Nutrition for Children and Teens : Easy Ways to Help Your Kids Eat Healthier

Healthy eating can stabilize children’s energy, sharpen their minds, and even out their moods. While peer pressure and TV commercials for junk food can make getting kids to eat well seem impossible, there are steps parents can take to instill healthy eating habits without turning mealtimes into a battle zone. By encouraging healthy eating habits now, you can make a huge impact on your children’s lifelong relationship with food and give them the best opportunity to grow into healthy, confident adults.

Developing healthy eating habits

Children develop a natural preference for the foods they enjoy the most, so the challenge is to make healthy choices appealing. Of course, no matter how good your intentions, it’s always going to be difficult to convince your eight-year-old that an apple is as sweet a treat as a cookie. However, you can ensure that your children’s diet is as nutritious and wholesome as possible, even while allowing for some of their favorite treats.
The childhood impulse to imitate is strong, so it’s important you act as a role model for your kids. It’s no good asking your child to eat fruit and vegetables while you gorge on potato chips and soda.

Top tips to promote healthy childhood eating

• Have regular family meals. Knowing dinner is served at approximately the same time every night and that the entire family will be sitting down together is comforting and enhances appetite. Breakfast is another great time for a family meal, especially since kids who eat breakfast tend to do better in school.
• Cook more meals at home. Eating home cooked meals is healthier for the whole family and sets a great example for kids about the importance of food. Restaurant meals tend to have more fat, sugar, and salt. Save dining out for special occasions.
• Get kids involved. Children enjoy helping adults to shop for groceries, selecting what goes in their lunch box, and preparing dinner. It's also a chance for you to teach them about the nutritional values of different foods, and (for older children) how to read food labels.
• Make a variety of healthy snacks available instead of empty calorie snacks. Keep plenty of fruits, vegetables, whole grain snacks, and healthy beverages (water, milk, pure fruit juice) around and easily accessible so kids become used to reaching for healthy snacks instead of empty calorie snacks like soda, chips, or cookies.
• Limit portion sizes. Don’t insist your child cleans the plate, and never use food as a reward or bribe.

How can I get my picky child to enjoy a wider variety of foods?

Picky eaters are going through a normal developmental stage, exerting control over their environment and expressing concern about trusting the unfamiliar. Many picky eaters also prefer a “separate compartmented plate,” where one type of food doesn’t touch another. Just as it takes numerous repetitions for advertising to convince an adult consumer to buy, it takes most children 8-10 presentations of a new food before they will openly accept it.
Rather than simply insist your child eat a new food, try the following:

• Offer a new food only when your child is hungry and rested.
• Present only one new food at a time.
• Make it fun: present the food as a game, a play-filled experience. Or cut the food into unusual shapes.
• Serve new foods with favorite foods to increase acceptance.
• Eat the new food yourself; children love to imitate.
• Have your child help to prepare foods. Often they will be more willing to try something when they helped to make it.
• Limit beverages. Picky eaters often fill up on liquids instead.
• Limit snacks to two per day.

VACANCIES

GLORY FOODS AND BEVERAGES LIMITED INVITES EXPERIENCED AND QUALIFIED CANDIDATES TO APPLY FOR THE FOLLOWING POSITIONS.

Glory foods and beverages is a fast growing food and beverage company in the heart of port-Harcourt catering to various hospitality and leisure needs of a vast clientele.

In our bid to expand, the following positions are now available:

1)      HEALTH AND SAFETY OFFICER: minimum qualification – HND/B.Sc in relevant discipline with a minimum of three (3) years. Professional certifications will be an added advantage.

2)      CONTINENTAL COOKS:  minimum qualification- OND/HND in relevant discipline with a minimum of three (3) years experience.

3)      BAKERS: minimum qualification - OND/HND in relevant discipline with a minimum of three (3) years experience.

4)      NATIONAL COOKS: minimum qualification -SSCE/ OND/HND in relevant discipline with a minimum of three (3) years experience.

5)      KITCHEN ASSISTANTS: minimum experience –SSCE/FSLC   with a minimum of two (2) years experience.

6)      STORE KEEPER: minimum qualification- OND/HND in relevant discipline with a minimum of three (3) years experience.

7)      BUSINESS DEVELOPMENT OFFICER (SALES)-minimum qualification-- OND/HND/SSCE  in relevant discipline with a minimum of two (2) years experience.

8)      CUSTOMER SALES ASSISTANTS: minimum requirements - OND/HND in relevant discipline with a minimum of three (3) years experience.

