Your career will be a lot less complicated if you recognize what worked and what didn't, and apply that knowledge to what is coming . It will make you much more capable, knowledgeable, and powerful with each passing day. Chances are very high that you will evolve into a very successful and capable person.
 
However, most people fail to use their experiences to their advantage. They avoid failure and examining those times they do fail. Success is seen as a time for celebrating, not learning. But this is a great mistake. The rules of life are revealed to you each day.

​Imagine if you learned from every mistake and every success. What if you never repeated a mistake and made the most of your successes? How would your life change in a year? In 10 years? The results could be astounding!

1. Examine your past. Think back on your life and make a list of all your greatest successes and failures. Consider your work, educational, and relationship experiences. Think about those times you made plans and came up short or experienced considerable success.
   
   
   • Consider why you were successful. What made you successful?
     
     
   • Consider why you failed. What can you learn from that that you can apply to the future?
     
     
2. Determine your purpose for the day. Successes and failures are often the result of little successes and failures each day. Setting a standard for the day provides a benchmark for determining your success that day.
   
   
3. Determine your long-term goals. You need long-term goals to measure your successes and failures against. Long-term goals also allow you to plan your day more effectively.
   
   
4. Review your day. At the end of the day, review how well you stuck to your plan. What did you succeed at today? What did you fail at? What were the factors that led to those successes and failures?
   
   
5. Determine ways to improve. After reviewing your day, what changes do you want to make for tomorrow?
   
   
   • How can you be better tomorrow than you were today?
     
     
   • What can you do tomorrow that will make you 1% better than you were today?
     
     
   • Make a new plan for tomorrow that includes the lessons that you identified today.
     
     
6. Test your hypotheses. Spend a day executing your new plan. Did you have a better day? What were your failures today? What were your successes? What can you do to have an even better day tomorrow?
   
   
7. Ask friends and family for help. Ask your friends and family to help you identify why you’ve been successful or unsuccessful in the past. What are the ideas you hear over and over? How can you apply this information to your life?
   
   
8. Keep a journal. A journal can be a great tool for making the most of your successes and failures. It’s natural to write about your successes and failures in your journal. You’ll learn things from your past and your present that can be applied to your future.

 
Are you more or less successful than you were five years ago? The most common answer is, “About the same.” But this is a tragic response. In the last five years, you’ve had the opportunity to learn from each day. You could have improved by a small amount each day and be much more effective today than you were then.
 
Each day provides you with information that can be used to enhance your approach to life. Leverage your successes and failures to become the most successful version of yourself.

​There are certain rights you have as a parent that are protected by law.
 
The Family and Medical Leave Act of 1993 is the principal law that describes the rights that parents have with regards to their employment. In essence, it requires qualifying employers to provide unpaid leave for medical and family reasons. The employee's job is protected during the leave.
 
Prior to this law, the rules surrounding leave for medical and family issues were up to the employers. As an employee, your leave could be denied for any reason and you could even be fired for taking leave. There was no employment law requiring that employees within the same company had to be treated equally and uniformly.
 
Let's take a look at the benefits afforded under the law and the qualifications that must be met.

1.  Up to 12 weeks of unpaid, job-protected leave a year for the following situations:

• To care for a new child or for the adoption or placement of a child in foster care.
  
  
• To care for a seriously ill family member. A family member is considered to be a spouse, son, daughter, or parent. Some states also include domestic partners. Check your state.
  
  
• To recover from your own serious illness.
  
  
• To care for an injured family service member or to deal with issues resulting from his or her deployment.
  
  
• Some states include other situations, such as organ or bone marrow donation, or caring for a non-seriously sick child.

 
2. Other benefits:

• Employers must provide the same health insurance benefits, including the employer's premium contribution, as if the employee were not on leave.
  
  
• Employers must provide the same position upon return to work. If the same position is not available, a similar position must be provided. It must be similar in pay, benefits, and responsibility.
  
  
• Protection from retaliation by the employer for utilizing the Family and Medical Leave Act. 

​To qualify for the benefits under the Family and Medical Leave Act, certain conditions must be met.
 
1. Employer. You must be employed by an employer with 50 or more employees within a 75-mile radius of the workplace, or be employed by a public agency; this would include schools, federal, state, and local employers.
 

• Some states have taken the law further and lowered the threshold to less than 50 employees. Become familiar with the laws in your state.
  
