurely walk, a high-intensity interval training (HIIT) session, or your favorite Zumba class exercise releases the feel good chemicals in our brain called endorphins, improves mood, and clears the mind.Have an attitude of gratitude A thank you seems simple, but dont overlook its powerful and lasting effect on your life. Research shows that the practice of gratitude can lower blood pressure, improve sleep and immune function, and help us feel calmer.Talk it out In our survey, we asked respondents how they deal with their burnout and over half (51%) say they talk to friends or family. Connecting with your social support ne twork is a great way to not only relieve stress but also learn new coping mechanisms. When I experienced burnout, connecting with a friend and mentor helped me step back and reassess what was important to me in my life.If you are a leader in your organization, then its not only yourself you should monitor but also your teams. When asked about the reasons why they felt burned out at their current job, survey respondents reported that lack of passion wasnt the problem. Instead, lack of support from leadership was cited as the most common reason.Its not surprising that employees want to see and feel that their leaders support and recognize the work that they do. After all, wouldnt any employee want a boss that is as passionate about them as they are about their work?April is Stress Awareness Month and what better time to start developing positive habits in stress management. Plan your vacation days, be mindful of your well-being, and show your appreciation and support for your colleagu es and teams. Kindle your passion, but dont let it burn you.Please read our disclaimer information here.This article first appeared on Thrive Global.

You are not who you say you are and Ernest Hemingway

You are not who you say you are and Ernest HemingwayYou are not who you say you are and Ernest HemingwayI sometimes wonder what Ernest Hemingway was like. Not Hemingway the novelist, nor Hemingway the adventurer, but Hemingway the man - the Hemingway that lived, embodied in flesh and blood, who said ordinary things and who, for the most part, lived in an ordinary way.When I wonder this, I get pulled away by flashes of foreign memories scenes from his life in Paris as told in A Movable Feast, the laughs and the sadness that came with The Festival of San Fermin in The Sun Also Rises, and his moving depiction of what it means to do-what-you-ought-to-do in The Old Man and the Sea. But behauptung memories dont feel enough. They are what his cultural image is built on, and they maybe give you a sense for his style, but they dont bleed in a way that makes you feel like you know someone.Any intentional sequences constructed in my mind by his words are not a complete representation. They unm ask a setting, they outline a belief template, and they bring to the foreground what gives us context to uncover what is in the background, but to landsee the man, Ive realized, is to look beyond his words and to read into his silences.In the brde few decades, neuroscientists and developmental psychologists have uncovered something that philosophers of language began to suspect in the middle of the 20th century The manifestation of our conscious experience is in large part determined by the linguistic concepts we use to understand the world around us. These concepts categorize our experience, which in turn allows us to impose artificial boundaries on reality so we can make it a little mora coherent as we move through life.The words Hemingway uttered and the sentences he wrote may capture some fragrance of the truth, but they dont fully map us to the territory. They dont give us a way to look beyond the conditioned linguistic boundaries that confine us, and they dont tell us anything about what cant be said. Our memories are, of course, formed by these concepts, and thats useful as far as our need for a coherent narrative goes, but to understand what lies beneath all of this, we have to sit with what remains undefined.When I think of Hemingway the man - as I think of any other person in my life and their person-hood - I find myself looking in the spaces between the words. Im not interested in who they say they are, nor do I find what others associate with them all that compelling, but what interests me is what they embody - what they leave for interpretation what they act out in the space they dont verbalize what they say with their silences.Humans like labels. We define ourselves by them. They get us through life, for the most part, mora effectively than if we operated without them. But as we get comfortable relying on them, we forget something Their utility is in what they accomplish, not what they represent. They are valuable, yes, but what they represent is an approximation - occasionally wrong, often problematic. You are not the words you define yourself by, and I am not the person with a disposition that can be captured by a written scene.What makes me, me, and you, you, is how we connect to the ever-changing reality around us. Its what we say-without-saying as we manipulate our understanding of a stimulus into a response, and what we embody as we move through the trials of space and time.One of Hemingways most honest scenes takes form at the end of A Farewell to Arms, where after a period