How I Never, Ever Worry About My Career
Of course, I have moments of angst like any other professional but generally speaking, my career isn’t something that keeps me up at night. I’m one of the lucky ones who has always known exactly what she wanted to do with her life, right from a young age. I have pursued my professional aspirations — with fervor — since the moment I realized journalism and writing could be a full-time gig. From endless internships and writing for free until someone finally decided to pay me, most of the time, my work doesn’t feel like work, but rather something I enjoy and happen to be skilled at. This confidence and calm has served me well throughout my journey, and it’s also taught me a few valuable lessons. Here, a few tips from someone who doesn’t get super-anxious about work and how you can apply the principles. How to stop to stop worrying about your career:Recognize the power of your thoughtsBlame it on having a mother who is an astrologer but I believe in the power of the universe. And more so, I am always alert to what words I’m using to describe myself, my work and my attitude. Because writing is a passion, the adjectives I associate with this part of my life are positive, exciting and encouraging. I’ve never doubted my ability to string together sentences, hustle for a byline or to land a client, so I rarely think negative about my professional sphere. On the other hand, I struggled for year (read: a decade) with dating before I met my partner. He was worth the ups and downs, but it wasn’t until I started to shift my mental patterns about finding love that I was in the right head space to meet him. If you are anxious about your career or your ability to snag that dream gig, start with the way you talk to yourself. What you say you are, you are — and what you think, becomes your reality. Pay attention and shift appropriately.Don't hold onto the failuresThe road to becoming a full-time freelance travel and lifestyle journalist and owner of a content strategy company definitely hasn’t been smooth sailing from day one. In fact, a big part of my job description is remaining collected when I receive a rejection. Or an article is returned for revisions. Or, I don’t get a client I thought I had in the bag. Whatever the case, I allow myself to mourn the setback… and then I let it go. I also have learned — over many trails and errors — not to take anything personally. Perhaps an editor had a rough morning, and they took it out on their writers. Or my writing style wasn’t a fit for a particular publication. The more you hold onto your shortcomings, the more they define your overall perception of yourself as a professional. Though I may be more sensitive about my body image, when it comes to my career, I’m able to absorb in the comments, release them, and move forward.Celebrate the winsIf there’s anything my friends know about me, it’s that I love a reason to celebrate. I always keep a bottle of champagne in the fridge, I have a drawer full of cards for every occasion, and I never let a birthday go by without doting on my loved ones to the extreme. I apply the same philosophy to my career: when my dream byline went live, I held an impromptu happy hour. When I managed to meet a savings goal, I treated myself (and my boyfriend) to a nice dinner. These milestones may not be much in the grand scheme of a career, but if you aren’t proud of yourself — how can you expect others to be? No matter how you take a moment to reflect on a win, that pause is non-negotiable. It will help foster your self-esteem and give you the motivation you need to push harder.Foster trust in yourselfEven though it isn’t 100 percent true, I find peace in the parts of my life that I feel like I can control. While I couldn’t magically snap my fingers and meet a wonderful guy when I was single, I could hustle hard-time and find new clients. Part of why I don’t suffer from as much anxiety from my career is because I know with diligence, ambitious and determination, I will always keep chugging along. Most importantly, I trust myself to never give up. I also trust my abilities, my judgement and my performance, which automatically sets me up for success. The more that you can remind yourself that hey, I’m worthy and I’m ready for the next big thing, the more convincing you will be to other people you meet along the way.You have to love itSure, not everyone will be head-over-heels for their profession. Not everyone has a lifelong passion. When many people struggle to figure out what to do with their careers, they will make an excuse that "I don’t really like anything that much." This isn’t true for anyone, since working doesn’t have to be the most fulfilling part of your life. In fact, you can love your job because it allows you to create the lifestyle that you want. Say, you’re in management and though it isn’t dreamy, you make six figures, have a flexible schedule and can go abroad four times a year. Instead of thinking about the aspects of your day-in and day-out that you don’t enjoy, you can shift your thinking to focus on what your gig gives you in return. Love can be defined in many ways, after all.So how can you stop worrying less about your career? And manifest the life you want? Start with one positive thought — and you’re on your way.
