What We Can Learn from Major Developed Economies

Posted March 18, 2022 By GuestSpot

As we continue along on this great journey of life, we are continually asked to keep looking backwards at our pasts and apply the lessons we have learned to the future, to elicit the best outcomes. There are all sorts of places that we can search to take lessons from that will benefit us, but one of the best places to look for lessons is other developed economies. Each developed economy in the world has its own unique history which has led it to fill a certain niche in the world. Here are three lessons that we can learn from other major developed economies of the world.

Germany

The first lesson that we can learn comes from the German economy, and it is about the importance of labor relations. Germany has some of the strongest workers unions anywhere in the world, which leads to a lot of conversation and collaboration between workers and employers to find mutually beneficial scenarios. The US, with much weaker unions, tends to see a lot of fighting for survival amongst unions, which can lead to constant, costly confirmation for both employers and workers, with no end. Perhaps by opening dialogues and looking for mutually beneficial agreements, we can learn how to arbitrate smarter.

Japan

The next lesson that we can learn is from the Japanese economy, where the concept of waste reduction and a focus on hyper efficiency are key to successful business operations. Japanese companies like Toyota pioneered many waste reduction processes in manufacturing. One of these major ideas that comes from Japanese manufacturing is the idea of Kaizen, or continuous improvement. This philosophy tells us to look at every aspect of a process, and constantly seek to find ways to improve that process for peak efficiency. The lesson we learn is to look at the big picture and find small ways to improve the process for the best results.

France

Our final lesson comes from France – whose economy brings in a much smaller GDP than the United States – ranks ahead of the US in many other important measures like health, time, and other areas. While France’s economy may not be as strong as the United States, we learn that there are other metrics that are much more important than just GDP. Sometimes it is best to sacrifice simple metrics for solutions that lead to an enjoyable life well spent.

There are lessons to be learned everywhere you look. But some of the best life lessons can come by analyzing the actions of large economies. Pay attention to these three lessons from developed economies around the world and find how they apply to your life.

Check out this article on how to protect your income from life events!

          

What to Do When You Get Injured on the Job

Posted March 16, 2022 By GuestSpot

No one wants to get injured, and when it happens at work it can be even more frustrating. It’s important that you know what to do if you are hurt on the job so you can get the help you need and the support you deserve. Your workplace should offer you help so that you can safely recover and avoid future injury, and also compensate you for the time you miss because of an injury on the job. Here are three essential steps to complete if you have a work-related injury!

Seek Medical Treatment

The very first thing you need to do is make sure that you have medical treatment to take care of your injury. This is important for two reasons. First it ensures that you get the care you need and that your injury doesn’t get worse over time. The second reason is so you have a medical record to support the injury. Those records will be important especially when you are seeking workers compensation. When you meet with your doctor, make sure that you get a copy of the record so you can prove your injury to your workplace. Make sure to have a thorough checkup so you can know the whole extent of your injury.

File a Workers’ Compensation Claim

You also need to make sure that you file a workers’ compensation claim as soon as you can. This will be filed with your work and will get the process started so you can be compensated. You may also wish to set up an appointment with HR, so you know what you need to do to make sure you get the help you need. Workers’ compensation claims can get complicated fast without the proper legal representation. Getting a lawyer to help can make things easier on yourself especially while you are dealing with the aftermath of your injury. It’s worth taking the time to at least consult with a lawyer so you know what the process looks like and if you should pursue legal action.

Consider Disability

If your injury is severe, you may need disability help in addition to workers compensation. It is a good idea to have disability insurance at all times so you can still afford your day to day life even if you become disabled. You can talk to your employer about disability insurance as many companies offer it as a benefit. You can also apply for disability through the federal government if the results of your injury are likely to keep you out of work long term. Communicating with a lawyer and HR can help you to figure out what you need to do to make sure you are financially secure after an injury at work.

Dealing with an injury at work can be really frustrating and difficult. But it doesn’t have to be something that you stress about long term. If you are able to take care of yourself and address the injury early, you can get the help you need.

Read this next: How to Protect Your Income from Life Events

          

When you are healthy and injury free, it is easy to feel invincible. Most of the time, people don’t even give much thought about how they are feeling unless something is wrong. It can be hard to remember that your well-being is a precious gift that needs to be safeguarded and protected. Here are three reasons why you need to take care of your health and safety at your job.

Avoid Burnout

Excessive, prolonged stress can lead to burnout. Burnout is just what its name suggests; it is a condition marked by severe physical, mental, and emotional exhaustion that leaves you feeling hopelessly drained. Burnout can weaken your immune system, causing you to pick up every cold and flu that comes around. You might feel tired all the time, even with sufficient sleep. Burnout wreaks havoc on your emotional health, as well. It can leave you feeling helpless, alone, cynical, and unmotivated. You might begin isolating yourself, performing poorly at work, self-medicating, and become increasingly irritable.