  

2. Length of employment. You must have worked for the employer for at least 12 months and at least 1,250 hours within the last 12 months. The 12-month employment criterion does not have to be a consecutive 12 months.

​Many people are under the impression that they are still paid while taking leave under this act. But it is not required that your employer continue to pay you. Some companies will continue to pay your salary, but that is the exception and not the rule.
 
While it is against the law to punish those that make use of the Family and Medical Leave Act, it is not uncommon for many employers to frown upon those that take family or medical leave. It can be difficult to prove that you didn't receive a promotion or pay raise because you took a leave of absence.
 
The Family and Medical Leave Act of 1993 allows for you to care for a new child or a sick child without fear of losing your job. The same job, or a comparable job, will be available when you return to work. Benefits are preserved and retaliation of any kind is illegal.
 
Be sure you are aware of your rights so you can care for your loved ones with confidence, knowing that you can still return to your job.

People management is an important skill to have. Whether you are currently in charge or not, or even employed or not, enhancing this skill can have a significant impact on your career.
 
Every year on January 24th we observe National Compliment Day because we recognize the importance of praise and compliments. A good manager always remembers to recognize the staff because a compliment can be a powerful tool. Whether you are at the giving or the receiving end, timely praise can elevate people’s confidence and have a direct impact on employee retention. It’s just an all-around win-win act. You have nothing to lose by making someone smile. Who knows how far your positive vibe can go? Spread the praise or gratitude and let it take its course.
 
In case if you believe your people management skills are not strong, you can improve by learning a few psychology techniques and implementing this knowledge in your career. We all inherently share the same basic needs and desires. When you help others meet their need, they tend to respond in a warmer and more receptive manner. With a bit of practice, patience, and a keenness to understand others, you can also develop excellent people management skills.
 
Below are seven crucial qualities that can improve your people management skills:

1.  Empathize with others. If you had that manager position, would you behave any differently? Great managers are good at reading the emotions and thoughts of others. They instantly pick up on creeping issues and work tirelessly to solve problems amongst feuding members. Ask yourself if you’re open to doing the same if you had that role.
 
2.  Be generous with gratitude and appreciation. You may feel thankful to members of your team, but if you never say it or express it, they will never know for sure. So, eschew any iota of doubt and look for newer and better ways to express these emotions when you feel them.

• Never forget to say “Thank you” when others lend you a helping hand. Most people love a sincere appreciation, and a little “Thank you” can go a long way. Also, people tend to be more open to the idea of providing support when they know that you would appreciate it in the end.
•  Go one step further and do extraordinary things for those that you know will appreciate the gesture.  

3.  Don’t hoard genuine compliments. Regularly look for areas where your team has excelled recently and sincerely compliment them for it. As long as it’s sincere, the recipients will sense it and will appreciate your compliment even more.
 
4.  Treat others with respect. Regardless of their status or stance in life, aim to always treat everybody you encounter with respect. Treat them the same way you would like to be treated. This is a true demonstration of strength and character, two essential qualities that epitomizes a person with great people skills.
 
5.  Delegate correctly. Assign tasks according to skill and competency. Once people understand their roles and are put in the right position, they will all get the chance to excel at what they know how to do best. This way, the team will be much more productive and team members will be motivated to do even more.
 
6.  Be Honest, always. Honesty is still the best policy. Once people get hold of a lie you told, your whole integrity and trustworthiness as a person will come under scrutiny. Earning and keeping the trust of others is a vital leadership skill. When others trust you, they will also believe in you, and all your deeds, opinions and goodwill will mean much more to them.
 
7.  Be a Great Listener. It’s often said that it is easier to talk and harder to listen and that listening is half the conversation. Genuinely listen to others when they approach you. Regardless of whether you agree with what they are saying or not, make it a point to carefully listen and attempt to rationalize their position. Once people know that you’ll give them a listening ear, they would be more open to approaching you.

Make it a habit to implement these seven strategies into your dealings and interactions with others and it won’t take long for you to discover that people will be more open to following your lead and accepting your ideas.

Are you passionate about your work? Do you identify your profession as your dream career? It can be much easier to be successful financially and professionally if you can combine your passions and your work. Most of us play it safe and choose a career or create a business based largely on practicality. After all, it’s easier to find a job as an accountant than as an artist.

But it’s possible to have both. What is noteworthy is that many people aren't sure of how to identify their passion. One of the many ways to identify your passion is to monitor how you spend your free time and what your core values are. 
 
