10 career tips that are also great to apply to your life

10 career tips that are also great to apply to your life10 career tips that are also great to apply to your lifeWe get it, building a successful career is tough work. And not only that how are you also supposed to have work-life balance if most of your waking hours are consumed by either job searching, interviewing, career development, or just straight up work hustle?Its all about making smart choices that affect your work-life AND your personal life. After all, a successful career is built upon strong character and purposeful choices the same factors that drive a happy, fulfilling personal life.Here are 10 career tips are also great life tips they build your character and drive your purpose.Let the hedgehog guide your choicesYour main mission while growing in your career (and in life) should be based on what your one thing is according to the hedgehog concept.The hedgehog concept is a favorite of ours and it comes from a famous essay by Isaiah Berlin called The Hedgehog and the F ox when you put the fox and the hedgehog against each other, the cunning fox tries many things and is just okay at each one, while the hedgehog sticks to its one great thing the hedgehog wins.To use the hedgehog concept for your own career and life growth, think of your one thing as the intersection of these three conceptsWhat youre good atWhat youre passionate aboutWhat you can do to earn moneyEvaluate each professional opportunity against that mission by asking, Does this role support or detract from my mission? Is this leading me closer to my end goal or pulling me away?Likewise, you should have a mission in your personal life to better enable you live with purpose and leave a lasting fruchtmark on the world.Follow the 24-hour ruleWhen youre ready to lose your cool no matter how bad they have it coming to them commit to waiting 24 hours before sending that response. Theres a good chance that in those 24 hours you will come to your senses, cool down, learn more information that changes your perspective, or come up with a much more productive way to address the problem. In any case, youll be better prepared for the discussion.(This works in relationships, too.)Show authentic interest in othersDale Carnegie one of the most influential people in the world has influence down to an art. And the most important component of influence according to Mr. Carnegie himself? Genuine interest in others. Showing sincere interest in those around you opens uncountable doors for you it makes you more likely to be promoted, more likely to be followed by those you lead, more prone to growing friendships and relationships, better in sales, and more.Interest cant be faked in order to come off as genuine, you have to be genuine. Work on how you feel about those around you and start by asking about them before volunteering information about yourself or your own experiences.Give yourself permission to failThe only way youll ever take a risk in life is if youre permitted to fail. And though many leaders give their employees permission to fail because they understand the critical nature of failure in success, human beings are much less likely to give themselves the same room they give others.Allowing yourself to be wrong, to mess up, and to fail from time to time obliterates crippling defensiveness and opens your mind to new perspectives and wisdom. Additionally, it allows you to take career- or life-changing risks.Believe the best about othersWhen you believe that each person you lead, work alongside, or report to in an organization has the very best intentions to back their actions, youre able to experience a rewarding career marked by productive, empowering relationships and remarkable results.No katechese you share will ever be well received unless you believe that those listening want to be the best at what they do.Own your own mistakesDont play the blame game at work not only will it prevent you from ever growing and improving, but itll alienate those around you. When you find an error, fess up despite the consequences. Every mistake comes with valuable lessons learned and even an opportunity to show those around you that youre human, youre honest, and youre willing to admit when youre wrong.Eat the frog firstIf youve never heard of this phrase before, the basic idea is that if you do the worst thing (the frog) on your plate first thing in the morning, the rest of the day is a cake walk.Eat a live frog every morning, and nothing worse will happen to you the rest of the day. Mark Twain.Whatever task you dread the most when you punch that clock in the morning is the first task you should complete. If you allow the most dreaded task to be delayed until the end of the day, the dread will hang over you like a dark cloud, preventing you from tackling other tasks with the gusto and creativity they deserve.Shut it off when you leaveWorrying doesnt resolve problems. Before you leave at the end of the day, take a quick glance at your cale ndar for tomorrow and decide what small steps you can take right now to better prepare yourself for the next day. Likewise, look at your list of tasks and ask yourself if any of them require completion before you leave. This ensures that when you walk out the door, you check out both physically and mentally.This applies at home, too. Consider any problem youre facing and ask yourself, What small step can I take in this moment to move toward resolution? Take that small step and check off the box for the moment. Worrying wont create results.Go above and beyondWhatever you do, do it the best of your ability whether at work or at home. This improves your chances of getting promoted, yes but it does so much more that. When you put your best foot forward every day, you begin to build character that defines and empowers you.Know when to say noWhen you overextend yourself at work, your colleagues, clients, and superiors face the consequences. Either you cant meet timelines, you cant give t hose around you the connection and attention they need, or your personality and affect suffer from being overextended for a long period of time. When you know you cant do a project justice, be honest. And if saying no is too hard, try another way like, I can take this one but Ill have to delay another initiative. How does October sound for that project?Key takeaway Both your personal and professional life benefit when you focus on continuous improvement and purposeful living.Linda Le Phan is the Content Marketing Manager at kununu US.This article first appeared on kununu.

