How to Handle Mental Health Issues In The Workplace

How to Handle Mental Health Issues In The WorkplaceHow to Handle Mental Health Issues In The Workplace You may have seen the story that recently went viral about an employee who was 100 percent honest about the fact that she needed to take a couple of mental health days. It might seem like a brave thing to admit, but her CEOs response spoke volumes about the companys forward-thinking approach to mental health. I just wanted to personally thank you for sending emails like this, the CEO wrote in an email to the employee. Every time you do, I use it as a reminder of the importance of using sick days for mental health I cant believe this is not standard practice at all organizations. You are an example to us all, and help cut through the stigma so we can all bring our whole selves to work. Unfortunately, this kind of response isnt exactly standard. Still, this should be an example to leaders everywhere, says Dr. Richard Shuster, psychologist and host of The Daily He lping Podcast . notlage only is it good for employees to be in touch with their mental health, but it actually makes business sense, too. There is a large body of research that indicates when employees are happy and healthy, they are more productive, says Dr. Shuster. Further, an employee who receives a response like the woman in this story did is likelier to feel a stronger sense of loyalty to the organization. Employee retention is a hot topic these days, and this is a perfect example of how companies can improve their policies to keep their talent happy and at the top of their game.So why dont more companies encourage mental health days, and what can you do to make them more accepted? We spoke to experts to find out. Why We Need to Destigmatize Mental HealthAsk any mental health professional, and theyll tell you that your mental and physical health are directly linked - yet physical ailments are much easier to talk about in the workplace. Our society is comfortable with some one taking a sick day for being physically ill, but as a culture we still discount and minimize the importance of taking care of our emotional and mental health, explains Jude Miller Burke, Ph.D., psychologist, leadership coach, and author of The Adversity Advantage Turn Your Childhood Hardship Into Career and Life Success . Its not easy to change a work culture thats been around pretty much forever, but it is possible- and dont worry, it doesnt involve spilling your most intimate secrets to your coworkers. To destigmatize, its key to exorcise falsehoods about what strength is, says Dr. Perpetua Neo , a clinical psychologist who works with high achievers. Instead of coping alone, not asking for help, rationalizing mental health issues away, we should emphasize and actively build stronger teams who have each others backs, she says. This is especially so for the Type A, perfectionist high-achievers who inevitably set the tone for the workplace culture given their leadership roles. And while the road to destigmatization starts at the top, theres something to be done at every level of a company to help bring mental health into the conversation.In the leadership world, you hear about company culture all the time. Establishing a forward-thinking policy on openness about mental health is a great example of what having a fantastic company culture is really about. If the workplace culture promotes an acceptance of caring for ones mental health as important, it reduces stigmatization and increases the likelihood that an employee who truly needs help will seek it out, explains Dr. Shuster. It is important for company leadership to normalize mental illness in the same manner that one does other medical conditions. That means encouraging employees to make use of the resources available to them, whether thats highlighting the companys insurance coverage of mental health care, creating an open-door policy with HR to discuss how workplace stress can be lessened, or be efing up an employee assistance program.The key to being a great boss is first and foremost having your own act together. That why you should start with yourself, according to Shaun Wehle, Psy.D. , a psychologist, trainer, speaker and consultant specializing in workplace wellness and work-life balance. A major contributing factor to employee wellness is the relationship with the superior, he says. Basically, if you want to take care of your employees and promote their well-being, you need to put yourself in a position where you are actually equipped to do so. See a psychologist, he recommends. You dont have to be psychoanalyzed if you dont want that. There is a (not so new) trend of positive psychology that doesnt overly pathologize and instead looks at psychological principles as a way of improving the overall quality of life. This can help in both workplace culture and the home life, Dr. Wehle explains.Secondly, its important to acknowledge that mental health issues are incredi bly common. Realizing this can help prepare managers to deal with the inevitable situations that will arise with their direct reports. In a study of 310 high achieving men and women that I just completed, 60 percent of the participants struggled with issues stemming from childhood abuse, witnessing domestic violence, chemically dependent family members, poverty, mentally ill family members, or loss, says Dr. Smerling. Essentially, that means over half of the employees coming into work on any given day, at all levels in an organization, are bringing a negative childhood vorlage that may resurface as stress increases. In other words, many people have dealt with issues in the past- or are dealing with them in the present- that can cause significant mental strain. Knowing this from the get-go can help managers feel less awkward when discussing mental health with their employees.First and foremost, employees often wonder what they should say if they need a mental health day. If you know you have a boss and/or corporate structure that is receptive to the idea that a mental health day may be needed, asking for one and being open about that would be an ideal situation, says Dr. Wehle. I would suggest avoiding being dishonest about why youre taking the day off, he adds. And if your office isnt so open about psychological struggles, often just saying youre taking a sick day or a personal day will not be contested, he says. As for bringing up overall mental health with your coworkers and superiors, youll have to gauge that depending on your individual professional bonds and current work culture. Many of us would like to have an open and honest relationship with our work family, says Dr. Wehle, but that doesnt necessarily mean you will want to (or should) get into the nitty gritty of what youre going through with your colleagues. And if you have trouble wrapping your head around making mental health part of your professional well-being , think of it this way As an empl oyee, its your responsibility to do the best work you can, which means being in the right frame of mind to get the job done. For smaller issues, taking a mental health day may do the trick, but if youre grappling with something bigger- the fallout from a death in your family, depression, divorce, or anxiety, for example- its a good idea to have a brief but honest conversation with your supervisor. If one fails to communicate with their superior that they are having mental health difficulties, it leaves their wertmiger zuwachs issues to the imagination of their boss, explains Dr. Shuster. Again, no need to tell them all the details, but its smart to let them know about the issue in terms you feel comfortable with. Lastly, it is helpful to express to your supervisor a plan of action such as seeking treatment, he says. This demonstrates that you plan to address it head-on so that you can continue performing at your best on the job.

Top 10 Things That You Should Never Do at Work

Top 10 Things That You Should Never Do at WorkTop 10 Things That You Should Never Do at WorkWhen youre at work, you need to work, of course, but, youre also human. That whole human thing means that you make mistakes from time to time and you take some actions that are not ideal for your career. Everyone does, and its not a huge problem in most cases. But there are some things that you should never, ever do at work. They are career damaging, reputation damaging, and they will cause you to lose respect from your coworkers, your senior team, but most particularly- the partie you fondly call the anfhrer. Here are the top ten things you should never do at work. 1. Use Your Computer for Anything You Wouldnt Want Your Boss to Know About Lots of bosses dont careif you check your personal email, post to your Twitter account, or shop for flowers for Mothers Day on your work computer. That doesnt mean that you have free rein on your computer. You should limit what you do on a work-owned com puter even if your job doesnt have formal internet and e-mail policies. No porn, of course, at any time. It is never appropriate to view at work. But dont job hunt, tweet anything inappropriate, or do anything that would cause your boss to freak out either. Remember, your company IT department can have access to everything you do on that computer, even when you use it at home. They access work computers when they suspect suspicious behavior by an employee. 2. Whine You can whine at home to your friends and family, but whining at work is a career killer. This doesnt mean that you cant complain about problems. When you complain, however, your complaint should identify a problem that is fixable with an action plan that you and your organization can implement. When you whine, its just whining and whining makes you look immature. 3. Overshare Yes, you want to become friends with your coworkers. But they dont need to know all of your drama whether it is relationship drama, family drama, or medical drama. This doesnt mean that you need to be a closed book, but it does mean keep the sharing of the personal drama under control. Telling your coworkers that youre going through a divorce is alright. Sharing every detail about what your soon-to-be ex is doing- and how you feel about it- is not. Keep business relationships professional. 4. Ignore Your Bosss Warnings When your boss says you need to come into work on time, she means it. When your boss says your attitude needs adjusting, it needs adjusting. When your boss says she wants you to focus on task A before going on to task B, you better make A, your priority. When youdont pay attention to these warnings, you put your career on the line. Some bosss preferences are career breaking to ignore. 5. Always Say Yes Your boss didnt hire you because she needed a robot. She hired you because you had knowledge, skills, and abilities that make you great at what you do. This means you need to speak up and share you r ideas. After youve expressed your doubts about an idea and your boss says she still wants you to do it her way, do it that way, but use your intellect to present new ideas. 6. Anything Illegal This really shouldnt have to be said, but so many people break so many laws all of the time, they dont think its a big deal. Think about speeding. Everyone does it, right? But dont do it when youre driving on company business. What about working off the clock? You shouldnt do that either. Dont sign documents youre not legally authorized to sign. Dont do drugs. Dont let regulations slide. Be a stickler for legality in all of your actions. 7. Anything Immoral Dont lie. Dont have an affair. Dont set out to undermine your coworker. Sure, all of those activities can seem fun at the moment, but if youre busted, even if its not directly related to your job, it lowers your colleagues opinion of you. You dont want people thinking of you like Jane, who had an affair with her boss, or Patrick, the guy who tried to make his team look schwimmbad to a senior manager despite his involvement in the failed project. 8. Recommend Your Friends Just Because They Are Your Friends Lots of companies have employee referral programs, and they are great. If you know a person who would work out fabulously in a ort in your company, by all means, recommend that person. If someone you recommended gets hired, youll likely get a bit of extra cash- at least positive recognition and a big thank you. Awesome. But, dont recommend a person just because you are friends. That tends to end up as a disaster. Remember, its not just about the referral bonus, and its not just about getting your friend a job, its about your reputation. If you know or even worry about the possibility that your friend is a slacker, dont recommend her. 9. Spread Germs Around the Office Now, its true that many companies dont have sick plans and in some cases, youll get in trouble for taking time off, even if you have a fever of 104 and spend half the day in the bathroom. If thats the case, then put a pox upon your bosss head and hopefully, he catches whatever you have. But if your company has a sick plan or any PTO that you could use when youre contagious, for Petes sake, take it. When youre sick, youre not working up to speed, and youre infecting others. If they catch your disease, their productivity drops as well. One person with the flu can decimate an office. Stay home. If you cant stand notworking, work from home if possible, but pretty please, keep the germs to yourself. 10. Let Anger Take Over Your job can be one of the most stressful components of your life. Dont, however, let your stress turn into anger that turns into bad behavior in the office.Yelling, screaming, punching a wall- or even worse, punching a person- can be career limiting. Punching a coworker also falls under that no illegal things category. Youll probably get fired and might land yourself in prison. Learn to count to 10 before responding. If you find yourself yelling a lot, use your companys EAP and get some anger management help. It will save your career. You want your coworkers to like and respect you, and your boss to appreciate you and your work professionally. You want to make the time you invest at work happy time, too. So if you avoid these ten actions, what you want will come true, and youll have missed most opportunities for committing career suicide.

