Improving Mindfulness For Career Growth

What is mindfulness? The American Psychological Association defines mindfulness as “a moment-to-moment awareness of one’s experience without judgment. It is a state and not a trait.” A mindful individual is fully present and aware of their surroundings and reactions to specific thoughts and situations. Mindfulness is not something people can be born with but instead attained through attentiveness and comprehension. By tending to your thoughts, emotions, and sensations, you can accurately identify your habits and prepare the necessary steps to improve job performance.

A lack of mindfulness presents a disconnected employee walking through their days on autopilot. In the absence of self-awareness, organization, and intentionality towards one’s mental health, employees are not only stunting growth potential but instituting a continuous cycle of detachment as well. Making a conscious effort to these three healthy habits will unify an increased sense of mindfulness and take your career to new heights!

The Quest For Self-Awareness

Being self-aware is a critical part of becoming more mindful, as it allows you to better understand how you fit into your environment. Stay alert of your surroundings; offering attention without personal bias enables you to see how your work affects others and how it makes you feel. As you improve your self-awareness, you will learn to properly assess your capabilities and know your limits. Self-awareness is not just about recognizing your weaknesses but knowing how to capitalize on your strengths as well. 

Self-awareness is a continuous practice that often includes scheduling times to measure your progress and nurture your mind. This can be achieved through daily journaling or speaking with a mentoring figure. But remember, your quest will require you to take on some tough criticism with an open mind and a level of comfortability to examine your perpetual obstacles. Additionally, completing aptitude tests online or seeking performance reviews from your superiors or peers is another great tactic to initiating self-awareness. 

Recognizing Organization as a Form of Self-Care

Are you putting your organizational skills into practice? Becoming more mindful is achieved by putting your self-care methods into practice, and one of the best strategies for your career is organization. Examples include maintaining a well-kept, uncluttered workspace and a structured calendar with blocks of time left open for mindfulness exercises such as journaling, walking, yoga, or meditation.

The Mindfulness and Wellness experts at Mindful.org proceed to expand on the connection between mindfulness and organization by detailing a self-care roadmap. The ‘activity list’ consists of various exercises and strategies written out to become more intentional in your self-care in your Workplace, Physical Fitness, Emotional Life, and Relationships. As you improve on your organization in these areas, you will find yourself to be more confident, energized, engaging, and patient in your career. 

“Self-care means asking yourself what you need and following through on the honest answer.” (Mindful.org)

Prioritizing Mental Health Through Kindness

While mindfulness is recognized as just one outlet for enhancing your mental health, its connectivity to your thoughts, emotions, and sensations makes it a large piece of the puzzle. Humans are naturally wired to be kind, and being kind to others starts with being kind to yourself. When you act on your instincts to be compassionate and mindful of others, you are strengthening yourself and society. Tying into your surroundings, you must make yourself approachable to others and look out for their mental well-being. Studies have shown that providing social support to others often has more benefits to your physical and mental health than receiving it. 

5 Ways To Improve Mindfulness

Via CERIC & Mindworks:

  • Concentrated attention exercises on different objects such as the breath, bodily sensations, or the five senses.
  • Concentrated attention exercises on body movements (e.g. mindful walking, mindful stretching, yoga)
  • Enjoy the silence. Meditations that develop compassion for the self and others. 
  • Eliminate distractions to help avoid multitasking. Focusing on one task or project for a specific period helps to take a weight off your shoulders and pinpoint your attention.
  • Pour yourself into your household chores wholeheartedly.

Final Thoughts

Remember that mindfulness is about showing yourself unconditional kindness during your highs and lows. Mindfulness techniques, such as meditation and relaxation, are proven to enhance moods and dramatically reduce daily stressors. These benefits offer a significant boost to career satisfaction and increased productivity. Erasing stress and worry is not the goal but rather a byproduct of your renewed confidence and elevated sense of purpose.

Stay Vigilant – Watch out for signs of a toxic work culture. Find your support group and keep looking to grow it! Don’t be afraid to allow people the chance to surprise you.

