5 SCORE events to improve your business skills in September
TEAM UMAG
September 18, 2024
Just as you had to learn simple skills like tying your shoes, brushing your teeth, and keeping things tidy, there are skills you need to hone to help you survive and thrive in your adulthood.
Have you had a chance yet to experience wishing you could take back all the time you spent wishing you were an adult? That’s happened to the best of us, and if you’re lucky, you never forget what it was like to be young. But, now it’s expected that you are a productive member of society. This could be a great time to take stock of your personal performance inventory (PPI) to ensure you’re up for the challenge.
Master these skills and reap the benefits:
Make a great first impression – Always remember that you only have one chance to make a first impression. It’s the difference between good, bad, or indifferent reputations. The image you depict when you first meet someone is how you will forever be associated. The keys to making a good impression are simple, and they all abide by the golden rule of treating others the way you want to be treated. An excellent shortlist includes:
- Dress appropriately for the occasion.
- Be confident, or at least try to look like you are.
- Smile when greeted by others.
- Show some interest in others by being an attentive listener.
- Be enthusiastic about life and the things around you.
- Be polite and use people’s names when you speak.
Learn to Get Comfortable With Being Uncomfortable
Power up your ability to continue thriving in situations outside your comfort zone. Don’t let your need to be in comfort cause you to make bad decisions in an attempt to stay comfortable. Life’s bumps, twists, and turns can be daunting, but if you learn to walk into the wind, you never know where it might lead you.
Have Priorities and Stick to Them
Knowing what you prioritize and mapping your life around those priorities helps you keep things in order. Sometimes, when your goals, plans, and priorities don’t align, you find yourself consistently thrown off course, wondering where you went wrong.
Knowing what you prioritize and mapping your life around those priorities helps you keep things in order. Sometimes, when your goals, plans, and priorities don’t align, you find yourself consistently thrown off course, wondering where you went wrong.
Prepare to Perform Well in Interview-Style Settings
Knowing how to interview well is much more than answering scripted questions and asking for the usual details. A good interviewee can apply their interview skills to a host of situations. Many of which are helpful when you want to climb higher in life. Always look people in the eyes, be honest and open, be sincere in your concern, delight, or disdain, and most importantly, be concise. In other words, keep it short and sweet.
Knowing how to interview well is much more than answering scripted questions and asking for the usual details. A good interviewee can apply their interview skills to a host of situations. Many of which are helpful when you want to climb higher in life. Always look people in the eyes, be honest and open, be sincere in your concern, delight, or disdain, and most importantly, be concise. In other words, keep it short and sweet.
Embrace Asking for Help
Everyone needs help sometimes, and pride should never keep you from asking for it. No one can do everything by themselves. When trying to complete your objectives, it’s a waste of time, energy, and ingenuity to struggle and not seek assistance.
Everyone needs help sometimes, and pride should never keep you from asking for it. No one can do everything by themselves. When trying to complete your objectives, it’s a waste of time, energy, and ingenuity to struggle and not seek assistance.
Make Sound Decisions
There will be times when your decision may not have been the best one. Of course, you’re only human. But there’s a formula you can use to help you make better choices. Consider if your decision is based on making you feel better in the short term. Quitting a job because you and your boss or co-workers don’t get along is a rash decision based on superficial things. When you make informed decisions that support what you’re trying to achieve in life, you are much more likely to accomplish your goals.
Make a list of your goals and prioritize the tasks needed to achieve each. When planning your day, your activities align with your goals, helping you stay on track.
Learn How To Cook At Home
You save your health and money when you can cook your meals at home. Food delivery is okay occasionally, but cooking at home saves your wallet for more important things. Fast-food restaurant meals are high in saturated fats, sugar, and preservatives. Though many places have taken to serving salads, there still aren’t the recommended amount of nutrients on their menus. These are all terrible combinations for people who want to maintain good health.
You save your health and money when you can cook your meals at home. Food delivery is okay occasionally, but cooking at home saves your wallet for more important things. Fast-food restaurant meals are high in saturated fats, sugar, and preservatives. Though many places have taken to serving salads, there still aren’t the recommended amount of nutrients on their menus. These are all terrible combinations for people who want to maintain good health.
