How to Craft the Ideal Elevator Speech

Networking is one of the key tools that can make the difference between a good career and a great career. Many people shy away from networking or fumble around when meeting new people because they don’t know what to say about themselves. They’re missing an opportunity to connect with the very people who need them! The secret is in crafting a short and powerful “elevator speech.”

 

The most effective elevator speeches are succinct, carefully-crafted messages that immediately tell someone why he or she needs to hire you. An elevator speech should tell the listener: 

 

1. What you do

 

Consider what you do. Then think about how you distinguish yourself from the other people in your niche and what makes you unique and memorable.

 

2. Who your target audience is

 

Visualize your ideal audience member. Think about what that person is lacking or what problems they have.

3. What need you fill

 

In this step, think about how you fill the need of that audience and what skills or talents you have that they need. 

4. What result you would like from this encounter

 

The last part of the elevator speech helps you to take this contact to the next level. What are you looking for? A meeting? A name of someone who can help you? A resource? Ask!

 

This type of elevator speech focuses on your target audience: what they lack, what they need and why you are the best person to solve their problems. This type of message is more likely to encourage your listener to talk to you, find out more about what you do, have another meeting and eventually hire you or refer you to someone who will hire you. 

 

Put these elements together using the following template: 

 

As a ____________________________________________________

                                  (Describe yourself) 

 

I help____________________________________________________ 

                                 (Your target audience) 

 

to _______________________________________________________

   (Describe the need that you fill for your target audience) 

 

so that they ________________________________________________

                                 (The benefits that they gain) 

 

Here's what I would love for us to do: ______________________________

                                                       (Your goal from this encounter) 

 

You can refine your Elevator Speech in a few ways: 

 

1. Change any long words or jargon into everyday language 

2. Cut out unnecessary words 

3. Finalize your speech by making sure it is no more than 90 words long (excluding the last part where you state your goal). 

 

Practice your speech so that you are comfortable with the message, and you feel authentic when saying it. Try it out in front of a mirror and then say it to your family and friends. 

How to Stop Yourself from Sabotaging Your Own Success

When you sabotage your own success, you are using action or inaction that will undermine your progress and prevent you from accomplishing your goals. You will be hindering your own success. 

 

Some people may undermine their good intentions and defeat their long-term goals. If you take destructive steps like this, it can have a negative impact on almost every part of your life, including your career and relationships. 

 

This article will discuss self-sabotage and teach you ways to stop yourself from sabotaging your own success in life. 

Why Do People Develop Self-Sabotaging Behaviors?

 

There are various reasons why people may thwart their own progress. The causes can range from effects of prior relationships to issues experienced in childhood. Other reasons include coping problems and low self-esteem.

 

Self-sabotage may serve as a temporary coping mechanism for dealing with past traumas and stressful situations. However, it usually makes those problems even harder to deal with, and limits someone’s ability to move beyond them. 

How Can You Stop Yourself from Sabotaging Your Own Success?

 

You can overcome your self-sabotaging problems and replace them with self-confidence, with practice. Here are some tips to stop yourself from sabotaging your own success:

1. Recognize the Behaviors You Use to Sabotage Yourself

 

If you want to stop self-sabotaging, you must recognize the behaviors that sabotage you. Think about goals you may have had for years but have not yet accomplished. Are there areas where you put off making decisions? Do you suffer from a lack of motivation, in minor things as well as important things?

2. Understand Emotions that Lead to Self-Sabotaging Behaviors

 

Behaviors that cause you to sabotage your own success often stem from feelings of anger, anxiety, or worthlessness. Try to manage those emotions, so you won’t commit yourself to any behaviors that will have negative consequences. Check for warning signs of anxiety or anger before they can get out of control.

3. Change Unhelpful Thoughts, Emotion, and Behaviors

 

As you discover negative thoughts and emotions that trigger your self-sabotage behavior, challenge them. If you change one of those aspects, you can change the others more easily.

4. Develop Behaviors that Support You and Your Goals

 

After you identify and begin defeating the false thoughts and emotions that lead to self-sabotaging behavior, you can then begin rebuilding your confidence and self-esteem. 

5. Challenge All of Your Excuses

 

Pay attention to all the excuses you’ve developed when you don’t reach a goal, or when you fail in some way. Usually, the excuses are made to cope with your pain of failing. 

6. Don’t Feed Your Fears Anymore

 

Fears will not go away all by themselves, simply by your pretending they’re not there, or by pushing them to the side. If you don’t attend to fears, they grow stronger. Challenge your fears and see if they’re real and take actions to reduce fears wherever you can. 

7. Learn From Each of Your Mistakes

 

You’re probably the only one who sees yourself as a failure, but many people see themselves in the same way. Everyone will make mistakes – at home and in their professional life. Learn from those mistakes, rather than dwelling on them or burying them. 

8. Understand Your Limits

 

Don’t take on many things at once that you don’t have the capacity, control, or capabilities to handle. You can go after more than one objective, but don’t take on more than you can accomplish. Know what your limits are and stay within them. 