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‘Let Go’ of Your Fear of Being Fired

Within the uncertainty of COVID-19 and detachment felt by many remote working employees, fighting through the fear of being fired is a common anxiety making work much more difficult for employees. Operating under this fear can be detrimental to daily job performance and mental health. It does not discriminate against rank, location, or industry. Similar to stress (and often inducing stress), fear drives us to a poor work-life balance and career burnout.

The first step towards seeing change is acknowledging your thoughts and accepting that they are not your reality. Initially revealed by Susie Moore, we break down five specific reasons you can and should push back against the fear of losing your job. 

#1 The Fear Creates a Standstill in Creativity

“Our best ideas and moments of inspiration come to us when we are in an optimistic mindset.”

Your work environment and daily mindset should place you in a position to thrive, not one aimed to survive. An increasing fear of being fired puts you on edge and gives way to a fear of failure. When you walk through your workdays afraid of messing up or asking a dumb question, creativity is halted.

“When people feel confident in themselves and safe in their surroundings, they’re primed to lean into creative problem solving and innovation. No one should feel like they’re going to be shut down or interrupted for offering their take on things.” – Brandon Rodman, CEO of Weave.

So, what can you do? Beware the signs of a toxic work culture. Vanquish the thought of your next challenge or assignment being another opportunity to fail but rather an opportunity to experiment and grow. You never know where any potential ‘mistakes’ may lead you. 

#2 The Fear Keeps Us From Doing Our Best Work

“The Ancient Greeks defined happiness as the joy of striving towards our potential. When we are busy with fearful feelings, there is limited joy and limited striving. Fear not only stops the flow of creative ideas; it rears its ugly head in all aspects of their actualization.”

Set the tone for a productive workday by controlling your environment. Set boundaries to limit your time spent on social apps or unproductive conversations. When working remotely, make an effort to remove the clutter from your workspace, follow a consistent workflow, and promote self-care through a healthier form of distraction. Key examples include morning work-outs or yoga, walks in the neighborhood, or grabbing coffee with a friend.

What evidence do you have to fear getting fired? You have likely cultivated the experience that leads to valued insight. Remember that you are a part of the team for a reason. Your expertise and skill-set got you here, so speak confidently and enthusiastically. You can go as far as your belief in your ability to learn and grow will take you, but if you feel you are not in an environment where you feel psychologically safe, it may be time to move on. 

Still unsure of the evidence against your departure? Here are five signs your employer may be preparing to let you go via wikiHow:

  • Your workload subsides.
  • There’s new management that wants to take the company in a new direction.
  • Your manager is suddenly avoiding you.
  • You’re no longer asked to attend important meetings.
  • Your boss is hyper-critical of your work.

#3 The Fear is Exaggerated & #4 The Fear Deludes You From Better Things Ahead

“The event of losing a job is often much more bearable than the months, even years of fear that precede it. There is an excellent chance that something much better and more suitable is waiting for you. It will become clear with time.”

In the unlikely scenario that you do get fired, don’t lose perspective of what lies ahead. Frequently, getting fired is the only way many professionals get out of toxic work environments and escape their unhealthy career mindset. In a recent piece for The Muse, Marketing & BD Coordinator Virginia Watson revealed how getting ‘let go’ from her previous role was the best thing that ever happened to her. It pushed her to be honest about the hard facts she ignored and provided perspective to the bigger picture. 

We do not have the ability to see why things happen when they do, but any failures we experience are just a stepping stone to something greater. Turn your fear into motivation and take ownership of your career by expanding your current skill-set and taking a proactive approach to a future job search. Open yourself to new networking opportunities, connect with new people on LinkedIn, and make a choice to no longer remain stagnant in your career.

There is no reason to feel embarrassed to part ways with a company, as proven through these 21 most famous post-firing success stories. Getting fired has often proven to be the extra motivation these individuals needed and the only practical method for their timely departure. 