Customize this Outstanding Media Relations Manager Resume Sample

Customize this Outstanding Media Relations Manager Resume SampleCustomize this Outstanding Media Relations Manager Resume SampleIn media relations, your profession revolves around making connections, and the job search process is no different. To connect with employers, you need an effective resume that captures their attention. Using this media relations manager resume sample, found below, learn the techniques that can help you construct a job-winning resume. Discover how efficient, engaging language sets you apart from the competition.Writing a successful resume requires an understanding of the field, including the terminology and responsibilities involved. Use the example as a barometer to gauge how well you fare with other applicants. If you need additional help getting started, dont hesitate to utilize the handy resume builder.Create Resume Samuel Mustaine100 Broadway LaneNew Parkland, CA, 91010Cell (555) 987-1234example-emailexample.comProfessional SummaryExperienced Media Rel ations Manager with a strong understanding of the delicate balance between the information the media needs and the information the media wants. Proven history of professionally managing media communications, assisting corporate executives in sustaining a positive media image and helping public relations to be successful. Works to keep the media out of the companys business.Core QualificationsExternal Communication ManagementExecutive Media TrainingProfessional NetworkingDigital Communications AdministrationExecutive Level Correspondence ManagementLong-Term Marketing PlanningExperienceMedia Relations Manager, February 2010 May 2015Cornwell Incorporated New Cityland, CADeveloped a review system for all correspondence that was to be released to the press.Worked closely with executive gruppe on a media plan for all product releases.Created the companys first communications crisis management plan.Media Relations Manager, June 1994 October 2007Simmons Incorporated New Cityland, CAAdmi nistered a media relations training class for all executives.Developed a work flow chart for all press releases and outgoing correspondence.Created several layers of approvals for media information sent in response to a negative accusation.Education1994 Bachelor of Science, MarketingHemstead University New Cityland, CACustomize ResumeWhy Is This a Good Media Relations Manager Resume Sample?Before beginning your resume, you should have an idea of what an effective one looks like. The media relations manager resume sample lays out the format and illustrates the kind of information employers in the industry are looking for. The first section contains the summary statement. Here, you want to provide a concise description of your professional accomplishments and qualifications. Include your current title and key responsibilities, such as press releases and media outreach. The statement should be brief, no more than four or six lines.The second section of the media relations manager resu me sample provides a list of applicable skills for the position. Notice how the example lists industry-specific qualifications like executive media training and communication management, which fortify the writers credibility. Before drafting your core qualifications, research your field to find key terms and skillsets that reinforce your expertise. Furthermore, utilize descriptive qualifiers to boost the value of your skills. For example, in the sample resume, the writer uses words like long-term and executive-level to better illustrate the extent of his expertise.The experience section is the largest portion of your resume, though still concise. You have the opportunity to describe in more detail your career accomplishments and responsibilities. As you can see in the media relations manager resume sample, this section features your previous job titles with a list of six to eight bullet points underneath. Each bullet should describe a particular role or responsibility, augmented wit h performance data, specific metrics, and achievements.The education section, the final portion of your resume, should contain a concise list of your most recent degrees, certificates, coursework, and licenses. You do not need to go into detail simply include the institution, graduation year, and the degree or field of study. departure with your most recent education and proceed in reverse chronological order.Why You Need a Strong Media Relations Manager ResumeAccording to the Bureau of Labor Statistics, the projection for the increase in media relations manager jobs is six percent, which is on par with average industry growth. However, despite a promising outlook, you nevertheless need a resume that can help you stand out among the pool of applicants vying for the same position. The media relations manager resume sample illustrates how proper formatting and engaging content can better capture employer attention. Given that hiring managers typically spend no more than six seconds re viewing a resume, the sample utilizes a format that maximizes readability and clarity. An effective resume delivers the information efficiently, providing as much detail in as little space as possible.Costly Media Relations Manager Resume Mistakes To AvoidWhile there are some obvious mistakes you should avoid, such as spelling errors and misleading information, others are not so easy to miss. Beyond simple formatting mistakes, you should also be wary of writing in generalities. The information you provide employers should be specific, unique, and illustrative of your value. Additionally, you should avoid irrelevant content. Positions or skills in unrelated fields have no place on your resume. To get a better idea of the kind of information to include, revisit the media relations manager resume sample. Notice how the writer incorporates industry-specific skills and emphasizes his strengths in workflow management and executive communication. This language is more specific and effectiv e in demonstrating expertise than general tasks and responsibilities. Finally, avoid repetition in your writing. Vary your word choice to create a more engaging document. If you find yourself using the same language over and over, break out the thesaurus and select better words.ConclusionHaving reviewed the media relations manager resume sample and writing tips, youre ready to begin writing your own job-winning resume. Remember, you want to create a document that is both engaging and concise. Use active language and specific metrics whenever possible, and emphasize your career accomplishments. With practice and patience, you can construct a stronger, more effective resume.

Reasons Why Salary Transparency Is Gaining Popularity

Reasons Why Salary Transparency Is Gaining PopularityReasons Why Salary Transparency Is Gaining PopularitySalary transparency is an approach to pay and compensation that is the exact opposite of the longstanding norm among most employers, in which what the organization pays to whom is kept largely secret. The only exceptions normally are the compensation packages for senior executive officers at publicly-traded companies, which must be disclosed to the investing public in financial reports per SEC rules. If you have or want a career in menschengerecht resources, youwill know to justify the maintenance of opaque (as opposed to transparent) salary structures as a means to protect the privacy of individual employees and to avoid the outbreak of workplace jealousies and hostilities over differences in pay. While this is true, there are other, unspoken, reasons as well. These typically motivate the reluctance of most employers even to disclose the salary bands or salary ranges that apply to given job categories, job titles, job descriptions, and are related to discussions of salary policies and salary negotiation tactics. The Exception to Pay Transparency For sales personnel paid a commission basis, the pay formula, if not the actual amounts paid to each employee in sales job categories, is known and transparent. For example, in securities brokerage firms the broker payout gridis out in the open for all people paid thusly to see. The incentive structure is thus made clear to all concerned. In regards to the actual amounts earned by salespersons in fields such as securities brokerage (nowadays officially called financial advisory services), insurance sales or real estate sales, what the top earners are making is revealed through the existence of recognition events and recognition awards. The minimum production, gross sales or commissionsrequired to earn a given award are well-publicized, to give prestige to the winner and to offer incentives to everyone else. Sin ce the formula for converting these metrics into pay also is known, so is the minimum amount earned by the winners. Nonetheless, it is possible for a company with a commission-based pay formula to be opaque rather than transparent in this regard. That is so if the parameters of the pay formula differ by an individual employee, and those parameters, as well as the reasons for the differences therein, are kept secret by the company. A Study on Pay Transparency Chicago-based Challenger, Gray Christmas, a leading outplacement firm, believes that salary transparency probably will becomean increasingly hot topic in the next few years. According to their January 28, 2015 press release on the topic, While salary transparency is still far from widespread, the idea of instituting an open-book policy on what every employee earns is starting to gain traction. In a survey that they conducted among human resources professionals in the final quarter of 2014,13 percent responded affirmatively to the radical prostandort that employees should know exactly how much everyone at the company earns. Another 42 percent were in favor of a less extreme measure, agreeing that companies should only provide salary ranges for departments and positions. Thus, 55% favored some degree of salary transparency. On the opposite side of the ledger, 39% favored keeping all data on pay secret. A caveat with this study is its rather small sample.Challenger says that it contacted approximately 100 human resources professionals. The firm indicates that blind responses were submitted from a pool representing a variety of industries, regions and company sizes. Issues With Salary Transparency In his statement releasing the survey results, John A. Challenger, CEO of the firm that bears his name, made these salient points Small differences between co-workers salaries can lead to resentment and conflicts over who earns what.An employee with a higher salary may have a unique or in-demand skill.It may have taken a high salary to lure one worker from their previous employer.Maybe the higher earner is simply a more skilled and aggressive negotiator.Even if an employer reveals the reason for a certain workers higher pay, those earning less are likely to remain unhappy.Resulting acrimony could hurt morale and productivity, and spur increased turnover. Ways to Disclose Salary Ranges Challenger believes that, whilesharing individuals salaries is bound to be highly problematic, sharing information about the range of salaries for each position can make a great deal of sense. In particular, employees should be advised on what they can do to move toward the higher end of the scale. Offer varying levels of transparency depending on the employees level. The example that they offer is the North Shore-LIH Health System in New York, which was featured in a recentHR Magazinearticleconcerning salary transparency. This hospital system offers varying levels of transparency depending on the ca tegory of employee. Go fully public, inside and outside your organization. Union workers salaries are fully public under collective bargaining. Go semi-public by department or position. Nonunion workers only know the salary range for each position. That reflects the opinion of the42 percent of respondents to the recent Challenger survey that (also as noted above) favored disclosing information on salary rangesfor departments and/or job categories. Disclose everyones salaries within the entire company. On the extreme end of the spectrum, the proposition favored by 13 percent of survey respondents was that employees should know exactly how much everyone at the company earns. It is practiced by New York-based business analytics firm SumAll. They also were cited in the aforementionedHR Magazinearticle. If you choose full disclosure of everyones compensation in your company, John Challenger nonetheless notes Many believe that sunshine is the best disinfectant.It will help employees deter mine their value to the company.It will also force employers to really think about salaries and possibly fix inequities. Ultimately, the decision of whether to institute a policy of salary transparency, the level of transparency, and success of that policy, is likely to be determined by the culture of the company, John Challenger wisely notes. Moreover, he feels strongly that organizations must take a long and honest look at the cultures that they have created. In particular, he warns that opening up the books on salaries is not a magic cure-all. Indeed, in organizations that suffer from long histories ofdistrust, animosity, perceptions of favoritism, etc., such revelations are more likely to heighten tensions than to relieve them. Instead, salary transparency must be preceded by a fundamental change in the company culture that inevitably will take time. On the other hand, in a company with a highly collaborative workforce, engaged workers, open-door policies, and a bottom-up manage ment style salary transparency is likely to be a natural extension of the culture already in place.

