A Motivating Video For Success

**Great article we found on Monster.com.**

In today’s competitive job market, it is important to develop skills that will make your resume stand out. But some of the job skills that might have moved your resume to the top of the pile a few years ago might not be worth as much today. Which skills are on the verge of becoming so last year? 

According to online salary database, PayScale.com, the skills on this list have seen the biggest drop in market value over the last few years. “These skills are associated with jobs the Bureau of Labor Statistics predicts to have slow to no growth over the next 10 years,” says Katie Bardaro, Director of Analytics at PayScale.com. “Often, to be successful in your career, you need to have multiple skills to set yourself apart,” says Bardaro.

If the skill that tops your resume is on this list, it may be wise to invest time in developing other skills related to your career and industry.

Spanish
 
Spanish is the second most prominent language in the United States, after English. Additionally, over 35 million U.S. residents speak Spanish at home, according to census.gov. So why is this a dying job skill? Simply put, the commonality of Spanish makes it a resume dud. Furthermore, Spanish isn’t a prominent language in business. If you would like to pad your resume with a language skill, consider learning Arabic, Japanese or Chinese.

**To read the rest of the article from the original source, click here.**

**Great article we found on Entrepreneur.com.**

One of the most misunderstood concepts in the law, especially for small business owners, is how to protect personal wealth. Many business owners get taken advantage of with high-priced asset protection plans that don’t provide the protection they promise. Others avoid the topic and buy more insurance, crossing their fingers that an expensive lawsuit or accident doesn’t befall them.

Asset protection is about protecting your personal wealth from the threat of business liabilities, which can be a real danger to both you and your business.

I recently had a client call me frantically because a customer slipped and fell on the way into their office, badly breaking an arm. Luckily, my client had various strategies in place to avoid personal liability, which could have otherwise involved a lawsuit against them personally and the loss of their home or other assets. This is a classic example of why asset protection is so important for your business. 

**To read the rest of the article from the original source, click here.**

**Great article we found on Inc.com**

The most successful people in business work differently. See what they do—and why it works.

I’m fortunate to know a number of remarkably successful people. I’ve described how these people share a set of specific perspectives and beliefs.

They also share a number of habits:

1. They don’t create back-up plans.

Back-up plans can help you sleep easier at night. Back-up plans can also create an easy out when times get tough.

You’ll work a lot harder and a lot longer if your primary plan simply has to work because there is no other option. Total commitment—without a safety net—will spur you to work harder than you ever imagined possible.

If somehow the worst does happen (and the “worst” is never as bad as you think) trust that you will find a way to rebound. As long as you keep working hard and keep learning from your mistakes, you always will.

2. They do the work…

You can be good with a little effort. You can be really good with a little more effort.

But you can’t be great—at anything—unless you put in an incredible amount of focused effort.

**To read the rest of the article from the original source, click here.**

**Great article we found on Yahoo News**

Soon, the Philadelphia metro area’s wintry weather will be a distant memory. Everyone will want to throw on spring jackets and head outdoors. Why not check out some of these often-overlooked parks around the Philadelphia area, all offering something special?

The Park at Newlin Grist Mill

Concord Township, PA

From the road, The Park at Newlin Grist Mill is indistinguishable from the rolling countryside. But pull into the gravel parking lot, and you’ll discover a pastoral refuge of waterfalls, creeks, and historical buildings, such as an 18th-century water-powered grist mill. In addition to being a historical preservation area and wildlife refuge, the park offers trout fishing, trails, and educational programs.

Norristown Farm Park

West Germantown Pike and Barley Sheaf Drive, Norristown, PA

On a country landscape dotted with farm buildings ranging from the mid-18th to early 20th century,Norristown Farm Park offers paved and rustic trails for hiking, jogging, biking, and dog walking. There is also fishing available, as well as picnic pavilions. A museum features historical programsabout rural life, while other programs range from nature walks to craft workshops and historical lectures. You’ll be pleasantly surprised at how such a quiet, natural world can exist alongside the suburban sprawl.

**To read the rest of the article, click here.**

**Great article we found from BubbleJobs**

My inspiration for today’s post comes from a pub trip believe it or not…! As I sat in my local, enjoying a nostalgic trip down memory lane with some old friends earlier this week, we somehow got onto the subject of hashtags when all of sudden it came to my attention that my companions were a bit confused as to how to use them correctly. I should probably point out that I don’t make it my usual business to discuss social media ALL the time when I’m away from Bubble’s rural HQ but heyho I love my job….what of it? 

