Career Change, Take The Leap

01/28/2020 R.C. Liley Leave a comment

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People spend the majority of their adult life working but not many seem happy with where they are in their career. Financial and family responsibilities get in the way and nowadays people decide to go for a career change later in life, perhaps when their children are a bit older, or simply because they have a better understanding of what they want to do. It’s more and more common to change your working field at least once in your life and age isn’t always an issue. People take on further education mid-life and continue to have better prospects in different areas. If you are considering a career change there are certain things you need to think about in order to feel comfortable going through with it. It can seem like a huge risk and it’s hard to face it head on. Here are some strategies to help you process the idea of a career change and finally have the courage to go for it.

Analyse your current job

Before you automatically give up on your current field take a moment to reflect. What areas of your current job do you like the best? What do you like about the working environment, the conditions, the hours and the dynamics? If you currently work in a team of people, would you like to continue to do so? Write a list of the daily tasks you complete and categorize them. Do you enjoy working with a computer, or being outdoors? What are the aspects of your job that you like? What skills have you learnt and how will these be transferable to your new career of choice?

Know your end game

You may not be in love with your current career choice and are seeking change but do you know what you want that change to be and what you are looking to get out of the career move. It’s not always as simple as ‘I would like to be a teacher’. Are you looking for more flexibility, for example? If you are then this needs to be the priority behind any move you make and you need to consider whether you are going to get it by switching careers. Or perhaps you want more responsibility? Can your new career path offer you that? Bear in mind these changes might not happen straight away but is there capacity there to ensure you get what you want from the move at some point?

Another reason you need to know your end game is so that you can identify what it takes to get there. Perhaps you dream of having your own personal injury practice, if this is the case to make it a reality you need to identify all the steps you need to take to make it happen. Do you have legal expertise? The capital? Or even the determination and work ethic to establish yourself and run a successful practice? Alternatively, perhaps you want to opt for something completely different and become one of the best elite nightclub dancers. If so, do you possess the dance skills, the physical fitness, and the charisma required? Do you have a plan to work with a reputable agency to get the right gigs, build your reputation, and navigate the competitive entertainment industry? Understanding what you need to achieve your goals, whatever route you choose, is essential to making your dreams a reality.

Research

Do all the research you possibly can in both the field you are interested in and how other people have managed the transition of a career change. This could involve reading self-help books or autobiographies and online advice from professional gurus or even celebrities. You can find examples online of experts and video tutorials. Ask the opinion of those closest to you as they should be able to put your ideas into perspective. Look into what the new job requires and definitely consider further education. Cross reference colleges with the field you are interested in, for example, this article lays out what you can expect and further training you will need in order to progress in the nursing profession.

Face your fear

It’s not easy to take the leap. Don’t always assume you need a total change of pace, as mentioned before it’s advisable to think about the aspects of your current job that you like and can take with you to your new job. Whereas it’s standard to often start at the bottom again unfortunately, try to picture the end result, after the initial transitional period you could be earning much more. Test your adaptability to change by trying to alter other aspects of your routine, you might find you’re better at it than you think!

Going Healthy, Health, Lifestyle

Finding An Alternative To Fad Diets

01/27/2020 R.C. Liley Leave a comment

We’re used to living our lives at a million miles per hour, and we expect results quickly. This applies to everything from finding a product online and ordering a coffee to go to losing weight. The trouble with rapid weight loss is that it’s often unsustainable. While fad diets may seem like the solution if you’ve over-indulged over the festive season, there are alternatives that are much more likely to help you achieve your long-term goals.

Fad diets have become incredibly popular, and this is largely due to the fact that they promise swift results. Fad diets usually contribute to rapid weight loss, and this often involves restricting calorie intake, cutting out food groups and dropping pounds without having to exercise. On the surface, fad diets like the Keto and Paleo diets may seem like a great idea, but it’s wise to proceed with caution. Eliminating food groups can contribute to nutrient deficiencies and make you crave foods you enjoy, and drastically reducing calorie intake can leave you hungry and increase the risk of sudden weight gain once you come off the plan. Ninety-five percent of people who lose weight on fad diets regain those pounds within 5 years.

Rather than resorting to fed diets, which can impact your mood, your health and your bank balance, it’s a good idea to take the advice shared in this infographic on board. Aim for a nutritious, balanced diet, which champions fresh produce, whole grains and vitamin-laden fruit and vegetables. Plans like the Mediterranean diet are proven to help weight loss and improve health at the same time and they produce sustainable results. People who live in Mediterranean countries are less likely to develop life-threatening diseases.

Before you reach for a diet book or think about giving up all your favorite foods for good, why not take a closer look at the infographic below?

Infographic Created By University of Southern California

Going Healthy, Health, Lifestyle, Parenting

The Smart Box: Introducing Healthy TV Watching Habits To Our Kids

01/23/2020 R.C. Liley Leave a comment

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When we consider the ways of keeping our kids healthy, it’s not just about the obvious things like eating right and exercising but it’s about encouraging healthy habits in life. We can look back and realize that we made certain mistakes or instilled unhealthy habits because we do them ourselves. A very good example is television. The latest Infinity Dish statistics show how television plays a role in almost everyone’s life. Perhaps there were a few times when you needed a break so you put your children in front of the television but this has now spiraled out of control and now you’ve got couch potatoes for kids! But when we look at the idea of watching television there are ways for us to encourage some healthy habits.

Being Aware Of Questionable YouTube Content

It’s something that we think is pretty harmless, especially for toddlers. When we put on a kids YouTube channel that plays nursery rhymes we may not realize that there is a lot of unhealthy and questionable content out there that individuals are trying to sneak into the videos. We should monitor our children’s living habits but we should also think about the streaming services we use. If you have a Firestick it’s so easy to install apps that have various questionable shows and cedars. A VPN (Virtual Private Network) is something that might help and if you’re wondering why would you use a VPN for Firestick it is a good way to keep yourself anonymous so you’re not easily targeted with specific content. Using a VPN can also be useful when travelling abroad, as some of your child’s favourite shows may be blocked by the local internet. For this reason, if you’re traveling to a foreign country like China, make sure to have a reliable service like ExpressVPN China at hand to ensure a fast and secure connection without encountering any common restrictions. Whether you are at home or abroad, once we get into certain viewing habits the algorithm kicks in and so we are suggested more and more questionable content, so having a degree of privacy can be important.

Turn The Television Off

It sounds obvious, but the television becomes a background to our lives. Turning the television off when visitors come by, eating meals, or doing other tasks means that you don’t rely on the television to become a babysitter of sorts. Our children can easily become distracted by what is on television and when our children are young, this is the perfect opportunity to make sure they don’t rely on this for the rest of their lives. This can mean a lot of harsh lessons for ourselves when we are used to watching television. But when you live by the rules yourself it’s far easier to enforce them. It’s a good idea to impose certain time limits. For example, if your children have started school, two hours should be the maximum. And when you start to schedule their day after school it gives you an opportunity to incorporate other important skills.

Choosing Educational Content

This is such a difficult topic to get our heads around. It’s easier when your children are preschoolers because there’s a lot of shows out there about counting and giving your children certain nuggets of knowledge. But as your children get older it can be harder to monitor this. Not allowing your children to plan their own weekly viewing schedule can seem a little bit on the harsh side but when you allow a certain time limit consider incorporating things that you think are educational into their TV watching time.

Television can be a good thing, just as long as we approach it with the right balance.