How to Make Friends at Work and Avoid Drama

How to Make Friends at Work and Avoid DramaHow to Make Friends at Work and Avoid DramaHow to Make Friends at Work and Avoid DramaHaving work friends is awesome However, professional limits are absolutely necessary. Heres how to make friends at work while avoiding drama. TWEETWhen you spend 40+ hurs per week with a group of people its only natural that friendships will start to form. In most cases itll be a natural progression, but in some cases itll be the spark to a whole lot of drama that you did not expect.Workplace dramas erupt for a variety of reasons and it all boils down to trust. Being friends with someone implies explicit trust, but its just not always that simple in the workplace.One of my first work friends welches a nice guy named Paul*. Paul and I worked at a call centre and sat together. He often helped me with technical issues and a friendship formed. One day Paul asked me to log him in to our computer systems when he was around the corner from work. He was going to be late but didnt want his lateness recorded, so he asked me to just log him in. I refused because, well, thats time theft and wham - friendship was off. Paul was totally upset that I let him be late when I refused to participate in his antics.What happened with Paul and I was a clash of values.As individuals, we bring our own sets of beliefs and values with us into the workplace, including our own definitions of friendship. In Pauls case, it was important to Paul that I protect his interests. He believed that as his friend I should display my loyalty without question to him. From my vantage point, him asking me to log him in was a conflict with my personal values.While you cant always foresee a values clash like the one Paul and I had, you can take steps towards learning how to make friends at work while making sure its a drama-free friendship.1. Set limitsThis is critical to learning how to make friends at work. Every work friend does not need to be a slumber party, tell-you-my-life s secrets kind of friend. Professional limits are absolutely necessary because like Paul and I, you dont want to go too far only to learn youve crossed a boundary with someone and suddenly they feel compelled to choose between you and the employer. If you choose to have work friends, keep them at a distance. Save your secrets for someone else.2. Choose wiselyThere are so many people you should not be friends with. Here they are in no particular order your boss, your employee, the blase, or the office Negative Nancy. First off, if you befriend your boss or your employee, you most likely are doing yourself a disservice. A distance must be kept in order to effectively manage someone. Managing someone means being a coach and having hard conversations that you cant easily have when you just went to the movies the night before. As for the clique, steer clear. The popular crowd is often the political crowd. These people are normally conniving, fake, and untrustworthy. Think of a clique thi s way a clique is exclusive and pulls away from the spirit of a healthy company culture, which is inclusive. Do unto others and be the person who brings people together. As for the Negative Nancy or Negative Ned, avoid at all costs. Negative people spew drama and will bring you into theirs in a blink of an eye. Anyone who complains frequently, talks badly of others, or the company, is one to keep at an arms distance at all times.3. Take it SlowMost of the time when anyone in life comes on too strong to start, theyre bad news. Too strong might be extremely friendly, out of their way niceness or serious familiarity. If someone right out of the gate is your new best friend abort For your own good sense, take all work friendships slowly. People at work are political because most of the population believes that you must play politics to get ahead. Just Google office politics work and youll see page after page of real advice on how to get ahead by playing games. The people who brush up t o you like an old pal on day one (or when they want something) are playing games. Take it slow when learning how to make friends at work. Be mindful of your personal intentions on befriending others but also be vigilant and consider others intentions, too. Not everyone is looking for a friend. They might just want a promotion.Work friendships can be a great thing. They can transform a blas job to a fun, engaging job and increase job satisfaction and productivity. The problem with making friends at work starts with people who dont know where to draw the line or when politics come into play.Embark upon new friendships with eyes wide open.Ready to write the next chapter of your career? Hire a TopResume writer today

The Most Incredibly Neglected Answer for 2017 Resume Templates

The Most Incredibly Neglected Answer for 2017 Resume Templates The New Fuss About 2017 Resume Templates Hand them of the perfect resume. Again, you wish to make certain that your resume is readable. At times its a really very small edits, which may help you to acquire the job. All our resumes are a breeze to edit and they are also able to be customized to your liking. Ideas, Formulas and Shortcuts for 2017 Resume Templates Since you may see, theres a wide selection of freebies to pick from. The ideal CV samples are generally on the brief side of things, therefore it doesnt need much time to edit your documents as thoroughly as you will need to. There are lots of beautiful resume templates out there, but nevertheless, it can be simple to feel as a lot of the greatest cost a ridiculous quantity of money, require special design programs in order to edit, or both.In plus-rechnen, there are a few practical strategies to help you craft a successful resume. You will find tons of th em all round the internet. As a summary, knowing tips and the newest trend in writing resume is vital. Resumunks resume templates consist of free resume layouts in addition to 17 premium templates offered for a yearly subscription of $19. The program ought to be in a punkt to integrate with different programs like Word. In addition to that, you receive the free resume fonts and icons you see here so you will be able to earn something similarly great. The upcoming free resume template is devised in the shape of a brochure. Beautiful and impressive resume templates for any chance and enable you to receive your job. Also, a number of them are in infographic layout. Many formats available An enormous benefit of our CV layouts is that theyre supported by all well-known formats. Its high-quality PSD file is completely customizable. Icons make it simple to center on each individual resume section. The template can be found in PSD format. A number of the templates are free while ot hers cost a couple of dollars. Updating your resume manually every time you wish to apply to get a new position is hard. If youre asking for a management position, your resume needs to display your management-related abilities and experience. Its content-packed layout is ideal for engaging employers with many facts, from experience to education. So when the hiring company hasnt provided a salary for work, we look at salary data from related businesses and locations to produce a sensible estimate for what it is possible to anticipate. The capability of good managers to delegate various responsibilities to employees gives workers a feeling of worth, teamwork, drive, and the chance to learn new skills as each purpose is met. The initial one is about outlining your abilities and your availability in a given job position. With the right quantity of preparation and education, you are going to be in a position to put in the work market with confidence. Life, Death and 2017 Resume T emplates As soon as you add your private stamp to it through imputing your special abilities, professional experiences, and wording, it is going to stand from the crowd for all of the proper factors. Focus on which ones utilize active verbs. Broadly speaking, it is a lousy idea to get too fancy. Folks utilize a variety of resume templates which use different type of design approaches, but ultimately its always likely to come to the simple fact that your resume should convey a very clear message above your skills, your experience, and also why youd be the ideal candidate for the position. Make sure that its not likely to hurt your odds of finding the job. Get exploring and perhaps you are schmierblutung something you feel is going to earn an effect on your job seeking process. The very last thing that you want to do is receive a job that you cant do. Make certain you didnt miss whatever could cost you the job that you dream about Ideas, Formulas and Shortcuts for 2017 Resume Te mplates No employer will appear at it twice. The absolute most important clue that you must send a curricuum vitae, naturally, is that the work description asks for one You also receive a totally free job interview tracker for a bonus. If youre junior or fresh grad reverse-chronological resume isnt a very good choice for you. A professional resume 2018 helps you to be the ideal applicant ever. Make certain its tailored to not merely the position, but the business too. As youve already understood writing an outstanding resume isnt an effortless job which you can do. Asking your family and friends members about open positions is a significant approach to locate the perfect job.

How To Make The Job Interview More Relaxing

How To Make The Job Interview More RelaxingA job vorstellungsgesprch can be nerve-wracking for people on both sides of the equation. Job seekers worry they wont get the job. Even if they have the perfect resume, they cant manage to stop fidgeting or rambling on during the interview. And that anxiety prevents you from getting an accurate idea about what the candidate is really like.Sitting through interview after interview can frustrate you and make you wonder whether or not youll ever find the right candidate. That stress distracts you and keeps you from giving job candidates your full attention.So what can you do to make the whole process a little more relaxing? Heres advice from recruiting and hiring experts on how to put both you and candidates at ease during the job interviewFind a quiet, but informal area.The greatest advantage to having a relaxed interview setting is that it tends to make interviewees more relaxed and open. This allows you to get to know their character better without having to peel through the layers of poise and etiquette.? The best way to achieve this type of environment is to conduct the interview somewhere informal. Find a quiet spot out of high-foot traffic where the candidate can have a calm, uninterrupted conversation with you.Brad Stultz, Human Resources Coordinator, Totally PromotionalRelaxed jobinterviews mean not having to peel back layers of job seeker etiquette. BradStultz82Click To TweetRemind them youre human, too.Ive found that giving some of my background and not immediately laying on the pressure has helped candidates feel more at ease. Its like were both humans we both have careers and we both know things the other doesnt. It doesnt have to be the hard sell or hard questions first and upfront. Of course, I want candidates to come in knowing their stuff, but I also want to get a sense of who they are as people. Its hard to do that if the environment is too stuffy. Our sekretariat is chock full of snacks and interesting beverages and were a startup so no suits here. That really helps people relax. Rashmi Melgiri, Co-founder and COO, CoverWalletGiving your background helps job seekers feel relaxed in a jobinterview. rmelgiriClick To TweetShare a funny, personal story.I like to break the ice by sharing my personal experience on what I thought was the worst interview of my life. I was a first-year lawyer and I interviewed at one of the largest, most prestigious firms in my geographic area. Upon arriving and parking my car in the garage, I stepped in an open can of sardines and spent the next 15 minutes trying to rid my interview shoes (I only wore these heels for interviews) of the sardine smell. Needless to say, as nervous as I was about the stench, I managed to toughen it up, nail the job interview, and get the job offer. Job seekers always like this story because it is real, and provides good manga relief for them to feel at ease in the interview.Wendi Weiner, Career Coach, The Writing GuruGot a fu nny jobinterview story? Share it with candidates to ease their mind. writing_guruClick To TweetAnd what about recruiters who feel off their game because theyre overwhelmed or on edge and its affecting the job interview? Heres what the experts say about thatGive yourself time to think.Remember, you are in charge of these. You shouldnt be interviewing too many people, that is how mistakes are made. Set up a few interviews a day for two or three days with nothing after. If you cannot find a candidate in that pool, you can do the same again. If there is no suitable candidate in the second pool, then your requirements or pre-screening process needs to be changed.David Retske, Co-owner and Engineering Manager, The 3D ConnectorsInterviewing too many people is how mistakes get made in recruiting. 3dConnectorsClick To TweetKeep the hiring managers in the process.Its really helpful to involve hiring managers in the process. I think this assists with not getting overwhelmed and ensuring that y oure on the right track for pushing forward the right candidates. I like keeping an open dialogue with the hiring managers and letting them into my process. We discuss the type of candidates that are coming through and also what steps each is at in the recruiting process. This allows for collaboration and trust between the hiring managers and myself and allows them to feel involved. Ariel Lopez, HR Manager, Geek Powered StudiosInvolving hiring managers in recruiting helps build trust. GeekPoweredClick To TweetFocus on the task at hand.Remember each person is a person try to be focused on the person in front of you and not your to-do list. Most of my interviewing experience was set up without prior warning, so I learned to have conversations and ask the questions I needed to know to help the company make hiring decisions without making it feel rote or boring.Lisa Vento Nielsen, Founder, The Next StageStop thinking about your to-do list and focus on the candidate in front of you. the next_step123Click To Tweet

