The Four Parts of the Triangle of Success

In my line of work, I often am asked, "Can you help me or my friend a job."  This is something that I am more than glad to do based on my experience and the ability to help others.  Often, as I sit down with individuals and get a sense of what they have done in the past and their lives, I am often amazed how they have completely missed the ball on a number of things that could have either A.Prevented them from losing their job in the first place or B.Put them in position to already have a job lined up by now.  Over the next four weeks, I will focus on the tips and strategies that I have learned over the the years that will help you maximize your career and ensure that you aren't placed in a situation in which you're helpless if something happens to your current position. Each week, I will focus on one particular aspect that will help build what I call the Triangle of Success.  This triangle has four specific parts: Education, Brand Building, Political Savvy, and Networking.

This weeks' focus is on Education.  Education is the base of the triangle as it is the foundation of your life.  Without a commitment to continuous education, you are dooming yourself to a life of mediocrity and staleness.  When I a say continuous education, however, I am not always referring to higher degrees from a particular school.  (This could be needed, however, depending on your particular profession and goals you have for your life.) This could refer to your commitment to "self-teach" by reading books or trade journals on your profession to stay abreast of the latest trends or just increase your overall knowledge and business acumen.  This focus on education is important because it gives you several advantages to those who don't understand the importance of it for their career.

NEW STRATEGIES AND WAYS TO THINK TO INCREASE CHANCES OF SUCCESS
One of the most obvious advantages of continual education is that it arms you with new information that you can apply to situations that you may encounter. When in a board meeting and faced with a problem that is very important to the company, if you had the knowledge of a similar problem faced by XYZ company during your research and studies, you would have a great advantage over your peers by being able to make suggestions that are relevant and tested for the group to consider.  This same knowledge would be able to help you in your one-on-one interactions with individuals, as you could learn ways to manage and message to individuals better through your consistent study of this practice.

MAKES ONE MORE WELL-ROUNDED TO BE BETTER EQUIPPED FOR DIFFERENT SITUATIONS
Another advantage of continuous learning is that it allows an individual to have a breadth a knowledge to pull from for various conversations when needed.  By committing oneself to consistent study, one will come across a multitude of information that he/she could use in everyday conversation that could prove very useful in different situations.  One of the great polymaths of all time was Benjamin Franklin. Franklin was known to be able to have a conversation about almost any thing with anybody. It is not a coincidence that Franklin was one of the most well-read and self-educated men who ever lived. He dedicated his life to a life of learning and was able to accomplish things in his life that could have been the lives of several men.  By continuous education, you put yourselves in a very advantageous situation to have better conversational content than those who haven't been exposed to your same level of knowledge.  Something that is very important when we get to the networking pillar of the triangle in two weeks!

IT EXPOSES YOU TO NEW OPPORTUNITIES THAT COULD INTEREST YOU
One of perhaps the most important aspects of continual education is that you could stumble upon something that could be a great passion for you. What many people are looking for in life is that one thing that makes them want to jump out of bed each morning and attack the day with a fervor and excitement that they would do for free.  By continually educating yourself on different topics, you have a greater chance of discovering some profession or idea that ignites a fire inside you that you may not have even known was there.  The importance of a university education isn't always so much about going to college to get a specific degree to begin work, as much as it is the opportunity to be exposed to so many different ways of thinking and professions that we truly get a chance to identify what could be the right opportunity for us to be successful in life. The funny thing about that, however, is that we are always changing as time progresses and by continuing to expose ourselves to a university-type educational view of the world, we increase the chances that we will continue to find that one thing that will make our work our joy.

It has been said that whether you are 20 or 80, you are dying if you stop learning.  By committing to continuous education and making sure to keep your brain sharp and focused with new knowledge, you greatly increase the chance of your continued success.  This will give you a great advantage over those individuals who do not practice this in their life and, in the world of work, any advantage must be taken for success.

Next week, I'll discuss the second pillar in Triangle of Success: Branding Building

Ken Middleton is an Account Executive at TEKsystems that specializes in IT staffing and services. He is a graduate of UNC-Pembroke and current MBA student at Scheller College of Business at Georgia Tech.

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Exercise...why is it so important.

Two weeks ago I made a speech at a Toastmaster's event that I thought would be appropriate for my blog content being that it was very much in line with my one of my most important views on life. This view is that without a consistent focus and dedication to exercise, you are not living your life to its fullest potential.  Exercise is one of those things that, even though it seems like it is taking away from your life because of sacrifices you may have to make to be consistent, it is actually giving to you rather than taking away because of the numerous things it ADDS to your life.