Your answers to these questions will help you discover your passions:

1.   Know why you want that career change. Obviously, you’re struggling to find fulfillment in your current career, but why is that? Regular long hours? Unsatisfying? Are you being underpaid for your level? Knowing the exact reason(s) why you want to switch careers will help you avoid the same problems in your next career.

• Avoid taking the slightest opportunity to quit a career. Make an informed decision about your future and then plan accordingly.

 
2.   Be conscious of what you want. According to research, people tend to generally like their work. For the most part, the actual job isn’t very important. Instead, the license to be innovative, assisting others and autonomy are some of the major factors. There are several careers out there that can offer you these possibilities.

• Don’t give in to the misconception that you must land your dream job. There are multiple opportunities out there that would tick all the boxes.

 
3.   Have big but realistic ambitions. Depending on your background and age, the time for becoming a professional trapeze artist or a ballerina may be long gone. You must realize that not every dream career is attainable.

• Having unrealistic ambitions may leave you frustrated and can stifle progress.

 
4.   Identify the education and skills needed for your new career. Do you need a new certification? Degree? IT skills? Public speaking skills? What do you need to make this change a reality? Start to develop and gather the necessary skills or education as soon as possible.
 
5.   Don't quit current job until you secure a new one. This may not be very convenient, but if possible, avoid quitting your current job until you have a new job. You will be amazed at how fast a savings account can run dry when you aren’t making money.

• If you’ve been abruptly laid-off, consider taking a job in the short-term until your career transition is successful. Also, a job related to your new career would be perfect.

 
6.   Anticipate the possibility of starting from scratch. You may currently be managing a department at a Fortune 500 company, but your first role as a computer programmer may put you in a shared office space, working with other interns on low-profile projects. The bigger the switch, the likelier it is that you’ll have to begin from the bottom of the ladder. You will have to step out of your comfort zone.
 
7.   Establish relationships and contacts in your desired field as soon as possible. Do you have any connections in your potential career? Can you offer to volunteer or start as an intern? Is there a part-time position that you can apply for to learn the ropes? Given today’s digital media tools, it isn’t very difficult to connect with people and with a bit of effort, you should soon revive your network or build a new network by connecting with recruiters and hiring managers.
 
Don’t take the decision to switch careers lightly. Think it through. Usually, you will only get one shot at changing careers! Identify what your present career is missing and settle for a career that satisfies all your needs. Keep in mind that your new career may mean that you have to initially start from scratch. But if you’re making the right choice, that possibility may be very rewarding.

​Have you been thinking about a creative career related to your hobby?
 
A recent study at San Francisco State University looked at how creative hobbies like knitting, cooking, painting, photography, gardening or other similar activities affect work performance and results showed that what you do in your leisure time could make you a more valuable employee. Findings were published in the Journal of Occupational and Organizational Psychology.
 
People who use their free time creatively performed better at solving problems at work and were more helpful to their colleagues, according to researchers at San Francisco State University. They believe creative activities stimulate learning and help people to feel energized and engaged. The study’s Lead Author was Dr. Kevin Eschleman.
 
The question is: Are YOU ready to make the connection between your hobby and your career? Consider these suggestions about using your hobby to get ahead at the office.

1. Focus on the mission. Think about how your pastimes align with the company mission. A sustainable architecture firm might appreciate your organic garden.
   
   
2. Connect with your colleagues. Relationships play a big role in job satisfaction. Accept your coworkers’ invitation when they ask you to join them for a social event that could also be a hobby; i.e.: hiking trip. 
   
   
3. Review your job responsibilities. Do your hobby and your professional position have anything in common? You might be juggling numbers at work for budgeting and at home for the local community's fundraising budget.
   
   
4. Showcase your strengths and achievements. We’re often drawn to hobbies that enable us to develop our innate talents. Employers will notice that you’re a strategic thinker if you tell them about your tournament bridge winnings or your public speaking abilities if you tell them about your efforts at Toastmasters.
   
   
5. Be memorable. In today’s job market, you may need to distinguish yourself in a large pool of candidates. A recruiter is more likely to remember your name if you verbally tell them something about your personal interests.
   
   
6. Express your personality. Focus on something you’re passionate about so it will be easy to sound articulate and engaged.
   
   

• Remain up-to-date. At the same time, it’s always good to keep up with the trends. Be open to learning new skills that will connect the dots between your career and your hobby.