6 Tips to Make Yourself Promotable

6 Tips to Make Yourself Promotable 6 Tips to Make Yourself Promotable Article by Lisa M. AldisertI work with a manager who has a solid employee whom well call Chris. Duringhis annual performance review this year, Chris broached the topic of receiving a vorrcken. Chris does a good job, but frankly, it isnt anything out of the ordinary. He works 9-5, does what is required, but never really goes that extra mile. He isnt a mentor to junior team members. He rarely works late. He doesnt apply strong critical thinking to his work and has missed some key opportunities as a result.The manager asked why he felt he should have a promotion, and Chris responded, Well, Ive been doing this job for a long time.An employee who thinks he deserves a promotion just because hes put in the time is misguided. The challenge, however, is that managers dont always provide exact guidelines on how to achieve a promotion, so the route can be unclear. Every company is different, but the following adviceshould h elp you get you on the right track. 1. Avoid EntitlementThe biggest mistake people make when theyre trying to get a promotion is assuming they deserve it. An attitude of entitlement about receiving a promotion, even if it is deserved, is never going to work.A give-me monologue, without any substance to back it up, wont convince anyone.An attitude of entitlement may also drive you to fixate solely on the promotion, instead of on what you need to do to get it. When you think youre so great that thereis no doubtyou willget a promotion, you are probably ignoring the feedback previously given to you about what it will take to get that fleck.Another common misstep people make is bypassing their managers in order to kiss up to more senior leaders in an attempt to show off or demonstrate their value. This kind of behavior is always noticed, but not necessarily for the right reasons. This sneaky strategy will likely paint you as manipulative in the eyes ofyour direct manager, the senior lead er, or both. 2. Know Your WhyIts common to feel as if a promotion is the next logical career step and to start moving blindly in that direction without thought of what the promotion will mean. Before you lock your sights on a position, take time to identify what you want and why you want it. If you dont know the why, a promotion just for the sake of a promotion may lead you down an unfulfilling path.Examine your motivations. Are you looking for a better title, more money, increased power, career advancement, additional responsibilities, team management, a learning opportunity, or something else? How will the position satisfyyour career desires, whatever they may be?After you have identified your motivation, examine the position itself. Setting aside your desire for the title, consider the responsibilities of the job and how much time you will spend doing each of the tasks required. Is the job going to call for late nights?Will it spill over into weekends? Will you have to be on call ? What additional skills does the job require, and which of those skills do you possess? Will you be comfortable with the new responsibilities of the job?If, after a full assessment,the position and your motivationsare aligned, it is time to take steps to get noticed. 3. Go the Extra MilePeople who put in extra hours, take on additional responsibility without being asked, and anticipate project needs will get noticed. You could even start doing part ofyour target jobs responsibilities before you get the position, provided doing so does not step on anyones toes.One of my clients had an aspiring young employee who wanted a promotion to a position that didnt yet exist. When his boss pushed back and said he wasnt ready, the employee came prepared to his annual review with a list of tasks he was already doingthat would fall under the positions purview.The boss couldnt argue, so the new position was created andthe employee got the promotion. 4. Do Your Current Job FlawlesslyIn your curren t job, you should aim as close to perfection as possible. If youre functioning on autopilot or even neglecting parts of your job, you will give off the impression that your work is sloppy or you just dont care. If you cant shine in the position you currently have, why would a managergive you additional responsibilities? Doing your current job well is part of proving that youre ready for advancement. 5. Ask for ItIf you want the promotion, make sure your manager knows. Ask what you need to do to get the job, and then start doing those things. Even if you dont get the role this time around, you willidentify yourself as a potenzial candidate forfuture promotion opportunities. 6. Dont Be Afraid to Self-PromoteRemind your manager of all the outstandingthings youve accomplished on the job. Dont expect your boss to necessarily know how great you are. Plus, offering details of your achievements will help offset any perceived weaknesses you may have in your bosss eyes.- Making yourself promo table takes time, strategy, diligence, and commitment. Dont rely entirely on your own self-evaluation to prove your worth. Ask a trusted colleague or mentor for feedback, and listen to whatthey tell you. A little self-awareness will go a long way.Act as if youre already in the job you want - not the job you have. Acquire the skills you need. Take some of the load off your bosss desk. Demonstrate creative problem-solving skills.And, of course, remember to ask. It would be a shame to do all of this work and miss out because you didnt let your intentions be known.A version of this article originally appeared onSUCCESS.com.Dr. Lisa M. Aldisert is a speaker, author, and business advisor based in New York City. She is the president of Pharos Alliance. Her latest book is Leadership Reflections 52 Leadership Practices in the Age of Worry.