To avoid burnout, you need to maintain a proper life-balance. Work should never consume your life to the point that you no longer have time for socializing, relaxing, or spending time with family. Try to keep a healthy perspective—don’t be a perfectionist and learn to let go of the things you can’t control. Finally, take care of your health by getting enough sleep and exercise, and by maintaining a healthy diet.

Disability Can Hinder Your Career

If you experience an injury at work, you might assume that you can automatically fall back on disability payments. However, the law doesn’t cover every accident or illness. Your injury needs to fall under Social Security’s definition of disability. To be eligible for disability, your injury must be either life-threatening or last at least one year. If your injury is not life-threatening or long-lasting, you could be faced with a situation where you are unable to work for several months, but ineligible for disability.

Employees Have Safety Responsibilities at Work

While the OSHA has safety requirements for your employer based on your industry, you are required to cooperate in your own safety and well-being at work. As an employee, you are required to know and follow all your industry’s OSHA safety requirements, attend all safety training, wear your personal protective equipment, and be accountable for your own actions at work.

Don’t let a preventable illness or accident get in the way of your active, healthy lifestyle. Take the necessary precautions to stay well and maintain your productivity at work. You will never regret being careful.

Check out this article on how to protect your income from life events!

          

Running a business is never easy, but if it seems more difficult lately than it has been in the past, you’re not alone. Business leadership is being challenged on a number of fronts simultaneously due to changes in our society and economy. Understanding the source of these difficulties is key to addressing them.

Economic Stress

Both nationwide and globally, there are numerous stresses acting on the economic system that can affect your business. For example, supply chain issues are impacting nearly every step of product manufacturing and distribution, and this, in turn, affects how companies can serve their customers. You may be experiencing increased costs and delays in receiving supplies, leaving you with angry and frustrated customers.

Inflation is also taking its toll. When your cost of doing business increases, you may have little choice but to raise your own prices or rates. In these cases, good leadership is shown in being adaptable and continuing to provide good customer care.

Employee Turnover

When a business experiences frequent employee turnover, it can be costly and cause delays in production or service. You may be doing your best to retain good employees through competitive compensation and positive working conditions. Yet replacing those workers who move on to other jobs can be time-consuming and expensive.

Outsourcing employee recruitment can save time and money in your search. A staffing agency or online recruitment site has the resources and reach to attract a large pool of applicants and sort out those most suited for the position.

Uncertain Consumers

Economic stress often results in consumers who hesitate to make major purchases or sign contracts. They may walk away before closing the deal or settle for something less than what they originally wanted. Shopping online, they may place items in their virtual shopping cart and then abandon them.

While you can’t relieve the economic pressures, you can help your customers feel more confident by offering flexibility in pricing and terms. For new customers, a trial period or month-by-month contract may seem more appealing. Price bundling can also be attractive to hesitant customers.

Right now, the business world is experiencing multiple changes and challenges. Yet, good business leaders can manage effectively despite unexpected occurrences and pressures from both outside and inside the company. While problems can’t always be eliminated, there are always ways to navigate difficulties and stay successful.

Check out this article on how to make new hires feel comfortable at your company!

          

How to Handle Stress and Anxiety in Your Career

Posted March 10, 2022 By GuestSpot

There is not a career in the world that doesn’t come with at least some level of stress. So learning to manage stress effectively at work is essential to enjoying your working life and reaching the dreams you have for yourself. Take time to learn stress management skills and make sure you are in a career you love so the stress and anxiety you face isn’t more than you can handle.

Take More Time for Relaxing

If you are always working all the time, there isn’t really a chance for you to decrease your anxiety or deal with it in a healthy way. But if you take time for yourself to relax and recharge, it is easier to deal with any anxiety you may face. It’s important to make relaxation a priority so you can enjoy yourself and find time to decompress outside of work. It’s also important to take breaks when you are at work and give yourself room to breathe. Doing this will increase your productivity and keep your stress at lower levels.

Change Your Diet

If you aren’t eating in a healthy way it can make all of your stress more frustrating and difficult to handle. And when things are busy at work, many people tend to forget to feed themselves in nutritious ways. Not only that, but the foods you eat can actually impact your stress and make things either more or less stressful. Getting more foods that reduce cortisol or foods high in magnesium can reduce stress.

Learn to Recognize Early Signs of Stress

For some people, it is difficult to realize they are stressed until they are already in the thick of it. However, if you are able to identify warning signs of stress, you can address it when it is less severe. This allows you to implement changes in behavior that will decrease your stress instead of increasing it. Pay attention to changes in the way you feel, like your heart rate, your breathing, and even your ability to pay attention. All of those things can help you to notice if you are feeling stressed.