Practice Sustaining Good Financial Health
Make it a point to practice effective personal finance strategies to maintain control of your money. Often, money is at the root of life’s complications. Excessive spending, little to no savings, and inadequate financial planning create a recipe for disaster. Sure, not everyone is a personal finance wizard, but here’s one of those times when asking for help might be needed.
Make it a point to practice effective personal finance strategies to maintain control of your money. Often, money is at the root of life’s complications. Excessive spending, little to no savings, and inadequate financial planning create a recipe for disaster. Sure, not everyone is a personal finance wizard, but here’s one of those times when asking for help might be needed.
Be a Great Listener
Have you ever known someone who misinterprets everything you say, even though you KNOW you’re speaking clearly, and everyone else in the conversation understood? It’s likely because that person doesn’t listen very well. When people are thinking about how they will respond while someone speaks to them, they’ll never really understand what’s happening conversationally. The same can be expected of people who aren’t engaged while you’re talking. They’re staring off into space or at something else, and you aren’t on their radar. Don’t be one of those people. Listen authentically and entirely whenever listening is required.
Have you ever known someone who misinterprets everything you say, even though you KNOW you’re speaking clearly, and everyone else in the conversation understood? It’s likely because that person doesn’t listen very well. When people are thinking about how they will respond while someone speaks to them, they’ll never really understand what’s happening conversationally. The same can be expected of people who aren’t engaged while you’re talking. They’re staring off into space or at something else, and you aren’t on their radar. Don’t be one of those people. Listen authentically and entirely whenever listening is required.
Be the Master of Your Thoughts.
Your brain is the epicenter of your thoughts, ideas, and emotions. Too much negative thought produces negative results. Being unhappy often leads to being unproductive, and a lack of self-control leads people to lose focus on their pursuits. Having a way to train your mind is the best plan to keep your head in check. Meditation is an excellent place to start. Often, people think you need to find a quiet spot, sit on the floor with your legs folded, and remove all thoughts from your mind for a full hour. That method works for many people, and with practice, it can work for you, too. But to get jumpstarted, focus your mind on one thing. It could be a candle, the blue sky, the green grass, or even your own hands. Make your focus your central thought, “the sky is blue” or “the candle is white,” and slowly allow your mind to relax as you have a moment of rest.
Your brain is the epicenter of your thoughts, ideas, and emotions. Too much negative thought produces negative results. Being unhappy often leads to being unproductive, and a lack of self-control leads people to lose focus on their pursuits. Having a way to train your mind is the best plan to keep your head in check. Meditation is an excellent place to start. Often, people think you need to find a quiet spot, sit on the floor with your legs folded, and remove all thoughts from your mind for a full hour. That method works for many people, and with practice, it can work for you, too. But to get jumpstarted, focus your mind on one thing. It could be a candle, the blue sky, the green grass, or even your own hands. Make your focus your central thought, “the sky is blue” or “the candle is white,” and slowly allow your mind to relax as you have a moment of rest.
HARBOR LONDON, CITY BACKPACK
Get Comfortable with Speaking Publicly
You may never be a motivational speaker in front of large groups of people, but you never know when the ability to communicate will boost you to the next level. Regardless, it is a good idea to practice speaking in public. In negotiations, meetings, or even casual conversations, speaking clearly and confidently is one of the most valuable skills a person can have. You set yourself apart and increase your social capital when you can speak well.
To progress as a ‘productive adult,’ you’ll want to master these skills. You’ll love the positive impact having them has on your life.
You may never be a motivational speaker in front of large groups of people, but you never know when the ability to communicate will boost you to the next level. Regardless, it is a good idea to practice speaking in public. In negotiations, meetings, or even casual conversations, speaking clearly and confidently is one of the most valuable skills a person can have. You set yourself apart and increase your social capital when you can speak well.
To progress as a ‘productive adult,’ you’ll want to master these skills. You’ll love the positive impact having them has on your life.
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Janean Watkins
Janean Watkins has over 20 years of experience in brand and website building, electronic communications, and content production. She has led numerous workshops and symposiums on a variety of topics, from literature to entrepreneurship. Currently, she's the curator and developer of Boss Chronicles, a new and growing web series focused on education and resources in the realm of entrepreneurship. As the Owner and Lead Consultant for Urban Matrix Creative Solutions LLC, Janean is working towards the UMAG's overall goal of building up the entrepreneurial community, one brand at a time.
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