Break It Down—another way we make things hard for ourselves is by stating our goal as something ambiguous and undefined. Like in the example above, “Get healthy” as a goal is sure to fail. Why? You'll fail because the goal is too vague. Instead, you may want to start a list of all the steps you could take to become healthier. You could include things like drinking eight glasses of water per day, exercising for twenty minutes each day, eating a salad for lunch five days a week, drinking only two cups of coffee or soda per day, and getting at least eight hours of sleep per day. Then, choose just one of those to start. Starting with the easiest one is okay. Once that becomes a habit, you can move on to the next one on the list.

​Connect it to a Positive Feeling—how do you feel at the end of the day when you stay hydrated? Sure, you might not enjoy drinking water all day, but by connecting the action to still having lots of energy after you’ve worked all day, for example, it’s easier to get up and do the same thing again the next day too. Before you know it, drinking enough water each day has become a positive habit—a goal you’ve reached. Once that’s in place, you’ll be ready to take on one of the others on your “Get healthy” list.

YOU MAY ALSO LIKE: 
CAREER DEVELOPMENT PLANNER (www.market-connections.net/blog/career-development-planner-2023)
NEW YEAR NEW JOB (​https://www.market-connections.net/blog/newyear-newjob)

SOURCE: ​https://www.market-connections.net/blog/4-tips-for-sticking-to-your-new-years-goals

​Do you suffer from a suspicion you might be a big fraud and everyone’s going to find out? It’s natural to sometimes feel inadequate but you could be suffering from a much more serious ailment known as imposter syndrome. Start with taking an imposter syndrome test.

Imposter syndrome is the internal belief that you're not as competent as others think you are. It manifests itself when people give you praise or positive feedback. You might feel undeserving, even though all the evidence suggests that you're highly skilled. At its worst, you may feel like a fraud.

The concept was first coined in the 1970s by psychologists to describe an experience often felt by athletes and business executives. They discovered that even the most recognized individuals often failed to understand their worth, which could cause performance problems.
Imposter syndrome can cause a great deal of damage to your work, career, and personal life, so it's important to recognize the signs early and take action to stop it.

• Minimizing Your Achievements

People with imposter syndrome truly believe achievements are not a big deal. When someone praises you, you instinctually rebut it and deep down truly don't believe that you're deserving. You may automatically point out the contributions of others to minimize what you did.

• Chalking It Up to Luck

People with imposter syndrome attribute their accomplishments to luck. They overstate the role chance plays in their lives, missing completely the skill and hard work that really made it all happen.

•  An Impossible Standard of Success

You may set an impossibly high standard of success for yourself and then feel that you don't deserve to achieve it. One way to tell if this is an issue is to detrmine whether you feel fear or anxiety when you think about the goals you want to reach. This is a symptom of the perfectionism that's often at the core of imposter syndrome.

•  Fear You're Not Measuring up

People with imposter syndrome often secretly fear they don't measure up to others' expectations. These could be the expectations of your boss at work, your family members, or even friends and business partners. No matter how often they confirm that you're doing a great job, you feel like it's never enough.

•  You're on the 'Imposter Cycle'

The imposter cycle is a pattern that starts with anxiety leading to intense over-preparation and planning. Driven by the fear of not doing a looming task well, you go through a frantic process of preparing.This may be accompanied by procrastination and excuse-making. When the project is accomplished, you feel a momentary sense of satisfaction until you think of the next undertaking.

•  You Don't Ask What You're Worth

When you don't understand your true worth, you don't ask for what you deserve. This includes the pay you should be receiving. The feeling of inadequacy will impede your need to ask for a raise, quote your services, or make any other kind of big ask. 

There are five different imposter syndrome types. Know the Signs. You’ve learned the signs here, so you can put this to use right now and learn how to overcome imposter syndrome. Pay attention to your words and actions and interrogate the feelings that arise. Where are they coming from and why?

• Fight Imposter Syndrome with Facts

The negative feelings you feel aren’t based on reality. Looking at the facts can help. Gather evidence that shows how much progress you’ve made and how much you’ve achieved then surround yourself with it when you need a reminder.

• Share Your Feelings

You’re not alone in feeling the way you do. Did you know that such obvious high-achievers as Michelle Obama and Maya Angelou have expressed these same feelings? Reach out to others who think themselves inadequate and share your feelings. This will help you put things in perspective.