Final Thoughts

 

When you sabotage your own success, it makes life more challenging than it needs to be. There is a great deal of pressure in your life, which can translate into anxiety or stress in your career position and your relationships. 

 

Embrace your capabilities and your potential to be successful, and don’t let doubts or negative emotions keep you from becoming everything you desire to be. 

Breaking Bad Habits: 5 Effective Steps to Overcome Negative Patterns

If you are fully aware that something is bad for you, why is it so difficult to stop? 70% of smokers report that they want to quit. People who abuse alcohol or drugs struggle to break free of their control over their lives. Many people carry unhealthy weight that could be lost if they exercised more and ate right. Why do so many people have trouble overcoming these negative patterns? 

 

Scientists funded by the National Institutes of Health (NIH) are searching for the answer to that question. They study what happens in our brains while habits are forming. They have discovered clues to why our bad habits are hard to overcome. They are working on strategies that will help us make changes we need to make in our lives. 

 

Here are 5 effective steps for overcoming negative patterns and breaking bad habits:

1. Understand that Success Won’t be a Straight Line

 

As you begin trying to change, you will find setbacks and bumps in the road. They are parts of the important process of developing lasting change. You are your own worst critic, and you may view anything less than complete success as a failure. 

 

It may help to take the perspective of a third person and react as you would to a friend trying to change, instead of yourself. You would be reassuring and kind, rather than critical. Allow yourself the same treatment. 

2. Make an Achievable Game Plan

 

Start your journey with a game plan you can achieve. Just thinking about change isn’t normally enough to overcome negative patterns. Instead, use a journal – or your phone, or paper – and start with a plan. 

 

Gain some introspection into the changes you want to make. Consider:

• What is your main goal?

• Why is that goal one you want to achieve?

• Can you set smaller goals to help you reach the main goal?

• What things trigger your bad habit?

• What setbacks do you foresee?

• What types of coping strategies can help you deal with your triggers and your setbacks?

• What type of support system is available for you?

• How will you be tracking challenges and progress?

3. Keep Changes Simple

 

The reason it’s difficult to break your bad habits is that they are already automatic and easy. New behaviors are harder to adopt. Your brain has not yet taken them on. When you make your new goal behaviors simple, it helps in integrating them into your brain’s autopilot routines.

4. Practice Mindfulness

 

Mindfulness will assist you to develop an awareness of your thoughts, your feelings, and your actions. Simply observe the impulses related to your bad habits without reacting to them or judging them. 

 

As you develop awareness of your routine behaviors and those triggers that cause them, you can consider other available options, like not acting on your urges or avoiding cues that cause you to remember bad habits. 

 

Practicing consistent mindfulness will also help you in noticing ways in which your habits affect your life on a daily basis. As you begin recognizing those effects, it helps you to feel driven to change the bad habits. 

5. Cut Out Your Triggers

 

Cut as many triggers as you can from your life. If you usually smoke when drinking, don’t drink alcohol. If you eat whatever cookies you have in your house, throw them away. Make it easier to break your bad habits by avoiding whatever causes them. 

Conclusion

 

Once you have broken a bad habit, what’s the next step? You need to plan to prevent any relapse. Bad habits are difficult to break, and it will usually take multiple attempts to change. Remember to be compassionate with yourself, so you won’t give up when you encounter a setback or roadblock. That makes success much more probable.

References

 

https://www.healthline.com/health/how-to-break-a-habit#be-mindful

 

https://www.heart.org/en/healthy-living/healthy-lifestyle/mental-health-and-wellbeing/how-to-break-bad-habits-and-change-behaviors

 

https://www.health.harvard.edu/blog/how-to-break-a-bad-habit-202205022736

 

https://health.clevelandclinic.org/how-to-break-bad-habits

 

The Art of Delegation: How to Free Up Your Time and Get More Done

Most internet searches for “delegation” result in articles designated for managers and employers. While this skill, of course, has its benefits in a business context, delegation is a useful tool for freeing up time in any area of life. Today, we’ll look at delegation in a general context so you can effectively use it at work, home, hobby clubs, spiritual organizations, and anywhere else you may find it useful.

Benefits of Delegation

 

It can be hard for some people to let go and accept help for numerous reasons. However, you’ll find that delegation of tasks has benefits that far outweigh the undesired feelings that may come at first. Some of these benefits include:

• Saving time

• Building your own and others’ skillsets

• Preparing others to handle tasks independently in the future

• Increasing motivation

• Improving relationships

Tips for Successful Delegation

 

Successful delegation requires finesse and good communication. To delegate tasks properly, consider the following tips:

• Communicate your overall goals clearly.

• Allow for team member feedback.

• Play on individual strengths.

• Establish a clear channel for subsequent communication.

• Be patient and accept that mistakes will be made.

• Monitor progress and make changes as needed.

Communicating Effectively

Delegation can come across as authoritarian or laziness if not used properly. The first thing to keep in mind is your tone of voice and the words you use. Present the reason for delegation in a neutral tone and explain it in terms of how it provides mutual benefits to everyone. For example, instead of saying “We all live here. We’re each going to do our fair share.,” say “We can all be happier if everyone pitches in on chores.”