• Edit your resume. Depending on the positon, add a hobbies section to your resume. Include it only when it appears relevant.

1. Mention it at your interview. Some questions provide an opening to discuss your hobby. When a reviewer asks what you do with your free time, you’ll have a better answer than watching TV.
   
   
2. Put on a show. Hobbies come in handy for the office talent show. Reveal your musical talent on the piano, if that's the case.
   
   
3. Share with your coworkers. Whatever activities you enjoy, you probably have expertise, goods, or services that your coworkers would appreciate. Baked goods usually top the list.
   
   
4. Personalize your staff bio. Let your clients get to know the real you. They may enjoy finding out that their graphic designer also illustrates his own comic books.
   
   
5. Create side income. Some people turn their hobbies into full time jobs. Starting off gradually is a good way to test your earning potential while you hold onto your current paycheck.
   
   
6. Extend your network. The best leads tend to come from friends of friends and acquaintances. If all your LinkedIn connections are accountants, your leisure pursuits could help you to meet more hair stylists and foreign diplomats.
   
   

• Achieve life balance. Best of all, a hobby widens your experiences and knowledge. You’ll gain exposure to things you may never see around the office.

Of course, your hobby is rewarding in itself even if your boss doesn’t share your enthusiasm for its details. Advancing your career is just a bonus compared to the deeper benefits of learning about yourself and becoming more accomplished.

If you’ve ever known anyone ultra-successful, you know that they can appear to be a different breed. We’re not talking about someone that’s a straight-A student and goes on to make $250,000 per year. We’re talking about people that win gold medals, become billionaires, or impact the entire world in some way.
 
These ultra-successful people are all unique, but they share many of the same habits. Mimic these habits of successful people and become more successful yourself:

1. WAKE UP EARLY. The vast majority of the most successful people in the world get up very early. They make great use of this time, too. They have a morning routine that often includes exercise and meditation or prayer.

• Try getting up an hour earlier and have a plan for using this time effectively. Do this for 30 days and evaluate the results.

2. PRACTICE SELF-DISCIPLINE. Success requires work. High levels of success require doing work that most people aren’t willing to do. It takes self-discipline to do difficult things day after day.

• Work on your self-discipline each day. You have countless opportunities to do this. If you need to get job interviews, update your resume and network systematically. Plan your job search schedule and follow through.

3. BECOME ACTION-ORIENTED. People with mediocre levels of success often like to plan, but they struggle to actually take any sort of action. Successful people take intelligent action. They are the masters of getting things done. They’re also great at getting started on new projects.


4. READ DAILY. Reading saves years. Without reading, you’re forced to figure out a lot by yourself. A book written by a competent author is like a mentor. The world is full of experts. Why try to do it all yourself? Stand on the shoulders of the world’s all-time greats.

• Buy a good book and apply the information. Life is too short not to take advantage of the expertise of others. Remember that it’s not enough to read and understand the information. You must apply it.

5. GET CLEAR ON YOUR GOALS. Ultra-successful people know exactly what they want. The average person does not. You can’t make progress toward a goal if you’re not aware of your goal.

• Decide what you want. Make a list and be precise.

6. SAY “NO” TO PRACTICALLY EVERYTHING. Highly successful people avoid distractions much better than the average person. Many of us say “Yes” to almost every opportunity. Successful people say “No” almost all the time.

• Decline offers that don’t assist you in the pursuit of your goals. Everything you do either brings you closer to, or takes you further from, your goals. Before agreeing to something, ask yourself, “How does this impact the pursuit of my goals?”

7. PERSEVERE. The most successful people have a tenacity that most of us fail to demonstrate. We give up far too easily. You may even have to leave your comfort zone behind. 

• Set goals that truly excite you. That will encourage you to continue when the going gets tough. Practice persevering when you want to quit. Learn how to grind and get things done. Perseverance is a combination of faith and pushing through discomfort.

​Your habits largely influence how successful you’ll become. Effective habits result in great results. Poor habits lead to undesirable results. One of the most effective ways to take your life to the next level is to create habits that support your goals.
 
The most successful people in the world have the best habits for success. Pick up a couple of these habits and integrate them into your life. You’ll be glad you did!

You’ve been thinking about a career change for a long time. You’re bored with your job and you’re not progressing at the office. You’ve considered your career options. Frankly, you’ve wanted to do a particular type of work since you were 20 but it just wasn’t in the cards.