*BONUS* Courtesy of the career experts at EndThrive, here are 12 specific reasons that losing your job is not a mark of shame but rather a sign that great things lie ahead!

#5 The Fear Gives Way To ‘Worst-Case Scenario’ Thinking

The thought of losing your job can be scary, but choosing to operate under that fear will create a burden too large to bear. From a career standpoint, this pessimistic outlook consists of taking ordinary situations and imagining the worse. Don’t allow fear to paralyze your career. Unless you have heard management reveal their concerns or impending layoffs, your concern is unjustified. If you ever do happen to get fired throughout your career, what is actually different? Suzie Moore states, “You remain the same person, same IQ, same personality, same friends, same health. A job can be replaced.”

Get your career on track by gathering inspiration from Success Consciousness’s 30 Positive Daily Affirmations For Success, Happiness, and Improvement.

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Statistics Employers Should Keep in Mind in 2021

As the job market continues to heal and the unemployment rate inches closer to the pre-COVID 3.5 percent, employers are working hard to become more marketable. With the increase of remote positions, inclusive workplaces, and upskilling, employers must finetune their brand and assure work-life balance is achievable for their team. 

Earlier this month, the team at Glassdoor For Employers pieced together 45 statistics employers need to review in order to shape a healthy recruitment model and attract top talent. We review a few of our favorites below:

COVID-19: Health & Safety

As companies continue to reopen offices and create hybrid positions, the wellness of employees cannot be taken lightly. Ensuring the proper health and safety protocols are in place is an essential piece to retaining your key employees and attracting new candidates. Beyond the tangible health and safety measures, employers must stay attuned to their responsibilities of their team’s mental health as well.

  • 86% of employees say they would prefer to continue working from home, at least in a hybrid role, when their office reopens.
  • 68% of hiring managers say remote work is working better than when they first started working remotely in 2020. Reasons included reduced non-essential meetings (70%) and increased schedule flexibility (60%).
  • The challenges of working from home: 20% cited they lack interactions and often feel isolated when working from home, and 16% don’t have a home office or dedicated space, so they feel distracted.
  • 70% agree that employees should be required to get a COVID-19 vaccine in order to return to the office.

Employer Branding

Over 85% of job-seekers admit to searching a company’s reviews before choosing to interview. Whether it is on Glassdoor, Indeed, LinkedIn, or another social platform, responding to past or present employees plays an essential role in your future hires. A strong brand will not only help you attract top talent but will help you retain your top employees as well. 

  • 86% of HR professionals surveyed indicated recruitment is becoming more like marketing.
  • 75% of active job seekers are likely to apply to a job if the employer actively manages its employer brand.
  • 92% of people would consider changing jobs if offered a role with a company with an excellent corporate reputation.
  • Employee voice is 3x more credible than the CEO’s when talking about working conditions in that company.

Diversity

How much does diversity matter to job seekers? 76% of job-seekers and employees reported a diverse workforce as a critical factor when evaluating companies and job offers. In addition to the expanded creativity and innovation that a more inclusive workforce provides, the McKinsey firm also found that ethnically diverse and gender-diverse companies have proven to be more profitable.

  • About 1 in 3 employees and job seekers (32%) would not apply for a job at a company with a lack of diversity among its workforce. 
  • 71% of employees would be more likely to share experiences and opinions on diversity & inclusion at their company if they could do so anonymously.
  • Nearly half of Black (47%) and Hispanic (49%) job seekers and employees have quit a job after witnessing or experiencing discrimination at work, significantly higher than white (38%) job seekers and employees.

Work-Life Balance

As the stress and fatigue behind the 40+ hour work weeks continue to be spotlighted, the value of a healthy work-life balance is becoming more fundamental. Enhanced by the remote work shift, the blurred lines between work life and home life are a gateway to career burnout that cannot be ignored.

