How to strengthen your brain to help in your professional and personal life!

By Christine Hardy

As we age, we seem to ask ourselves more often than not “where did my memory and focus go?” Here are some basics on brain health and what you can do to strengthen it, that will help in your professional and personal life.

Brain facts and basics – The brain is the organ of personality, character, and intelligence.

• The brain is involved in everything you do-think, feel, interact with others.
• There are more connections in the brain than there are stars in the universe.
• When your brain works right, you work right.
• The brain is the consistency of tofu, custard, housed in a hard skull.
• A healthy brain is; focused, happy, relaxed, and effective.

What hurts the brain?

• Toxic fumes
• Alcohol
• Smoking
• Lack of exercise
• Chronic stress-need stress management techniques
• Caffeine-constricts blood flow to the brain
• Negative thinking
• Brain injuries-contact sports; boxing, football, soccer

What helps the brain?

• Proper Hormonal balance
• Sex – decreases depression, helps memory, lessons pain, 3x per week has been proven to decrease the rate of heart attack and stroke by 50%!
• Constantly doing new projects
• Healthy diet
• Vitamins such as Omega 3’s and Vitamin D
• Exercise
• Sleep
• Social connections – hobby/club, have to remember peoples name, etc.
• Meditation
• Positive thinking! Especially gratitude-focus on what you love-more coordinated when you focus on what you love.

Exercise - Do this daily! 

Write down 5 things you are grateful for everyday either when you wake up or before going to bed; food, dog, family, health, etc.

What decreases blood flow from the brain-impairs memory and the ability to concentrate?

• Lack of sleep
• Caffeine
• Nicotine
• Alcohol
• Inhaling toxic stuff
• Low thyroid
• Anemia (low iron stores)

Symptoms of an unhealthy brain

• Sad
• Distract easily
• Anxious
• Angry/temper
• Not as effective in general

Best foods for the brain

• Blueberries
• Avocado
• Walnuts
• Salmon

About the Author

As a Nutritionist, I specialize in hormonal balance, and Metabolic Typing. My passion is to educate women and provide answers to health concerns through; lectures, written material and clinical work.  To learn more, please visit my website at www.intunhealth.com!

In addition, I have started a campaign to publish my first book! It’s time to re-ignite your excitement for life! Here is the link! http://tinyurl.com/mykickstart

About What’s For Work?

The Premier Career Site for Women. http://www.whatsforwork.com

Our Mission: Provide a community that encourages members, employers and providers to work together; to inspire and help each other grow.

The Mommy Wars are Over!

By Teri Hockett

Wouldn’t that be a great headline to read? One that meant women will no longer engage in any destructive behavior that does not advance our joint cause; and that we will no longer tolerate anymore references to this “supposed” ongoing battle that pit Stay-at-Home Moms (SAHM) against Working Moms (WM).

I envision a place and time where we all support each other’s choices; a time we can start to really accomplish great strides in all aspects of our lives. At this time we will freely assist eachother without fear of judgment or reprisal. We will now be a force to be reckoned with, and we will be able to achieve equality in leadership roles across the private and public sectors, and in the boardrooms. We will fight for each other’s rights. As long as we allow this battle to continue, we will be viewed as a splintered team that does not have the sheer power to move our agenda forward.

How do we accomplish such a lofty goal?

Judgments

Every woman has the right and privilege to make the decision for herself and her family that best supports their needs. We all understand this, but some of us have allowed judgments, either real or perceived from others, to make us second guess our own decisions and to feel defensive about them.

Support

What if every working woman who has been “leaning in” to her career turned around every once in awhile to extend her welcoming hand to a SAHM? We all have support groups but they are typically are divided between SAHM and WM. Working women have created amazing groups, conferences, workshops, and initiatives to help other working women. And SAHM also have many groups that support them. What we need is a blending of these lines. A community where all women come together to support each other regardless of where they are in their career, or what choices they have made.

Celebrate Differences

I firmly believe that if everyone looks, acts, or thinks like me; one or more of us are redundant and not really needed. I have been blessed by the diversity of my friends and associates, and as a result my life is much richer for sharing in their celebrations, holidays, traditions and beliefs. I know our school systems thought it was wise to teach tolerance, but imagine how different our lives would be if we were taught to celebrate the differences in the world.

To make great strides we have to start with small steps as we gain momentum.

What are your first steps to lay the ground work to end the “Mommy Wars”?