​Perhaps this is the right time for a career change. Are you financially prepared to switch?

Ponder these points before you go after the job of your dreams:

1.   What don’t you like about your current job? It’s important to clarify why you’re unsatisfied with your job.

• For example, maybe the office moved and your commute is doubled. Or you got a new boss who doesn’t seem competent. Perhaps the company outlawed overtime or changed your job description to add work for you. Be frank about why you don’t like your job right now.
• This step must be done first as it will reveal the true reason(s) you want to quit. Plus, you might realize the issues frustrating you are actually fixable.

2.   Will you need training or education for your new career and how much will it cost? What do you need to know to be successful in the work? How will you obtain the knowledge or skills? It might take some time and money, so it’s wise to make an achievable plan.

3.   Do you have money saved to help you through the transition? If you’ll require some training or time to hone skills, you’ll be working on those things and not bringing home the bacon. Therefore, you’ll need some cash stashed for living costs.
​

• If you’ve established a healthy pattern of saving over the years, you can fall back on it. Still, you’ll want to figure out how long you’ll be out of commission in terms of earning to estimate how long you’ll be living on savings.

4.   Do your research upfront. Before you leave your current position, do your homework. Find out what people earn who do the work you desire. Will you experience a pay reduction?
​

• Access online sources to determine average salaries of people in your dreamed-about career. Can you live comfortably on the salary? What are the chances your earnings will grow over the years?
• Try to find someone who does the work now and arrange to sit down with them to ask some questions about their career. In sum, take special care to gather info you need first about your dream career, before quitting your current job and diving in to the unknown.

5.   What will switching careers mean in terms of your health insurance? As you know, healthcare is expensive. Therefore, consider what will change about your health insurance, if you switch jobs.

• Is your healthcare insurance now connected with your job? How much do you pay for it? What will it cost when you switch careers? Your health insurance is a big-ticket item, particularly if you’re also covering your spouse and children.
• Definitely have a plan on how you’ll handle health insurance should you decide to walk away from your current job.

6.   Is it possible to start saving big now? In the event you’re pondering a job change, you can expect to experience some personal and financial upheaval if you decide to switch careers. It makes sense to start saving extra money now to pad your emergency fund.

• You might not be able to anticipate every single financial demand that will occur because of switching careers, so any extra funds you save will provide protection for you and your family.

If you consider all these points when thinking about making a career change, you’ll be as financially prepared as you can once you decide to take the leap into an exciting, new job.

The internet has fundamentally changed how we make money. If you can imagine a way to make money, you can probably do it online. In this video, you'll discover 12 simple ways to make money online.

None of these methods are get-rich- quick schemes. Don’t fall for get-rich-quick online schemes. They almost never pan out.

If you can imagine it, you can make money doing it. All that’s required is some hustle.

12 HIGHLY EFFECTIVE WAYS TO MAKE MONEY ONLINE

Find Your Side Hustle....

But it’s not quite that simple, right? The internet has fundamentally changed how we make money. If you can imagine a way to make money, you can probably do it online. This post contains effective methods to make money online. None of these methods are get-rich- quick schemes. Don’t fall for get-rich-quick online schemes. They almost never pan out.

METHOD #1: Affiliate Marketing

Essentially, affiliate marketing works like this:

• You promote an online product or service created by someone else.
• When someone purchases a product or service through your promotion, you get a commission, or portion of the sale.

Typically, you promote the online product through a special link that is connected to you.

Amazon Affiliates is a very simple example of affiliate marketing.

 There are numerous other affiliate networks, such as:

• ClickBank
• ShareASale
• CJ

There are numerous ways to promote the products. You’re only limited by your imagination.

You can…

• Write reviews of products on your blog and include affiliate links
• Have banner ads on your website promoting the products
• Post affiliate links on social media
• Promote products to your email list

If you have any sort of audience, you have the opportunity to make money through affiliate marketing.

Affiliate marketing is a great way to make money online because you don’t have to create any products.

Affiliate marketers can make thousands of dollars every month.

METHOD #2: Sell Products Online

Before you can sell products online, you’ll need a website on which to sell them. If you don’t want to set up your own ecommerce store, you can easily sell products on:

• eBay
• Amazon
• Etsy
• Poshmark
• Craiglist
• And many others

If you want to sell products on your own website, you’ll need to create one where you can list your products and accept payments.

What sorts of products should you sell online?

