Sunday Digest is a collection of 7 articles covering business, entrepreneurship, startup, finance, investment, technology, politics, life lessons, self-improvement, self-help, education, travel, health, love, sports, food, science, and much more.
Note: The digest consists of 7 articles with a quick “sneak-peek preview” of what you’ll get inside. To read the complete in-detailed article, tap the “keep reading” button below each preview.
According to Forbes:
Some, if not most, will struggle with the answer. They may have a crisp diploma in hand, but the working world is an entirely different animal. And while 70% of college students think they have the skills needed to succeed in the “real world,” less than a third of employers agree with them.
In this article, we’ll dive deeper into the 15 crucial skills school doesn’t teach you (or your kids).
How to manage your resources
You have a plethora of resources at your disposal; from your time and energy to your connections and money.
The better you are at managing these resources, the better your chances of turning your dream ideal life into reality.
How to put it into practice
If you just finished college, your practice or experience is technically zero.
You can’t say “I have four years of experience from college” to an interviewer. They’ll laugh in your face and decline you an application for the internship that requires 20 years of experience.
School doesn’t really teach you how to actually do things in the real world, and when it does, it’s pretty shallow and at a surface level.
How to trust the process
Not everything is sunshine and butterflies at the game of life.
So, when you’re on a short descending trajectory, it’s important to zoom out and look at the whole thing wide angle style.
As long as you constantly add plus one to whatever you’re doing, the process will take care of itself.
If it takes longer than you want, it doesn’t mean it’s not happening.
How the life subscription works
In the current world, you need to pay a life subscription in order to keep staying alive and this comes in the form of:
Taxes
Inflation
Credits
Pension plans
Bureaucracy
It’s a pretty important skill to have because it’s not taught in school, and yes, it’s something you will have to learn on your own.
How to measure the right metrics
Grades are bullsh*t!
They are an arbitrary filter that doesn’t hold any value in the real world.
You are taught to optimize your life around a single metric that has no value outside of the school system.
How to negotiate
How to deal with chaos and unpredictability
How to find alternative solutions
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There are some who believe that successful people spend their weekends working overtime, but you’d be mistaken to equate success with a workaholic mindset.
According to Laura Vanderkam, author of “What the Most Successful People Do on the Weekend” —
Successful people value the importance of productive relaxation, which allows them to recharge and reconnect with themselves and their goals.
In this article, you will get to know what are the common behaviors and patterns seen in smart people which lead them to success.
Saving Schemes
Set aside some of your income and put it into a savings account no matter how small.
Switching from a savings account to a high-yield checking account could earn you extra income, and some banks even offer healthy API rates to make your money grow.
Investment Services
As the late great American author John A. Shedd once said:
A ship is safe in harbor, but that’s not what ships are for.
A smart person keeps his options open and invests in a broad range of commercial ventures — be it cryptocurrency, finance, real estate, or sectors like virtual reality and renewables.
Odds are those who invest wisely and commit to building a diverse portfolio of assets will see a solid return on investment whether $100, $1000, or even a six-figure sum.
Tools For Time-Management
Way back in 1748, Benjamin Franklin perfectly characterized the value of our hard-earned dollars when he famously said —
“Time is money!”
Turning to time tracking and management tools can help you to enhance the quality of your work while streamlining focus and boosting productivity.
However, when chasing our goals, we often don’t realize the time that we sacrifice, but being smart is knowing there ain’t enough dollars in the world that can buy back lost time. So, spend yours wisely.
Home and Security Systems
“Sharing knowledge is the most fundamental act of friendship. Because it is a way you can give something without losing something.”
— Richard Stallman, an American software programmer
And while a wise person might be happy to share their knowledge, there are some things you wouldn’t share with just anyone. For example, your home! Installing home security systems is a smart move if you want to sleep well at night knowing your family is safe and that the fort is being held down.
Financial Management and Tracking Tools
Do you want to know a secret? Smart people don’t work for money, instead, they make money work for them.
And making your money work for you is about more than just putting hours in and collecting a check, it means really understanding how money works and taking responsibility for it. And so it should come as no surprise that financial management and tracking tools are a smart person’s method for understanding their money better.
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What are you good at? That’s a question we all want to know about ourselves, as well as the question that occasionally comes after it—what aren’t you good at?
“Well, I’m really good at binge-watching Netflix, paying more than I should for food, and scrolling through Instagram?”
Perhaps the most common approach to finding a good career is to identify your strengths and then look for paths that match them. And today in this article, we’ll take a look at 15 interesting ways you can find out what makes you different.
What Do You Have a Natural Inclination Towards?