About the Author

Teri Hockett is the CEO of What’s For Work? The Premier Career Site for Women.

About What’s For Work?

The Premier Career Site for Women. http://www.whatsforwork.com

Our Mission: Provide a community that encourages members, employers and providers to work together; to inspire and help each other grow.

3 Tips to a Rewarding Career

By Julie Barnes

Do you find yourself looking around at your friends with the perfect career?  You know the ones… they’re always talking about what exciting project they’re working on or how much their career fulfills them.

Whether you’ve been out of the traditional work force for a while or you’re finding what used to be an exciting 9-to-5 position, has left you feeling a little ho-hum, you too can find a rewarding career with these three tips.

Tip 1:  You’re a natural at that

Often times we discount the talents that come easily to us because we tend to associate success with hard work and struggle never thinking of using our natural talents in our careers.

For example… Have you found yourself crunching numbers all day with dread, but bloom like a flower with joy at the mere thought of organizing your office or closet? Are your friends calling you for organizing tips?

When you start doing what comes natural to you… you’ll begin to see a whole new joy for life.

Tip 2:  Don’t forget those skills

People tend to discount or forget all together the skills they’ve learned because they worked as a volunteer or for free, but never discount anything you’ve done in life, because it may lead you to a that rewarding career you’ve been dreaming about!

For example… Does this sound like you?

You’ve been a stay-at-home mom for the last five years, how can you possibly land a dream position as a social media community manager, when most of the social media platforms didn’t even exist while you were in your last position.

But what if you’ve been the Director of Social Media for your kids baseball team for the last three years. You’ve Twittered, Facebooked, and blogged in your position. Could this be a current skill that you could utilize for your dream position?

Start making a list of where you’ve volunteered, the committees you ran, or the boards you were a member of and then write down the skills you learned and used.

Tip 3:  Look for the gifts in your life

Have you experienced a heartbreak or loss like a divorce, death of a loved one or a personal tragedy? Often after experiencing a devastating blow in life, it can be easy to fall into feeling like a victim. But if you take some time to really look at the lessons learned from  these events, you’ll begin to see the “gifts” appear.

For example… If you lost a loved one to heart disease, what did you learn that you could share with others? Maybe you’ve always wanted to be a fitness trainer and watching someone fight heart disease was the “gift” you needed to help others with their health.

Using your gifts can also be a powerful way to give back and make a difference in your community.

So stop dreaming and put these tips into action to find a rewarding career for you!

About the Author

Julie Barnes is a certified life and career coach, founder of ClaimYourShine.com and the creator of the program Finding YOUR Phoenix.  After experiencing a devastating tragedy, Julie found the gifts and now empowers women to create their own next chapter. You can get Julie’s FREE 7 day video series “Get Happy, Healthy & Empowered” HERE.

About What’s For Work?

The Premier Career Site for Women. http://www.whatsforwork.com

Our Mission: Provide a community that encourages members, employers and providers to work together; to inspire and help each other grow.

Why “Bcc:” is your BFF when it comes to email

By What’s For Work?

Do you send and receive so many emails, that sometimes it feels like you can never keep track of what’s pending a reponse from someone? If so, then “Bcc:” (Blind Carbon Copy) may soon become your new best friend.

Many of us are heavy email users, receiving and sending hundreds per week. But with so many emails coming and going, it may be difficult at times to remember who we’re waiting to hear back from, on something we emailed.

The Power of “Bcc:”

Compose your email as normal, but this time include your own email adress on the “Bcc:” line. By including yourself on the “Bcc:” line, you will receive emails from yourself, which you can then sort by. So as you work on your inbox throughout the week, you can look at emails sent by you to others, and see if they’ve replied. If they did, then delete this reminder email from inbox. If they have not responded, click ‘Reply to All’, and follow-up with something like:

“Hi, just checking in to see if you can please provide an update on my request below? Thanks”.

Since you’re clicking ‘Reply to All’ on the email to yourself, you’ll already have the original email and people on copy. After you add your new message, you can “Bcc:” yourself once again, and continue this process until your initial question is addressed. 

About What’s For Work?

The Premier Career Site for Women. http://www.whatsforwork.com

Our Mission: Provide a community that encourages members, employers and providers to work together; to inspire and help each other grow.

Dressing for an Interview

By Huda Baak

Congratulations, you finally have that interview you’ve been waiting for!  Now that the excitement has subsided, the nerves start kicking in.  What do I wear, how do I come across, will they like me?