First, you can sell home-made products you make yourself on sites like Etsy.

 You can also sell products you’ve already purchased on sites like eBay, Amazon, and Poshmark.

You also have the option of dropshipping products.

With dropshipping, you act as a middleman, connecting the buyer and the seller and then taking a portion of the sale.

If you’re really committed to selling products online, you can have a product manufactured.

Out of all these options, selling products on sites like eBay and Etsy is probably the simplest way to get started making money online.

METHOD #3: Sell Your Services on a Freelance Basis

Are you a…

• Designer
• Writer
• Translator
• Assistant
• Bookkeeper
• SEO Expert
• Voiceover Artist
• Audio Engineer

If so, then you can sell your services online. Depending on your skill set and your ability to pitch new clients, you can make a full-time living as a freelancer. To get started as a freelancer, create a portfolio that shows off your work. Set your prices. Reach out to potential clients.

Ways to reach out to potential clients

• Call them.
• Email them.
• Reach out to them on social platforms like LinkedIn.
• Apply for jobs on sites like Upwork and Thumbtack.
• List your services on platforms like Fiverr.

Getting a freelance career started isn’t necessarily the easiest way to make money, but it can be lucrative.

The key to succeeding in the freelance world is persistence.

METHOD #4: Become an Online Coach

 What sort of coach could you become?

You could be a…

• Health coach
• Life coach
• Music/vocal coach
• Finances coach
• Executive coach
• Sales coach

In order to be a coach, you simply need to be able to add a high amount of value to your clients.

There are also many ways to package coaching services:

• 1-on-1 coaching
• Group coaching
• A course with accompanying coaching support

You might be thinking, "But I’m not an expert in anything. How could I be a coach?"

You simply have to be able to add significant value to your clients.

You’ve still acquired expertise through your experience.

These platforms that make it easy to do coaching:

• Clarity.fm
• Savvy.is
• Coach.me

METHOD #5: Create Online Courses

You can create a course around almost any subject and find people to purchase it.

Subject ideas...

• Losing weight
• Learning to play the piano
• Painting
• Singing
• Creating a budget
• Investing in stocks
• Running
• Tennis

In order to create a course, you need a platform to distribute it.

Course Building Platforms

• Teachable
• Thinkific
• Kajabi
• TalentLMS

One way to get a great feel for what a course should look like is to take a few courses yourself.

METHOD #6: Create YouTube Videos

How do you make money through YouTube videos? YouTube is a numbers game. When creating YouTube videos, your content will probably fall into one of two categories.

Educational: These videos educate viewers in some way.

Entertainment: These videos are intended to bring a smile to the face of your viewers.

Once you start producing YouTube videos, you'll also want to consistently grow your channel.

Effective ways to grow your channel

• Share your videos on social media.
• Post your videos to your website.
• Send your videos to your email list.
• Ask people to subscribe to your channel.

Growing a YouTube channel takes time and consistency.

METHOD #7: Write and Sell a Book

Benefits of writing a book

• It establishes you as a thought leader in your industry.
• It provides you with a resource to give clients.
• It allows you to attract new clients who wouldn’t have heard of you otherwise.

If the thought of writing an entire book intimidates you, there are numerous ways to still get a book written.Get a cover design and have the book printed.

Promote Your Book...

• Post about it on your website.
• Send an announcement to your email list.
• Create shareable graphics with quotes from the book (using Canva).
• Share insights from the book on social media.
• Create a video promoting the book and share it on YouTube and other platforms.

Can you make good money selling books you wrote? Sure you can!

METHOD #8: Start a Blog

How can you make money with a blog? Here are some of the most effective ways...

• Affiliate marketing
• Promote your services.
• Advertisements
• Sponsored posts

Monetizing a blog requires an audience. Consistency is the key.

METHOD #9: Become a Virtual Assistant

The virtual assistant market is heating up.

What sorts of tasks might you perform as an assistant?

Virtual assistant tasks

• Responding to emails on behalf of your employer
• Purchasing items online
• Performing personal tasks
• Making phone calls
• Inputting, sorting, and arranging data
• Managing a social media profile
• Responding to inquiries

Where should you look for virtual assistant gigs? 

• Upwork
• Fiverr
• Remote.co
• Indeed
• LinkedIn

Being a virtual assistant isn’t for everyone.

METHOD #10: Tutor People in English 

There are numerous countries in which people are willing to pay for an English tutor, sometimes as much as $25/hour.

