14 Essential Qualities of a Great Leader

A business leader may be defined by the work their company does or the goals it accomplishes, but their individual status as a great leader comes down to the characteristics they possess that set them apart from others.

Leading a successful organization requires that leaders are able to effectively handle any circumstances the business may encounter, but this isn’t the only quality that matters. Below, 14 members of Newsweek Expert Forum each share one characteristic that is critical in a great leader and how that trait influences their ability to effectively lead.

Grit

When a leader exhibits grit, you witness a person who is driven by passion and perseverance. These leaders tend to set goals and follow through. These behaviors set great examples for those around them and naturally leads to a significant level of respect for the leader. When you are respected, your exemplary behavior will encourage your team to trust you as a leader. – Cynthia Salarizadeh, House of Saka, Inc.

Great leaders know how to create safe spaces where their team members can share ideas and honest feedback. Collaborative environments are breeding grounds for productivity in the workplace. When team members feel heard and valued, they become vested. This can have a positive impact on the bottom line in so many ways. – Monique Caradine-Kitchens, OverFlow Enterprises LLC

What is leadership?

Though some people think leadership is about ordering people around, it’s really about being a source of empowerment for others so they can achieve success for themselves and for the organization. It’s also about being able to make decisions in favor of the bigger picture or the organization’s goals, rather than for your own gain.

Anyone can call themselves a leader. But to make an impact on your organization or your team, you need to learn a few essential leadership qualities. If you can start living out these characteristics, you’ll see your career grow and your team thrive.

1. Drive

2. Resilience

It’s okay to feel frustrated sometimes, but good leaders work on their mental fitness continuously and push forward despite the hardship. In fact, they often take pleasure in overcoming obstacles through creative problem-solving.

3. Integrity

“The supreme quality for leadership is unquestionably integrity. Without it, no real success is possible, whether it is on a section gang, a football field, in an army, or in an office.” — Dwight D. Eisenhower

4. A desire to learn

5. Self-awareness

One of the most important leadership qualities is humility . Good leaders understand their strengths and work to improve their weaknesses. Self-awareness can also help a leader develop a leadership style that fits their personality.

6. Confidence

Leaders have to make big decisions, and these decisions often come with big risks. It can scary being a leader because when you’re the one taking the risk, you’ll also probably shoulder the blame if things go wrong. But that’s just part of the gig.

Moreover, there are always people who disagree with the leader’s decisions. While it’s important to listen to other viewpoints, a leader can’t back down in the face of criticism or conflict. They need to have the self-confidence to brush off the people who doubt them and trust their intuition when they know they’re making the right choice.

7. Positivity

8. Realism

9. Creativity

Creativity is about seeking the best solution, even when it’s not the typical one, and thinking on your feet when situations change. Plus, a creative leader doesn’t try to be the lone genius. Instead, they tap into the innovative potential of their people.

When an idea or plan isn’t working out, creative leaders also look for new ways to use resources and bring their teams together to develop innovative new perspectives and approaches to the problems they’re trying to solve.

10. Communication skills

Great leadership is all about communication . If you don’t have good communication skills, none of the other leadership qualities or characteristics on this list mean anything. You won’t be able to get through to the people you’re supposed to lead, and that will have detrimental effects on your team and your organization.

Clarity is especially important. According to the Predictive Index People Management Study, out of managers rated “bad” by their employees, 58% don’t communicate clear expectations. This can be immensely frustrating and disheartening for the whole team.

11. Listening skills

This can be a hard quality for leaders to develop because it’s sometimes at odds with other good leadership qualities. Strong leaders are confident and full of exciting ideas, which makes many of them prone to dominating the conversation.

12. Empathy

13. Decision-making

14. Strategic mindset

Leaders may be involved in tactics and operations to varying degrees. But they also need to know when to focus on strategy and entrust the small details to another member of the team.

15. An eye for talent

Part of leadership is choosing the right people for the job and then helping those people develop their own skills. A great leader can recognize and foster leadership traits even in the most junior members of the team.

Watch out for these negative leadership qualities

Sometimes the qualities of an excellent leader and a terrible one are surprisingly similar. If you want to evolve into a better leader yourself or help develop one on your team, you’ll need to pay close attention to certain traits.

Let’s say someone appears to have many essential leadership qualities. They’re confident, great at delegating, and wonderful at execution. But if you take a closer look, you might see that this person intimidates their direct reports into doing their work for them, and then takes all the credit. This individual is clearly not fit for leadership — at least not until they learn to overcome these negative behaviors.

