Pursue your goal - Part2

THE PRIORITIES

Organisation and self-discipline
Now that you are free to take decisions and arrange your time, you have got to be sticking to an even more strict schedule.
No one will be there to make sure you arrive on time at your office, deliver on time your solution or meet your target; no one, but you. The hard bit is to understand that you are doing it for yourself.

I recommend:

• Time management:

- stick to working hours, whether because you are too tired to wake up after that night or because you idly take more time staying at the office.

- have regular breaks
It can vary from an individual to another, but I'm used to have a break (and a Kit Kat) every 2 hours. Not only you prevent burn out: that point where your mind doesn't work anymore; but, relaxing will help you regenerate to recover a high productivity and that will give you smaller chunks to measure your achievement.
Have a look at the Pomodoro technique

- Give yourself a time limit for every task.

                     It takes 10 minutes to recover from an interruption:
- self-distraction: you know how it is to while away the hours surfing or cruising on Facebook. Trust me, you can loose hours of your precious time without you even realizing it
- external solicitation: real emergencies are rare. So, if you receive a phone call or an email, let it be. 

• Plan your week like your days

An effective method is:
- making a ToDo list of all the tasks you have in mind (whether private or professional) and according to the milestones you want to reach
- before starting a day, list only 3 tasks you want to have to be done by the end of the day.
From there, do not think to any other tasks.

• Set short term objectives

An objective is a measurable task to achieve in a time frame. And set an incentive for it! Like offering you that last smartphone or rewarding you with a high budget to enjoy your weekend.

It is important that you take care of  you and listen to yourself.

An intensive social life
You are demanding to yourself for great efforts and concentration. 
To balance that, you need even more time to enjoy with your friends, setting your mind free, talk about the fantastic achievement you had during the week, sharing your new knowledge.

Support from friends and family is the fuel that will keep you going on.

Please share your thoughts in the comment section below.

Author - Kevin Simonnet

Pursue your goal - Part1

Don't stand by your own!
I took the decision to resign from my job facing a volunteer unemployment. I was determined to find a better job and took the sole responsibility for making my way into the jungle to this 'dream job'.

I was working from my little and cosy flat well located in the heart of Sydney and the first weeks were exciting! Sometimes, I would go at a terrasse of a caffé to work online, while taking advantage of the sun.

But, working at home and sleeping in the office is not a sustainable situation. And quickly, I was going round in circles. By being entirely dedicated to my project, I begun to loose sight of my friends.
I needed to rebalance it!

Frame your life
Because you left the typical daily grind, doesn't mean you don't have to give yourself a life frame. The only difference is that now, you are responsible for it. 
It's important to continue working, even in a less demanding area. I chose hospitality. Thereby, I could work during daytime on my project and by night in bars and restaurants.

Enhance your networks!

As well, working from home, even if it sounds great, is not a valid option. I asked my networks, who invited me to attend professional events. To and fro, according to chance encounters, I found my way with like-minded people: entrepreneurs in start-ups. Like R. Branson says: "An entrepreneur does not succed alone."

I was really lucky to discover FishBurners, a co-working space & entrepreneur community.
From there, I had an office again and most of all, the vibrant and innovative environment you need when leading on a project.

I was not by my own anymore but in the motivating company of people on "the same boat" (FishBurners is actually the name of a boat which was part of the first expedition to Australia).


The benefits
Living at your own expenses is only doable for a short while. I needed an income. Above this priority it helps you organise your time in regards to the constraints of your working hours. As well, since your thinking of your project all day, it makes a salubrious cut preventing you from over-thinking.
The extra bite I found in hospitality is socialising with a lot of people and experimenting the Sydney night life!

As well, joining a community gives you the opportunity to broaden your networks. FishBurners is a meeting point for professional events and I had the opportunity to liaise with, not only the people in the recruitment industry, but the third parties around: 
- management firms, investors, marketing agencies etc
- sometimes at a high level: CEO, CTO, VP etc
- in major companies: Google, YouTube, PwC, KPMG.

Please share your thoughts in the comment section below.

Author - Kevin Simonnet

Improve your LinkedIn - Part6

SEO friendly

SEO stands for Search Engine Optimisation. When doing a search on a browser, we are more likely to use nouns and adjectives. The SEO are therefore more focused on them than on verbs.

Be impressive
What strike to people’s mind are the verbs that describe action.

Keyword
Take psychometric test, like the MAPP test (Motivational Appraisal of Personal Potential), look for specific adjectives with: onetonline, find this particular category of people you belong to (like the Gen-Y slacher)

“Skills & expertise” section
To find the appropriate keywords that describe best your job, a simple way is to have a look at the other Linkedin profiles in your field. As well, investigate the job descriptions on job boards.

