You Need a Career Development Plan

The other day a client said “I feel like I’m as smart as everyone I work for. When is it going to be my turn to be the one in charge?”

Maybe you’ve never said it out loud, but have you ever had some version of the same feeling? I suspect we all have at some point. Sometimes the professional waiting game can feel eternal. When do I get to be the boss? Or the one interfacing with the client? Or the one to decide or hire or teach or lead the meetings?

These aren't just idle questions; they're a little thing I like to call career goals. They're the aspirations that drive us.

But asking questions is only a start. If you're going to meet your goals, you need a career development plan.

What is a career development plan?

The words "career development plan" seem to describe something formal and specific, much like a business or marketing plan. But in reality, your career development plan can be as informal as you'd like. As long as you define the purpose of your plan and understand how it serves your career goals, you can design and rock a plan that will get you where you want to go.

Career development is simply a strategic set of actions you take to grow in your career by building your knowledge, skills, and experience.

So, let’s talk about it. Career development is simply a strategic set of actions you take to grow in your career by building your knowledge, skills, and experience. And your career development plan is a written account of those actions.

Do you need a written plan? No. But it’s a great way to stay motivated and committed to your own career. A strong career development plan will position you to move further and faster, expanding your definition of success, and empowering you to achieve it on your terms.

How to build a career development plan

The good news is you only need two things to build a career development plan, and neither of them is money.

You need goals and commitment. That’s it.

Sometimes bigger companies will have formal development programs, but many don’t. And those that do often require you to be nominated and follow their schedule, their agenda. These programs tend to be tailored to the company’s needs and goals. Those company goals may or may not align with your own.

My advice today is about defining your goals, your terms, and then customizing your development accordingly.

Here’s how I’d suggest approaching it.

Begin with career goals

Where do you want to be in five years? Five months? You may have total clarity and a concrete goal.

I want to be the senior manager of the engagement team.

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Expert Tips for Creating a Newborn Photoshoot at Home

A newborn baby entering your world is lifechanging in so many beautiful ways. Soon, you'll be swept away with the intoxicating smell of new baby combined with the heartwarming sound of sweet baby coos. Your precious bundle of joy will melt your heart every time you look at him or her. Ah, baby love!

Those first days of your baby's life are moments to treasure, but it's easy to forget how special they are as you navigate the raw emotions of new parenthood. Between soothing your post-partum body, managing sleep deprivation, and getting comfortable with your new baby, the first precious days of your baby's life can be a total blur. How can you make sure you remember them? A newborn photoshoot!

Here are some tips to help you capture baby's first moments with beautiful images you'll always cherish.

Know the best time to plan your newborn's photoshoot

After months of patiently waiting to meet your newborn baby, you're finally bonding and getting to know him. While your plans may include lots of getting-to-know-you and snuggle time, your baby has other plans—sleeping. Newborns tend to sleep eight hours or more during the day and eight or more (hopefully!) hours during the night.

Some of the most adorable newborn images are of sleeping babies with dreamy faces, all cuddled up and cozy, snoozing away without a care in the world. (Think Anne Geddes. This iconic Australian photographer put newborn photography on the map!)

Wondering when the best time to capture a quintessential sleepy baby pose is? You may want to plan even before your baby makes his arrival so you won't miss it! According to most professional baby photogs, the ideal time for a newborn baby photoshoot is before three weeks of age.

Newborn shoots take place in the first two weeks because, during this time, the sleepy curled-up poses can be achieved; after this time, babies tend to sleep less and are less flexible, so it will be less likely that we achieve these poses.

Sally Slack, Professional Baby Photographer    

Another pro tip includes planning on photographing your baby shortly after his feeding. Photographers love to take advantage of their "drunken milk" stage, and who doesn't love that look of utter contentment a baby has when she's got a full belly!

Get organized

When trying to mimic a...

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How Much Sleep Do You Really Need?

This week, let’s ask the million-dollar question: How much sleep do you really need?

We all know sleep is important. Shakespeare called it the “sore labor’s bath, balm of hurt minds, great nature’s second course, chief nourisher in life’s feast.” Less poetically, headlines these days seem to be shouting: “Sleep deprivation will make you slower and dumber!” “It will give you Alzheimer's disease and heart attacks!” One mattress advertisement I saw simply said, “You can only live seven days without sleep.” Yikes. Talk about pressure to perform!

Fear-mongering aside, there is good evidence that sleep is important for health, well-being, and performance. A recent meta-analysis including over 1600 participants confirmed that sleep restriction is associated with poorer attention and thinking. We’ve known for decades that sleep deprivation disrupts mood. For example, it can trigger manic episodes in those with bipolar disorder. And we’re learning now, from researchers in Sweden and Germany, that insufficient sleep can even affect the microbiota in your gut.

How Much Sleep Is Enough?

But how much sleep is enough? Is there such a thing as too much sleep? If you ask Dr. Google, you’ll get over a billion answers. (That’s right; “billion” with a “b.”) The most common answer seems to be “eight hours.” That seems pretty straightforward. But where does this number come from? And if you’re thinking, “Dr. Google hasn’t examined me; how would she know how much sleep I need,” then you’re asking exactly the right question.

We’ll get to some tips and answers to the deepest sleep mysteries in a moment. But first, consider this:

We’re often told that we should drink eight glasses of water per day. (It seems like eight is a magic number). But does that apply to everyone? I’m a petite couch potato. Do I really need the same amount of water as, say, soccer phenomenon Megan Rapinoe? Does Ruth Bader Ginsberg need the same amount of water as The Rock? Actually, that’s a tough one … with the way she works out at the gym, RBG really might need that much hydration. In any case, how much water she needs to drink depends on her body’s physiology, her current activities, and other factors.

