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Showing posts from June, 2017

Healthy Living

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"Healthy living" to most people means that both physical and mental health are in balance or functioning well together in a person. In many instances, physical and mental health are closely linked, so much so that a change (good or bad) in one directly affects the other. Consequently, many tip or ‘how-to’ lists to achieve “healthy living” will include suggestions for maintaining a stable emotional and mental balance. At the end of the day, g ood health isn’t just about healthy eating and exercise, it also includes having a positive mental health, a healthy self-image, and a healthy lifestyle. Creator Academy’s Lifestyle Course (LSC), has been designed to guide students in discovering how they can improve or augment actions in their life and maintain a healthy lifestyle. It is not meant to be all inclusive but will include major components that are considered to be parts of a complete lifestyle that lead to good health. Change your habits, change your lifestyle, only

Showing Initiative – Being Pro-active for Success

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At its core, showing initiative, is about doing things without being told; being proactive about finding out what you need to know; being able to keep going when things get tough; and being able to spot and take advantage of opportunities that pass others by. Showing initiative is a must-do in demonstrating your value at your workplace, especially if you want progress your career quickly. Initiative correlates strongly with personal achievement and professional development. It is the act of taking personal responsibility for your growth, and is a clear sign of your capacity to develop as a leader, as you act, instead of reacting, at work. Initiative has become increasingly important in today's workplace. Organizations want employees who can think on their feet and take action without waiting for someone to tell them what to do. After all, this type of flexibility and courage is what pushes teams and organizations to innovate, and to overcome competition. As a result, there i

Reduce your Clutter for Better Productivity

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One of the biggest road blocks in the path to productivity are the material things we fill lives with. We surround ourselves with the things we own, but in many ways our stuff really owns us. We have to maintain, clean, and constantly sort our stuff. At a certain point we need to get a bigger house to hold our stuff and move our stuff to find other stuff. Now it isn’t that material things are bad, but we have to recognize that everything comes with a cost. Most people recognize this with pets. Before you get a dog, you think through the responsibility it will entail, who will watch it when you travel, etc. While material things may not be as high-maintenance as a dog or cat, there are very few things that are truly maintenance free. The problem is that many people are very bad at deciding what is actually important to them, so they end up acquiring a great number of items that aren’t particularly important to them, but consume their time and space. They never get rid of anything be

Finding Happiness by Avoiding Perfectionism

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If you want to never be happy or satisfied with your life, one great way to do that is to raise your expectations to an unrealistically high standard that can never possibly be met. This is the essence of perfectionism. It’s the inability to be happy with something until it is perfect, without any flaws whatsoever. Of course, the problem with this mind-set is that perfectionism is often an illusion. Life rarely works out exactly the way we want, in any domain – whether it’s relationships, work, or goals. More often than not, being more happy with your life requires that you let go of these expectations and learn to be more content with how things are, rather than how you picture they should be in an “ideal world.” Perfectionism can lead to feelings of regret as well as dissatisfaction, and can hurt our relationships with others especially if we have unrealistic expectations of the other person. Often times, a more practical and realistic attitude prepares you for the inevitable r

Manage & Motivate Effectively to Increase Productivity

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Staying motivated and enthusiastic at work can sometimes prove to be difficult for many employees. While managers and employers try to push the company forward, keep customers satisfied, and improve the bottom line, they can sometimes forget that they also need to inspire enthusiasm and motivate their employees. In many situations however, the real issue is not about maintaining the passion and effort of personnel, but rather about not de-motivating employees. Most employees start a new job motivated and full of enthusiasm. It’s only after having worked in a job for some time that they begin to lose this motivation. The key is to prevent that from happening and instead keep all employees motivated and enthusiastic during their entire tenure—not an easy feat, but certainly possible as long as both employer and employee do their part. Maintaining the motivation and enthusiasm of employees is an integral skill that every manager should possess. If you’re looking to brush up on

Speaking Publicly with Confidence

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To be an effective public speaker, you must first understand your own style and abilities both as a speaker as well as a person. The most effective speakers are constantly working to capitalize on their strengths which may be anything from a great storytelling ability to a talent for inspiring audience participation. Tapping into your most powerful interpersonal qualities is an excellent way to make yourself come across as accessible, engaging, and unique. When you’re speaking or making a presentation in front of others, the most important factor is confidence, as well as the ability to be calm under pressure. For many of us though, public speaking and anxiety tend to go hand in hand. An unsure or timid presentation will not capture or engage an audience, and the important message you are trying to convey will be lost. Audiences show up for information, but they stay for the stories. Told well, stories can be the key to a delivering a compelling presentation that excites, energ