You Failed, Now What? Successful Entrepreneurs Share Their Comeback Stories
If you’re in the beginning stages of a side hustle, bouncing a few big ideas around, or just trying to make your way up the competitive corporate ladder, it’s important to think positively, manifest, and to not be so hard on yourself. Especially if you are comparing yourself to the most ambitious companies out there. Why? Though it may seem rosy from the outside, every company and entrepreneur has to fail to discover their success. No matter how profitable they are today, at one point, they started from the ground up and had to work overtime to develop strategy, recover from mistakes and build their brand. Here, 5 successful entrepreneurs share how they recovered from failure:1. “Be transparent.”When Kari DePhillips started her company, The Content Factory, she was adamant about on truth: pay everyone. As a writer herself, she never wanted to ask for free content and because she also valued other creatives, she wanted to be prudent about paying for images, too.However, one of her new writers published a blog post to a client’s site that included a copyrighted image, unbeknownst to DePhillips. A few months later, a client received an email from a lawyer informing them they were being sued for $8,000 for using the photo. Not only was it embarrassing — but it was a lot of money for a young business. Though they eventually negotiated the fee down to $3000, it proved to be an expensive — but essential — learning for DePhillips. In addition to crossing her T’s and dotting her I’s, she now has a traceable, reliable workflow for every writer to follow, cutting down on mistakes. Most importantly, she discovered the value in being transparent. She published an expose, appropriately-titled "The $8,000 Mistake That All Bloggers Should Beware." It become the most popular piece of content, driving traffic and ironically enough, bringing in new clients. “People seem to like that vulnerability and candor and once they relate to you — flaws and all — they seem to be more comfortable doing business with you. Transparency is something I now carry throughout my business, from pricing to strategy to open communication with clients and employees,” DePhillips shared. 2. “Your team makes or breaks you..”Generally speaking, Julie Cole lives by the mantra "there are no failures, only lessons." However, that doesn’t mean it’s been easy-peasy growing her company, Mabel’s Labels. As the co-founder and senior director, it was difficult to hire and manage staff when she grew. Business is indeed, personal, and the people who work for your company reflect your brand. This means they can make or break your company — either through their smart actions or their poor choices. I was holding on to staff too long, even when they were not a fit or the company outgrew themShe shared: “It is always difficult to let staff go, but at the end of the day, you need a strong team with the right people on the bus and the wrong people off the bus.”Once she started to be more proactive and selective about her employees, she hired slowly and fired quickly, all in an effort to protect her brand and her bottom line. This resulted in more confidence, a fearless approach to business, and a strong retention rate. “We learned to develop and understand our company’s core values. In doing this, we could integrate our core values in our interview process and ensure we made smart hires. We try to hire and fire by our core values,” she explains. “We allow people to be 'intrapreneurial' in their jobs and we don’t micromanage them. Having a successful team makes for a successful business.”3. “You have to own your brand.”As the co-founder of Feel Good Foods, Vanessa Phillips has gone through many hurdles growing her company. Though some of it has been triumphs, she has also endured some failures. One notable failure involved preparing for a launch with a manufacturer who said everything would be covered. Phillips trusted them, and was excited to see them in the freezers of a large supermarket chain. However, as things developed, Feel Good Foods quickly realized the taste wasn’t up to their standards. Since they pride themselves on wholesome, delicious meals that are also nutritionally-sound, they were anxious about this misstep. Luckily, it was early into their company and they’ve recovered since, but it was a great lesson for Phillips. Nobody is going to watch your products and execute them the way that you would. "As we get bigger we have to trust the people around us a bit more but the once thing that cannot suffer is product integrity,” she continues. “This is so important and it's something you cant take your eyes off of even for one second, especially when product quality is the number one attribute of your product line.”4. “Call yourself what you are — and be proud.”Since she was a child, Dia Bondi says hustle has been at her core. She valued autonomy, adventure and creation. But as she started to dabble into an independent career, calling herself a coach and facilitator in the world of leadership communications, someone offered her an in-house gig. She did it to fit in — not because it was actually what she wanted to do with her profession. “It didn’t take long to see that this was a mistake. Some love the predictability and rhythm of a regular work day, to me it was a straitjacket. For some, being on the same team for a long time is a comfort, for me it was a bore,” Bondi explained. “My ability to contribute in meaningful ways withered." I couldn't stay connected to my creative self, my drive suffered. My light started to go out.So, she quit. She went back and developed her company, Ask Like An Auctioneer and now she guides professionals through their hurdles — personally and professionally. “I intentionally decided to trust my hustle, to dip back into the autonomous adventure of entrepreneurship. With no real plan, I rented a space and got back to work. It didn’t take long for my spark to come back,” she shared. “When I finally accepted my entrepreneurial self and recognized that was my way in the world, what I do and who I am became so much more aligned. And that’s made me more courageous, energized and have the kind of impact I can be proud of.”5. “Accept your weaknesses — and change them.”Though it might seem silly to take out a $100K loan when your business was facing bankruptcy, it was actually the right choice for Jessica Zimmerman. And it was the answer to the biggest mistake she made: not preparing herself for a career as an entrepreneur. In 2011, she bought an event business in the wedding industry, ready to hustle and watch her career skyrocket. Her predecessor went over the rental prices and she took everything as gospel, without doing research on the actual fair market price. She would make $20K in a month — but spend $21K. She would spend her days trying to book clients, her nights worrying about paying employees, and eventually, she knew something had to change. The answer? Going back to school so she could understand business basics. “But in order to get the education I needed, I’d have to put my business, and my all-hustle-all-the-time attitude on pause for an entire year. So I convinced the bank to give me a $100,000 loan, enabling me to spend twelve months learning how to turn my business around,” she shared. Today, her company is a 7-figure business, and she’s grateful she accepted her weakness and sought to change them. If there’s one thing I’ve learned, it’s that failure is inevitable. But if you’re willing to learn and grow, then failure isn’t something that happens to you. It’s something that happens for you.
