goals
Lessons in the Form of Experiences (L.I.F.E. Series)Pt. 7 : IMAGINATION
Photo Credit: http://all-images.org/imagination-makes-our-days-much-more-exciting-and-interesting/
As a child I had an active imagination and as a teen that imagination turned into plain old grandiose dreams. I used to imagine myself as a singer and movie star and even as a teen, I would sometimes create fake television shows and videos in my basement. Well, only a few things have changed. I no longer dream of being famous, singing or acting. However, I am still guilty of getting lost in my imagination. These days I use my imagination to guide my work and voila……you have what I have coined “VISIONWORK” (trademark forthcoming).
The Aspire2Higher movement follows the precept that ALL your work should be VISIONWORK, meaning that your work should be steps, action items, or strategies leading to the development of your VISION.
An Introduction to Aspire2Higher via Prezi
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An Introduction to Aspire2Higher via Prezi (CLICK LINK To PRESENTATION)
As you continue to develop and implement your goals for the new year, consider learning more about the Aspire2Higher brand! This presentation will describe the movement, our services and the online community.
If you would liek to learn more about the movement or how we can serve you and/or your organization, feel free to comment or reach out via email. (sreed@aspire2higher-a2h.com)
Enhance Your Career/Business with a WordPress Site
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I am definitely a fan of WordPress, that goes without saying. I use it myself to run my business, to engage with customers and to tell you about my brand and my message. I hope to illustrate to my readers, and especially to those who attend my WordPress boot camp classes, the many ways you can use WordPress to achieve your desired business results.
What is WordPress:
Wordpress is most commonly known as a blogging website because it started as a platform for blogs. Its been around for 10 years now and has fast become what it is now known as, a content management system (CMS). This CMS framework is now a place to build blogs and fully customizable, engaging websites. WordPress is one of the most popular platforms available for building a web site, but that’s not the best part!
The best part is:
—–it is created, managed and controlled by YOU!
—–it is extremely cost effective
—–there are 2 choices when creating a site on WordPress (free or paid…paid has more features)
There are many benefits to creating a paid website on WordPress, but even if you pay to set up your site with WordPress, it is still the most cost effective way to develop a website!
Why Use WordPress
First and foremost I say YES to WordPress because you can have a live vibrant site up and running quickly, without paying heavy web development cost or trusting someone else to bring our vision to life. If as a small business owner or full time employer/employee you can create and control the way your brand is represented on the web, than WHY hand all that control over to someone else and pay a high ticket price? People also often assume to create a website you will have to know and understand how to write and use code (html). Not with WordPress. All of that is already done for you in the background. As a user, you just shop around on WordPress for the templates, features, add-ons etc. that make your site the best and turn them on! It really just takes a few clicks to install most things. Its also very user friendly with lots of customer service and intuitive instructions built in.
OK, so how can you enhance your career or business with WordPress you ask? Well here’s how I see it:
1. You can use WordPress to showcase your knowledge and area of expertise
2. You can use it to demonstrate your qualifications in a job search
3. You can use WordPress to start a web based business
4. You can use WordPress to educate others, etc. etc.
Want to know more? Want to see this for yourself? Aspire2Higher is holding several WordPress Career Boot Camps in the coming months! The first one ( for those in the Philadelphia area) is Thursday June 27th at 5:00 at the Philadelphia Center for Arts & Technology (PCAT Center). This will be a 2 hour interactive seminar.
By the end of the course, your website will go live on the web!
(Anyone outside of Philadelphia interested A2H can offer the same course via Google+, Skype, a GoToMeeting webinar, etc. please email sreed@aspire2higher-a2h.com)
SEPTEMBER is Self Improvement Month!
Aspire2Higher is ALL about IMPROVEMENT! September can be a really stressful month with school starting back up and summer (vacations) coming to an end. Why not begin the month with SELF IMPROVEMENT in mind?
Do you have something in your life (personal or professional) that you’d love to change, improve, increase or decrease? As a full time higher education professional, my life is about to be on FULL TILT with a new semester starting. One goal I have for myself this month is to improve the way I communicate my goals,and how I communicate with people who work with me and under my supervision. I also have been secretly trying to improve my “MOM” skills. I want to be better prepared for my week to provide better meals for my children and spend more quality time with them. I’ve always wanted to get better in these areas.
Let’s spend time this month focusing on the things that can help us achieve our goals! This includes reading great books, or blogs, trying new things and learning something new. Self improvement month can be about whatever you want! I invite you all to share here what you’d like to do for self improvement month. Just remember this: Self Improvement is about the process of improving your thoughts, your status or your mind through your own efforts. This should not be stressful or overwhelming if you pace yourself. A popular piece of advice you will hear from successful people often is do something daily towards the achievement of your goals.
Notice the words that stand out the most in the image above…..IMPROVE EVERYDAY LIFE. So start there.
Happy Self Improvement Month!
Social Media Can Make You Smarter!
We all know that social media has been around for both personal and business use for several years already. Yet, I am still surprised by how many people still underestimate and under-value the depth of social media. There are still way too many people challenged by social media like it’s the modern-day rubik’s cube!
Even within my professional network of people with varying levels of education, many lines of work within multiple industries, I hear from folks who think they have no use for social media. That boggles my mind! EVERYONE, no matter what level of experience, or type of work can benefit from using social media….if used appropriately.
I will take this even a step further and venture to say that EVERYONE CAN LEARN from social media!
For example:
Educators/College and University faculty/professors can not only use social media to engage their students outside of the classroom, but they can also use social media to share their published research, to read other relevant publications, share course updates via Facebook and gather information through social bookmarking activities.
Television personalities, producers, or writers can use social media to communicate with their audience. With social media they have a way to hear directly from them about what they want to watch or what they don’t wish to see on television. However, there is also opportunity for tv producers/writers and the like to engage in dialogue with each other about the industry through specific LinkedIn groups or TV network Facebook pages.
Medical Professionals, such as doctors & nurses lab technicians and physicians assistants can (and do) use social media for very practical reasons, like scheduling appointments and sending reminders or invoices. What some may not know is, that there are several social networking sites and uses specific to the healthcare field. Some medical professionals are using social networking sites to conduct case studies, share stories and help each other solve medical cases!
These are just a few ways that a variety of professionals benefit from using social media. But as I mentioned earlier in this post, I believe that social media is not only fun and engaging, but it can make you smarter. I for instance, used social media to discover how to blog. I use social media everyday to read about what’s happening in the world and what is relevant in my line of work. I use sites like Twitter to stay up to date on issues that would affect my life and my work. With the creation of social media, people’s access to learning has grown drastically, however, the average user only views and shares pics with their immediate connections. Well, I’ve always believed that when you know better you do better, so I challenge you after reading this to DO BETTER with social media! I want everyone who reads this blog post to find a new way to use one of your favorite social media sites TODAY!
I declare today, that no matter what you do for a living, YOU can learn and even advance your goals through intentional social media use. If the best brands in the world can use social media for business…why can’t you? If the President of the United States can advance his goals through social media….why can’t you? If a single mother, working at a small private college can use social media to grow a business….why can’t YOU?
Well, I say you can. I challenge anyone who reads this post if you cannot think of a reason or a way to use social media to get smarter, to advance your goals or to improve your work, CHALLENGE me to help you! Post on the Aspire2Higher Facebook page the reasons why you CANNOT use social media in these ways or if you feel that you CANNOT use Facebook in your specific line of work, and I will personally respond with suggestions!
Now go forth and get smarter with social media!