And the last but not the least:

Public profile
Now that you have built up a full profile, it would be a pity if no one could access it, wouldn’t it? 
- Go to your “settings”, on the top right corner of the page
- in the section “helpful links” click on “Edit your public profile” and make sure you open it to everyone.

Please share your thoughts in the comments section below.

Author - Kevin Simonnet

Improve your LinkedIn - Part5

PARTICIPATE IN ANIMATING THE COMMUNITY #1

Networking
Join groups related to your interest. Participate in discussion, attend events to meet with people.

Be a LION
LION stands for LinkedIn Open Network. You indicate that you are open to receive connection request from people you don’t know. The trick is, on the other hand, to do a search of LION profiles!

Status update
You generate exposure to a large community: the 1^st and 2^nd degree of your contacts. It means that your status will be shared to your contacts and their contacts.  Make sure you communicate properly.

It’s a great “ice breaker” to start a conversation and engage with new people in your networks.

Trends
People will follow you if you can generate an interest by bringing out relevant and trendy information related to their business.

Please share your thoughts in the comments section below.

Author - Kevin Simonnet

Be the CEO of your career - Part1

Take the risk to think out of the box
 We are all sensitive to stability in our life with having a consistent and well balanced situation that can bring us serenity on a bliss. 
However, "Going along with the crowd is rarely a good choice"-R. Branson and you will have to get out of your comfort zone to explore what is your true color.

The idea
You want to change this important part of your life. Let's face it: we spend 80% of our time at work. You have asked yourself what your motivations and aspirations are. And you identified that particular job as it would be a great fit for you.

Too late, you can not step back anymore; without living in regrets.

Become an Entrepreneur
You know what dream job you want to land. You know what it will take to reach out and prepare yourself. It might be a long way to go but you marked it with milestones.
This is your project and and the product to launch on the market is  ..you

Please share your thoughts in the comment section below.

Author - Kevin Simonnet

Business networking rules - Part2

Dos
People expect from you being:
- interesting
As I said, we are bombarded with too much information. means also, that people are desperately looking for a valuable source of information. Be specific, accurate, consistent and concise

- good looking
Appearance is a crucial. Human is a visual creature. If you offer a nice image of you on the web to your audience, you have satisfied to a great expectation

- genuine
By entering the world of social media you expose yourself by bringing your authentic self to the table. The purpose of "social" media is above all to instil a personal bite. Don't be shy show some personality and give a piece of your

- reliable
You have to deliver what you promised at the time you promised

- listening
Respect the time people give you for advise, information, knowledge etc by always jotting notes, not necessarily on a book: you have plenty of media to do so! 
As well, information is at hand and researching someone online before interacting will get you respect

- positive
People are fond of fresh and smiley attitude. Even if complains can sometimes be justified, you should not sit on, but move on

- proactive
As I said, your dream job is at hand waiting for you. But you have got to make it happen. Broaden your networks via forums, blogs, events etc and think of how you can articulate those people together

- "connecting people" - Nokia.
Wherever you can offer your help, make introduction, link like-minded people, share articles that someone may like, go for it.

Please share your thoughts in the comment section below.

Author - Kevin Simonnet

Business networking rules - Part1

The protocol
Online networking is pretty recent to those last years. Even professionals in communication/marketing still make (huge) mistakes. We are experimenting a new way of communication and rules are still formalising as we go.
But there are some fundamentals:

Don't
- ignore the rules of the group. For example, recruiters post job ads in the common news feed. This is perceived as flooding, irreverent and commercially aggressive

- pester. Just as you wouldn't do in real life with phone calls, consider the fact that we are nowadays bombarded with too much information. And we just lack time and sometimes the energy to respond.
Leave at least 1 week before following up and offer a solution to your contact's busy schedule: put yourself in their position and suggest several slots

- shout. Using CAPS LOCK is like shouting. No one likes to be shouted at

- beg. Networking isn't about you; but them. Like the old saying that goes: "You catch more flies with honey than vinegar", don't come across as desperate. Instead demonstrate your passion and offer your help

- accept someone in your networks without a notice. Ask the new comer in what way you could be of an help. That will also be a reminder about how you met

- add someone without an introduction. You know how intrusive it can be to receive a connection request  from someone you never heard of!

Please consider sending at least a message before. Anyhow, if you follow the methodology I give you, you should not even think about it! :D

Author - Kevin Simonnet
Please share your thoughts in the comment section below.