advice
Work
Use The Five Whys To Get Comfortable With New Ideas
7:30AM Azadeh Ensha | New ideas and ways of thinking—or people who think differently than you do, for that matter—aren’t always easy to embrace. Instead of sticking with your knee-jerk reactions, better understand your reaction with the Five Whys. More »
Communicate
Fluther Gets The Answers To Your Questions
2:30AM Erin Schwendemann | Whether you’re looking for a factual answer, a theoretical one (the chicken or the egg comes to mind), or just advice, ask and answer questions up your alley on web site Fluther. More »
Work
Start Your Own Business, $20 At A Time
11:00PM Kevin Purdy | Personal finance blogger Ramit Sethi guest-posts on the Get Rich Slowly site about his best advice for those looking to start a business, no matter the scale: Take a successful entrepreneur out to lunch. Sethi says successful types usually want to see others succeed on their advice, and in these tough economic times, a sandwich and chips can be a lot cheaper than a business consultant. [photo] More »Ask Your Mentor What You Should Be Asking Them
6:25AM Kevin Purdy | Brazen Careerist blogger Penelope Trunk describes her experiences in finding a mentor whose knowledge and perspective complement and augment her own—but more importantly, how she kept the relationship from dwindling. One of her key successes in maintaining a mentor came from the man himself: The first time I asked Chris, “What should I be asking you now?” I felt silly. After all, it’s a line he fed me. But now I use it with him all the time, and it’s actually an invitation for him to tell me what he thinks I’m missing, which is information I wouldn’t get if I directed the conversation the whole time. Trunk also advises only contacting your mentors when you know it’s easy for them to talk, and keeping them up to date on your career position. How do you successfully utilise a mentor without seeming like a time drain? Share your story in the comments. How I got my current favourite mentor [Brazen Careerist] More »
Bruce Lee on “Hacking the Inessential”
7:05AM Kevin Purdy | Martial arts master Bruce Lee was obviously a man who could accomplish lofty self-set goals, and the Little Dragon’s principles of effort and work can apply to those cranking widgets rather than besting Chuck Norris. The Positivity Blog highlights some of his writings and teachings and how they apply to everyday work, including these simple concepts: “It’s not the daily increase but daily decrease. Hack away at the unessential.”“If you spend too much time thinking about a thing, you’ll never get it done.” As the post author points out, that applies to both de-cluttering your work routines and space, as well as over-thinking problems to procrastinate them. If nothing else, Lee’s advice serves as more, uh, intimidating credos to keep posted near your desk. Photo by SqueezyBoy. Bruce Lee’s Top 7 Fundamentals for Getting Your Life in Shape [The Positivity Blog via 43 Folders] More »
Determine a Down Payment on a Car
12:50AM Kevin Purdy | Trent at The Simple Dollar blog would rarely recommend getting into debt, but since financing a car is sometimes a necessary evil, he recommends taking a good look at your finances, and the market, before signing those dealership papers. He walks through familiarising yourself with your credit report, shopping around for loans, and, of course, saving early, but his key advice on how much to put down is summed up in one sentence: Have at least a 20% down payment (unless you’re buying an old car, then 10% is the bare minimum), but if the interest rate is over 7%, save for a bigger down payment and wait until you absolutely need the car. Anyone’s mileage will vary, depending on their finances, but Trent’s advice seems pretty solid. How have you determined what you should and shouldn’t put down on a new or used car? Share your own advice, and other car-buying tips, in the comments. How Big Should My Car Down Payment Be? [The Simple Dollar] More »
Penelope Trunk launches Brazen Careerist blog network
5:12PM Sarah Stokely | Career advice blogger Penelope Trunk has launched a career blog network called Brazen Careerist. The network of 50 young bloggers will focus on Gen Y professional and entrepreneurial issues.The headline story over there at the moment is “Improve your life with video games” and I spotted another story about how to use entrepreneurship for social change – both in keeping with the ethos of Penelope’s own blog: “advice at the intersection of work and life”.I’m a little older than Gen Ys but I recently read Penelope’s book Brazen Careerist and found a lot of the things she identified as important to Gen Y are important to me too – ie work life balance, having fun and learning on the job and feeling like an important part of the team. So I don’t think the “Gen Y” label should put older careerists off reading. I look forward to reading more from their blog network. :) More » Pursue a new career outside IT
1:15PM Sarah Stokely | If you work in IT but dream about getting out, you’re not alone. The good news is that with planning and some lateral thinking, you can move towards a new career. I know of one ex-IT geek who literally ran away with the circus and is now a rigger for Cirque du Soleil – so don’t ever think that your dream job is too outlandish to really happen. :)CIO magazine has published a feature which offers tips on how to move out of IT. It recommends some soulsearching to identify your interests, and think about how you might apply or develop those in a professional situation. Try different strategies for trying your new job on for size and be open to new possibilities.One very important point which wasn’t covered off in that article, was that you should do everything you can to start interacting with the community you wish to work with. Join social or professional organisations, attend networking events and let people know of your interest in changing careers. This will help you find mentors and champions to help make your next career move.Are you working on a career change, or have you switched successfully? Tips in comments please.
Seven tips for pursuing a new career outside IT [CIO] More » 
Spend 5 Minutes a Week Checking Credit Charges
2:00AM Kevin Purdy | Personal finance blogger Ramit Sethi says it only takes him five minutes a week to make sure he’s not being over-charged, intentionally or not, by restaurants and other places where humans swipe his credit cards and enter a deduction amount.By collecting his human-swiped receipts in a folder right on his desktop, he can pull up his online credit card statement once a week and quickly run a “Ctrl-F” check of each total from his receipts. If he can’t find the amount he was supposed to be charged, it likely means someone messed up—or intentionally tried to scam a few bucks off him. It’s a quick and easy way to save yourself a few dollars, as well as add a feeling of security and it’s-all-taken-care-of-ness to your weekend. Got a better way to prevent small over-charges? Share your tip in the comments. Photo by Dan4th. Handling credit-card receipts [I Will Teach You to be Rich] More »