The Most Surprising People on Forbes' Highest-Paid Celebrities List for 2019
Ever wonder who leads the world’s wealth? Or which celebrities bring home the most bacon? Are they really as different from us as we think? While there are some folks who always grace Forbes' annual collection of the highest-earning entertainers in the business — looking at you Tom Brady and Gisele Bundchen — there are many you likely wouldn’t expect. From international Formula One speed demons to legal icons, there are many celebrities who snag a spot thanks to their massive yearly earnings. What can we learn from their massive success?Here are this year’s surprising contenders you need to know about: Judy Sheindlin Yearly income: $49 million Her actual name is Judith Susan Sheindlin but you know her by another name: Judge Judy.Born and raised in Brooklyn, by Jewish parents who had immigrated from Germany, the New York native studied law in the city, became a prosecutor, and then made her name as a tough family court judge in Manhattan before being discovered by TV producers.These days — or rather, for the past few decades — she’s starred as the infamous Judge Judy, who is quick with words and wit, on daytime TV.At the age of 76, she’s still going strong — and has taken home 4 Daytime Emmy Awards in her tenure. Her contract has been extended into a whopping 25th season of Judge Judy.Canelo AlvarezYearly income: $94 millionIf you’re a fan of boxing, you may know this name, or another he goes by: Canelo -- a nickname the Mexican fighter got thanks to his red hair.Canelo is definitely a force to be reckoned with since he began boxing at age 15, considering he’s held world championships in not one, not two but three weight classes. He’s also held the title of lineal middleweight since 2018 and the WBA super-middleweight title, too.He's been called the world’s best active boxer, and within the athletic community, his ability to counterpunch is unmatched. Psst: this is lingo for the ability find openings in his opponent, without getting punched first, himself. James PattersonYearly income: $70 millionIf you’re an avid mystery or murder reader, you’ll know this name right off the bat. But if you only dabble into reading as a pastime, you might recognize him — but not be able to pinpoint his works. James Patterson is best known for many series, including Alex Cross, Women’s Murder Club, Daniel X, NYPD Red, and Private, among others. He’s also had many stand-alone successes in the thriller, non-fiction, and romance novel category.What few realize is just how much Patterson takes up the shelves of bookstores: he’s written 147 novels since 1976. Of those, he’s had 114 best-sellers. He also has the (impressive!) title as the most number one NYT best-sellers of a single author, with 67.If you calculate it, of all of the novels sold in the United States, 6 percent are Patterson’s. He has poured millions of dollars back into his audience, donating money to universities and libraries to ensure there will be a new generation of readers to love his work -- and the work of other great writers.Sebastian VettelYearly income: $40.3 millionGo, go, go — or as they say in Germany: gehen, gehen, gehen! This racing driver sits behind the wheel of a Scuderia Ferrari and often leads the pack of Formula One races — quite literally. In fact, Sebastian Vettal has won four of the world championships.Thanks to partnerships with Red Bull and Ferrari, he’s amassed an impressive net worth and even taken home some records, including the youngest-ever to hold a world title in Formula One.While he’s only managed to scoot into the runner-up spot in recent years, many still consider him one of the greatest drivers, ever. He got his start thanks to his early passion for go-karting at the age of three, and has been racing ever since.Ashkay KumarYearly income: $65 millionUnless you’re a Bollywood fan, you probably don’t recognize this actor’s name — yet anyway.Born in India, but popular in Canada as an actor, television personality, stuntman and producer, he’s graced the stage for more than 110 movies. With riveting, captivating performances, he’s taken home two Filmfare Awards and one National Film Award.Of all Bollywood actors, he’s been the first and only to work in movies that grossed more than 290 million. Since many Hindi generations admire his work and aspire to have his success, he was given an honorary Doctorate on Kumar, and was given the impressive and rare Padma Shri by the Indian Government in 2009. Sofia VergaraYearly income: $43 millionTo watch her is to love her, and this Colombian-American actress has captivated the hearts of millions.Vergara first moved to America from Colombia to escape the violence and danger that surrounded her upbringing. While her first gigs were hosting television shows for Univisión, a Spanish-speaking network, she’s gone on to star in successful English-language movies and TV shows, like Modern Family, which has made her the highest paid actress in television.In addition to her various endorsements and work as a producer, Vergara is also a cancer survivor and mother who passed her American citizenship test with a perfect score. Looking for ways to give back, Vergara has undertaken charitable efforts that benefit the Latinx crowd and inspire young actresses to shoot for their dreams, too.