As an avid tweeter @BubbleJobs, I know first-hand how crucial hashtagging can be in finding Social Media success. It’s important to get it right so I thought I’d take the opportunity to share some of the things that I’ve learnt on the job.

1. When it comes to social media marketing, if there’s one thing I cannot abide, it’s #that #awkward #moment #when #you #see #a #tweet #like #this.  It’s hashtag ridiculous. It has minimal impact on your social interaction – in fact in some cases it deters pedantic individuals such as myself from following you because it looks downright ugly. The tweets that generate the best response in terms of retweets, mentions and potential click-throughs, only contain one of two hashtags themed around the topic of the tweet… #Just #Saying.

**To read the rest of the article click here.**

**Great article we found on LinkedIn.**

I’m sitting in floor seats at one of my Golden State Warriors basketball games late last season after I had also recently become an owner of the Los Angeles Dodgers professional baseball team and it was about 9 pm at night. The team was behind 2 points in the closing minutes of the game. I grimaced and held my fists to my eyes as one of our key players missed two crucial foul shots in a row. The game continued in a bit of a downhill spiral for another minute or so.

Suddenly, I was pinged on my Smartphone and it was Pat Riley, the President of the Miami Heat. He happened to be watching our game from his bedroom at home in Miami around midnight. He exhorted, “don’t do that! Losing is part of the game! Listen to these statistics… you play 82 regular season basketball games, maybe some playoffs…and maybe 164 baseball games, and maybe a bunch post season games for as much as 270 games a year. You are going to lose a lot! A lot! Get used to it! It’s a crucial part of the process! That behavior doesn’t help you or your team. You’ve got to always remain visibly positive! Managing losses is a challenge you must be up to! You can never give in to it!”

**To read the rest of the article from the original source, click here.**

**Great article we found on LinkedIn.**

Meetings are an important part of any business, but they are not always the best use of everybody’s time and effort. I have never worked out of a traditional office, and always try to find ways to freshen meetings up. Recently we held Necker Meets Oxford, a Virgin Unite leadership gathering that took a different approach to talking about business. Here are five tips for screwing business meetings as usual:

1. Step away from the usual weekly agenda and set an inspiring theme.

At Necker Meets Oxford, the theme was Solutions for the Future of People and Planet – a bit different from a usual Monday morning! Our aim was to generate discussion to find innovative, entrepreneurial solutions to the world’s toughest challenges. 

2. Bring together a diverse mix people to broaden discussion.

Convening what might seem an unlikely bunch can really get the ideas flowing. For instance, at our recent gathering we had an investment banker, yoga practitioner, Silicon Valley consultant and the co-founder Wahoo’s Fish Taco to name a few. I always find that these eclectic groups lead to great discussions.

**To read the rest of the article from the original source, click here.**

**Great article we found on Entrepreneur.com.**

Are you working on clock time or ‘real’ time? Learn how to manage your day by understanding the difference with these 10 time management tips.

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.

**To read the rest of the article from the original source, click here.**

**Great article we found on Finance.yahoo.com**

It doesn’t seem right but sometimes you actually lose more money when you make more money.  That is just the way our tax code works and the last thing you want is to be caught off guard when it happens.

Most people think that it is always better to have higher income because we don’t have a 100% income tax rate on earned income. With every dollar you earn, even at the highest federal tax rate of 35% and combined state and local income tax rate of 12.7%in New York City, you are still “only” paying just under half of your income in taxes.  You’d still get to keep a little over half of what you made.

However, that is not always true. When high income taxpayers hit certain thresholds in adjusted gross income, they lose the ability to take some deductions. In some cases, earning $10,000 more can cause the IRS to disallow more than twice that much in deductions, so essentially you make a dollar and then lose two. You put your heart and soul into your job to help your company get ahead and to help your career, only to lose money doing it. It could actually be in your best interest not to take the bonus.

A great example is passive losses on rental real estate property, and this one is a thorn in my side as it affects me personally. Once your adjusted gross income is over $150k, the IRS only allows you to take your real estate losses of up to $25,000 – such as depreciation, association dues, mortgage interest, property taxes, maintenance etc. – against passive income such as your rental income. Any losses above and beyond the gains must be “carried forward” to future years, either when you sell it or when your income is below the threshold. So in other words, the rental loss is just about useless in the current year.  

**To read the rest of the article from the original source, click here**