Managing stress can be really hard, but it is an important skill to develop. Talking to a counselor can be a great tool that helps you to develop strategies to cope with stress in a healthy way. Then you can implement those strategies to make your work life more enjoyable.

Check out this article on jobs that are in high supply right now!

          

In the early days of your career, you will likely need to be involved in someone else’s business all day, or maybe even more. But eventually, you may find that you want to move out of that place and start taking a more hands on approach to your own career. Planning to exit from your regular job before you leave can help you to start your career as an entrepreneur and feel prepared for the steps you need to make moving forward.

Set Goals for Yourself

Start with setting goals for yourself so that you know when you want to be out of the 9-to-5 work life and what you want to do when you are out. You can use smaller goals to prepare your business and get new people set up in various positions. As you prepare yourself and your employees for your new roles, you can start to see how things will work when you finally exit your nine to five to work on your own business full time. Really take time to think about what you want for yourself and for your business so you can take the steps that will get you to your dreams.

Get Your Finances in Order

You also need to prepare to pay for your new business. Every business needs some level of funding in order to be functional in the early days. You can acquire funding through loans, partnerships, and even investors. You can also use your own cash to get things rolling if you have the money to make that happen. According to Franchise Gator, some of your 401(k) assets can be used to fund a business startup.

Follow Your Passion

Your entrepreneurship goals will likely take time. According to Listen Money Matters, you may work more hours than you do at your nine to five job. With that in mind, you have to make sure that you are choosing a career that you have a passion for. That passion will help to inspire you as you return to work each day. When your passion and career goals meet, you can make great things happen for yourself and the world.

Working for yourself is a big dream, and you have the ability to make it happen. Start with small goals and take your transition as slowly as you need. There is no hurry to finish, but you should take steps to get started as soon as you can.

Check out this article on how to transition careers without quitting your job!

          

How to Make New Hires Feel Comfortable at Your Company

Posted February 17, 2022 By GuestSpot

There are few things that are quite as stressful as the first day at a new job in a new company or business. Often new hires experience the feeling of being lost, new, judged, or feeling overwhelmed. While there is no way to make the first day for employees at your company completely stressless, there are a lot of things that you can do to ease the stress and make it easier for your new hires to get comfortable and fit in with the company. Here is how you can make your new hires feel more comfortable.

Give Them Proper Training

The first thing that you should do to make new hires feel comfortable at your company is to provide them with the proper training to do their job. While a college degree, credentials, certifications, and previous job experience are all great ways to learn for a new job, each company is different, and there are different expectations for the same job title at different companies. You should make sure that your new hires are given comprehensive training to make sure that they completely understand what is expected of them and what their job is so that they don’t stress about not knowing what they are doing.

Explain Every Aspect of Your Business

Another way that you can help make new hires comfortable at your company is to explain every aspect of your business to them. People don’t want to feel like they are working for a mystery company that they don’t fully understand. People do want to work for a company where they know what is happening and why. A process map can help new employees understand how things are done at your business. A process map is a map tracking the production process for your business and can help new hires understand how the business works from the top down.

Go Easy on Them

The final thing that you need to do to make new hires feel comfortable at your company is to go easy on them at first. Nobody wants to feel afraid of making a mistake on their first few days or weeks of a new job and getting fired or reprimanded for an honest mistake. There will be an adjustment period for new employees. The better you can understand and empathize with that, the better for the whole business in the long run.

There is no way to completely ease the stress your new hires may feel at your company at first. But with proper preparation and understanding, you can make things easier for them. Make sure that you are doing these three things to make your new hires as comfortable as possible at your business.

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How to Protect Your Income from Life Events

Posted February 14, 2022 By GuestSpot

In today’s world, your income is what makes it possible to cover all your needs and wants. But change is one of the few constants in life, and sometimes those changes involve life events that can threaten your income. You don’t want to have to make major adjustments, so what can you do to protect your income no matter what life throws at you?

Build Savings

Building up savings should be a financial priority for pretty much everyone, especially an emergency savings fund. That isn’t to say that it’s easy to do. For some people it can feel impossibly difficult. Having a minimum of a couple of months’ worth of income saved away that you can pull from can really come in handy if you find yourself temporarily out of a job, for example. Take a look at your budget and see what it makes sense for you to put away in savings until you have an amount you feel good about.

Use Insurance

Some life events, such as the loss of a spouse, can put some serious strain on your income. Regardless of whether you lose your spouse, or your spouse loses you, your family is going to be in a tough spot at the end of the day. Life insurance is a critical investment for your family and those you care about. It’s probably not going to be enough to replace the lost income for the rest of the lifetime of those left behind, but it can help ease the burden in the short term until other plans and arrangements can be made.