Let’s face it, we all want to be liked and admired.  But during an interview, it’s more important to be respected and remembered. So how do you do that? How do you convey respect?

You can begin by answering these questions:

• Who is my target audience?
• What is my message?
• How do I want to be perceived?
• How do I want to be remembered?
• What time of day is the event?
• What’s the venue?

The answers to these questions will guide you as to what to wear and how to present yourself. Let’s say you’re interviewing for a management position in the hotel industry.  Depending on the hotel you choose, the dress code could vary quite a bit.  For example, are you were interviewing with a five-star luxury brand of hotels or a 2 star budget chain?  Are they located in the heart of the financial district, or on a golf course?  Are their clients high-end socialites or low key traveling guests that stay just the one night?

To gain the credibility, respect and trust of your interviewer you want to dress like them and their customers.  So if it’s the financial district hotel, by all means dress in a suit.  If it’s a more fun, glamorous property, then have your suit show more style or flair.  Maybe add colored shoes, or a blouse or scarf that’s a bit trendy.  remember that it is still an interview, and not a fashion show!  But what I’m suggesting is to allow more of your personality to come through.

Now that you’ve identified your target, ask what’s your message?  What do you want to say to these people?  Naturally, for an interview, your message is to promote your skills and experience in a way that will set you apart from your competition, and get you hired. Once you master that, you’re ready to move on.

How do you want to be perceived?  How do you want to be remembered?   How would you like people to describe you?  You can choose from these words and add more of your own:  Trustworthy, professional, sharp, intelligent, efficient, authoritative, energetic, go-getter, assertive, approachable, creative, artistic, shrewd, proficient, stylish…

Now that you’ve picked your words, you’ll choose your wardrobe.  If it’s classic style that you like, then stick to the basic suit and safe colors.  If you’d like to make a bolder statement you can choose a suit that has bolder color (though typically not red for an interview), or unique accessories.  Once again, I will caution you on wearing the bold South African necklace you picked up when you were on safari.  That may be a bit too bold!

And finally, the time of day you meet and the venue will set the tone for your dress code.  Are you meeting during the daytime at the office for your first interview, or is this a final interview over dinner with more team members?  This is yet another test, and you need to be sure that even though you’re not in an office situation anymore, you’re still working and you need to be extra diligent that you’re still “on”.  That means no alcohol, even if they have a glass or two, and your goal is still to sell your skills and expertise, only in a different scenario.

Bottom line is this:  Always err on the side of being conservative and not overdone.  It’s not about how “pretty” or handsome you are, or that you’re the best dressed one there.  It’s about how marketable you are, and how well you communicate your expertise and experience.  And if you have any questions, shoot me an email.  I’m happy to help!

About the Author

Huda Baak has first-hand experience in the topics on which she speaks. She grew up among ambassadors and international business executives from around the globe.  She has a multi-cultural background and is multi-lingual, having lived and worked throughout the Middle East, Europe, Canada and now the U.S.

She is an award-winning image consultant, and served on the Boards of Directors for the National Speakers Association and the Association of Image Consultants International.  She has spoken before thousands of professionals, and has appeared on numerous radio and television business talk shows in the San Francisco Bay Area.  She can be reached at www.HudaBaak.com

About What’s For Work?

The Premier Career Site for Women. http://www.whatsforwork.com

Our Mission: Provide a community that encourages members, employers and providers to work together; to inspire and help each other grow.

Connecting People and Staying Connected

By What’s For Work?

In all aspects of life, building good relationships with other people is one of the most valuable things you can do. Being known to others can open doors of opportunity, so long as they know you’re there and capable of helping.

Just think, within your current network of people today, you probably have a good idea of who’s who and what their interests are, for the most part. And if someone were to approach you for help or advice on a topic you’re not familiar with, chances are you might be able to connect them with someone else. Hence, the power of relationships and being able to connect others, while being known as someone that can help.

Specific to business and your career, it’s always a good idea to be a person that connects other people. When others come to you for help, it’s a compliment, because you are perceived as someone that is resourceful. In turn, this means you have others that you can turn to for help as well when you’re looking for something, such as a chance to meet someone you don’t know, etc.

Connecting people and staying connected is an ongoing process that never ends. Here are a few tips that can help you along the way.