We can apply the same logic to sleep. How much sleep we need depends on how we are biologically hardwired and on our body’s...

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The Evolution of ’Yoiks’

A recent article in the “LA Review of Books” has the line “Yoiks! Dostoyevsky at his weirdest is for me the most-Gogol-like of the Russians.” And this comes from a recent issue of the “Pittsburgh Current”: “Yoiks! Are we totally sure Lincoln didn’t commit suicide?”

I’m familiar with that “yoiks.” My dear departed mother-in-law Marge Simeone used to say it. I always thought it was a jokey, mock-New York rendition of the word “yikes.” But it isn’t. Or, more precisely, it isn’t only that.

A look at Oxford English Dictionary shows me how unaware I was. The main definition for “yoicks” is: “Chiefly Fox-hunting. A call or cry used to urge on hounds. Sometimes also used more generally as an exclamation indicating excitement or encouragement.” The first citation is from 1774, and here’s one from 1838: “The wood begins to resound with shouts of ‘Yoicks True-bo-y, yoicks True-bo-y, yoicks push him up, yoicks wind him!’”

Evidence of American awareness of the term can be found in the 1958 Warner Brothers cartoon short “Robin Hood Daffy.” Daffy Duck is the legendary outlaw, and every time he attempts an acrobatic feat, he shouts, "Yoicks! And awa-aaay!!!" 

 

As early as the 1880s, according to the OED, the word began to be used in a slightly different way, as “An exclamation expressing surprise, astonishment, or fright.” It popped up on both sides of the Atlantic, including in a 1942 article in the American magazine “Boy’s Life”: “Yoicks! What a day for the game!” This jibes with the use of it by my mother-in-law (born 1914). And the 1942 date is interesting, because it suggests that “yoicks” begat “yikes,” rather than the other way around. 

I say that because it was precisely in the early ’40s that the now-familiar interjection “yikes” was born. The OED’s first citation is 1971, but a crowd-sourced etymological investigation on Twitter was able to move that up by more than three decades. Joshua Friedman found this on newspapers.com:

...

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Where Do We Get the Saying About 'Red Skies at Night'? (And Is It True?)

My investigation into the phrase “red skies at night, sailor’s delight” started with this question from Thomas last week:

Hi, Mignon. My name is Thomas, from Indianapolis, and I've been reading about the Sahara dust plume that's heading for U.S. on the tradewinds, and I read that supposedly it is going to cause a whole bunch of fantastic sunsets, and also that when the Sahara dust gets in the atmosphere, it suppresses the formation of tropical storms and hurricanes. And I was wondering if that might be the origin to the old saying “red sky at night, sailor’s delight” and if not, do you know where that comes from or what it dates to? Thanks so much, I love the podcast.

It’s a great question, Thomas.

The massive Saharan dust plume you were asking about has now reached some southern parts of the United States, and it’s mostly gone, but a smaller second plume is on its way.

These plumes aren’t a new phenomenon—they happen all the time when wind blows across the huge deserts in North Africa, and they aren’t just limited to the U.S. either, the dust also makes it to parts of Europe—but according to National Geographic, the plume that wafted over regions from Puerto Rico to Texas last week was the biggest plume since people started recording the size by satellite in 1979.

Since they aren’t new, it’s a reasonable question to wonder if they are the source of the saying “Red skies at night, sailor’s delight. Red skies in the morning, sailor take warning,” but I don’t think so. I believe that regular weather is more likely to be the source because even though the dust storms are common, clouds also cause red skies, and they are much more common.

The ‘Red Skies” Saying Is Old

The concept of red skies at night being a harbinger of good weather is old. For example, the wonderful site “The Phrase Finder” traces written mentions back to one of my favorite old sources, the Wyclif bible, published in 1395.

And at least in England, where the concept and phrase originated, red skies are actually quite predictive of the...

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An Interview with Joshua Essoe: Transcript

5 Legal Documents You Need During a Pandemic

As Americans grapple with how to stay physically and financially healthy during the COVID-19 pandemic, it’s critical to make sure you and your family have the right emergency documents. It’s much easier to prepare for a potential disaster than to recover from one that blind-sides you. After a tragedy occurs, it may be too late to make critical decisions.

Let's talk about the different emergency documents and why you may need to create or update existing paperwork. If you get COVID-19 or have another unexpected illness or accident, these documents will help you manage your finances and make essential decisions with more clarity and less stress.   

5 emergency and legal documents to have during a pandemic

Instead of being caught off guard during a difficult time, consider if you should have these five legal documents.

1. Last will and testament

The purpose of a will is to communicate your final wishes after you die. Too many people don’t have one of these incredibly important documents because they mistakenly believe it’s something just for old rich people.

The fact is, every adult should have a will. If you die without one, the courts decide what happens to your possessions, not your family.

The fact is, every adult should have a will. If you die without one, the courts decide what happens to your possessions, not your family.

And once you have a will, don’t forget to update it periodically to make sure it addresses all your wishes, assets, and beneficiaries. Critical life events—such as getting married, divorced, having a child, or losing a spouse or partner—should trigger you to update your will.

If you’re starting from scratch, make an inventory of your assets—like bank accounts, investments, real estate, vehicles, expensive belongings, and sentimental possessions—and decide what you want to happen to them. You can list beneficiaries for specific items, like who gets a piece of heirloom jewelry or an artwork collection. You can also create distribution percentages, such as 50 percent of the value of your assets go to your partner and 50 percent to your only child.

In addition to dealing with your possessions, a will allows you to name a guardian for your minor children.

In addition to dealing with your possessions, a will allows you to name a guardian for your minor children. And don’t forget to leave instructions for what you want to happen to your pets, digital assets, intellectual property, and business assets. You can create a plan for your funeral, such as where you want to be buried and whether you want your organs donated.

Someone must carry out...

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