Be Smart about Investing

Investing is often seen as one of the few remaining ways to build wealth in today’s world. It’s not a sure thing, however. If you want to use your investments as a way to protect, or even replace your income, you need to be smart about how you do it. Different investment options carry with them different levels of risk and reward. If you want greater security from your investments, you’ll want those that carry relatively little risk.

Life events happen no matter what. While some can bring great joy, others can cause a lot of stress, especially if they threaten your income. Take steps to protect your income as soon as possible. That way you’ll be better prepared if you find yourself facing circumstances where the money you have coming in just isn’t quite what it used to be.

Read this next: How to Achieve Financial Independence as an Entrepreneur

          

Jobs That Are in High Supply Right Now

Posted February 10, 2022 By GuestSpot

Whether you’re changing careers or just starting out, if you want a well-paying job, you need to know the job market. Right now, there are some in-demand jobs that can lead to lucrative long-term careers. After a little on-the-job training, you’ll soon be working steadily.

Construction

Construction jobs are plentiful, and there’s a wide variety of specialties to choose from, from operating heavy equipment to finishing interior rooms. Most construction jobs require training through an apprenticeship or internship, which means you’re earning while you’re learning. Many construction jobs offer other opportunities for training, such as certifications in handling hazardous materials.

Jobs in construction generally pay well, though the rate of pay does vary by specialization. There is great potential for advancement in any role. Construction workers are always needed to keep up with the growth of residential and commercial development.

Truck Driving

As online shopping has grown, the demand for truck drivers has skyrocketed. Both semi-truck drivers and delivery drivers are needed. Truck drivers of all kinds need to obtain a CDL (commercial driver’s license). Operators of certain trucks need additional training or license endorsements.

Driving a truck requires knowledge of the road and the vehicle. There are many maintenance issues trucks face while out on the road. Drivers must be able to work independently and handle any unexpected problems that may come up. Truck drivers may choose to do interstate hauling or shorter trips.

Healthcare Technician

Healthcare is a growing field, and technicians of all sorts are greatly needed in hospitals, clinics, laboratories, rehab centers, and doctor’s offices. Many healthcare technicians work directly with patients, assisting registered nurses with daily care of patients or performing specialized tasks such as drawing blood or operating technology such as electrocardiograms. Healthcare technicians who provide services in patients’ homes are also needed.

The required training varies by specialization and usually leads to certification. For example, you can get a CNA (Certified Nurse Assistant) in most states in just a few weeks. Other specialties, such as X-ray technician, may require an associate’s degree.

When you want a steady job with opportunity for growth, you should look into a career field that has a high demand for workers. Once you’re prepared, you’ll have your choice of where you want to work and who you want to work for. A high-demand job market gives the worker the advantage.

Check out this article on how to make positive changes to your mental health

          

Hobbies That Can Help You Build Greater Confidence

Posted February 1, 2022 By GuestSpot

One of the key attributes that will help you lead a happy, fulfilling, and explorative life is having high self-confidence. If you believe in yourself, your worth, your value, and your ability, you are more likely to look for and take on the kinds of life challenges and activities that will give you a greater appreciation for the world and help you lead the life of your dreams. And the hobbies that you choose can make a large impact on your confidence. Here are a few hobbies that may help you build confidence in yourself.

Yoga

The first hobby that can help you build greater confidence is yoga. Yoga is wonderful because it is healing and restorative to both your physical and mental wellbeing. Yoga can help you mentally, physically, and spiritually by connecting your mind to your body in ways that can transform the way you view yourself and your place in the world. Practicing yoga mindfully can help you realize what you are truly capable of and what you have to offer the world. If you are looking for a holistic approach that can bring all parts of you into confidence.

Rock Climbing

Another great hobby that you can take on to help grow your self-confidence is to start rock climbing. Rock climbing is great since it helps you find strength in yourself that you may not have realized you had. This can lead to major gains in confidence. There are several different types of rock climbing, so do your research to find the style that interests you the best, because they all require different equipment. You should wear the proper shoes when bouldering to improve safety and performance. Make sure you have the proper equipment before going into rock climbing.

Regular Exercise

The final hobby that can help you become a more confident person is regular exercise. Whatever form of exercise excites you the most, whether it is swimming, biking, dancing, running, walking, lifting weights, HIIT, cross fit, or anything else, exercise is great for mental and physical health. This can lead to a better self-perception which can make all the difference to your confidence. If you aren’t exercising regularly now, then you should consider picking up exercise as a hobby to help with your confidence.

Confidence is the most important tool in your arsenal to lead the life you want. And the activities that you choose to pursue make a major impact on how confident you feel. Try picking up one of these hobbies to find a new way to boost your confidence.

Check out this article on how to make positive changes to your mental health!