How Engineers Put Astronauts on the Moon

How Engineers Put Astronauts on the Moon How Engineers Put Astronauts on the Moon How Engineers Put Astronauts on the MoonWhen the world heard President John F. Kennedys declaration that the United States would attempt to land astronauts on the Moon by the end of the decade, it welches seen as a dareif move by a bold, young leader. For NASA engineers like Robert Schwinghamer, a technical associate at the Marshall Space Flight Center in Huntsville, Ala., Kennedys May 1961 speech welches more than that. It welches a call to action.At the time of Kennedys address to Congress, NASA was an organization less than three years old and had achieved only 15 minutes of human spaceflight experienceAlan Shepards suborbital flight in a small Mercury capsule. The agency had very little infrastructure or hardware and did notlage have a lunar landing in its immediate plans. NASA was now tasked with turning an aspirational idea into actual konzepts, procedures, and hardware.The reality sank in fast th at going to the Moon would require ordnungsprinzips far more sophisticated than those used for Project Mercury. Therbeie were legitimate reasons to question the timeline Kennedy demanded. Some experts doubted it could be metbut not NASAs young technical workforce.We were all young, Schwinghamer recalled many years later. We didnt know what failure meant and we knew we could do it.Schwinghamers can-do attitude was pervasive throughout the fledgling space agency. Over the course of the next eight years leading up to the Apollo 11 lunar landing, engineers would confront hundreds of technical challenges.History remembers Kennedys bold statement I believe that this nation should commit itself to achieving the goal, before this decade is out, of landing a man on the Moon and returning him safely to the Earth. But a few moments later he stated, In a very real sense, it will not be one man going to the Moonif we make this judgment affirmatively, it will be an entire nation. For all of us mu st work to put him there.This is the story of some of that work.Finding a WayOnly weeks after Kennedys speech, NASA awarded the first contract for the moonshot programnot for a rocket or spacecraft, but for the guidance and control system. The priority of that contract reflected the degree of challenge NASA expected in the konzeption and construction of the system.The contractor was the MIT Instrumentation Laboratory, a research arm of the university. The lab was headed by Charles Stark Draper, who had designed a revolutionary Inertial Guidance System used to navigate a B-29 bomber from Boston to Los Angeles in 1953. Inertial navigation quickly became commonplace in submarines, ballistic missiles, and aircraft.NASA wanted this type of system for its Apollo spacecraft. The plan was to use a basketball-size inertial measurement unit (IMU) that would make use of three gyroscopes mounted perpendicular to each other to measure changes in direction and three accelerometers to measure chan ges in velocity.While the IMUs design challenged the labs engineers, the real unknown was how to build the digital computer the astronauts would use to interface with the IMU to receive and input information. In the early 1960s, even the most compact advanced digital computers were large enough to fill several roomsmuch larger than the size of the proposed spaceship. When the engineers working on designing what would become the Apollo command module asked how much room to reserve for the computer, there was no immediate answer because such a computer had never been built.Dick Battin, the labs technical director, conferred with his colleagues. Their estimate 1 cubic foot.Then they had to build it to that spec.The Apollo Guidance Computer (AGC) was one of the first to use integrated circuits, and engineers led by the labs deputy associate director, Hal Laning, came up with an elegant method for prioritizing computing tasks to speed up processing.Even with that breakthrough, engineers were still unsure of the computers ability because of limited memory capacity and no firm grasp of the software needed.The AGC that guided Apollo to the Moon had a memory capacity of only 72 kilobytes, mostly composed of copper wires woven in a specific pattern. Raytheon, which assembled the AGC, had a team of expert seamstresses who threaded the wires through magnetic rings (a wire going through the ring was a 1 and a wire going around the ring was a 0) to create the memory. Once this so-called rope memory was installed at the factory, however, it could not be changed. Computing pioneer Margaret Hamilton checking out systems in the command module. Photo Draper/Hack the MoonGetting the programming right became the challenge, a task that was underestimated by engineers from both NASA and MIT. Margaret Hamilton, who led the team that would write the software for the AGC, summed up the reality of that development period. When I first got into it, nobody knew what it was that we were doing. It was like the Wild West. There was no course in it. They didnt teach it, Hamilton said. In this vacuum, her team of more than 400 people not only developed the necessary programming for the AGC, they also essentially led to the creation of software engineering as its own discipline.Listen to the latest episode of ASMETechCast Engineering the Apollo 11 Lunar ModuleEven so, the technology was unproven. NASA chose to use radio navigation to guide the Apollo spacecraft to the Moon with the AGC serving as backup. But the AGC would be the sole guidance system used during the critical phases when the spacecraft was on the far side of the Moon as well as to guide the lunar module to the Moons surface.The big test occurred as Apollo 8 circled the Moon in December 1968 and re-emerged from the far side after being out of contact with Mission Control. A position check corresponded exactly with Earth-based calculations, verifying the AGC had the spacecraft exactly where it was supposed to be.Notably, this first-of-its-kind computer never failed during any of the Apollo missions.Design, Test, and RedesignAt the time of Kennedys address to Congress, rocket engine technology was starting to mature, but engineers faced a daunting challenge in developing a single system capable of lifting a 100,00 payload to the Moon. The first stage of the Saturn V launch vehicle was fired at the NASA Mississippi Test Facility. The F-1 engines in that stage were plagued by instability issues, which required repeated testing and redesign before they could be counted on for a mission. Photo NASA Conceived by Wernher von Braun, the Saturn V started as a concept on a drawing board. As designed, it stood 363 feet tall and weighed 6.1 million pounds fully fueled. To lift it from the launch pad would require developing rocket engines 10 times more powerful than any U.S. rocket in existence. Each rocket would produce 1.5 million pounds of thrust and consume three t ons of fuel and oxidizer every second together, the five rockets making up the first stage of the Saturn V would propel the Apollo spacecraft to an altitude of 38 miles and a speed of Mach 7.Engineers at NASAs Marshall Space Flight Center and Rocketdyne, the prime contractor, now had to make it reality.Some engineers confidently believed that developing the rocket engine, called the F-1, was simply a matter of scaling up existing engine designsthat the basics of rocket engines were the same. Early tests challenged that confidence when several engines exploded in the test stand.Engineers traced the cause to combustion instability, a rotation of the flame inside the combustion chamber that could reach 2,000 cycles per second. The size of the engine was a contributing factor and there were no ready solutions. This led to questioning the feasibility of the engine. Donald Hornig, a member of the Presidents Science Advisory Committee, lamented, The engine might just be too big to make wor k.The entire Apollo program was in jeopardy.Faced with this major challenge, the attitude of the engineers was crucial. We had problems we did not know what to do about, said James Murphy, the deputy manager of the Saturn V program. It was the buildup of enthusiasm that made solving them possible.The investigation pointed to the injector, the showerhead-like mixer that fed the fuel and oxidizer through tiny holes into the combustion chamber. Initiating and sustaining combustion required the proper mixture ratio, pressure, and spray pattern. Once instability started, there was no way to stop it. It would destroy the engine in a matter of seconds.The engineers experimented with enlarging the diameter of the orifices, adjusting the angles to control fuel and oxidizer impingement, and adding baffles on the injector plate to limit the rotational motion of the gases. In one series of tests, engineers placed small explosive devices inside the combustion chamber to create instability and me asure the engines ability to recover.There was no single engineering solution that fixed the problem. It took a meticulous approach that involved design, test, and redesign. After 18 months and thousands of engineering hours, including 78 hours of live engine testing, the F-1 engine was certified for flight on Sept. 6, 1966. The Saturn V flew 13 times during the Apollo program, and the F-1 engines achieved a 100 percent reliability rating.Flexible and FunctionalIt would not be sufficient for astronauts to merely land on the Moonthey would need to explore. But the near vacuum of space and the temperature extremes on the lunar surface presented dangerous challenges. Astronauts would need a pressurized suit with a life-support system to provide oxygen and a comfortable temperature, as well as layered protection from the environment and micrometeoroids. In addition, the suit needed to be flexible enough to allow the astronauts to move around and perform tasks.The silver spacesuit used b y the astronauts on Project Mercury was an adapted Air Force high-altitude pressure suit. Walking on the Moon, however, would require something brand new. Like many other technological challenges for Apollo, the design requirements for such a suit were unknown.In 1962, NASA invited companies to submit bids for the Apollo spacesuit. Eight companies entered the competition and the surprise winner was the International Latex Company (ILC), which proposed a simple design with flexible rubber joints. But ILC had no experience with space suits or working under a government contractits most famous product was Playtex womens undergarments. NASA appointed Hamilton Standard, a well-established aerospace supplier that had received the contract for the life support system, to oversee the entire program.NASA required a very flexible suit that would enable the astronauts to stoop and bend in order to work on the Moon. In designing the suits, ILC made use of its talented pool seamstresses, who soo n transitioned from womens products to spacesuits. I never thought in my wildest dreams I would be making space suits, Eleanor Foraker, who managed the sewing operation, later declared. Foraker demanded the sewing quality meet the highest standards, as the astronauts lives were on the line.Meanwhile, Hamilton Standard engineers were designing the Portable Life sttze System (PLSS) The backpack that pressurized the suit, provided oxygen, removed carbon dioxide, and ensured a comfortable temperature. A main challenge was maximizing the oxygen capacity with minimal weight. Design engineer Earl Bahl had the assignment and, like other Apollo design tasks, he noted, Nobody had done this before. Bahl came up with a re-breathing system Lithium hydroxide filters reacted with the exhaled CO2 to make lithium carbonate and water, while oxygen passed through the filter and was recycled. This reduced oxygen consumption by more than 20 percent.In 1964, ILC and Hamilton Standard started to deliver f inished suits. NASA rejected them because the suits were heavy, bulky, and not very flexible. The suits also failed a major test where astronauts had to fall onto their backs in the suit and stand back up.In 1965, NASA took the drastic step of cancelling the contracts with ILC and Hamilton Standard and began an entire new competition. Starting from scratch was liberating for ILC, which proposed an innovative and very functional design based on its experience as a clothes designer. ILC again won the suit contract, this time reporting directly to NASA. (Hamilton Standard also retained the PLSS contract.) The new suit was three garments in one A water-cooled undergarment a pressurized inner suit that had flexible joints and an outer nylon garment that protected against the temperature extremes and micrometeoroids. The suits, tested extensively, passed all of the requirements and were now ready for flight.The Apollo 1 fire, which killed three astronauts during a ground test in January 1 967, prompted another redesign. Following the accident investigation, NASA mandated the removal of all flammable material from the spacecraft and suit. ILC reached out to experts in fabric technology and found a material called clothtightly woven silica fiber coated in Teflon. With an outer shell made of beta cloth, the A7LB spacesuit was certified for flight.Prepared for Any ContingencyThe spacesuit delivered protection from the Moons harsh environment, but could the astronauts do meaningful work on the lunar surface? Project Gemini provided the proving ground to train astronauts for what NASA referred to as an extravehicular activity (EVA) and prepare them for the moonwalks.Soviet cosmonaut Alexei Leonov completed the first EVA when he left his spacecraft for 12 minutes on March 18, 1965. The spacewalk was a great achievement for the Soviet program, but what was not reported at the time is that Leonov had to depressurize his spacesuita very dangerous procedurein order to make the suit flexible enough to re-enter his capsule. It illustrated the unknowns of conducting EVAs.Astronaut Ed White became the second spacewalker and the first for NASA when he exited his Gemini 4 spacecraft three months later. His 23-minute EVA proved the ability to exit and survive in space, but NASA quickly discovered that EVAs were not as easy as they might have looked. On NASAs next EVAduring Gemini 9 in February 1966astronaut Gene Cernan ran into trouble almost immediately. Cernan was tasked with assembling equipment outside the spacecraft, but without any handholds or foot restraints, Cernan mostly spun around as everything he pushed against pushed back. It was as if NASA had completely forgotten about Newtons Third Law of Motion and Cernan got a refresher course.The extra exertion sent Cernans heart rate to more than 170 and he quickly overtaxed his environmental cooling unit, which caused his visor to fog up. Cernan struggled for two hours before returning to the safety of the spacecraft. No meaningful work was accomplished and Cernan lost nearly 10 pounds in completing his dangerous EVA.Following the flight NASA conducted an independent inquiry and found that planning and preparation for the EVA was severely deficient. It would not be until November 1966, the final flight in the Gemini program, that a successful EVA took place. Buzz Aldrin, who later became the second man to walk on the Moon, conducted extensive training in an underwater tank named the Neutral Buoyancy Trainer. Working with a mockup of the Gemini 12 spacecraft, in which the underwater environment simulated the zero-g experienced in space, Aldrin was able practice all the procedures.Using installed handholds and footholds Aldrin conducted three spacewalks and was able to perform his entire task list without problems.Editors Pick Engineering Remember the Making of the Lunar ModuleTraining and practice in outdoor, indoor, and underwater environments became commonplace following Aldrins suc cessful Gemini EVAs. By the time of Neil Armstrongs one small step, he and Aldrin were prepared for any contingency on the lunar surface.One might look back on the success of Apollo and believe it was pre-ordained. From a public view the 400,000 engineers, scientists, and technicians who contributed to the program made it seem easy. As unterstellung four Apollo technology examples illustrate, it was not.The engineers and scientists who made Apollo possible never wavered. They displayed Robert Schwinghamers can-do attitude of . . . We knew we could do it. Because of their ingenuity, today we celebrate the 50th anniversary of Apollo 11 as a historic engineering and technological achievement.Burton Dicht, an ASME Fellow, is the director of student and academic education programs at IEEE. His interest in aerospace history has made him a frequent lecturer on space-related topics.