9)      LOBBY PERSONNEL: minimum qualification – SSCE/FSLC with a minimum of two (2) years experience.

10)   CLEANERS : minimum qualification HEALTH AND SAFTEY OFFICER: minimum qualification – SSCE/FSLC  with a minimum of two (2) years experience

All interested applicants should forward their resumes to recruitment.gfbltd@outlook.com  on or before the 5^th  day of April 2015. 

Note: ONLY QUALIFIED AND EXPERIENCED CANDIDATES SHOULD APPLY.

SHORTLISTED APPLICANTS WILL BE CONTACTED VIA SMS OR E-MAIL.

  

10 Time Management Tips That Work

Chances are good that, at some time in your life, you've taken a time management class, read about it in books, and tried to use an electronic or paper-based day planner to organize, prioritize and schedule your day. "Why, with this knowledge and these gadgets," you may ask, "do I still feel like I can't get everything done I need to?"

The answer is simple. Everything you ever learned about managing time is a complete waste of time because it doesn't work.

Before you can even begin to manage time, you must learn what time is. A dictionary defines time as "the point or period at which things occur." Put simply, time is when stuff happens.

There are two types of time: clock time and real time. In clock time, there are 60 seconds in a minute, 60 minutes in an hour, 24 hours in a day and 365 days in a year. All time passes equally. When someone turns 50, they are exactly 50 years old, no more or no less.

In real time, all time is relative. Time flies or drags depending on what you're doing. Two hours at the department of motor vehicles can feel like 12 years. And yet our 12-year-old children seem to have grown up in only two hours.

Which time describes the world in which you really live, real time or clock time?

The reason time management gadgets and systems don't work is that these systems are designed to manage clock time. Clock time is irrelevant. You don't live in or even have access to clock time. You live in real time, a world in which all time flies when you are having fun or drags when you are doing your taxes.

The good news is that real time is mental. It exists between your ears. You create it. Anything you create, you can manage. It's time to remove any self-sabotage or self-limitation you have around "not having enough time," or today not being "the right time" to start a business or manage your current business properly.

There are only three ways to spend time: thoughts, conversations and actions. Regardless of the type of business you own, your work will be composed of those three items.

As an entrepreneur, you may be frequently interrupted or pulled in different directions. While you cannot eliminate interruptions, you do get a say on how much time you will spend on them and how much time you will spend on the thoughts, conversations and actions that will lead you to success. 

Practice the following techniques to become the master of your own time:

1. Carry a schedule and record all your thoughts, conversations and activities for a week. This will help you understand how much you can get done during the course of a day and where your precious moments are going. You'll see how much time is actually spent producing results and how much time is wasted on unproductive thoughts, conversations and actions.
2. Any activity or conversation that's important to your success should have a time assigned to it. To-do lists get longer and longer to the point where they're unworkable. Appointment books work. Schedule appointments with yourself and create time blocks for high-priority thoughts, conversations, and actions. Schedule when they will begin and end. Have the discipline to keep these appointments.
3. Plan to spend at least 50 percent of your time engaged in the thoughts, activities and conversations that produce most of your results.
4. Schedule time for interruptions. Plan time to be pulled away from what you're doing. Take, for instance, the concept of having "office hours." Isn't "office hours" another way of saying "planned interruptions?"
5. Take the first 30 minutes of every day to plan your day. Don't start your day until you complete your time plan. The most important time of your day is the time you schedule to schedule time.
6. Take five minutes before every call and task to decide what result you want to attain. This will help you know what success looks like before you start. And it will also slow time down. Take five minutes after each call and activity to determine whether your desired result was achieved. If not, what was missing? How do you put what's missing in your next call or activity?
7. Put up a "Do not disturb" sign when you absolutely have to get work done.
8. Practice not answering the phone just because it's ringing and e-mails just because they show up. Disconnect instant messaging. Don't instantly give people your attention unless it's absolutely crucial in your business to offer an immediate human response. Instead, schedule a time to answer email and return phone calls.
9. Block out other distractions like Facebook and other forms of social media unless you use these tools to generate business.
10. Remember that it's impossible to get everything done. Also remember that odds are good that 20 percent of your thoughts, conversations and activities produce 80 percent of your results.