IT ADDS CONFIDENCE
Several weeks ago I wrote about ways to gain confidence in yourself. While there are a number of different ways to do this, one of the most obvious ways is to make sure that everyday you look as good as possible.  We all have had that feeling of feeling extremely good and/or powerful when we are wearing that outfit that we know we absolutely look amazing in or when we have that fresh haircut or hairdo.  One of the ways in which we can increase this feeling is to exercise to have the physical body to look as good as possible in our clothes.  There are many clothing manufactures (i.e. Express, Gap, Zara) who don't make clothes that are in the triple X-size.  Therefore, if we desire to wear the most up to date fashion trends like Kanye or Kim Kardashian (Have they still not named their baby?  What's that about?), we would be encouraged to lose weight through exercise to do so.

IT ADDS ENERGY AND PEACE OF MIND
Many individuals main excuse about why they cannot exercise is that they do not have the energy to do so. They complain about how tired they often are when they get home from work and how there is NO WAY they can muster up the energy to make it to the gym and do anything. The ironic thing about exercise is that the more energy you actually expend to do it, the more energy you will actually have.  It seems backwards, but exercising actually increases your overall energy supply by making your body perform more efficiently and, therefore, have more energy for other things. Your body will work better throughout the course of the day and continue to recharge itself naturally, so you will not be as tired at the end of the day.  From the peace of mind standpoint, there are very few things that will allow you to work off stress the way exercise does. In life, there are so many things that are outside of our control that can affect what happens to us and if we don't have some outlet to release that psychological pressure that can build as a result of that, we can eventually blow a gasket.  Exercise allow you to physically have an outlet to release that potential stress and feel more calm as you begin or end each day.

IT ADDS TIME
Probably the most important aspect of exercise is the added time that it gives to our lives on this planet.  We are all born with so much time to spend here with our loved ones, and we owe it to them to do everything in our power to make sure that we extend that time for as long as possible.  Using a car as an analogy, your heart is like the engine of your body.  Just as a car's engine must consistently be kept up to date with the correct fluids and maintenance to make sure it functions properly, your heart has to be treated the same way with consistent exercise. This will help your body function more efficiently and have much fewer "breakdowns" or need for "replacements parts" down the road - something that I'm sure we will all appreciate as we get older.

Exercise.  While no one wants to get up when they hear that alarm clock go off at 5am or walk into the gym at 6pm in the afternoon when they already had a very long day, we have to. While these may seem like large sacrifices, you will be surprised how much actual net value you will get from this.  The extra confidence, energy, peace of mind, and time will more than pay you back in the end.  Not only will you appreciate this, but those who love you and want to be with you as long as possible will appreciate it even more.

Ken Middleton is an Account Executive at TEKsystems that specializes in IT staffing and services. He is a graduate of UNC-Pembroke and current MBA student at Scheller College of Business at Georgia Tech.

You can follow his daily quotes of inspiration and motivation on Facebook, Twitter, or LinkedIN

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Taking "Baby Steps" - The Importance of Thinking Small to Think Big

I have often seen individuals in life who desire to do amazing things.  They come up with these grandiose plans of how to be successful and then begin to pursue this dream over the course of time.  What often happens, however, is they end up falling flat on their face as they begin to become overwhelmed with the multitude of different endeavors that they have taken on to achieve their goal.  While ultimately, we should push ourselves to achieve great goals by stretching our focus and desire, one of the greatest things that I have learned help one to "get moving" towards a goal is to not ALWAYS think so big.  I read Donald Trump's "Think Big" book many years ago and agree with many of his beliefs and advice.  However, one should not forget the tremendous advantages that "thinking small" provides us as we work towards our large goals. The benefits of thinking small are:

THINKING SMALL PREVENTS YOU FROM MISSING "MINOR" DETAILS
Anyone who has ever planned a large event will tell you that one of the things that can turn an event from an absolute masterpiece into a total disaster are the small, seemingly insignificant things that will be overlooked in the midst of tackling the big problems - Forgetting to make sure to order backup food in the event more people show up than anticipated;  not having a solid contingency plan if there are any hiccups with the participants or workers; not anticipating that you will need overflow parking in the event more people attend than originally projected.  All of these small things can be an event killer and can easily be prevented by starting small with the planning of anything major.  The same can be said for planning out the strategy for your business or endeavor.  By starting with the small things first, you will ensure that you don't forget some legal document that must be filed on your behalf or some significant aspect of a vacation trip that might be forgotten as an afterthought if you don't take the time to start with the small things first.

THINKING SMALL IS OFTEN MORE REALISTIC AND EASILY ACCEPTED BY OTHERS
While it would be nice to present your idea to a group of angel investors and ask for a million dollar loan to get your start-up off the ground, what is more likely, and somewhat easier to accomplish, however, would be to create a smaller prototype of what you desire to do and start with less money upfront.  When attempting to procure the support of others, if you begin your discussion with how your new social media site is going to be the largest thing since Facebook and have a billion users in less than a year, they will probably look at you as a little nutty and not think you are someone with whom they would desire to invest their money.  However, if you give a more practical solution that is focused on a more realistic outcome (thousands of local users as opposed to billions of world users that is focused on a more niche' market), you will stand a much better chance of getting the support you need from others who will see your goals as more realistic -which in turn will increase the chances they will receive a positive return on their investment.