Science Gels with Healthcare

Science Gels with Healthcare Science Gels with Healthcare Sometimes a patient needs more medication, right away. Maybe a nurse isnt available. They hit the call button, but its a busy night, everyone is doing the best they can. In other words, they just have to wait. Or worse, a patient is not even at the hospital but has trouble moving around their home. What do they do?One day the answer may be nothing. Hydrogels are well known in the field of medicine but how about using them for a system that will sense when medication is needed and deliver it?This Isnt Jell-OXuanhe Zhao, an associate professor in the department of mechanical engineering at MIT, explains how the hydrogel invention came about and developed over time.?Conventional hydrogels such as Jell-O that we eat? are weak and brittle and they cannot adhere to engineering materials such as metals and ceramics well, he says. Over the last decade, many groups, including my group, have significantly improved the toughn ess and strength of hydrogels. In 2015 and 2016, my group further invented a set of methods to robustly bond hydrogels to diverse solid materials, including metals, ceramics, silicon, SiO2, and various elastomers. These breakthroughs in enhancing physical properties of hydrogels enable the current design of stretchable hydrogel electronics and devices. For example, this smart hydrogel band-aid invention.Professor Xuanhe Zhao demonstrating band-aid gel. Image Melanie Gonick/MITSays Zhao, The system is generally made of biopolymers, water, and components of electronic devices, he says. Since most parts of the human body are made of hydrogels, the biocompatible ?hydrogel electronic devices can potentially provide long-term, high-efficacy interfaces between the human body and electronic systems. For example, a smart hydrogel band-aid may measure temperature changes around a wound area and deliver specific drugs accordingly.As far as the electronics for the invention, the hyd rogel matrix has components such as LED lights and temperature sensors. Many electronic devices are encapsulated by an insulating layer before being integrated with the hydrogel, he says.Of course, there have been a number of challenges along the way in this work. Maintaining the high robustness, high biocompatibility, and proper functions of the electronic devices in the system is a great challenge, Zhao says.The Future The invention has a futuristic feel. You would almost expect Bones from Star Trek to use it on a wounded Captain Kirk. But its own future might still see further improvements.The idea is to bring in more types of sensors, including those that directly show the presence of infections in a system.? We will also carry out in vivo tests on the system to seek feedback, he says.And hopefully, the work will go well enough that one day the hospital call button will be that much more of a last resort. Eric Butterman is an independent writer. For Further Discu ssion For example, a smart hydrogel band-aid may measure temperature changes around a wound area and deliver specific drugs accordingly.Prof. Xuanhe Zhao, MIT

Administrative Healthcare Teams for the Future

Administrative Healthcare Teams for the FutureAdministrative Healthcare Teams for the FutureTechnology is rapidly evolving, and the field of administrative healthcare changes with each advancement. While workplace modernizations help automate routine tasks and boost efficiency, they also lead to the creation of new jobs that require skills your teams dont yet have.According to Robert Halfs new report, Jobs and AI Anxiety, which explores the future of work, the World Economic Forum estimates that as many as 133 million new roles could potentially emerge as labor is divided among humans, machines and intelligent technologies.This abundance of unfamiliar jobs means forward-thinking employers must prioritize identifying current workers with applicable skills - and finding new employees who already have them. Here are five tips to keep in mind as you ready your administrative healthcare teams for the future.1. Invest in tech trainingPrepare your staff by taking advantage of their desire to improve. The Jobs and AI Anxiety report notes that 45 percent of employers polled in the United States feel their employees are very eager to learn about new technologies.Acting on that eagerness can be a huge boon for your business. As Robert Atkinson, president of the Information Technology and Innovation Foundation, says, There is evidence that suggests the companies that do best bring their workers along with them as they change.Help employees learn about emerging technologies by providing in-person training sessions or seminars on subjects like data analytics in healthcare, allowing them to enroll in online courses or encouraging them to obtain additional professional certifications. Offering a set amount of paid time for professional development or reimbursement for certifications could further spur the desire to learn.Throughout the process, your team will develop skills to leverage unfamiliar technology, which can save money in the long run - while also improving recruit ment and retention.WORK WITH US2. Amplify job satisfactionBe proactive and schedule one-on-one sessions with your employees to discuss their career happiness. Are there staff members seeking growth opportunities or new professional challenges? If so, one of the advantages of technologies like automation and artificial intelligence is that they free up employees to take on mora demanding and interesting tasks.pferdegeschirr employees ambition by giving them new responsibilities, such as researching and planning for implementation of cloud-based electronic health records (EHRs). Additionally, allow them to become advocates for innovations that can improve your business. This not only provides workers with increased job satisfaction, it helps set your organization up for smoother transitions with technological enhancements.3. Offer mentoring and job shadowingKeep in mind that certifications and training sessions are worth much more when coupled with hands-on experience. Because of this , arranging for employees to receive on-the-job training in the practical, day-to-day uses of the tech theyll be working with is one of the best ways to prepare for these changes.Provide administrative healthcare teams with mentoring or job shadowing by having them work closely with members of your IT team or other employees who are more technologically adept. This allows staff to observe upgraded EHRs or AI in action and offers them the chance to ask questions of more tech-savvy colleagues. The result will be employees who are prepared to confidently take on new responsibilities within your organization.4. Upgrade your strategy for administrative healthcare hiringTake advantage of hiring opportunities to strengthen your team for the future. You know modernization will require fresh skill sets. Make sure you understand the digital and technology-based abilities and expertise your team requires so you can identify candidates who will drive your organization into the future.Additional ly, look for ways to use contractors, external consultants and interim employees to support your existing staff. These professionals can bring valuable technological experience and insight to your company and help relieve stress associated with transitions and increased workloads.5. Foster innovationMaintain your forward-thinking momentum by being an advocate of change - and using this attitude to your advantage in recruiting and retaining star players. In Robert Halfs report, Dan Schawbel, research director at Future Workplace and author of Back to Human, says, Top talent doesnt want to work for a company that isnt modern and focused on innovation. Talented people, even if they arent in a tech-focused job, want access to leading-edge tools.As you adapt your hiring strategies, look for ways to cultivate a progressive workplace culture. Additionally, encourage collaboration and creative thinking among employees, providing an environment where all feel welcome to share their ideas. T his will better position your company to be viewed as an industry leader among both peers and desirable talent.