How can you know if teaching English would be a good fit for you?

Qualifications for tutoring

• Have a solid grasp of English grammar
• Understand the nuances of speaking English
• Have a bachelor’s degree (typically required)
• Can communicate clearly
• Have the ability to teach
• Enjoy talking with others
• Patience (this is critical)
• Comfortable using technology like Skype

Places to find online English tutoring jobs:

• Indeed
• Learn4Good
• Remote.co
• VerbalPlanet
• Chegg Tutors
• Teach Away
• VPKid

Tutoring people in English exposes you to a variety of cultures and places you would never experience otherwise.

METHOD #11: Sell Stock Photos

Stock photo sites, such as iStock and Shutterstock, allow you to submit your photos to their site. Making money on stock photo sites is a numbers game. Your photos need to be compelling, interesting, outstanding, and high quality.

METHOD #12: Do Odd Jobs on TaskRabbit

The beauty of TaskRabbit is the sheer number of jobs available through the site. Some people earn $2,000 per week through TaskRabbit. TaskRabbit is a particularly good option if you are skilled in a variety of things and want to put all those skills to work. If you want flexibility plus the ability to make good money, you might want to look at TaskRabbit.

The money is out there. If you want freedom and flexibility, you can have it. Want to travel the world while still making money? You can do that. Want to make a little income on the side while you stay at home with your children? You can do that too. Want to build a full-time career as a freelance writer or blogger? That’s also an option. The ways you can make money online are almost endless.

In this post we covered:

• Affiliate marketing
• Selling products online
• Selling your services as a freelancer
• Becoming an online coach
• Creating online courses
• Creating YouTube videos

We also talked about:

• Writing and selling a book
• Starting a blog
• Becoming a virtual assistant
• Tutoring people in English
• Selling stock photos
• Doing odd jobs on TaskRabbit

If you can imagine it, you can make money doing it. All that’s required is some hustle.

Work is called work for a reason. But, the right career can help make your life more fulfilling. Making a wise choice can enable you to avoid a lot of misery and fund a lifestyle that you enjoy.
 
The wrong choice can lead to financial challenges and it’s not fun to go to a job you don’t like day after day.
 
Use these ideas to choose a career that’s right for you:

What do you like to do? Unless you’re fortunate, you’ll be working for quite a while. It would be smart to find a career that centers around something that you enjoy. Imagine spending 40+ years doing something that you don’t enjoy. 

• While you don’t have to keep the same career for the rest of your life, you can lose ground each time you make a switch.
• What do you like to do? What are your interests? What could you see yourself doing for a decade or more and be happy?
• What do you really dislike? This question is just as important.

What are your strengths? The best careers are enjoyable and take advantage of your strengths. What are you naturally good at? What have you become good at because you’ve spent so much time learning or practicing?

• Not all of your strengths will be transferable to a career, but some of them will transfer quite nicely. Ask yourself what you can do better than most people. 

What are the long-term options? Some careers have better long-term prospects than others. Think about what you could do 20 years down a particular career path. Is there the possibility to advance? Could you use the skills you build in that job and transfer them to another? 

• Avoid only thinking about the next couple of years. You’ll likely be working more than just 3-5 years.

What type of work environment do you prefer? Do you like the community feel of an endless series of cubicles? Your own office? Do you want to work outdoors? In a manufacturing setting? A laboratory? Suit and tie? Jeans and a t-shirt? What environment appeals to you?
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• What lifestyle do you prefer? This includes income, city/country, living out of a suitcase versus going into the same work location each day. Do you like to work nights, so your days are free?
• Visualize your ideal lifestyle and consider the various careers available to you.
• Consider your educational credentials versus what a career requires. Doctors need to attend medical school. A teacher in a public school needs a teaching license.
• Determine how much additional education you’ll require for a particular career and whether or not you’re willing to acquire it. If you’re against additional schooling, then you’ll face certain limitations. 

What careers fit your answers? Taking all of the above into account, what careers seem like a good fit to you? 

• The perfect career will be something you love, that you’re good at, that also fits your dream lifestyle and work environment. You’ll also have plenty of opportunities in the future.

 
If none of your options are appealing to you, you might want to consider going back to school for additional education. Another few years of schooling might sound dreadful, but a few years is a drop in the bucket compared to the rest of your life.
 
A poor career choice can be costly down the road. Take the time to make a wise decision. It will be time well-spent.