Let’s try a quick experiment: Close your eyes and think of one thing that you always naturally gravitate toward.
What’s the first thing that comes to mind? Is it sports? Music? Writing? Whatever it is, there’s a huge chance this is one thing you’ve always wanted to do, and to break free, you must turn a deaf ear and a blind eye to this conditioning and follow your heart wherever it leads you will find your strength.
Try New Things
Imagine you never find your greatest strength because it was something you said — “I’d never do”. That would be a shame, right?
Sometimes your strength might not be found in your typical hobbies and everyday activities — it just might be found in that new activity you always put off. Don’t make the mistake of undermining how much you can do. Push yourself to try new things that are out of your skill set.
Find Out The Things You’d Do Even If You Aren’t Paid For It
Nobody likes to work for free, but come on, we know there’s something that you would do any day-anytime without anyone having to pay you for it.
Now, this is not an indication that you should work for free. Everyone needs to be compensated properly for every task they complete. It’s only a tactic that will help you to put yourself into focus so you can see what makes you different from everybody else.
After discovering your strength through this process, you can now charge others every time you use this unique strength to complete tasks.
Ask Your Friends
Ask your friends for their genuine opinion and if you’ve known each other for quite some time — they will definitely have something to say.
Then you can create a list of the strengths that have been consistently mentioned and include the ones that only a few of your friends mentioned.
The consistent items will be your evidence strengths, perhaps even ones you’ve already noticed yourself. However, the ones only a few friends mentioned are equally as important. It gives you an opportunity to learn new things about yourself.
What People Tell You You Are Good At
Now that we’ve talked about your close friends, it’s important to also factor in the opinions of other people.
If somebody who doesn’t share a close relationship with you, notices something distinct about you — don’t you think that says a lot? It means that there’s something about you that stands out. Whatever this thing is, pay attention to it. There’s a huge chance that it’s one of your strengths as a person.
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We often say these to ourselves in our minds:
“How do they do it?”
“Are they really just that lucky?”
“Is there a way of persuading the universe to favor you with the same opportunities?”
When you look at luck, you cannot just look at luck for yourself but luck has it affects everyone involved in any given situation.
So, without further ado, let’s dive in and get lucky ourselves.
Try Again, Differently
Failure is only a necessary part of the journey and not necessarily the end of it. If you fail at something it’s probably an opportunity to do things differently and better.
So, think of these failures as simple setbacks and get ready to try again. Even though this will sound kinda cliché, but the truth remains that major inventions weren’t a product of one try, it took several tries until the inventors got lucky.
Use Affirmations
Affirmations involve telling yourself something over and over again in a bid to start believing this as the truth.
Imagine you reminded yourself of how beautiful you are every morning. After a while, you’d take the bus to work with the belief that you’re the most beautiful person on it. Yes, that’s what affirmations can do for you!
Always Talk About Your Goals
Here’s the thing: Talking about your goals helps them to become reality.
This has two separate meanings for you:
You immediately come to mind when any of your friends finds an opportunity that suits you.
It fills you with a certain level of responsibility on your shoulders because now that everybody knows about it, you have much more to prove.
You don’t want to disappoint so many people nor do you want to feel like a failure so you put in the extra effort.
Try A New Approach
Perspectives can change. You know, they really shouldn’t be that rigid anyway. Your way of doing things works but it could be a better idea to try a new approach.
Trying a new approach helps you to see things from different perspectives, and take note, this might also involve getting you out of your comfort zone.
Positive Thinking Attracts Good Luck
You probably heard someone say somewhere —
“Think good thoughts or your reality is a reflection of your thoughts.”
Well, this one is pretty straightforward if you constantly envision yourself getting positive results, you start to believe it and it soon starts to reflect in your reality. If you constantly think negative thoughts, it’s only a matter of time before it comes with bad luck.
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Being irreplaceable implies that your expertise in your department is valuable, that you have the self-assurance to make important choices, and typically, you’re among the first to be promoted and paid well.
But how do you become irreplaceable? Well, let’s find out.
Learn to bargain
Your performance and relationships with everyone at work will be better if you utilize effective negotiating techniques.
To get to a consensus, you might need to bargain with your colleagues. You can easily locate that answer with the use of your bargaining abilities, and additionally, you’ve got to be able to identify “deal” or “no deal” circumstances.
Be detail-oriented
If you’re detail-oriented, you focus on the little things and your input will make you irreplaceable. You can identify things other people might miss if you pay great attention to the details.
When trying to solve an issue, this is incredibly beneficial especially when coming up with an original answer. Not only does attention to detail produce superior work, but it also improves social abilities.