  • 70% of employees said that their work defines their sense of purpose. Still, only 15% of frontline managers and frontline employees say they live their purpose at work, compared with 85% of executives and upper management.
  • Employees on average are working three more hours per day than before the pandemic.
  • 41% of workers feel ‘burnt out’ at work, and 45% feel emotionally drained.
  • A survey at Imperative found that people who engage in peer coaching are 65% more likely to feel fulfilled; 67% more likely to report being a top performer; 73% more likely to report feeling a sense of belonging; and 50% more likely to expect to stay in their job for more than five years.

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Employer Branding Strategy: Trends To Monitor in 2021

Employers: Does your brand effectively communicate the value your organization has to offer? Are you proud of your reputation in employee experience and employee satisfaction? It’s time you make the necessary adjustments to show your team how much you value their hard work, especially during the unpredictability of the pandemic. Furthermore, your acknowledgment and gratitude will often boost your team members’ mental well-being, thus improving productivity and encouraging them to show the validity of your kind words.

Many employers get wrapped up focusing on the consumer aspect of their brand, but there needs to be an equal focus on the viewpoint of employees and job-seekers. When a strong, healthy image is established through upheld core values, the quality and integrity within each employee will organically strengthen the company’s consumer brand. 

Through a well-structured employer branding strategy, companies can propel their talent acquisition to an upper echelon of job-seekers and improve employee retention. The current shift in today’s workforce calls employers to go beyond the traditional employer branding strategies, i.e., an appealing website, five-star testimonials, and detailed job postings. Here are three workplace trends today’s employers need to closely monitor and implement to stand out as a top place to work:

Increased Workplace Health & Safety Protocols

As the restrictions surrounding businesses returning to the office are beginning to lift, the health and safety protocols remain at large. You can find the CDC’s up-to-date COVID-19 Office Building guidelines and restrictions here. People want to feel safe right now, and if you decide to reopen your office, it is your ultimate responsibility to make sure the proper measures are in place. 

The necessary health and safety protocols go beyond in-office cleaning, sanitization, and social distancing. It is your responsibility to stay up to date with mental health trends by enhancing work-life balance benefits through flexible schedules, childcare assistance, and therapeutic resources. Showcase your call towards mental health awareness and wear it proudly. For the years ahead, establishing a supportive environment for your employees is crucial to retaining your top performers and attracting new ones. 

Integration of Remotely Operating Employees

While some companies near a return to their traditional in-office capacity, others remain in the preliminary stages of that transition. Regardless, the concept of remote employees and Zoom conducted meetings are here to stay. Since companies across the country are making these remote hires, competition for top talent is greatly heightened. If you can adjust your vacant positions to operating on a remote or semi-remote basis, you will open your company to 26% of job-seekers that admit requiring a work-from-home option (via Career Builder). 33% of job-seekers also revealed they apply to jobs outside their location with the expectation they would be able to work from home. 

As a result of the emphasis on remote-based positions, there is an increased value placed on company culture and reputation. Having a quick commute, provided lunches, or an office-with-a-view are much less valued with the hiring shift. The concerns of a remote employee surround topics such as lack of communication, flexibility in work hours, feelings of isolation, and the fear of office politics getting in the way of a promotion. As the employer, you must prioritize ensuring job stability and providing reassurance and fairness in performance reviews. 

An Emphasis on Diversity & Inclusion

Companies that emphasize diversity and inclusion initiatives, such as fair treatment, equal opportunity, and education, will experience immense growth because of the different perspectives and ideas they invite. Consider implementing some of your employees as brand advocates, sharing their positive experiences and excitement about their job online. Your use of social media is a great tool to showcase your responsibility in building a more diverse and inclusive workplace. Conversely, any sign of discrimination that reveals a mark of privilege or bias will be immediately put under the spotlight and have intense ramifications. 