3 Strategies For Keeping Your Cool At Work

You get a rude email from a co-worker.
You read it once and start to feel annoyed, then you read it again, just to make sure. Yes: It’s obnoxious. So, you hit “reply” and start dashing out a response to set the record straight, feeling your blood rise with every keyboard stroke.
Sound familiar? Whether it’s getting angry with an annoying colleague, getting frazzled by a problem in a project, or just getting frustrated by little speed bumps in the day, there will be times when something minor grates on you in the office. And, like me, your first instinct may be to get angry, to snap, or to react.
But there’s a better way to handle these moments. First—of course—don’t send emails when you’re upset. But more importantly, you have to relentlessly remind yourself to keep a level-headed perspective on the job.
I know—easier said than done. But next time something gets to you, try one of these three simple techniques for staying cool, calm, and collected.

1. Ask Yourself How Important it Is

When I find my blood pressure rising and I start to lose my perspective, I ask myself this simple question: Will I care about this in five years? As I stare at whatever email I’ve just received or whatever presentation I’m working on, the answer is almost always a definitive no. Usually, I will have moved on from it in a month.
This rhetorical question is not an excuse to become complacent on the job, but it provides me with the outlook I need to step away from my desk when I’m feeling agitated, get some fresh air, or boost my blood sugar with a snack. Then, I can return to what I’m doing and—with the keen awareness that I’m not facing wartime disaster—do my best to keep calm and carry on.

2. Don’t Take Anything Personally

I know what you’re thinking: everything is personal. And it’s always the sleaziest business executives—at least in the movies—who say things like: “It’s just business; don’t take it personally.”
But there is something you can learn from trying to gain this perspective when you’re feeling overwhelmed, attacked, or frustrated. The case for this mentality is made best in The Four Agreements by Don Miguel Ruiz, who explains how he implements this way of thinking:

Whatever happens around you, don’t take it personally. Nothing other people do is because of you. It is because of themselves. All people live in their own dream, in their own mind; they are in a completely different world from the one we live in. When we take something personally, we make the assumption that they know what is in our world, and we try to impose our world on their world.
Even when a situation seems so personal, even if others insult you directly, it has nothing to do with you. What they say, what they do, and the opinions they give are according to the agreements they have in their own minds.”

There are times when you may feel like a less-than-friendly email or snappy comment from your boss has something to do with your performance. And there are certainly times when this may be the case. But more often than not, the people you work with have their own daily stressors that influence how they’re interacting with the world—things that, as Ruiz points out, have nothing to do with you.

3. Feed the Right Wolf

We are all vulnerable to something called negativity bias, which means that the bad events of the day are more memorable than the good ones. But just because it’s our natural tendency to dwell on the negative doesn’t mean we can’t push back against it.
In her book Taking the Leap, Pema Chödrön illustrates the negative and positives sides of ourselves as two hungry wolves fighting in our hearts. She asks readers to think of the wolf who wins the fight as the wolf who we choose to feed.

Most of us have gotten so good at empowering our negativity and insisting on our rightness that the angry wolf gets shinier and shinier, and the other wolf is just there with its pleading eyes. But we’re not stuck with this way of being. When we’re feeling resentment or any strong emotion, we can recognize that we are getting worked up, and realize that right now we can consciously make the choice to be aggressive or to cool off. It comes down to choosing which wolf we want to feed.”

You can choose to focus on the minor frustrations of your day—or, you can choose to focus on finding meaning in your work. This can feel impossible when you’re consumed by something on the job, but try to pause and reflect on what’s really important to you. In that moment, you may be able to channel your energy in another direction—to switch gears and work on a project you really care about or to simply take a moment to remind yourself what you appreciate about your job.

Work will never be free from stressors or annoyances, but you’re always in a position to manage how well you handle them. If do your best to maintain perspective when things get heightened, you’ll find yourself not getting bogged down by the details of the day, and instead, rising above them.

The Top 7 Communications Trends for 2014

Each year brings breakthroughs, evolutions and benchmarks in equipping organizations and individuals through technology.
These new developments have implications for IT departments and the broader enterprise, in terms of services the IT department provides, and how those services are acquired and deployed.
Heading into 2014, Avaya has for the fifth time turned to its cadre of leading thinkers for observations on the year ahead in information and communications technology. It has led to these Seven Communications Trends for 2014:


#1: Businesses extend deeper into the cloud
Most early cloud initiatives were tactical, focused on vetting vendor capabilities and testing discrete, non-core processes in the cloud. Now, as more businesses make capital expense (capex) vs. operating expense (opex) spending decisions, organizations that choose the cloud option–whether through a private, public, or hybrid model–will see a shift in how their IT organizations operate. IT functions will focus less on delivery and support of technology and instead spend more time as technology advisers and enablers.