Offer solutions
Be one of the first to propose a few well-considered ideas if there’s an issue at work rather than joining the group of those who only moan about it or avoid being questioned.
Your ability to solve problems and readiness to assist in resolving issues and boosting production will definitely be valued by your superiors.
Be willing to go the extra mile
Taking a few extra minutes to add a useful note offer some commentary on a report or put the final touches on a client presentation can make a really big difference.
Your commitment to your position and the organization will be evident if you take on more duties. For example, if your manager asks for help with a specific project, be the first to volunteer.
Cultivate communication skills and contribute to meetings
Be attentive in meetings.
Whether you’re participating digitally in a video conference or in person, being engaged throughout meetings is a powerful way to add value to your position. By paying close attention to the presentation, you’ll be able to ask more insightful questions, provide suggestions, and feedback, and learn crucial information.
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Do you ever find yourself saying “I hate my job”? Every job comes with rough patches. Maybe your awesome boss leaves, and you have to adjust to a new manager.
“So, are you wondering if you’re bad in your job?”
To answer this question, you’ve got to go back to square one and slowly carefully try to figure out the root of your problems. By figuring out why things are not going well, you will know what to avoid and in the long run you can gain the desired result.
You create too many excuses
Do you often find reasons to not do things?
“Sorry, I’m busy this weekend.”
“Oh, sorry I misplaced my phone for a while.”
“Actually, I didn’t get everything finished because I didn’t feel up to it.”
Creating excuses can be ignored, but if your excuses are given more often than usual, it can create a lot of problems in your working environment.
Negativity in the workplace
The atmosphere of your workplace plays an important role in deciding how well work is done.
Well, working in such places discourages you with the presence of a lot of conflict, bullying, and gossiping.
Inattentiveness
Have you ever been told to do something in a particular way and you decide to do it in your own way?
Well, every workplace has a way of doing things and these methods are what keeps the workplace together. Your workplace has a cultural structure ranging from dress code, manner of speech, and every little thing that matters.
Don’t disregard the protocols that are put in place. You should follow them precisely unless it’s like an HR problem. In cases where you want to try out a new method, you should at least inform your superiors before doing that.
You are not punctual
You need to be time conscious to be able to work at maximum capacity.
When you’re late to work, your co-workers have less trust in you. Caring about your time is also caring about the time of others. You should be able to plan out your time so you have enough to get your work done and rest properly.
Over-confidence
As much as confidence is encouraged in a workplace, too much confidence becomes arrogance and that becomes a problem in the long run.
You should go to others for help in the workplace.
Don’t believe that you’re not capable of making mistakes. Try your best not to overestimate your abilities — it’s better than doing a bad job.
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Raise your hand “✋” if you’re a quiet person.
Quiet people may be often misunderstood because of their quiet nature, but there are several areas where their quiet nature pays off.
Have you ever wondered:
Why are some very smart people so quiet and why they are so introverted?
Are they proud because they are smart or they don’t want to talk to people whom they consider less smart?
Are quiet people smarter than others?
Well, let’s find out…
They use obscurity as an opportunity to grow
While being in public is a great way to get feedback and constructive criticism, you’ll agree it kind of puts a certain level of pressure on your shoulders.
However, quiet people use building obscurity to learn other important skills such as self-control, mastery of the mind, and the ability to keep working despite nobody being there to applaud the little winds.
You could say they take the following quote quite literally —
“Confuse them with your silence and shock them with your results!”
They can easily gain the trust of other people
They listen intently, pay attention, and don’t particularly have too much to say.
Here’s the question for you: Who are you most likely to trust in a span of three months?
A friend who speaks every minute barely allowing you to chip in a word, or
A friend who listens and asks the right questions?
The latter, right? This is because feeling heard is a strong part of being human and a recipe for building trust.
They can typically concentrate better
In a world where noise has become a constant part of our lives, the need to concentrate has become even more important. We can barely go a minute in today’s world without being distracted by something.
But quiet people have another superpower up their sleeves — an ability to stay laser-focused when they complete a task.
They are self-aware
By being self-aware, quiet people are usually able to change how they are perceived by other people.
They’re always thinking of how they look and sound to others, and most times, this gives them an opportunity to define their persona to fit certain situations.
This also pushes them to make an effort to become better person.
They are selective about who they make friends with
It’s pretty common for a quiet person to not seek out social validation. This is usually because they have a strong belief in their abilities to survive alone and sometimes don’t see certain human interactions as a priority or even enjoyable.
Luckily for them, this makes it easier to walk away from toxic and unhealthy relationships. It’s no news that quiet people ordinarily don’t have many friends, and this isn’t because they’re shy, they’re just really selective about who they bring into their inner circle.
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