Tips for Connecting and Staying Connected

1. Each day or week, find 1-2 people you know and introduce them to each other.
2. Next time you attend a networking event, invite a friend or two.
3. Ask people you know, “is there something that I can help YOU with?”.
4. When you come across someone or something that can help others you know, share it with them immediately.
5. Every so often, check in with people in your network and ask how they are doing, or invite them to lunch to catch up.

Remember, the more people you know and the more people you help… the better!

About What’s For Work?

The Premier Career Site for Women. http://www.whatsforwork.com

Our Mission: Provide a community that encourages members, employers and providers to work together; to inspire and help each other grow.

Networking Know-How – Questions to Ask Yourself

By Huda Baak

“Sit up straight.  Don’t talk with your mouth full.  Make sure you’re wearing clean underwear”.  If these statements sound familiar, it’s because they were drilled into our heads from a very young age. Perhaps Mom was onto something! Nothing shows instant confidence like proper posture, no one wants to eat across the table from someone spewing food while they talk, and as for the third one, well… let’s say you just never want to be caught unprepared!

I’m not sure what Mom would have to say about networking in this day and age,  but I can tell you that things aren’t like they used to be. If you’re re-entering the professional world after a few years away, you’ve undoubtedly noticed that things are not quite the same as they were when you left.  Everything is faster, social media now rules, and people don’t have the time or the patience for hand-holding.

I remember when I first re-started my business after taking off some time when my daughter was born, that I “wasn’t in Kansas anymore”, (not that I had ever been to Kansas, but you know what I mean!)  Things had changed so much.  I had spent 15 years teaching people how to network, how to dress for networking events, what to eat, what to say and how, etc.  I was shocked at how much things had changed that many people have chosen to work behind the screen now.  On their LinkedIn, their FaceBook, Tweeting this and that, but not really connecting with anyone, not in person.

Yes, this is the age of social media, but don’t let go of time tested face-to-face networking.  People aren’t hiring your skills and expertise alone, they’re hiring the whole person.  A three-dimensional, living, breathing person.  So how do you show up to network?  Do you scramble to put together an outfit at the last minute, or do you carefully select one based on the job/sale you’re hoping to get?

Questions to ask yourself before you head out to your next networking event

• Is your hair cut & color flattering for your face?  
• Are your eyeglasses flattering or distracting?  
• Have you had your makeup updated in the past 5 years?
• Do you have a dynamite outfit that looks amazing on you?
• Are your clothes free from pet hair, dandruff or lint?
• Are your shoes in great shape or scuffed?
• Is your handbag contemporary?
• Are your business cards up to date and in a card carrying case?

These answers will help you get started on your physical appearance.  It’s not only how you look, of course, but how you present yourself.  I’ve always said it’s not just how you package, but how you present yourself that creates a strong one-two punch.

Once you’re at the event:

• Set an intention or goal before you leave your home or office. 
• Make sure your breath smells fresh.
• Eat before you go.  You’re not there to eat, you’re there to network!
• Make sure your elevator pitch is ready and that you can you recite it fluently.
• Circulate, don’t stick to people you already know until you meet enough new people.
• See who’s at the event and make the effort to meet people you don’t already know.

If you feel the need for a prop, hold a drink.  Just make sure it’s in your left hand, so that your right hand is free to shake hands, and you won’t end up having to wipe away the moisture from the glass before shaking someone’s hand. If you’re uncomfortable meeting new people, ask the host or someone you know to make the initial introduction.

The bottom line is this:  Networking is an excellent way to get your name out there and to meet people who can help you succeed in your business, regardless whether you’re in sales or looking for a job.  So relax, have fun, and remember to focus on your goal and your nervous energy should subside.  This is one time you can forget about Mom’s advice about not talking to strangers.  Afterall, strangers are just friends you haven’t met yet!

About the Author

Huda Baak has first-hand experience in the topics on which she speaks. She grew up among ambassadors and international business executives from around the globe.  She has a multi-cultural background and is multi-lingual, having lived and worked throughout the Middle East, Europe, Canada and now the U.S.

She is an award-winning image consultant, and served on the Boards of Directors for the National Speakers Association and the Association of Image Consultants International.  She has spoken before thousands of professionals, and has appeared on numerous radio and television business talk shows in the San Francisco Bay Area.  She can be reached at www.HudaBaak.com

About What’s For Work?

The Premier Career Site for Women. http://www.whatsforwork.com

Our Mission: Provide a community that encourages members, employers and providers to work together; to inspire and help each other grow.