In today’s contest for top talent, the career experts at Smarp stress the importance of attracting the right employees and looking beyond the traditional talent recruitment practices. Here are 10 of the top benefits Smarp lists as a result of diversity and inclusion in the workplace:

  • Accelerated Growth & Financial Performance
  • Boosted Innovation & Creativity
  • Improved Reputation
  • Improved Decision-Making
  • Higher Talent Attraction (67% of job seekers describe diversity as an important factor)
  • Increased Knowledge exchange
  • Increased Employee Engagement
  • Enhanced Employee Retention
  • Increased Employee Empowerment
  • Increased Employee Loyalty

*BONUS* Maintain Accurate Candidate Personas

With the high volume of job-seekers, it has become increasingly challenging to identify all-star candidates. By thoroughly defining your ideal candidate persona, you can more accurately compose your job description to align with your existing team members and culture. Analyze the resume of your current employees and inquire about the qualities that have made them successful. Take note of their demographics, educational and professional background, and any career goals they may have. Other critical questions include:

  • Adding to our three listed above, which job features were most important to them?
  • Were they passive or active job seekers?
  • What tools did they utilize to search for jobs?

Wrap Up

Don’t downplay the importance of focusing on your employer branding and how an effective strategy can impact your company for years to come. Like anything else, it takes hard work and intentionality, but establishing a new narrative through emphasized health and safety, remote integration, and diversity and inclusion will lead you to see your culture and employee output evolve over time. 

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What NOT To Do When You’re Having A Bad Day

When you feel annoyed or offended, it is customary not to act on those feelings with aggression. In relationships, it’s critical not to sever any bonds with a ‘knee-jerk’ reaction or comment in the heat of the moment. Whether it is a family member, friend, or significant other, giving yourself space, taking deep breaths, and returning to the issue at another time is always advantageous. When you have one chance at making things right, you do not want to put yourself in a position to make things worse.

Our friends at The Muse took the time to connect this sentiment to our responsibilities and tasks in the workplace. When a function needs to be taken seriously, you must illustrate the proper mindset to tackle it. When you enter a momentary rut or negative headspace, here are five things Alyse Kalish recommends you shelve for the time being:

1. Take an Important Call

If you’ve had a rough or busy morning and are dreading an upcoming phone call with a client, you are well within your rights to postpone the meeting a few hours. The key is to not cancel on them, but instead offer a ‘white lie’ to make way for more focused, productive conversation later on.

2. Have a Difficult Conversation

If you have an employee or co-worker that you need to deliver some harsh feedback to, proceeding while in a recusant state of mind will induce the individual unreceptive to your observation or criticism. It’s best to hold off on the meeting until you are mentally prepared.

3. Respond to an Email That Gets on Your Nerves

When you are not feeling like your typical self, even a subtle annoyance can send you into a tailspin. Maybe a co-worker just sent you a notice that they have not made any progress on their assignments for a big project. Perhaps it is your boss or manager responding to your question with “Figure it out.” 

When you receive an email that strikes a nerve, don’t jab back with a frustration-fueled response. If someone required an immediate reply, the message likely would’ve been delivered through a phone call or in-office meeting. Take time to unwind, collect your thoughts, and come back later with a professional response.

4. Make a Decision

If someone in your organization requires your input for a direction to take for a new project, now is not the time. Here’s why: Your ‘bad day’ may consist of feelings of recklessness or hastiness, which can lead to a bold decision that takes you off-track. While it may feel productive and as if you are removing a burden, it’s not wise to justify making that decision in an impulsive state. Instead, ensure your team you are dealing with it and offer a timeline for your answer.

5. Submit a Key Assignment

Days will come where you are not exhibiting an apt mentality to meet an approaching deadline for a research write-up, analytics spreadsheet, or outreach plan. Do not risk pitching a lackluster product when a few extra hours or days can provide a winning result. If you are comfortable requesting a deadline extension, offer a promise for desirable outcomes, set a new timetable, and ensure it won’t happen again. 

Wrap Up

Take care of your mental health. Pushing through a difficult day is never easy, notably when conditions like these occur. Still, with a little time and inward thinking, you can quickly return to the reliable professional you know yourself to be. 

For written-out examples on how to express reasons for the delay or push through when the task cannot wait, visit Alyse’s full article here.

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