#2: Purse strings could be loosening
Signs of invigorated business spending in 2014 are evident in double-digit capex growth predictions by leading global asset managers. However, many organizations face tough rent vs. own decisions when it comes to IT–especially at companies that have underspent on technology and communications since the recession and desperately need to catch up. Deciding whether to build and own IT solutions themselves or migrate to opex solutions from service providers, often involving cloud options, could prove perplexing.


#3: Another major shift in IT focus – from products and services to outcomes
The expectation among internal customers is for IT to deliver outcomes rather than products and services. For example, instead of being asked to deploy an interactive voice response system, IT’s charge might be to help increase call containment rates or reduce agent expense across call centers. This shift in emphasis will create new demands on both IT organizations in terms of business knowledge and consulting skills, as well as the service providers they rely on.


#4: Crowdsourcing emerges in the support services setting
Businesses are discovering that customers are demanding a more robust support experience in general, and not just function- or product-specific support – all support. Going forward, companies that provide a community structure in which customers and company employees, especially subject matter experts, can more easily comingle will have a unique opportunity to create a more fulfilling support experience. Using group problem-solving and reward tools like gamification, as well as sophisticated performance tracking and analytics tools, forward-looking companies will supercharge these highly interactive support environments.


#5: The midmarket will expect different treatment
New technologies are powerful drivers of middle market empowerment. Midmarket leaders are no longer satisfied with solutions that are scaled down versions of larger systems. Instead, they want solutions designed to meet their specific business needs, as well as the ability of their IT people to manage them. Support excellence will increasingly mean providing the right information in a tempo and volume that a smaller operation can handle, along with the tools needed to put that information to use.


#6: Multimodal communications support reaches a tipping point
Businesses everywhere are experimenting with different communication modes for customer support. For example, Avaya Global Support Services has significantly shortened issue resolution times by escalating up and down in various modes – voice alone is often inadequate; voice-plus-web is only marginally better; so voice-plus-web-plus-chat-plus-video can put customers and support resources on the same page.
However, businesses deploying multiple modes will need to monitor and measure customer experience to determine when switching across modes becomes frustrating for customers – recent research indicates customer effort is becoming as important as customer satisfaction. With this realization, companies will seek help to orchestrate their different modes and to coordinate contextual information and analytics capabilities so they can monitor and measure customer effort.


#7: The people you need when you need them
Vendors are continuously creating new applications, some of which are transforming how organizations deploy and capitalize on technology. While this innovation can help boost business growth and improve efficiency, new solutions can further burden IT organizations that are already being compelled to handle growing service demand with shrinking staff resources.
New applications and business-consulting demands may also require skill sets beyond those of existing staff. This imbalance between requirements and resources could prompt organizations to explore staff augmentation options beyond the typical “manage my switch” arrangements. They will also seek help from technology management tools that smoothly integrate into their existing operations.

Five Great Interpersonal Skills to Have at Work

Interpersonal skills are an important thing to have and can be valuable in almost any situation. Basically interpersonal skills are skills we have that allow us to effectively communicate with each other. When you have good interpersonal skills you are able to develop social skills and can effectively communicate with someone using various techniques. Interpersonal skills are almost invaluable especially if you want a good job and you want a good relationship with your manager and other coworkers. If you are not sure what types of interpersonal skills are great to have for the workplace, here are some great suggestions.

 One great interpersonal skill to have is the ability to have effective communication with your boss and other coworkers. Effective communication is fairly easy to accomplish since the main goals are to listen and comprehend what someone is saying to you. It is important to always recognize the person that is talking to you to let them know you are listening and sometimes nodding and agreeing are ways to show that you are listening. Once the person is done talking to you it is important to summarize in your own words what the conversation was about that way the person knows you understand the conversation and you were paying attention. If you have any questions about what was being said then this is the time where you ask for clarification on that issue and then repeat the conversation making sure you understand it. Effective communication is a very important skill to have in the workplace because it will make the relationship with your boss and coworkers easier and just all around better. Sometimes during our jobs we make mistakes that could have been avoided by effective communication. Making sure you understand the task at hand or problem is important to ensure you are doing your job correctly and to make sure that you understand what the other person wants from you. Effective communication skills are always important no matter what type of job you are in because making a mistake from bad communication skills can cost you your job or someone their life. This skill will help better the relationship with your workplace peers and you will be better respected because you take the time to make sure you understand what is being asked of you.