Video ASME Innovation Showcase in Pune India

Video ASME Innovation Showcase in Pune India Video ASME Innovation Showcase in Pune India Video: ASME Innovation Showcase in Pune, India Twelve teams of social entrepreneurs from across India and Southeast Asia converged in Pune, India, to compete as finalists at ASMEs inaugural ISHOW Innovation Showcase. The competition, held in April, was the first in a series 2015 international competitions, scheduled also for Washington, DC, and Nairobi, Kenya. ISHOW is a global competition that focuses on hardware-led social ventures. The winners in Pune were: Imaduddin Majid, Ridwan Wicaksono, and partner Syauqy Aziz, from Indonesia. Though their company, Atnic, the trio are developing a system to monitor the water quality of shrimp ponds, to help farmers increase their yield. Anurag Agarwal, from near New Delhi, India. Agarwal and team members from New Leaf Ventures, are developing an off-grid refrigeration system powered by farm waste designed to reduce food wastage by farmers. Rajeev Kumar, from Bengaluru (Bangalore), India, and team members from Neurosynatoic, are developing diagnostic system using mobile technology to improve healthcare in remote, rural regions. Read the full article about the competition in Pune. The copyright of this program is owned by The American Society of Mechanical Engineers. Video produced, directed and written by Roger Torda, ASME Public Information.

7 Resources for People Working Remotely - The Muse

7 Resources for People Working Remotely - The Muse 7 Resources for People Working Remotely If you’ve ever been curious about working remotely, we’ve got you covered. Even if it’s not an option for you right now, it’s no doubt a growing trend that’s worth knowing more about. After all, your next position might give you the option to do it. So, we’ve put together the best resources to get you up-to-date, and even better, how you might explore it and make it fit for you. Let’s start with the exciting part: Studies have shown that letting employees clock-in without going straight to the office raises productivity. (Harvard Business Review) And while it seems counterintuitive to bring your business responsibilities back home, there are actually a lot of great reasons why doing so makes sense. (Tech Republic) Want to see more tangible benefits of remote work? These three companies have been making it an option for a long time. (Fortune) Want to try it for yourself? Here are some great guidelines for doing it without getting into hot water. (TIME) You can also learn from the pros: Read up on the habits of successful remote employees for ways to envision how this could apply to your own trade. (The Next Web) Can’t imagine this working for you right now? Well, you can still take a page out of remote workers’ books on structuring their days. (The Huffington Post) Or, if you’re ready to test it out, here’s how to convince your boss to let you give it a stab. (The Daily Muse) Photo of person working from home courtesy of Hero Images/Getty Images.

Grammar rules you were taught at school that are wrong

Grammar rules you were taught at school that are wrong Grammar rules you were taught at school that are wrong Do you remember being taught you should never start your sentences with “And” or “But”?What if I told you that your teachers were wrong and there are lots of other so-called grammar rules that we’ve probably been getting wrong in our English classrooms for years?How did grammar rules come about?To understand why we’ve been getting it wrong, we need to know a little about the history of grammar teaching.Grammar is how we organize our sentences in order to communicate meaning to others.Those who say there is one correct way to organize a sentence are called prescriptivists. Prescriptivist grammarians prescribe how sentences must be structured.Prescriptivists had their day in the sun in the 18th century. As books became more accessible to the everyday person, prescriptivists wrote the first grammar books to tell everyone how they must write.These self-appointed guardians of the language just made up grammar rules for English, and put them in books that they sold. It was a wa y of ensuring that literacy stayed out of reach of the working classes.They took their newly concocted rules from Latin. This was, presumably, to keep literate English out of reach of anyone who wasn’t rich or posh enough to attend a grammar school, which was a school where you were taught Latin.And yes, that is the origin of today’s grammar schools.The other camp of grammarians are the descriptivists. They write grammar guides that describe how English is used by different people and for different purposes. They recognize that language isn’t static, and it isn’t one-size-fits-all.1. You can’t start a sentence with a conjunctionLet’s start with the grammatical sin I have already committed in this article. You can’t start a sentence with a conjunction.Obviously you can, because I did. And I expect I will do it again before the end of this article. There, I knew I would!Those who say it is always incorrect to start a sentence with a conjunction, like “and” or “butâ €, sit in the prescriptivist camp.However, according to the descriptivists, at this point in our linguistic history it is fine to start a sentence with a conjunction in an op-ed article like this, or in a novel or a poem.It is less acceptable to start a sentence with a conjunction in an academic journal article, or in an essay for my son’s high school economics teacher, as it turns out. But times are changing.2. You can’t end a sentence with a prepositionWell, in Latin you can’t. In English you can, and we do all the time.Admittedly a lot of the younger generation don’t even know what a preposition is, so this rule is already obsolete. But let’s have a look at it anyway, for old time’s sake.According to this rule, it is wrong to say “Who did you go to the movies with?”Instead, the prescriptivists would have me say “With whom did you go to the movies?”I’m saving that structure for when I’m making polite chat with the queen on my next visit to the palace.That’s not a sarcastic comment, just a fanciful one. I’m glad I know how to structure my sentences for different audien ces. It is a powerful tool. It means I usually feel comfortable in whatever social circumstances I find myself in, and I can change my writing style according to purpose and audience.That is why we should teach grammar in schools. We need to give our children a full repertoire of language so that they can make grammatical choices that will allow them to speak and write for a wide range of audiences.3. Put a comma when you need to take a breathIt’s a novel idea, synchronizing your writing with your breathing, but the two have nothing to do with one another and if this is the instruction we give our children, it is little wonder commas are so poorly used.Punctuation is a minefield and I don’t want to risk blowing up the internet. So here is a basic description of what commas do, and read this for a more comprehensive guide.Commas provide demarcation between like grammatical structures. When adjectives, nouns, phrases or clauses are butting up against each other in a sentence, we s eparate them with a comma. That’s why I put commas between the three nouns and the two clauses in that last sentence.Commas also provide demarcation for words, phrases or clauses that are embedded in a sentence for effect. The sentence would still be a sentence even if we took those words away. See, for example, the use of commas in this sentence.4. To make your writing more descriptive, use more adjectivesAmerican writer Mark Twain had it right.When you catch an adjective, kill it. No, I don’t mean utterly, but kill most of them â€" then the rest will be valuable.If you want your writing to be more descriptive, play with your sentence structure.Consider this sentence from Liz Lofthouse’s beautiful children’s book Ziba Came on a Boat. It comes at a key turning point in the book, the story of a refugee’s escape.Clutching her mother’s hand, Ziba ran on and on, through the night, far away from the madness until there was only darkness and quiet.A beautifully descriptive sen tence, and not an adjective in sight.5. Adverbs are the words that end in ‘ly’Lots of adverbs end in “ly”, but lots don’t.Adverbs give more information about verbs. They tell us when, where, how and why the verb happened. So that means words like “tomorrow”, “there” and “deep” can be adverbs.I say they can be adverbs because, actually, a word is just a word. It becomes an adverb, or a noun, or an adjective, or a verb when it is doing that job in a sentence.Deep into the night, and the word deep is an adverb. Down a deep, dark hole and it is an adjective. When I dive into the deep, it is doing the work of a noun.Time to take those word lists of adjectives, verbs and nouns off the classroom walls.Time, also, to ditch those old Englishmen who wrote a grammar for their times, not ours.If you want to understand what our language can do and how to use it well, read widely, think deeply and listen carefully. And remember, neither time nor language stands still â€" for any of us.Misty Adoniou, Associate Professor in Language, Literacy and TESL, University of CanberraThis article was originally published on The Conversation. Read the original article.

