business

If you are one of those people who take their career very seriously and if you have definite plans for how your career should develop and unfold, then mapping your career’s growth can help you know if you are staying on the path you chose or not. It can let you know if it’s time to kick things into overdrive or perhaps time to reevaluate your career plans.

Getting Started

Before you can create your own map, there are some things about yourself you will need to consider.

• Know your own value system. This means the things that are important to you and the places in the sand where you draw the line.
• Identify Your Life Goal. This is the reason you work, the achievement of a particular goal, the light at the end of the tunnel. You cannot know how well you are doing at moving toward your goal if you haven’t identified what it is.
• Name your strengths and weaknesses. Do not hide them or cover them up. Embrace them. They will guide you down your career path.
• Understand your likes and dislikes. If you are to succeed in your chosen career, you have to enjoy what you are doing for the better part of the time. A career that pays great won’t serve you well if you hate to do it.
• List the skills you currently have and those you need to get to the goal. These will help give you direction along the way.

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I recently ran into a young gentleman who told me he was going to start a website design business.
“Who is your business going to serve?” I asked him. “Local business owners,” he replied. “Have you ever thought about serving business owners across the world?” I asked him. “No,” he said.

By all means, I am not taking anything away from this ambitious young man. We need many more like him. I am only trying to illustrate a hugely important point that 99% of all entrepreneurs in America are missing: you can have a global business overnight, today even if you want to. In many cases, developing the global component for your business can mean the difference between success and failure.

With more and more countries coming online to the global business world, there is no reason not to take your business to the doorsteps of the new and emerging capitalist countries of the world. Moreover, you can also grow your market and have loyal customers that grow with you. What do I mean?

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Since finding out about it, a lot of teachers have developed a vendetta against Wikipedia. I’ve known lots of kids who use it as their only source in a research paper, and teachers go bonkers when they see that. This is because Wikipedia is editable by anyone, making it an unreliable source for a formal report.

Don’t get me wrong, I love Wikipedia as much as the average person. Like any Internet hipster, I look up information on Wikipedia all the time. I know how much the regulars over there guard pages against any harm, but I also know that anyone who looks around long enough will find some incorrect fact on a page. I have found many, and I regret to say that Wikipedia isn’t as flawless as we’d all like it to be.

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Did you know that McDonald’s in Japan offers a “smile” on the menu? It is a real smile for free. On the menu board, it clearly says, “Smile….0” in Japan. You can see this sign at any McDonald’s restaurant in Japan.

Therefore if you have a chance to eat at McDonald’s in Japan, you should ask them, “Can I have a smile?” I am sure they would give you a big smile. To my surprise, however, I learned that there is no such thing in the U.S.A. I think this difference is based on cultures.

I don’t know if you remember my article “Something about bee,” that I wrote last year. When I went to buy medicine for a bee-sting, the sales lady said, “we have some products to offer, but they don’t really work that well”. Though my bee sting was very painful and I needed immediate relief, I was very impressed by her honesty and I recognized the differences between cultures on that day.

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These tips for a career change are all about YOU – because all changes in life require adjustments on your part.

ABOUT YOURSELF:  How old are you?

Tip 1: Your age does not matter. It is your ambition, determination, and drive that matters.

ARE YOU IN GOOD HEALTH?

Tip 2: Starting a new career requires lots of effort on your part. If you’re weak and often sick you may not have the stamina to start one. Your ability to concentrate and focus on ideas to develop into a business may be compromised. The basics of good health are to watch your diet, get enough sleep and exercise regularly.

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