Raf Sanga dot com

It's been estimated that anywhere between 75 and 90 percent of our daily behavior is habitual. In other words, most of what we do is not because it is the most efficient, most successful or most productive, but simply because we've always done it that way. We are, as they say, creatures of habit. While this is usually offered as a reason for being stuck, unhappy or unhealthy, I see it as an opportunity.  If most of our daily routine is conducted unconsciously, all we have to do is change our habits and we can tap into these automatic behaviors. Said another way, if our life is already on autopilot, doesn't it make sense to spend some conscious effort planning the route? So, we just need to change our habits, but this is easier said than done, of course. They are called habits for a reason. One of the first things you learn as a therapist or executive coach is that you shouldn't try to eliminate a client's behavior, but instead you need to help him or her rep...

It’s dangerous to rely on your job description to tell you what to do, or to wait for your manager to fine-tune your job. It’s much safer, valuable, and satisfying to do it yourself. Here's how. Your job description gets stale the moment when it is first given to you. Then you need figure out how to evolve it. As we come up on the end of the year, it is a great time to evaluate your role, your company, and the market relative to your job description and your career. Don’t give this extra work of figuring out how your job needs to evolve to your boss or wait for direction. That is both a danger and a missed opportunity to stand out and contribute more value. Sort it out on your own and make a recommendation. I have collected some questions that will help you figure out how to evolve your job over time to make sure you are staying relevant and adding enough value to the business. 1. Who uses my work and what do they need most? Who are the consumers of each piece of work tha...

“ I get by with a little help from my friends .” Just as Ringo Starr sang in the famous Beatles song, I wouldn’t have anywhere near the level of success I’ve achieved in my career without my network of contacts and friends. A strong network is one of the most essential tools to make your business work, and below, I’ve compiled the five best ways I’ve made my network operate successfully. 1. Social media is your friend Social networks are a great way to sustain your already established network. Facebook, Twitter, and LinkedIn, for instance, are great venues for staying in touch with your networks. However, they’re not necessarily great venues for building your network—that’s why in-person meetings still exist. The key to maintaining a network via social media is to participate: people in your network are often curious about your activities, and by posting relevant information often, you can actively keep yourself present to your audience and network. However, don’t forget th...

Economic and technological changes are reshaping the nature of work. Having a great job does not guarantee your career success; your competence no longer depends on what you know; and being an affluent consumer matters less than becoming a sought-after product. Welcome to a new era of work, where your future depends on being a signal in the noisy universe of human capital. In order to achieve this, you will need to master three things: self-branding, entrepreneurship, and hyperconnectivity. Self-branding is about being a signal in the noise of human capital. The stronger your brand, the stronger that signal. In today's world, self-branding matters more than any other form of talent, not least because the mass market is unable (or unwilling) to distinguish between branding and talent. We are all individuals, but unless we are also a brand, our individuality will be invisible. Being a brand means showcasing that which makes you special, in a way that is distinctive (reco...

It's a new year, and here come the resolutions that lead to new gym memberships and eventually, abandoned treadmills. Office workers are especially prone to make these promises to get healthy, with their desk jobs often making them sedentary. I am one of those workers (though, without the resolution), and I wondered if I could use the burgeoning field of auto-analytics — collecting and analyzing data about myself — to make my life more active without having to join a gym. My foray into office fitness actually began years ago with a set of under-desk pedals. It was early into my first corporate job and I wasn't yet used to what I call "Spam Butt" — a dead, squishy feeling in the posterior that I associate with sitting for too long. The pedals cost me twenty-five cents at a yard sale. Not surprisingly, they squeaked and offered no resistance or feeling of exercise. They were good for a laugh (and how my colleagues did laugh), but if I wanted to be more active at work...