Challenge Yourself

You will never achieve a fraction of what you are capable of by sticking to the safe and comfortable. Being content at work is no way to advance your career. Instead, take on responsibilities that are not normally expected of you. Put yourself out there and you will reap the rewards.That is why the third item on our holiday list for you is:

#3) Challenge yourself.

Challenging yourself is one of the best ways to grow as a person and to increase the quality of your life. Whether you challenge yourself mentally, emotionally or physically, you will change as a result of stretching yourself beyond your comfort zone. Start small - choose something that lets you test the waters of uncertainty, but feels doable, and then dive in. Once you accomplish the challenge, choose another.

Your confidence will grow each time you challenge yourself and succeed. But accept the fact that some of challenges may not end with the results you want. Even when that happens, the challenge will still serve as an opportunity to learn from and persevere.

Looking back and saying, "I wish I had..." will haunt you forever. Besides, you won't know if something is truly outside of your skill set until you actually try it. Challenging yourself ensures that you won't look back and regret being too scared to try.

Hold Yourself Accountable

You owe it to yourself to take charge of your professional development. Leadership roles are often given to the people who look and act the part - and looking and acting the part is conveyed through your communication skills. That is why the first item on our holiday list for you is:

#1) Invest in communications coaching.

With all the job responsibilities that you manage, staying focused on your career development can easily be overlooked. Working with a communications coach is the best way to increase your commitment and hold yourself accountable. A mentor will make you aware of your performance and provide insight and expertise on how to correct, adapt and improve. 

One of the many benefits of communications coaching is improved self-awareness. Working with a coach will make you aware of the areas that need improvement, but perhaps more importantly and even more beneficial, is that you will learn specifically where you are viewed as a successful communicator. With the help of a coach, you can then enhance those abilities and put them to work for you more frequently.

Ty Boyd Executive Communications & Coaching offers private coaching face to face, by phone or video conference. Common coaching topics include executive and management communications, voice improvement, presentation confidence, conversation savvy, body language analysis and professional image development.

Spending a few hours with one of our executive faculty members is an invaluable gift to yourself.

Be Kind to Yourself When Juggling Your Career and Home Life

In her book Tweak It: Make What Matters to You Happen Every Day, Cali Yost reveals strategies that she uses to help clients achieve a better work-life fit. "Twenty years ago, the clocks on the wall told us when work ended and the rest of life began. Now there are no boundaries, so people can't figure out when to finish a project vs. when to go to the gym, or when to follow up with a prospect vs. when to send a birthday card to their mother." Cali adds, "Knowing how to manage your day-to-day work-life fit is a modern skill set that you need in order to succeed."

We all have expectations that we think we need to live up to and when we feel that we've missed the mark, we tend to get overly judgmental with ourselves. That is why the second item on our holiday list for you is:

#2) Be kind to yourself when juggling your career and home life.

Your home and work worlds are constantly changing and colliding; try as you might, there is no perfect balance. But there are ways to organize your career to bring more harmony to your home so that everyone is happy - especially you.  At Ty Boyd, our faculty coach our with clients to do something everyday to improve their communication skills. It may seem small when you are in the thick of it, but daily consistent practice will amount to something big down the road. There is no doubt, communication skills become more polished with practice. The same can be said of a work-life balance. It can be achieved through small, consistent, everyday changes that cumulatively will optimize your job performance and overall well-being. But keep in mind that achieving a work-life balance is a journey and that your needs will be different at different times in your life.

Set aside some time to reflect on your current work-life balance. What you would like it to be? And what is the plan to get there?