of fighting in the First World War, the main character illegally escapes its bounds. As we get to the last section of the novel, its just him and the woman he loves, pregnant with his child, without any of the brutality that has kept them apart until then. Its quiet and beautiful.There isnt much room left at this point to take the story anywhere else, so what happens next is sudden. Catherine, the woman, goes into labor. Its difficult painful. Frederic, the main character, waits for as long as he has to until they give him the news the baby is stillborn. Before he even has the time to process this, Catherine begins to hemorrhage.In a flash of a moment, Frederic goes from having everything to nothing. There are no words that can do what he experiences any justice. The world has nothing to offer but silence. When the inevitable occurs, he ignores what the nurses tell him he can and cant do, walking into the hospital room to hold Catherines lifeless body. And this, finally, is where Hemingway reveals himself, ending with the least satisfying final line Ive ever readAfter a while I went out and left the hospital and walked back to the hotel in the rain.Thats it. There is no closure. There is no attempt at making sense of what is essentially senseless. There is just him, the hotel, and the rain.This ending is unsatisfying because its real more real than the string of words that contain it. We dont get to know what happens nex t because it doesnt matter what exactly happens next. If we tried to define it, we would lose the thing that makes it hurt the thing that makes that character who he is the thing that, perhaps, makes Hemingway who he is.Now, maybe its naive to impose on a writer his person-hood more from what he didnt hint at the end of a fictional novel than from the words and the sentences he explicitly wrote about his life. But applied to Hemingway, I dont suspect thats true. His famous iceberg theory states that The dignity of movement of an iceberg is due to only one-eighth of it being above water, and writing - like an iceberg - gains not from what is apparent on the surface, but from what is spoken between the lines. The ocean below whats visible shapes more of the current than the waves on top.Within this ocean, there exists a world we cant talk about in any satisfying way without distorting the essence that makes it true. Its complex and multi-dimensional, extracting its meaning not from any singular cause but from a confluence of partial interactions between a chaotic set of axioms. The more you try to define it, the more it eludes you. The closer you get to its trail, the further away it begins to move.What we are left with, then, is a dichotomy a) we have the waves on top, which we can define fairly well with our words, and b) we have the undefined space below the surface that continually affects those waves. The trouble, naturally, is that we often impose too many of the characteristics associated with what we know onto what we dont know.None of us can understand the depth of the ocean - or what makes a person who they are - by trying to see it through a myopic lens (with the words we use to talk about ourselves) because the connection is illusory. The only honest way to truly see what we cant talk about is to watch the space that maintains its silence to observe what is embodied in the omission and to look at what is happening in the world rather than getting caught up in futile attempts at describing it.When you finally do this, a pleasant sincerity unveils itself you realize that silence has its own sound, and it creates words in its own rhythm, and once you learn to speak its language, it tells you everything that the conceptual alphabet cant verbalize into meaning.More and more, we live in a world where we are defined by who we say we are rather than who we really are. It seems like we would rather talk than do the work required to understand what it is that we truly embody. Its easier to speak than to be silent, of course, so not only do we never observe the space that we need to observe to see the truth, but we dont even give ourselves the chance to create it to begin with.In leaving Frederic as he does, Hemingway makes no effort to hide behind false words. He puts it to us to read between the lines and to interpret what little there is left of the story. His silence doesnt tell us anything specific about the character because he knows that his words have reached their limit. The character is as he is, and he will do as he does, as he deals with reality.Hemingway wasnt the first to intentionally employ such techniques in his work. Even in the visual arts, the concept has a personenname negative space - the area we find around the subject of a piece the area that gives form to what exists to be highlighted. What Hemingway did do, however, as he showed himself, was cement its association with the edifice of truth.We can spend our whole life describing ourselves without seeing who we truly are. In the process, we may even uncover every answer to every question our mind can formulate. But the only answer that matters doesnt have a corresponding question. It lives in what we cant talk about.Want to think and live smarter? Zat Rana publishes a free weekly newsletter for 30,000+ readers atDesign Luck.Thisarticlewas originally published onDesignLuck.com.