What Happened When I Stopped Checking My Email at Night?
At a cafe table, at sunset, in Copenhagen, my partner and I shared the uncomfortable silence. I had broken one of our cardinal rules for meals by looking at my phone — and worse, checking my email. Though we both lead very busy and successful careers, the time we have to reconnect over food is reserved for us, and even if we only have twenty whole minutes to down something quick, we use the time to be device-free. But, in the true essence of an entrepreneur, I felt the need to "check in" because, thanks to a time difference, the United States was in full working mode while Denmark was clocking out for the day. It wouldn’t have been a big deal — and he likely wouldn’t have noticed — if I didn’t open my inbox to see a (rather rude) email from a client. It put me in a sour mood and supercharged my anxiety, leaving me unable to focus on anything else.Ever-calm and patient — two qualities I don’t relate to — my partner reached for my hand. He asked a question I’ll never forget:“But what would change if you didn’t read that email until tomorrow morning?”For a moment, my anger spiked: didn’t he get frustrated with work sometimes, too? Wasn’t I there for him when he was nervous? But before I responded with something sassy, I took a sip of my aperol spritz and actually gave thought to his inquiry: if I didn’t see this email until the a.m. — was anything going to be different? Was I really going to rush home right this second to clear up a few questions on my (perfectly fine) article? The answer was clear: I’m not a news writer, so why am I acting like one?I was two years into being my own bossThat simple exchange had a lasting impact on how I balance work and life. More than that, it affected how I manage expectations of my clients and of myself, since an non-traditional job doesn’t always come with a rule book. Though I did hustle hard to build a career that’s flexible and on my own terms, the same is true for much of the world, outside of the United States. Many companies encourage their employees to invest in their families and to truly sign-off when they’ve finished their meetings of the day. In France, it’s illegal for bosses to expect you to answer email after workIn my partner’s home country of Denmark, it’s rare to be asked to work overtime. None of the friends we have visited there — from lawyers to bankers — harp on about their inboxes. They simply log out. Though it isn’t always 100 percent achievable and the hours are never consistent, once I close my laptop for the day… I don’t look at email again. The change it’s made in my work ethic, my happiness, and my ability to focus has been tremendous. Here, a few learnings I’ve developed since imposing this rule on my workflow:I’m more productiveSure, there are some days when I wake up and can’t imagine stringing sentences together, much less a full article — or three. I used to give myself an "out" by saying I could work as late as I needed to, since hey, I’m the captain of my own career. Now, I have something to look forward to: being offline for a full evening. Knowing that I won’t need to check and respond to emails, or follow-up on stories after hours challenges me to be productive from the time I wake up until I tuck myself in.I sleep betterPerhaps the biggest change of all is in my quality of rest. Before I decided checking my email wasn’t worth the anxiety it often caused, I would refresh my inbox consistently, even right before it was time to hit the hay. If there was a stressful email lurking, I would think about it, causing me to toss-and-turn and have trouble falling asleep. Now, there may be a difficult situation to wake up to, but at the very least, I’m well-rested and prepared to tackle whatever might be waiting for me.I’ve created boundaries and respectNot everyone has the type of career that allows them to be fully offline every evening. But people often create stress for themselves in an effort to show off how eager, efficient, and available they are. Though this might send a message that you're hardworking, it may not be the reputation you want to have for the duration of a contract, project, or job. By logging off and not responding until the morning, I’m setting a precedent of what I’m willing to contribute, how important it is to have downtime and that when I’m online, I’m fully there and ready for work. It was scary at first, sure, to not be "on" all hours of all days, but guess what? I’ve yet to lose a client -- and I’ve even gained a few in the process. I’m more satisfied with my work — and my lifeWhen I used to meet friends for happy hour drinks, a workout class or dinner during the work week, I would check in on my email when I went to the bathroom. You know "just in case" something was urgent. Now, when I feel that urge, I remember that unless I have a very demanding client or I expect a round of edits to come that need my urgent attention, it can wait until the morning. This makes me a more active participant in conversations with my pals and my partner. In other words: I’m more present and thus, it makes me happier.