Developing Soft Skills – Leads to A Successful individual

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The modern workplace has evolved interpersonal dynamics that can't be ignored, and must be nurtured to ensure that all employees are able to perform efficiently as a team. The acts of listening, presenting ideas, resolving conflict, and fostering an open and honest work environment all come down to knowing how to build and maintain relationships with people. It's those relationships that allow people to participate fully in team projects, show appreciation for others, and enlist support for their projects. It is therefore important to recognize the vital role soft skills play within your team and not only work on developing them within yourself, but encourage their development throughout the organization. Equipped with the right soft skills, you can excel as a leader, and tasks like problem solving, delegating, motivating, and team building also become easier.      In the end, it is extremely important to know how to get along with people and to try to maintain a

Importance of Social Media in Modern Business

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There was a time when social media was considered by some to be just a passing fad. Something that “the kids” were using, and that businesses could never really benefit from. Over time, the sceptics were proved wrong however as today, there are over 3 billion internet users—and over   2 billion of them have active social media accounts. Popular social platforms have become marketing giants, offering businesses valuable data about their customers and a (mostly) free platform to reach them. Knowing how to properly utilise social media is now an integral part of almost every type of business, and is no longer viewed as optional. Using the power of social media platforms, business owners and other types of professional organizations are now able to connect with current customers, sell their products and expand their reach even more efficiently and further than before. In fact, there are actually lots of entrepreneurs and businesses that thrive almost entirely on social sites and woul

Effective Teamwork

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Effective teamwork occurs when all members of a team or group are able to function cohesively together and work towards a specific shared objective or goal. When an efficient team goes to work, it is the the structure that has been put into place, that helps the group obtain productive results. In order to create a productive team, you first need to be able to identify the characteristics of effective teamwork. An effective team is committed to completing its goal by using the resources it has available. While every member may not share the same point of view or even be in agreement on what is best for the group, when the team is presented with a goal, they are able to come together and work as a single unit to complete the task. An effective team does not have extra members. Each member of a team is essential for success, and when the group is given a task, each member knows what their job is.                       Need help learning how to manage an effective team? Maybe you

Change Your Habits, Change Your Lifestyle

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We are creatures of habit. Everything we think, say and do is a result of deep-seated habits etched into our minds through years and years of repetitive action. Those very same habits either help to propel us forward or to hinder our progress in life. In fact, the state and quality of our lives right now is a direct reflection of our daily habits. Habits are an undeniably powerful part of life, and an integral part of the underlying behavioural psychology that shapes the direction of our lives. Parting ways with our bad habits and replacing them with good habits is by no means a simple task. It takes commitment, willpower and an unwavering desire to overcome our seemingly natural tendencies to think, feel, speak and act in a certain way. Clearly, for those absolutely committed to things like happiness and success, habits offer the pathway to enrichment in life. Our habits are also the tools we use to help automate our progress towards one end or another, assisting us with the ach

Stress Management

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All of us at one time or another have felt overwhelmed by the unrelenting stress of modern life, and many believe that there is nothing you can do it. The bills won’t stop coming, there will never be more hours in the day, and your work and family responsibilities will always be demanding. Contrary to popular belief however, you have a lot more control than you might think. In fact, the simple realization that you’re in control of your life is the foundation of stress management. Stress management is all about taking charge: of your lifestyle, thoughts, emotions, and the way you deal with problems. No matter how stressful your life seems, there are steps you can take to relieve the pressure and regain control. If you’re living with high levels of stress, you’re putting your entire well-being at risk. Stress wreaks havoc on your emotional equilibrium, as well as your physical health. It narrows your ability to think clearly, function effectively, and enjoy life. The ultim

Maintaining A Positive Attitude

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The “power of positive thinking” is a popular concept, and sometimes it can feel a little cliché. But the physical and mental benefits of positive thinking have been demonstrated by multiple scientific studies. Positive thinking can give you more confidence, improve your mood, and even reduce the likelihood of developing conditions such as hypertension, depression and other stress-related disorders. Consequently, having and maintaining a positive attitude has become vital for success in both life and business.   Unfortunately it is not always easy to stay positive and keep a good attitude. As things go wrong throughout your day, it is easy to let negative thoughts start to take over.  It is important therefore, that you make a conscious effort to look at situations and respond positively to consistently maintain a good attitude. A good way to train this is by regularly reading positive motivational books which encourage, inspire, and motivate you. Reading requires that you sit st

Talent Management – Why It is important

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Developing leadership that is 'fit for purpose' is often cited as the most common workforce challenge facing all sectors – public, private and not-for-profit. Talent management is a set of integrated organisational workforce processes designed to attract, develop, motivate and retain productive, engaged employees. The goal of effective talent management is to create a high-performance, sustainable organisation that meets its strategic and operational goals and objectives. To achieve this, the human capital of the company must be correctly managed, ensuring that they are performing in positions that are suited to their skills, and that they are feeling fulfilled as employees. Today’s leaders know however, that that these demands are made against the backdrop of tighter financial restraints and slower projected financial growth thanks to external economic factors. To respond to these current and future challenges, organisations need to ensure that they develop the necessary