But what about within yourself? Maybe you think you’re ready for a promotion, yet your colleagues keep getting opportunities that aren’t offered to you. That could mean it’s time for some self-reflection. You may unknowingly have some bad habits that are preventing you from stepping into your full potential.

The good news is that we’re here to help with a list of negative leadership characteristics to watch out for. If you see one of these dispositions or qualities in yourself or your employees, it may be time for some self-development and inner work.

• Lack of vision: Inadequate leaders can do a lot of the same things good leaders do. But the leader’s decisions need to have a purpose, such as driving the team closer to the business’s strategic goals. If there doesn’t seem to be a clear, easy-to-communicate vision behind what employees are asked to do, they’ll quickly lose trust in their boss.

• Inability to produce results: It’s simple. No leader succeeds at everything all the time, but the excellent ones will have something to show for their efforts.

• Uninspiring: If an individual can’t uplift, motivate, or inspire others, they’ll need to learn how before they can be a good leader. That’s because leadership isn’t something you do by yourself — it’s about the people you lead.

• Overconfidence: A good leader is dauntless — they can confidently take on challenges. But poor leaders can have a lot of confidence and take risks, too. If they’re cocky, presumptuous, or arrogant, they have a lot to learn before becoming a leader.
• Apathy: Too many people come to their jobs without feeling a sense of investment or ownership in their work. This can cause them to produce sloppy work and even have negative relationships with coworkers. This trait will be a major obstacle to anyone who wants to be a great leader.

Putting It All Together: The Characteristics of a Good Leader

While successful leaders may exhibit these 10 leadership qualities to varying degrees, all good leaders leverage at least some of these characteristics. Together, they make up the backbone of strong leadership across organizations, industries, and continents. Without these qualities, true leadership is impossible.

If you fear that you lack some of these characteristics of a good leader, don’t panic — there are ways for you to improve on your leadership capabilities, including all 10 of these core traits. At CCL, we believe that leadership is a skill that can be developed and that leaders are molded through experience, continued study, and adaptation.

In other words, you can strengthen any of these 10 characteristics of a good leader if you’re open to growth and you put in the time and effort towards self-improvement. Similarly, organizations can help their people hone these leadership qualities through development and real-world experiences.

It’s also essential to realize that leadership is a social process. It’s less about a strong or charismatic individual, and more about a group of people working collectively to achieve results together. If you demonstrate several of the characteristics of a good leader but fail to grasp this, chances are you won’t get very far on your own. You may be well-liked and respected, but it will be challenging to accomplish team or organizational goals.

Also, leadership isn’t a destination — it’s something that you’ll have to work at regularly throughout your career, regardless of what level you reach in your organization.

That’s why at CCL, we say that leadership is a journey — different teams, projects, situations, and organizations will require you to apply these leadership characteristics in different ways throughout your career.

Sources:

https://www.newsweek.com/14-essential-qualities-great-leader-1718633
https://www.betterup.com/blog/leadership-characteristics
https://www.ccl.org/articles/leading-effectively-articles/characteristics-good-leader/

How to write a follow up email

You’ve met with your prospect, chatted with them over the phone, or exchanged information over email — now, it’s time to send your follow-up email. Before you begin crafting your email, you must identify and clarify the end goal, or objective, of your message.

This way, you can incorporate a strong call-to-action (CTA) that makes your recipient want to get back to you so you can achieve your end goal (whether that’s a conversion, sale, building a stronger relationship with your recipient, etc.).

Information Needed

You might ask for your recipient to clarify a piece of information about their business and/ or pain points, get a status update on a deal you’re working with them on, or determine whether or not you made a sale. By clearly stating your need for the specific information you’re looking to obtain, you’ll provide them with clear directions on how they can respond to you in an efficient manner for both parties.

Meeting Request

Whether it’s to pick their brain, pitch a product or idea, ask for assistance, or receive feedback, there’s a chance you’re writing your follow-up email to request another meeting or conversation. In your email, you should provide detail about what you’re looking to discuss in the meeting, and why the discussion will be of value for your recipient (know how you can help your recipient).

Catch Up

If you haven’t spoken to a connection in a while, hear big news about them or their company, or learn they’ve achieved a major accomplishment, you’ll probably want to catch up with them and get the details directly from them about what happened. After all, these situations might change their need for assistance from you and your business.