• Learn To Not Compare

Imposter feelings often arise from erroneously comparing ourselves to others. Remember that all of us are different and we all have our own paths. Avoid comparing yourself to others.

• Celebrate Your Successes

If you suffer from imposter syndrome, you’re focusing on your failures and shortcomings rather than your successes. Remind yourself of the exceptional things you’ve achieved.

• List Your Strengths

Make a list of your skills, qualifications, experience, and natural strengths. Use this list to boost your confidence whenever you need it.

• Switch Negative to Positive

We often have negative self talk driving our feelings of insecurity. Recognize the negative talk and replace it with something positive.

• Reframe Failure

What does “failure” mean to you? Reframe it so that it’s not something bad, but a valuable learning experience.

• Visualize Success

What would success look like? Imagine what it means to you and visualize yourself making it. This will help you with setting impossible standards and being more satisfied with your achievements.

• Let Go of Perfectionism

Focus on your progress and growth. Quit trying to be perfect. Adjust your standards and learn to do “good enough” while striving to do better.

Source: ​https://www.market-connections.net/blog/imposter-syndrome-signs-and-solutions

Want to learn more about how you can fight imposter syndrome? Head over here:

Expert imposter already knows a lot but they feel that they need to learn more. They will often want more training even though they don’t need it or will insist on performing research when this is not necessary. Ask these questions to test for expert imposter:

• Are you obsessed with gaining more and more qualifications?
• Do you always perform research at the start of each new project?
• Do you undervalue all of your previous achievements?

SOURCE: ​https://www.market-connections.net/blog/Imposter-Syndrome-Test

The expert imposter is very interesting. To the rest of the world, it is obvious that the person has a lot of knowledge, but to the expert they feel like they do not have enough knowledge. When they are given a task to complete, it is likely that they will insist on performing research even though they already have all of the answers.

You'll be surprised at how differently you'll hear things as an active listener. If you follow these tips, you'll not only become an active listener, but a better communicator as well.

If you want to know how to become an active listener you will need to learn certain traits about listening as a skills. Listening is a great skill to develop and it can improve all areas of your life. People love to talk and are always looking for someone to listen to them. Below are tips to facilitate active listening examples in daily life.

1. When listening to someone your goal should be to understand their point of view. Listen to everything they say before forming your own opinion, and remember that you do not necessarily have to agree with them. Everyone deserves, and should form, their own opinions on various topics.
2. Paying attention is the next trait. If you don’t pay attention you will miss out on important information. Always be aware of what is going on with the person who is speaking, and don’t forget to pay attention to your surroundings.
3. The action of making eye contact with the person who is speaking, shows them that you are paying attention. If you start looking around you, you are giving them the impression that you are not interested, or have become bored.
4. Try to look at their point of view and ask yourself if they might be the person who is right.
5. ALLOW the person to finish talking. This often takes a little patience, but it can be helpful for both sides. First the person talking can vent their opinions or frustrations. Secondly it helps the listener to fully understand the issue at hand.

A good listener will also think before responding back. Again they often ask what if this person is correct in their way of thinking. People have the bad trait of speaking before thinking and this can lead to all kinds of awkward or difficult situations.

It is perfectly normal for your brain to want to respond quickly, stop yourself and think before you speak!

Sometimes it can be hard to stay focused on a person, it is normal to want to look away. If you find yourself doing this try nodding to the person or making direct eye contact with them. This signals to them that you are paying attention. If you really need to look away for a second, then muffle a cough behind your hand!

Other tips that you might want to use to show that you are paying attention include:

• Saying the person’s name now and again, when you speak with them
• Using facial expressions
• Using body language

Put these five traits into play consistently and you will become a much better listener for it. 

SOURCE: https://www.market-connections.net/blog/listening-as-a-skill

​Did you know there are common products you are highly familiar with, that came about by mistake? These are products that came about in trying to invent something completely different.

This information may sound trivial, but it can be useful during job interviews when you are asked to talk about mistakes you have made a work. 

​The United States government needed rubber during World War II, and it was in short supply. General Electric engineers tried to come up with a rubber substitute and instead came up with goo, which they felt they had no need for. An inspiring business person paid them for the rights to the invention and named it Silly Putty. Plastic egg packaging was used since the release of the product was near Easter time.