Leadership Skills

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Whether you consciously aware of it or not, on some level you are continually leading yourself and others – you don’t necessarily need to have a large team reporting to you to be considered a leader and to need effective leadership skills. As a leader, you need to be able to clearly and succinctly explain to your team, everything from organizational goals to specific tasks. Leaders must master all forms of communication, including one-on-one, departmental, and full-staff conversations, as well as communication via the phone, email, and social media. A large part of communication involves listening. Therefore, leaders should establish a steady flow of communication between themselves and their staff or team members, either through an open-door policy or regular conversations with workers. Leaders should also make themselves regularly available to discuss issues and concerns with employees. They need to inspire their workers to go the extra mile for their organization; just paying

INCREASING YOUR MENTAL CAPACITY

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Your mental capacity can be increased through regular engagement with people or conversations. By having highly factual and knowledgeable conversations with your friends or someone you just met, you can help boost your mental capacity. The new input you gain from someone new will help you to see things through another spectrum or perspectives, which in turn, shape the way you perceive things in a healthily different way. Your brain should be supplied and nourished with various inputs, perspectives, facts, knowledge background and stimuli in order to keep your brain to work healthily, within its full potential. Creator Academy has cutting edge training programs that can help you super-charge your intelligence and thinking ability. Be the best version of yourself that you can be today, and achieve all your dreams!

Stay Motivated To Reach Life Goals

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Motivation is the energy that drives you to accomplish goals, and it’s necessary for all types of success. You need motivation in huge doses and you need it daily. Parents have to stay motivated to raise their kids, students have to stay motivated to graduate from college, employees have to stay motivated to get promoted (and to stay employed). Writers have to stay motivated to complete books, and business owners must stay motivated to make profits. Often, after the initial euphoria of achieving one goal has waned, you need motivation to begin working on the next goal. Motivation is the energy that keeps you trying one more time, when everything around you says give up . While it’s easy to embark on the pursuit of a worthwhile goal, the ability to maintain momentum to ensure its completion is another issue altogether. This is because when your motivation is low, your commitment, determination and passion are tested. Your goal whatever it is, will remain just that, unless you get mo

Always be Presentable to make a Good First Impression

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Proper grooming and maintaining a professional appearance are important not only to make a positive first impression, but also adds to the respect you will receive in the workplace. First impressions matter and the way you look and carry yourself impacts how people you work alongside may treat and respond to you. A lack of a presentable appearance can lead to a poor personal image and may affect your ability to work well and be well received by others. As individuals living and working in a highly complex and competitive society, it is important that we recognize and understand the impact of your appearance and the message it is communicating. While it is important to like what you wear and the way you look, it is more important to understand how you look affects you, others and your life and the achievement of your goals. Make sure to be mindful of your appearance at all times – even if you’re running out for a quick trip to the corner store – because a chance meeting can

Plan your day for a productive effect on your lifestyle

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In today’s fast-paced world, remaining productive in our day-to-day living has in many ways never been more difficult. Being able to accommodate a healthy work-life balance (including things like dieting, relaxation, and working out each) is a serious challenge. That being said, no matter how busy we think we are, it is in fact still possible to enjoy a fun and enjoyable lifestyle  without losing any of our productivity. First, it’s important to realize that you don’t have to do everything, every single day, but in any given week, there will be at least one day when you will have to find a way to handle your work, take care of your diet, relax, and finally do your workout. You need to know how much time you have in a given day, and how much of it you’re going to need to complete every activity. Once you have an understanding of what you need to do, you can focus on preparation. This means things like setting the alarm clock, planning what you’re going to do first, and so on. R

Separating Ourselves from Negativity

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Negative energy can be found almost everywhere around us. This is because there are always negative people complaining about life constantly, practicing bad habits and bringing you down with their words and gestures. The emotions they spread can influence your thoughts and actions even sub-consciously, so avoiding sources of negative energy is obligatory if you want to be more successful. Your surroundings have a tremendous impact on yourself. If you spend time with positive people, you are more likely to be happy and content. On the other hand, if you are surrounded by naysayers and complainers, you will have a hard time removing the negativity from your life. Everyone can be easily affected by negative emotions and the only exceptions are people who learned how to deal with it. Positive people always give themselves the responsibility for what happens in their lives. Whether it’s a success or failure, it’s always an effect of their actions and thoughts. A positive person will

Like Life, Work is About the Journey, Not the Destination

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Ask anyone in the working world and they will tell you that work is not what it used to be. Teams are becoming more virtual and diverse with cross-functional working groups now the norm. Organizational structures are also evolving, and we have shifted from the traditional corporate ladder to a more flexible “lattice” approach that opens up new opportunities for growth and increased flexibility. While these are positive changes, they require that employees and their employers show up differently when it comes to managing career progression by seizing new opportunities and charting new paths. Whatever career stage you are in, it’s important to find ways to weave through your organization’s lattice and continue to grow in ways that make sense for you. Equally important is taking a “long view” that focuses on today but with an eye peeking toward the future. Think about where you want to be on your career journey in a few years’ time and then figure out what goals you need to accomplish