Assertive communication is also very important when talking about effective interpersonal skills at the workplace. Assertive communication skills are important due to the fact you want to be clear and to the point. Having assertive communication skills basically means you are able to deliver a message or issue to the person it needs to be delivered to and only that person while maintaining an effective manner of communication. You want to deliver that message to the person with the details and not just a general message. Be as concise and clear as you can about what it is you want or you need and do not be afraid to be blunt about it. Make sure that you tell your coworker to give you clear and honest feedback about the message that way it seems you are delivering your own opinions rather than being demanding. This is a great skill to have with your boss, manager and other peers in the workplace because you want to be able to express yourself in a clear manner and express your needs and wants in a clear and specific manner. If you are able to express yourself and what you need or what you are feeling specifically and effectively, then you will most likely do better at your job and get more things accomplished. Assertive communication is the other end of effective communication in the sense that this communication skill is showing how you communicate with your workplace peers rather than how you listen to them. Your workplace will feel you are valuable because you speak your mind in an effective manner and they will respect you more for sharing those feelings or needs with them.



Anger management is also a great and effective interpersonal skill that is invaluable at the workplace. Everyone becomes angry at something, whether it be a bad day in general or someone making you angry because they made a mistake at work. It is important to know that being angry at work can cause a lot of problems and can possibly make you lose your job if you can not properly control those emotions. It is important to know what types of situations or people anger you and have an effective way to deal with those feelings. You should not direct anger at anyone in your workplace because this could cause intimidation and lead to a lot of workplace hostility. One of the most important things to keep in mind when you are angry is to take deep breaths to calm down and if that does not work then just walk away. You need to learn what methods work for you as far as something that will calm you down before you take your anger out on the wrong person. Workplace anger management is often taught during classes or training but you need to know what works for you in angry situations and how you can better control your own emotions. Knowing how and when to deal with workplace anger will better enhance the relationship between you and those you work with and will help them also develop better anger management skills. Knowing how to control your anger will also help in the workplace because people will want to come to you with problems due to the fact they know you will control your emotions and find a proper way to deal with the situation at hand. This is also important because your boss might be looking at you as a team leader or someone who might end up in a higher-level position at your work if you can control your anger and you have effective anger management skills. All around anger management is a great interpersonal skill to have because it will help you communicate your thoughts and feelings with those around you at your workplace in a reasonable and approachable manner.


Conflict resolution is something that goes with anger management and is an effective interpersonal skill to have in the workplace. Conflict resolution consists of knowing what the conflict is and how it affects you as well as knowing the reasons why the conflict matters to you. If you are in a conflict with someone it is important to include them into your resolution while maintaining a positive attitude and acting civil toward them. Make sure they know what the conflict was and why it is important to you and also how you feel about the conflict. Make direct compromises with the person if possible and ask to hear their side of the story relating to the conflict at hand. You should always be respectful to the other person and ask their opinion on the conflict and a possible solution to the conflict. When you both can agree on a resolution you should make a plan to stick to that resolution and then follow through with talking to the other person afterward to make sure that the issue was resolved. Conflict resolution is an important interpersonal skill to have in the workplace because in every job there is always going to be conflicts and various opinions about a subject. Knowing how to approach the conflict and being respectful to the other person involved will help the people at your work get along and it will show them things they could do to improve their skills. Conflict resolution is also important because it tells the people you work with that you are open to negotiating a situation and that you do care about what they think and you are there to listen to them and how they feel. This is important because your boss will then know you are capable of handling situations on your own and that you have skills to solve problems peacefully with others.


Teamwork is also a very important interpersonal skill to have in your workplace. Teamwork means you can collaborate with other people and share ideas with them to come to a common goal. Teamwork means you are listening, cooperating with people in your workplace, communicating your thoughts and feelings and it also means you can come to resolutions on conflicts. Teamwork is basically knowing you are not the only one at your workplace and that other people have ideas and feelings to and you all are working toward the same common outcome. Teamwork uses skills of different interpersonal skills because they all come together to make teamwork possible and useful. Teamwork means knowing that even though some people might be different than you it is still possible to make a common goal happen by setting those differences aside. You should be able to express your own opinions in a thoughtful and specific manner and also be able to listen to others and share ideas to help one another. Teamwork is very important to any workplace because there would be no workplace if you did not have teamwork and everyone working together. Teamwork is the ability to solve problems and achieve goals with others that will directly affect your workplace. Your boss and others in your workplace will see this skill as a building block to success. You will become a better person, better coworker and also a leader in your workplace for knowing how to effectively use teamwork skills. Knowing teamwork skills might help you advance in your workplace and become a manager or it might just make you a very valuable member of the organization. Teamwork will help you get along with your boss and others because it will help you realize the common goal everyone has and it will help you better understand how to achieve those goals.

