The risk involved with always staying in the safe lane

The risk involved with always staying in the safe laneThe risk involved with always staying in the safe laneFor ur recent family road trip, my wife and I went with ur children for two days of sightseeing in nearby cities. In total, we spent around 10 hours in the car, fruchtweinly on three-lane highways and predominantly at night, with little roadside scenery to take in.This gave me, the sole driver, plenty of time to observe my road-mates.Follow Ladders on FlipboardFollow Ladders magazines on Flipboard covering Happiness, Productivity, Job Satisfaction, Neuroscience, and moreFor the most part, the other drivers on the road followed the standard script. Those in the right lane were the slowest, with lots of folks occupying that lane temporarily to enter or exit the road. Drivers in the center lane were the majority. They maintained a healthy, predictable speed and were largely content to keep their place in line. Then there were the left-laners. These folks were the most aggressive, clocking in at the highest speeds. They would also weave in and out of lanes in order to improve their position and arrival times.On occasion, however, we encountered someone in the left lane that failed to follow the rules. This driver would maintain right or center-lane speeds, even as other drivers closed in quickly behind them. They did not respond to the fact that they were preventing others from passing, forcing those drivers to navigate around them in order to maintain their desired speeds.After taking a few days to recover from the trip, it dawned on me that this road dynamic can serve as a useful metaphor for how we approach life in general and specifically career-related decisions.Those in the proverbial right lane of life fit into one of two categories. Some are the slow-movers. These people are content to take things slow and play it safe. They dont like to take risks and arent bothered that everyone else is passing them by. Others hang out in the right lane temporarily, as they exit or enter the road. They are dissatisfied with the status quo and jump off their current path to chart a different course.Like those to their right, folks in lifes center lane are also relatively risk-averse. True, they dont travel as slowly, but they too like the comfort of predictability and conformity. In some respects, they eschew risk even more, in that they dont have to deal with folks who are in transition. They just get in their lane and set their lives to cruise control, happily doing what others in front of them do.Those in the left lane of our metaphor are clearly the biggest risk-takers. They set their own speeds and, when blocked, find ways around them. The risks that come with their aggressive approach are the price they pay for living beinahe and free.It would be a mistake, however, to think that risk only resides in lifes left lane. In fact, each lane comes with its own risks.According to one source, while crashes in the left lane are often the most inte nse, the left lane actually has the fewest crashes. The right lane, with its continuous merging, is where the highest rate of accidents occurs.While most people may think that living safely carries the least risk, it is not always so. Many of the seemingly safe decisions we make are based on two conditionsThat nothing surrounding the current circumstances will ever change (for example, my industry, company, and job will always be there)That if so many people in front of us are doing the same thing, they must know what theyre doing.Yet, we know that this is unrealistic and untrue. It has been said many times that the only thing that is constant in life is change itself. We cannot expect future stability and success simply because our current approach has served us or others in the past.Lets look at the following common example A young professional, Sally, has been working at an established company for five years. She is offered a promising opportunity at a young, small firm. Shell be able to leave her soul-sucking job in favor of better work/life balance, more reasonable hours, a shorter commute and the ability to make a bigger impact. If all goes well and this new firm grows, she can advance to a partner role and will match her current salary in a few years.But Sally is unsure. After all, the new firm is not guaranteed to be successful the move just seems too risky. In the end, she decides to stay in her stable position. One year later, Sally loses her job in a round of downsizing. Shes left worse off than had she taken the job.When Sally made the decision to play it safe, she didnt consider the possibility that her current job situation could change for the worse. While the moving over to the new, smaller company seemed like the riskier move, Sally could have better evaluated the risk of staying put, such as red flags about the companys trajectory and bottom line.Nottaking action has costs that can be as consequential as taking risks its simply less common fo r people to calculate and pay attention to the what-ifs of our inaction. In todays marketplace, where jobs and job categories are being destroyed and invented at an accelerating rate, the riskiest move one can make is to assume that your industry or job is secure.In life theres no such thing as a sure bet. Even the most stable of conditions has its risks. In fact, sometimes playing it safe is the riskiest strategy of all. Change is the norm, not the exception. When making important decisions, we need to try and anticipate the kompetenz upheaval of all our options,including the one that appears to be the most stable.There are a variety complicatedfinancial and behavioralbarriers to risk-taking - poor planning, loss and risk aversion, the sunk-cost fallacy are but three - but in essence it boils down to the fact that we are wired to resist giving up the known in exchange for the unknown.Not only can playing it safe not always produce the safest outcome, but our attempt to safeguard against the risk of loss, the smaller and narrower our lives become and the more we eclipse our capacity to feel joy.Here are some ways to become more risk-tolerant and take proper actionAcknowledge that our natural state is risk aversion. From that vantage point, it is easier to make a mental break and take the necessary action to grow and break through.When youre about to make a decision and you feel afraid, ask yourself What is the worst-case scenario? In most cases, it wont be so bad after all.Break problems into small actions. What kind of small-to-no-investment learning or voluntary experience could give you a sense of what its like to change into a different career or join a different kind of company, such as from for-profit to not-for-profit or from corporate to startup?Then, armed with real-world data, each of those hypothetical career-changers would have more clarity and about the correct next steps.This article first appeared on SmartBrief.You might also enjoyNew neurosci ence reveals 4 rituals that will make you happyStrangers know your social class in the first seven words you say, study finds10 lessons from Benjamin Franklins daily schedule that will double your productivityThe worst mistakes you can make in an interview, according to 12 CEOs10 habits of mentally strong people