How to Stop Crying (or Delay Your Tears) at Work - The Muse

How to Stop Crying (or Delay Your Tears) at Work - The Muse How to Stop Crying (or Delay Your Tears) at Work Have you ever felt an ominous lump form in your throat during a meeting? Maybe you’ve noticed tears forming and then slowly gathering, giving the office a slight blur as you try to sniffle them away. Or maybe you’ve felt your breath catching and you pray no one will look at you, let alone ask you a question, because you’re certain that if you open your mouth to try to speak, you’ll break down. If you’ve been there, you might also have wondered how to stop crying, or how to avoid or delay getting there in the first place. You’re certainly not alone. A recent survey from the staffing firm Accountemps found that 45% of respondents, who were all workers in the U.S., had cried in an office environment. Common as tears in the workplace may be, you might still feel like you’re breaking some sort of unwritten rule of conduct. Denise Dudley, a behavioral psychologist and the founder and former CEO of SkillPath Seminars, says that no one ever reaches out to her to ask about “how not to cry in a movie or how not to cry in a funeral, how not to cry in social situations with my friends.” But people do frequently ask her how to stop crying at work. In other words, what’s considered a normal reaction in other settings feels taboo at work. We’re going to start with some background on crying at work, but you can also jump straight to our tips on how to avoid crying by clicking here. When and Why Crying at Work Could Hurt You Is it okay to cry at work? The short answer is that it depends- on what kind of situation you’re in when the tears come, how frequently it happens, who’s around when it does, what kind of environment you work in, what your personal philosophy around crying is, and more. But most people believe crying can have negative consequences. According to the Accountemps survey, roughly 70% of both workers and CFOs agreed either that “crying is OK from time to time, but doing it too often can undermine career prospects” or that “crying is never OK at work- people will perceive you as weak or immature.” Only about 30% thought that “crying has no negative effect- it shows you’re human.” Kimberly Elsbach, a professor of management at UC Davis Graduate School of Management who’s studied perceptions of crying in the workplace, found in research with her colleagues that, at best, you can expect a neutral response. When someone cried because of a personal issue (such as a death in the family, a divorce, a layoff), they were perceived neutrally, “as long as the person didn’t cry extensively or disrupt work of others.” But crying in other circumstances- during a performance review, while facing a stressful deadline, or in a formal meeting- could lead others to “perceive you as weak, unprofessional, manipulative.” Dudley agrees that there are situations in which it’s best not to cry. “Not that I approve of the environment I’m about to describe. I’d prefer to say let’s make an effort to change it, but in the meantime let’s face facts,” she says. And so until the culture around crying can change, she advises trying to avoid tears when you’re in a “one-down position.” That might mean you’re an employee talking to a supervisor (especially if you have a complicated relationship), a woman in a group of men, a presenter standing in front of a board of directors or others in power, in a tense situation, or at odds with a colleague. “The dangerous part of crying is it repositions us into a farther one-down position,” Dudley says. “In any situation when we cry we run the risk of losing our power and credibility and our believability even.” What’s Gender Got to Do With It? It’s impossible to talk about crying at work without talking about gender. In a survey of 700 people by Anne Kreamer, author of It’s Always Personal: Navigating Emotion in the New Workplace, 41% of women admitted they’d cried at work, compared to only 9% of men. Women are more likely than men to cry at work, Elsbach agrees. By the time she and her colleagues had collected 109 “crying stories,” as they called them, they had only nine from men. Although they didn’t collect enough data to come to any empirical conclusions about men crying at work, the handful of stories they did hear mostly led to positive perceptions, suggesting a possible double standard. As Twilight director Catherine Hardwicke once said, “a man gets a standing ovation for crying because he’s so sensitive, but a woman is shamed.’’ There are biological and physiological reasons that play into why women are more likely to cry at work as well as socialization factors. “The expectation in our society is girls should not be expressing anger, but it’s okay for girls to cry,” says Mollie West Duffy, co-author of No Hard Feelings: The Secret Power of Embracing Emotions at Work. But although girls are socialized to cry, when they become women and cry at work, that’s not necessarily considered acceptable either. In That’s What She Said: What Men Need to Know (and Women Need to Tell Them) About Working Together, Joanne Lipman says that many of the men she spoke with for the book told her they dread women’s tears. That dynamic can end up hurting women’s careers if their male bosses hold back crucial feedback for fear of tears in a way they don’t for their male reports. So crying at work- or even the notion that you might cry- can have real and lasting consequences. 7 Ways to Stop Crying (or at Least Avoid or Delay It) So let’s start with the caveat that you don’t necessarily have to consider crying at work a career crusher- or even something you need to be so afraid of, depending on the situation. But here are a few things you can do to tamp down oncoming tears, to delay them long enough to find a safe place to let them out, or to make you less likely to cry in the first place. Keep in mind, though, that none of these are magic bullets, and you may not always be able to stop yourself from shedding some tears. Read on all the way to the end for a few words about why that’s okay. 1. Take a Deep Breath A common suggestion for avoiding tears is to practice deep breathing when you feel the waterworks coming on. “I think that’s ambitious,” Dudley says. It’s not quite realistic to think you can go into full deep breathing mode when you’re sitting in a staff meeting (at least, not if your goal is to fly under the radar). Instead, Dudley suggests trying a mini version of the technique. “Inhale one deep long breath, hold it for a moment, not too long, and then exhale,” she says. “Even if it takes 10 seconds, it resets a few things in your brain or throat.” And you might just stave off those tears until after the meeting. 2. Use Your Tongue, Your Eyebrows, or Your Muscles If you’re trying to stop crying without drawing attention to yourself, you can also try one of a handful of other tricks that won’t be too obvious in public. “Simply push your tongue to the roof of your mouth,” body language expert Janine Driver told The New York Times, or try to relax your facial muscles, particularly those behind your inner eyebrows, which tend to come together when you’re sad. On the other hand, Ad Vingerhoets, a researcher at Tilburg University who studies emotional tears, told The Cut that “increasing muscle tension and moving may limit your crying response.” As with most advice about how to stop crying, you might have to try out a few strategies to see which actually works for you- and keep in mind that none of them are sure bets. 3. Take a Break and Get Away From the Situation If you think you might start crying and you’re in a setting where you don’t want that to happen, the best thing you can do is remove yourself from the situation. If you’re leading a meeting, you can tell everyone to take a 10-minute break and reconvene. Otherwise, you can quietly step out- people go to the bathroom all the time, after all. “Research shows that we usually feel better either if we’re crying alone or if we just have one other person there,” Duffy says. “More than one person and we get overwhelmed because we’re thinking about how we are being perceived,” which might make us cry even more. So go somewhere you can be alone- whether that’s to your office (if you have one), the bathroom, or outside for a walk- get a drink of water, take some deep breaths, and tell yourself it’s okay. And if you could use the support, grab a trusted colleague on your way or text them and ask them to meet you. “Try during that time to focus on something else, so that you’re not ruminating on the issue that was leading to the tears,” Elsbach says, especially if you’re hoping to collect yourself and get back in there. If you think you’re ready, “test yourself,” she adds. “Can I think about that thing and not start to get emotional? If you can, maybe rejoin the meeting.” Removing yourself from the situation might be more complicated if you’re having a one-on-one meeting. If you’re talking to an otherwise kind and supportive supervisor or colleague you know won’t use it against you, Dudley says, you can ask for a moment. Try: “This is difficult for me to hear, but I know we need to talk about it. Would you mind giving me a couple minutes in the hallway?” But if you’re speaking with someone you’re not sure is 100% on your side, you might want to try another technique. 4. Stop the Thoughts That Are Making You Cry (This’ll Take Some Practice) If you can’t physically get away from the situation, that doesn’t mean you can’t mentally get away. You can borrow from an intervention technique sometimes used in therapy called thought stopping or thought replacement. It’s exactly what it sounds like. Whatever it is that’s provoking your crying response, try to put that out of your mind and think about something totally unrelated instead. Dudley recommends having a go-to replacement thought. Maybe it’s your dog, who always makes you laugh. “I love my dog so much,” you might think to drown out the thoughts about how poorly your co-worker just treated you. “She’s going to be so happy when I come home.” You’ll want to practice this one in lower-stakes situations before you try to rely on it in a crucial moment, Dudley says, because it’ll take practice to do it successfully. “In the beginning you might keep hopping back, but practice really does help,” she says. Even so, it “may not work for everybody in every situation.” 5. Pretend You’re an Actor in a Movie Dudley has another suggestion that’s a bit unconventional, but she insists it’s helped her get through difficult interactions when she worked at psychiatric hospitals and in frustrating moments at home (for example, finding her kids drawing on the wall after a long day). “If you feel you might be about to cry or are going to scream or say something you might regret, pretend that you’re an actor in a movie. What’s the script?” she says. “Now it’s not just me, Denise, who’s really upset because my boss just told me I didn’t get a raise,” she explains. Instead, you can distance yourself and play “the role of the employee who is a quintessential professional,” one whose words are “calm and well thought out.” 6. Eliminate or Reduce Stressors in Your Life, if You Can You can take steps to avoid crying well before you find yourself in a tear-inducing situation. Make sure you’re getting enough sleep and that you’re properly fueled (i.e. fed) and hydrated. Try to reduce or eliminate other stressors in your life, too. For example, if you’re constantly fighting with your spouse or roommates, doing what you can to address those situations could help you establish a less precarious baseline. “If you’re out of balance, you’re more likely to cry,” Dudley says. So “check in with all the usual suspects” and see “if there are weird things going on in your life that you can control or eliminate.” 7. Figure Out What Might Make You Cry, and Why You Cried Last Time If you go into a performance review expecting a glowing assessment and instead get some pretty significant criticism (constructive as it may be), the shock of it may make you react more severely. But “if you’re expecting it, if you know going in, you can kind of prepare yourself for that, gird yourself,” Elsbach says. So try to anticipate situations that might be difficult and prepare yourself. It could help you keep your composure until you can get a moment alone. And if you have cried in a similar situation in the past, don’t just brush that aside. Often, “the tears happen and then we like to immediately forget about it because...we feel ashamed or we feel angry that it happened so we’d like to just never think about it again,” Duffy says. But that approach “can cause you to cry more in the future because you haven’t paused to figure out why you were crying,” she explains. “Tears contain really important emotional signals. But you only learn from those signals if you take the time to pay attention to them.” Particularly for women, tears can be a sign of anger- as Duffy says, “men yell, women cry.” And while yelling isn’t necessarily a better way to go, she adds, “unfortunately crying in the workplace when you’re angry isn’t going to necessarily express to others that you’re angry, it’s going to express to others that you’re sad or ashamed or out of control.” So once you’ve calmed down, try to figure out why you started crying and what the underlying emotions and factors were. Whether you’re angry or overworked or hate your job or anything else, think about how you might address the root cause (or causes) when you’re not feeling so emotional. It might help prevent the tears from coming up again in a similar situation. If you notice that crying has become a regular occurrence, it might be a sign that there are bigger issues to address than how to stymie tears in the moment, such as depression or a truly toxic work environment you need to figure out how to leave behind. The Argument for Not Avoiding Tears at Work Next time you’re thinking about how to stop crying, consider that it might not always be such a terrible thing, and you can help make it just one more normal response in the spectrum of what’s acceptable at work. Dudley, for one, would like to live in a world in which crying is normalized and just as unremarkable as laughter, though hopefully less frequent. Duffy echoes that sentiment, and is convinced we’re moving in the right direction. “Crying at work is not going to ruin your career,” she says. “I think there is still a stigma around that but it’s a pretty dated stigma...from 20 or 30 years ago when we worked in a work environment that was male-dominated and so women had to put on this coat of armor to go into the male workplace and crying was not appropriate.” And don’t forget that you can play a role not only when you’re crying, but also when you notice someone else in the office crying. “We can only start changing this if we start to change how we think about [it] with others as well,” Duffy says. So don’t be so hard on yourself if you feel the tears coming at work once in a while. And don’t be so hard on your colleagues if and when they cry at work. As Duffy says, “I actually think crying is a sign of our humanity and we want to see humanity in our colleagues and in our leaders.”