7 Essential Tips for Developing Skills

Everyone wants to have a fulfilling career. But what do you think you need to have it? While there are many possible answers, in my opinion there are at least two things you should have.
First, you should follow your heart. Following your heart means working on something that matters to you. It’s something that you do not because of money, but because of love and care. Second, you should live your fullest potential. It’s not enough just to do what matters to you. You should also grow your capacity to the fullest. I don’t know about you, but I feel deep satisfaction whenever I know that I’ve done my best.
The key to living your fullest potential is developing your skills. You can only live your fullest potential if you always develop your skills so that you can give better and better value over time.
Here are seven tips for developing your skills:

1. Be curious
Curiosity is essential because it makes the process of developing skills much more enjoyable. If you are curious, you will naturally want to know more simply because it’s fun. You will go further and deeper than those who develop their skills because they must.
Here are some things you can do to build curiosity:

• Don’t say that something is boring
  Saying that something is boring is killing curiosity since it closes door of possibilities.
• Make asking a habit
  Often we take things for granted and accept them as they are. Don’t. Build the habit of digging deeper below the surface. Your tool to do that is questions.
• Make things fun
  Don’t just look at the serious side of things. Look at their fun side too.

2. Develop your learning skill
Learning skill should be the first skill you develop because it greatly helps you develop other skills. An essential ingredient to have good learning skill is motivation. If you are motivated to learn about a subject, it will be much easier for you to learn it. Again, curiosity plays an important role here because a curious person is naturally motivated.
There are many books that can help you hone your learning skill but two that I recommend are Accelerated Learning for the 21st Century and Learn More Study Less.

3. Be a versatilist
A versatilist is someone who can easily adapt to new situations and quickly develop the skills necessary to excel. Being a versatilist essentially means being a smart learner who knows what to learn and how to quickly learn it.
To know what to learn, a versatilist should anticipate the future. That way he will get a sense of what new skills will be in demand and prepare himself before most people do.
Here are two posts that further discuss this topic:

• Be a Winner by Being a Versatilist: What, Why and How
• 6 Things You Should Do to Anticipate the Future

4. Find your role models
It will be easier for you to grow if you have concrete examples of what you want to be. That’s why it’s important to find your role models. Your role models give you a standard to achieve so that you know where and how far you should go in developing your skills. It will also motivate you since you know that someone has already achieved such high standard.

5. Find your mentors
While having role models is good, in many cases you can’t connect directly with them. But developing skills will be much easier if you work with those who have gone through it. That’s why you should find not just role models but also mentors. Ideally your mentors are also your role models but at least they are those who are more experienced than you. These people can teach you what to do and what not to do so that you don’t have to find them yourself the hard way. You can save a lot of time.
Finding mentors, of course, is not easy. Often you should give first before someone is willing to become your mentor. Try to be useful to them by helping them in whatever way you can. Give them a reason to invest their time in you.

6. Get feedback through real projects
The best way to develop your skills is through real projects. Why? Because real projects give you the much needed feedback to hone your skills. While many people prefer to wait until everything is well-prepared before working on real projects, you will learn faster by working on something real. You may face failures in the process but they are your stepping stones to success since they give you precious lessons.

7. Shorten your learning cycle
The speed of your skill development depends on the length of your learning cycle. The shorter your learning cycle, the faster you will develop your skills. Here are some ideas to shorten your learning cycle:

• Make quality effort
  I already mentioned that you should work on real projects since they give you important feedback. But having feedback alone won’t help you much. You must have quality feedback. To have it, ensure that your effort is quality effort. Prepare yourself as good as you can (without being over prepared) before launching an initiative. This way the feedback you get will be of higher quality.
• Measure comprehensively
  The feedback you get should also cover as many dimensions as possible. You can achieve it by measuring your performance comprehensively. The more metrics you measure, the better feedback you will get. Of course, the metrics should be chosen carefully so that you don’t waste your resources on measuring.
• Act upon the feedback
  After getting the feedback, you should act diligently upon it. Learn as much as possible from the feedback to get the most possible points for improvements. Then choose the most potential ones and do your best to improve them before launching your next initiative.

***
These tips will help you develop your skills and make your career more fulfilling. Not only will you do what matters to you, but also you will get the satisfaction of knowing that you’ve done your best.
This article is part of September 2008 theme: Fulfilling Career
Photo by scui3asteveo