 

Second, clarity in delegation is essential. If you don’t clearly define the tasks, there is a good chance that things will be missed or completed improperly, causing even more work in the end. For example, instead of just saying “You’re in charge of the equipment.,” you should make a list of what equipment is needed and instructions for how to prepare it.

Using Strengths

Determining each other’s strengths requires input from at least two people; the individual and the person delegating the task. It’s always important to ask a person about their strengths. They may have skills and training you were unaware of. In addition, you’ll also want to take your own observations into account. Based on what you come up with together, you can mutually determine which task would be best suited for their skills and needs.

Utilizing Feedback and Shortcomings

When you first delegate tasks, it’s important to listen to the concerns of the people you’re delegating to. Remember that just because something doesn’t seem important to you, it doesn’t mean it’s not important to someone else. Take this opportunity to address fears, offer advice, and work together on a game plan for success.

 

You should also determine a process for monitoring progress. For instance, you could schedule routine meetings to discuss what’s working and what isn’t. Create an atmosphere that encourages open communication and supports one another through the learning curves. In some cases, you could also use certain outcomes to monitor progress, such as sales, time spent, etc.

When to Use Delegation

Delegation isn’t necessary in every task. If the task is simple and there’s no harm in completing it yourself, then there’s no need to force delegation just for the sake of doing it. However, there are some factors to consider when deciding if you should delegate a task, including:

• Personal stress caused by taking on the task yourself

• Preparing others to take your place

• Opportunity for skill development

• Equality in time and effort

• Current abilities of yourself and others

• Benefits to others

References

 

https://online.hbs.edu/blog/post/how-to-delegate-effectively

 

https://www.forbes.com/sites/eliamdur/2022/11/08/delegating-part-ii-seven-benefits-of-delegating/?sh=29118d377d55

 

https://www.linkedin.com/advice/0/how-do-you-communicate-clear-specific-instructions

 

5 Ways to Reinvent Yourself When You’re Stuck in Life

If you’re like most people, you may have done more in your career and life than you ever dreamed of doing. Your life changes when you do such things and will continue to change as long as you keep your mind open to reinventing yourself.

 

Change is an amazing thing for humans! You must keep pushing yourself. Don’t sit back and revel in what you have accomplished, and then be the same person you were when you were younger. You must continue to grow and evolve in order to have a life that is interesting and dynamic. 

 

Here are 5 ways that you can reinvent yourself when you are stuck in a rut in your life.

 

1. Redirecting Your Life

 

This redirection can be perceived as a setting of goals or visualization. As you ponder the difficulties you have overcome in the past year, you can begin moving forward and looking at the new, bright year ahead. Start each year with positivity and hopefulness. 

 

Be sure to write down your goals, so they will be more easily visualized and seen in real time. After you write down your goals, break them into mini goals. Those are easier to track one day at a time. Redirecting yourself through setting goals will help you to achieve them, albeit not immediately. 

 

2. Making a Bucket List

 

When you’re stuck in a rut in your life, take some time and imagine what your work and personal life could look like. Ask yourself questions and write the answers down. Writing the answers down is a simple act that brings forth forward momentum and clarity, making it easier to fulfill your aspirations and your purpose in life. Take the time to imagine your life as it can be and follow the directions to take you to that life. 

 

3. Starting Small Makes Big Changes Achievable

 

Starting small is the best way to make big changes in your life. The smaller changes make it easier for you to stick with your changes in the long run. If you’re trying to accomplish too much at once, the changes may not be sustained, and you’ll feel overwhelmed. Remember:

 

• Drastic life shifts are always intimidating.

• Starting small makes them less scary.

• Take one small step at a time.

 

Something as small as starting your morning routine 30 minutes earlier can be one simple step. That way, your body will become accustomed to changes you make. 

 

4. Cultivating Presence

 

It may seem that you’re told you need to do more, rather than being more. If you follow that order, you may begin to function just on autopilot. Switch off that autopilot by using mindfulness techniques. This will be helpful in rerouting your thinking. You will not worry about the past or the future as much, so you can become rooted in the present. 

 

You can also take a step back to make your decisions from a calm, clear place, rather than making them amid chaos and being always busy. 

 

5. Identifying Areas of Your Life You Want to Change

 

Reinventing yourself can be accomplished in part by identifying the areas of your life that you’d like to change. Explore just what you want to change. You may often view transformations as “before and after” or “black and white.” 

 

However, changing even small areas of your daily life may have a wonderful ripple effect. Holistically assess your life and look at each area, before identifying those you want to change. 

 

Conclusion

 

It only takes one skill, one bit of information or one thought to begin reinventing yourself when you’re stuck in life. The power is always within you. It just needs to be unlocked. Once you have unlocked the power using the steps above, you’ll see endless possibilities for your future. Start creating and living the life you most desire. 

 

References

 

https://carenmerrick.com/how-to-reinvent-yourself-regardless-of-age-or-circumstance/

 

https://thecreativeindependent.com/guides/how-to-reinvent-yourself/

 

https://psychcentral.com/blog/feeling-stuck-in-life-tips-to-move-forward#when-to-seek-help