Why Connecting With Other Women is Critical to Your Career

Why Connecting With Other Women is Critical to Your Career Why Connecting With Other Women is Critical to Your Career In my work interviewing remarkable women leaders, I’ve been seeing a huge trend of women connecting with and investing in other women. Whether as mentors, advisors, philanthropists, or investors, women are increasingly supporting each other in their careers, goals, and lives.And yes, we can all tell stories about negative experiences connecting with other women- I’ve had my own horrible boss and catty acquaintances. But these experiences are no reason to write off building female relationships. In fact, creating a strong network of women and female role models is critical for your career and your life: It can propel you to reach your full potential- and it can even change the world.Women Will be Your Sounding Board“I wanted to be respected as a business owner and leader, not as a woman who owned a business. But, I now realize that there are differences in the experience that only women can relate to… So I am making a concerted effort to associate myself with women’s resourc es.”- Shara Mendelson, Founder of Plum BenefitsSome situations in the quest for leadership are unique to women. When negotiating a salary or raise, women face different challenges than men do. Mentorship relationships are more difficult to find and build upon when most role models in positions of leadership are older men. Men may not see the challenge in being the only woman sitting at the boardroom table, but other women can relate.And when you surround yourself with female mentors and role models, you have a sounding board- a group of people who will understand your frustrations and can help you decide when and how to handle tough situations. You’ll begin to recognize that, no matter what you’re facing, you’re not alone. You have the emotional support of other women who’ve been where you are, and who get it.Women Can be Role ModelsWhether it’s deflecting compliments on how fabulous we look or doubting that we really did ace that big presentation, we women tend to be ou r own worst critics. When we don’t fit the mold of what the media tells us we have to look, feel, and act like, we think something is wrong, we judge ourselves, and we sometimes talk ourselves out of our goals and aspirations.But having great female mentors and role models can be what changes that. When you learn from the women who have been there and back, and surround yourself with people who will encourage you along the way, it will give you the strength and inspiration you need to pursue your dreams.You Can Change the WorldAccording to CARE, women do 60% of the world’s work, yet earn just 10% of the world’s income and own only 1% of the world’s property. While women continue to gain leadership roles in business, at nonprofits, and as entrepreneurs, if we continue at the current rate, it will take 500 years for women to reach parity with men.But an exciting movement is teeming beneath the surface, and women are joining forces to challenge these statistics. From Gilt Group e to GEMS’ Girls are Not for Sale, countless companies and campaigns have been born out of the collaboration of women who were not afraid to take a risk.If you want to make a change in the world, join them. It is because of the many women throughout history who dared to do something that we have the ability to share our voices. And it will be because of today’s women that we are able to challenge the status quo and shape the direction of the future.When you find the women who inspire, challenge, and push you to be your best, it can be just the therapy you need in work and life. And, best of all, it can even be glorious fun!Image courtesy of Dell's Official Flickr Page.

How I found the meaning of life in a Japanese garden

How I found the meaning of life in a Japanese garden How I found the meaning of life in a Japanese garden Wherever you are, you are on the right  track.My wife and I are not fans of Chicago’s weather. But, we don’t complain. We’ve been living here for over six years now. When the winter finally goes away, we love to celebrate.That’s precisely what we did this morning?- ?we went for a long walk at the Chicago Botanic Garden. We wanted to kiss winter goodbye.Follow Ladders on Flipboard!Follow Ladders’ magazines on Flipboard covering Happiness, Productivity, Job Satisfaction, Neuroscience, and more!The Japanese garden is one of our favorites parts. It’s full of life metaphors. A reminder that nothing is an accident.Japanese garden designs are very deliberate?- ?every element has purpose and meaning.Wandering around those trails is an invitation to reflect on the path of life.“Traveler, your footprints are the road, nothing else. Traveler, there is no road; you make your own path as you walk. As you walk, you make your own road, and when you look back you see the path you will never travel  again.” - Antonio  MachadoExperiencing a Japanese garden requires all your senses?- ?just like life. You don’t need to be an expert to appreciate its meaning.You Can’t Hurry  LifeGardens map our minds?- ?the way we see the world is how we treat nature.In the 18th Century, European gardens design followed  the premise  that things planted should reflect the shape of things built. Symmetrical and geometrical forms characterized the gardens of the French Renaissance?- ?they became an extension of the châteaux.Unlike their European counterparts, Japanese gardens adapt to the changing nature of life?- ?they don’t want to control it.As Japanese landscape designer Shiro Nakane told  Architectural Digest, “the goal is not to make a new nature but to make a copy of existing, desirable nature.”The design principles of a Japanese garden are asymmetry, enclosure, borrowed scenery, balance, and symbolism. The more natural and harmonious the design, the more conducive is to contemplation.Japan ese gardens remind us to stay on the most natural path?- ?they capture the essence of life.1. Find Your  PathThe more we try to find life’s meaning, the more lost we feel.We cannot force our path?- ?it must come naturally.When building a public park, the walkway is the last thing Japanese design. Rather than having someone decide which is the  right  path, they let people walk freely. After some time, by looking at where the grass is worn away, they realized where people walked?- ?and then pave those paths.The path is your friend?- ?if you can’t find it, it will find you.As Osho said, “Don’t seek, don’t search, don’t ask, don’t knock, don’t demand?- ?relax.”We were raised to anticipate events. But, our existence is not predictable. We cannot write our life script in advance. Japanese gardens are intended to be viewed while walking along. Instead of trying to anticipate the journey, enjoy it.Don’t force your path, grow with the flow.2. Change Your Pace, Change You r PerspectiveDesigning a Japanese garden is a  mindful exercise?- ?it helps travelers increase their focus.A narrow path made of uneven stones makes us slow down. We become more aware of our surroundings. Large, open pathways encourage us to look up and around the garden while walking.Sansho-En  is a stroll-style garden. It’s designed in a way that makes us walk around. It provides a full experience rather than viewing it from one single place.Confucius said, “Don’t curse the darkness, light a candle.”As you stroll along, you move from one scene to another. The views are designed and composed carefully. As you travel through the garden, you can appreciate a new scene.3. Happiness Is a Distant  IllusionLife always feels happier on the other side.The Chicago Botanic Garden has an island that looks at the Japanese park. It’s called  Horaijima?- ?the Island of Everlasting Happiness.Horaijima represents paradise?- ?a place inaccessible to mortals. Just like happiness, it’s bo th beautiful and unattainable. It has no bridges or pathways. We must contemplate it and enjoy it only at a distance.Eric Hoffer said, “The search for happiness is one of the chief sources of unhappiness.”Life is about appreciating our grass rather than thinking that someone else’s is greener. We enjoy observing the island even if we cannot visit it.4. Life Is Not Linear?- ?Zig  ZagThe shortest path is not always the smartest route. Getting faster to the wrong destination is pointless. Finding your life’s purpose requires time and appreciation. You don’t need to rush.Japanese zigzag bridges force people to slow down. They make us appreciate the garden from different angles?- ?linear paths constraint our perspectives.Life is not a straight line. Sometimes we must pivot, take a turn, or zigzag. When we change our perspective, we get a more positive outlook. Instead of getting stuck, we uncover new possibilities.As Pema Chödrön said, “Nothing ever goes away until it has t aught us what we need to know.”Japanese design avoids straight lines?- ?it softens the edges by emphasizing free forms and organic shapes. Instead of providing shortcuts, it encourages us to find our way around.5. Wisdom Is  BeautyIn Japan, age is strongly revered, unlike Western cultures.Often, Japanese landscapers prune young pine trees to give the illusion of age. Their branches are tied down, so they grow as if time has turned them that way. Foliage is also pruned to slow growth.Aging makes things grow and develop in better shapes.As I like to say, people are like wines?- ?the good ones get better as they age; the bad ones turn into vinegar.We are born innocent. Kids are driven by curiosity?- ?that drives them to learn and discover the world. As we grow up, we become more competitive. We want to be smarter, faster, richer, younger than others?- ?we see others as beat competitors.Wisdom is realizing that our role in life is not to defeat others. We are here to grow with the hel p of others and help others grow.Peter Thiel said, “Competition is for losers.”When you want to beat other people, you set yourself up for failure. Wisdom is about improving yourself?- ?you accept your flaws and imperfections.Japanese gardens unleash the beauty in aging and imperfection?- ?that’s the essence of human nature.6. Appreciate ImpermanceThe seasons represent a change in our life.Nothing is permanent. The flowering trees of spring symbolize youth. The color of autumn leaves reminds us of the sadness of passing time. In winter, snow accentuates and complements the shapes, textures, and shadows of trees and rocks.Change is inevitable. The seasons remind us that we cannot control time.Meister Eckhart wrote, “Only the hand that erases can write the true thing.” Each season provides a unique experience. We must learn to adapt and enjoy instead of resisting nature.Japanese gardens usually have bridges that have no paint, no varnish. They are allowed to weather and age naturally. This exemplifies the Japanese concept of  wabi-sabi: beauty in aging and imperfection.7. Make Room for ContemplationMost Japanese gardens are enclosed to further the notion of their being smaller worlds of their own. Either by having fences or being surrounded by water, they are connected yet isolated from the world.We all need to create a tranquil environment for contemplation.Japanese gardens remind us to slow down, to take distance. Stillness is a crucial element in Zen gardens. When we are  fully present, we can contemplate what everyone else is missing. We start appreciating things, people, and experiences.Protect your personal time. Go for a walk. Meditate. Read. Keep a journal. Choose whatever activity helps you reflect and gain peace of mind.Lao Tzu said, “D o you have the patience to wait until your mud settles and the water is clear”Time provides an extra dimension. It creates a space for contemplation. When the mud settles, we can see our life  more clearly. Protect your private space?- ?make room for reflection.Your Life Is a  MetaphorYou won’t find the meaning of life in a dictionary. It cannot be defined. You won’t find it in a motivational quote either.The more you try to rationalize your existence, the more you’ll get lost. Rational thinking won’t help you discover your path. Life is a metaphor?- ?you won’t understand it with a black and white approach.What we see is not what we get. We must learn to observe beyond.Zen Buddhists design dry gardens to represent our fluid nature.Garden rocks symbolize mountains. White gravel and sand represent water. While circles are a metaphor for enlightenment. Trees symbolize perseverance?- ?they remind us of endurance and strength.Understanding life requires to observe beyond what you see?- ?find the metaphor.Life is not just what we see. Instead of getting stuck when something goes wrong, find its meaning. What is that particular event trying to tell you? What can you learn from that experience?Design your life as if it was a Japanese garden. Discover it?- ?don’t force it. The more natural and harmonious the path, the more meaningful it will become.Please stay on your path. Enjoy your walk.I’m a change instigator helping people and organizations create  positive change. I advise, write, and speak on team development and culture transformation. Receive my  weekly insights  or follow me on  LinkedIn.This article first appeared on Medium.  You might also enjoy… New neuroscience reveals 4 rituals that will make you happy Strangers know your social class in the first seven words you say, study finds 10 lessons from Benjamin Franklin’s daily schedule that will double your productivity The worst mistakes you can make in an interview, according to 12 CEOs 10 habits of mentally strong people