THINKING SMALL WILL MAKE IT EASIER FOR YOU TO GET MOVING
Many people have plans of such momentous size that they often become paralyzed with not being sure where to start.  Their end-game of what they desire to accomplish doesn't give them any true sense of how to get started.  By taking a minute to break down the endeavor into smaller, more manageable steps, one will have a much better chance of actually moving in the right direction to achieve his/her goals. If you have a dream of opening up your own bakery, start taking one day of the week to begin working on your baking skills. If you want to open up your own night club, start reading a book on how to open up a night club. It is these small things that will get you moving in a positive direction that will push you forward to your ultimate dreams.

I often think of how little babies begin life not being able to move in any manner and eventually grow from lying around to crawling to taking those first steps to walking to running around the world. When thinking about how you will achieve your life dreams, remember to take "baby steps" to keep one foot in front of the other until you can eventually get your stride right to sprint to your life's desire.

Ken Middleton is an Account Executive at TEKsystems that specializes in IT staffing and services. He is a graduate of UNC-Pembroke and current MBA student at Scheller College of Business at Georgia Tech.

You can follow his daily quotes of inspiration and motivation on Facebook, Twitter, or LinkedIN

Please feel free to SHARE if you like.  Thanks!

Diversifying your Friend Portfolio

In life, we meet so many different types of people through our day to day activities that it often surprises me how many people spend the majority of their time with the same exact people or the same types of people.  I have found that this is the case because many people are comfortable with their current friends and don't desire to go through the work of learning and understanding new people in their lives.  However, there are tremendous benefits gained by not only allowing new friends to come into your life, but also actually seeking and cultivating relationships with different types of people who cross your path.

THEY WILL GIVE YOU A BETTER APPRECIATION FOR OTHERS

We can all have a tendency to live in our own bubble of a world.  We know the people who we grew up or went to college with, but we rarely find ourselves stepping out of these boundaries of comfort. And even when we desire to make a new friend, they are very much a carbon copy of our existing friend base.  What diversifying your friend portfolio will do is allow you to have a better appreciation of all the different types of people in the world and how they think.  When you spend time with someone who is not exactly like you and understand their background and how they came to the philosophy by which they live or accomplished the things they have, you will have a greater understanding of the differences in all of us. At the same time, however, you will also get a better appreciation of how much we are all very alike at the core.  We live in a world in which diversity is becoming the new mainstream way of society and by allowing yourself to integrate and learn more about others who are not like you now, you are giving yourself a great competitive advantage in life and work.

YOU WILL LIVE A MUCH RICHER, INTERESTING LIFE

If you ever pay attention to The Most Interesting Man in the World commercials, one of the things that is hinted at implicitly is that he has a great appreciation for many different cultures. While one has to think that his general heritage is that of Hispanic in some nature, all of his adventures take places with a multitude of different types of people.  By befriending those who are different from our normal circle, we will increase the chances that we will participate is some new and exciting activity that we never would have received the chance had we not taken the chance to step outside of our comfort zone and try something different.  While life is about many things, one of the most important things is to be able to look back at it with fond memories and no regret.  By experiencing a diverse portfolio of activities from your diverse friends, you will have a plethora of different memories to pull from as you age and will be a much better conversationalist for others to enjoy...i.e. the most interesting man in the world.

YOU WILL HAVE A MUCH MORE DIVERSE APPROACH TO LIFE

One of the great byproducts of befriending those who are not like you is that you will have the ability to truly understanding how they think.  Whether it is a philosophy they acquired from their upbringing as a child, the part of the world in which they lived, or the traditional teachings from their heritage or religion, there will probably be a number of different lessons that you can glean from them to apply to your life.  I've always said that while no one group has it all right, if you are able to pull a little nugget from every one, you often have a much better chance of solving problems and overcoming different challenges that we all face life, regardless of race, creed, or sexual orientation.

It has always been my opinion that people are what make this world a great place.  How much better is a life enjoyed by individuals who make it a point to seek out, learn, and befriend all the different types of people in our world to live a life of variety and excitement.  While Drake may sound right when he says, "No new friends," unfortunately, he could be missing out on some great people and an EVEN BETTER life.

Ken Middleton is an Account Executive at TEKsystems that specializes in IT staffing and services. He is a graduate of UNC-Pembroke and current MBA student at Scheller College of Business at Georgia Tech.

You can follow his daily quotes of inspiration and motivation on Facebook, Twitter, or LinkedIN