Essential Tech Tools for Your Home Office

Essential Tech Tools for Your Home OfficeEssential Tech Tools for Your Home OfficeYou finally got what you wished for. You landed enough side-gig clients to make your dream of working for yourself a full-time job, or else you negotiated with your employer to work remotely more often (or perhaps permanently). Either way, youre ready to dig in at home. But before you do, here are the tools youll need in buchen to be successful. Remember, if youre not careful, and you dont set yourself up right, youll be back to the 9-to-5 corporate grind before you know it.1. Tech for your deskWorking from home means you might be sitting in the same spot, without moving, for very long periods of time. This might lead to some unfocused hours, and perhaps some back pain. So, you need to get your desk set up for maximum productivity.Start with an awesome standing desk with the perfect built-in technology for cords, docking stations, and chargers for your computer and phone. Options like this Varidesk can help improve your posture as well asthe time you waste running back into another room to check your phone while its charging.Combine your new standing desk with atabletop charging station or a wireless charging hub with numerous ports for all of your work technology. Think about it, shouldnt you have a wireless charging station for each and every one of your important products? Dont let your cords slow you down.2. Cut the cord for phone callsTheres no reason to let your wired headphones (most likely tangled up in your backpack) slow your work day down, either. There are so many options for bluetooth phone capabilities that youll surely find one that works well for you.If youre making a lot of client phone calls, these calls might be a great time for you to stand up and move your body while discussing reports with clients or coworkers. To do this, check out your options like BOSE noise canceling, bluetooth enabled headphones, Apples AirPods, JLad Jbuds, or any of the awesome products on this list.Calls are a great time to keep your body moving and walk around. Moving helpsyour bloodas well as your creative juices flow.3. SlackSo you finally got your desk set up and youre feeling good about your home office, right? Well, now its time to get to work. In order to work effectively and efficiently, you need to ensure that your computer and your software programs are up to speed. Start with Slack. Slack is an incredible communication tool to help you stay in touch with clients, coworkers, contractors, and everyone you need to be in touch with on a normal work day. Instead of clogging up yourcolleaguesemail inboxes with quick questions, use Slack to instant message them. You can also set up individual channels for different projects within the company.The best part is you can select which people join individual channels. That way, if youre working on a project with just one or two other people, the entire company wont be bothered by your chat and communication. Slack is an incredible way to streamline efficient communication when working from home.4. Google DriveHave you ever worked on ahuge document with coworkers, but one person along the chain forgot to save your changes or track their own changes? Yes, weve all been there. Enter Google Drive.If youre working remotely, you need to keep track of files and you need to collaborate in real-time with people who you are not sitting next to. The best part about using Google Docs or Google Sheets is that you can work through a document, in real-time, with other remote workers without theneed to save any changes. All updates are saved automatically in real-time, so that when the next person opens the file, theres not even a question that theyre viewing the most recent version. A win-win for all5. Innovative lightingLighting, especially in a home office, is hugely important for staying focused and efficient at your desk. You dont want too much lighting to the point where youre squinting at your monitor . But you also dont want the atmosphere to be too dark. This could lead to some unwanted, unplanned napsFirst, access as much natural light as you can. Take a look at your space, and if theres natural light nearby, use it.Overhead lighting is key, too. Next, tryout a classic desk lamp with controllable brightness options. These tried and true desk lamps can bring everything into focus for you. You can use the flexible arm to adjust height and angle to suit the project youre working on. To avoid eyestrain, youll need the best lighting possible.Finally, finish off your office with aninnovative lumineszenzdiode table lamp to add some ambient light to your office. Withthe Hue Beyond LED Smart Table Lamp, you can control the colors to make the vibe in your office exactly what you need it to be for anywork mode that you might find yourself in.Sam Radbil is the lead writer for ABODO Apartments, an online real estate and apartments marketplace withavailable apartments in cities like Chicago , Austin, New York City, and more. ABODOs research and writing has been featured nationally in Curbed, Forbes, Realtor.com, HousingWire, and more.

Dont Kill Your Resume Operate On It!

Dont Kill Your Resume Operate On It Dont Kill Your Resume Operate On It This post by Michael at Human Race Horses makes an argument that I hear often. In these days of social media and web-based job search, can a resume really do the job? Michael thinks notAnother personal reason for wanting to kill my resume is that in looking at this little historical snapshot from so long ago slightly over two years it is is really shocking to realize that it does nothing to communicate anything at all about me that I would want to put out if I were job searching. It doesnt effectively reflect * extensive skills in social media * knowledge and expertise of Hr and how it applies to todays work environment * research skills, especially deep skills on the net * networking * blogging, writing and thought leadershipHe wonders then whether he shouldnt scrap his resume in favor of online profiles where he can better communicate these skills. But this is the part of the resume is dead argume nt that I dont understand. People say to me all the time I cant capture who I am in a resume and I always ask them the same question Why not?Is it because words are just not adequate to describe the wonder that is you? UnlikelyMore likely its because you are being limited by what you imagine a resume should be. If you step outside the box (sorry for the cliche) a little, you might see lots of ways to convey who you are and what you have to offer a company. For example, Michael could begin with a summary that outlines the skills he mentioned above, complete with links where appropriate, but then he could go on to provide evidence of these skills through action-oriented achievement stories and even by quoting testimonials from LinkedIn, or thank you letters from blog readers, or by listing training hes completed or e-books hes written, or by numerous other means to show that he is indeed a thought leader in his field.If his resume were to do all that, it would generate phone calls and interviews.As for the web profiles, it doesnt have to be either/or. I like to end my clients resumes with a section called on the web or learn more where I list their career-related web profiles and/or blogs. It can also be effective to add the statement feel free to google my name for more information to either your resume or cover letter nothing conveys more confidence than telling people to go look you up.Im not defending the resume because I make my living writing resumes after all, if resumes go away, Ill probably make my living writing web profiles instead. Im just not sure that the answer to an outdated style of resume writing is to blow up the entire concept of resumes. At least, not yet.