For example, maybe their business has recently expanded and they’re finally in a place where they can afford your support or need your services now more than ever. That’s why catching up through a follow-up email can be so useful. Be sure to state what it is you’re hoping to catch up on specifically in your email to avoid a vague, or even lazy, sounding message — show your recipients how much you care about whatever it is you want to review with them.

Thank You

Saying “thank you” goes a long way. Although this type of follow-up doesn’t always warrant an immediate response, it leaves your recipients with a positive feeling about you and your brand. Showing gratitude is professional and it’s something people remember down the road — they might need to do business with you again in the future or refer you to a friend, colleague, or someone else in the industry.

As you can see, once you’ve determined the objective of your follow-up email, you can begin writing your note with a clear purpose. This way you can incorporate your CTA in a way that’s obvious and easy for your recipients to understand and act on. This includes responding with the information you’ve requested, scheduling a meeting time with you, catching up on what’s happened in their life — whether it’s businesses or personal — since you last spoke, or simply reading and acknowledging your thank you note.

By identifying and stating your objective in your follow-up email, you’ll be able to provide your recipients with a professional-sounding message and CTA that gives them some type immediate value (depending on your specific objective) and a way to act on it.

Let’s take a look at a follow-up email template with a clear objective so you can get a better idea of how to state your purpose and include a CTA for your recipients. This specific template falls under the “meeting request” category, but feel free to tailor this template to your specific goal and recipient.

If you would like to learn how other companies are dealing with challenges like yours, I would be happy to schedule a call. We could also talk a bit more about your challenges and determine whether or not I might be able to offer some help.

Mistakes made in polite follow-up emails and what to do instead

There are three common mistakes often made when writing polite follow-up emails. Let’s talk about each of these mistakes so you can avoid them when writing a polite follow-up email and what to do instead.

Mistake #1:
Using “follow-up” in the email subject line

When writing a polite follow-up email, most people tend to naturally use “follow-up” in the subject line. While this email is a follow-up, that subject line doesn’t add any value and will likely be ignored. It can also cause the reader to feel like you’re pointing blame because you didn’t answer, which doesn’t make the reader feel very good or interested in reading your email.

Instead, write a subject line that’s relevant to the topic or purpose of the email. To do this, ask yourself what the email is about or what you want them to do. Continue reading for polite follow-up email subject line examples.

Mistake #2:
Starting with “just following up” and not adding value

Another common mistake made when writing a polite follow-up email is starting with “just following up” and sending an email that doesn’t add any value. People are busy and don’t have time to read an email that they have to decipher the meaning of or what action is required.

Instead, when writing your polite follow-up email, focus on adding value. For example, give them options, share how you can help them solve their problem or what you can do for them, or add more details or context.

Mistake #3:
Not including a call to action

Instead, when writing a polite follow-up email, be clear about what you want the person to do after reading your email. Do you want them to reply? Call you back? Fill out a form? Be clear and specific so they know what you want them to do. You can do this while still being polite. Keep reading to see the polite follow-up email samples and learn how to incorporate this into your follow-up emails.

Mistake #4:
Not following up quickly

Instead of waiting 10+ days to follow up, consider sending a reminder sooner like 3 days. This ensures the recipient still has the topic and request fresh in their mind. If you wait too long, there is a chance they’ve already forgotten about your call to action and the steps you asked them to take. As an example, if you were a real estate agent, you know time is crucial! So it’s best to only wait a couple of days and send a polite and gentle reminder to either respond with a timeline or an assurance that the task was completed.

8 Polite follow-up email samples

Scenario 1:
Following up after meeting at a networking event

It was great meeting you at [name of event]! It was really interesting hearing about [something they mentioned they’re struggling with.]. I’d love to help you [problem you can solve] so you can [benefit they want to achieve].

Tip: Include an intro that triggers their memory. Include how you can add value by offering something that they want/need or solving a problem they have. Then finish with a call to action letting them know what you want them to do.

Scenario 2:
Following up after being introduced (ex. referral)

[Name of referrer] mentioned you’re looking for [a problem you can solve or service you can offer]. I’d love to chat about [problem they’re looking to solve] and how I can help you [benefit they want to get].

Tip: When following up in this scenario, be sure to let them know who referred you to them and what you can do for them. Focus on the value you can add and adding credibility such as your social media accounts or website portfolio. Be sure to finish by including a call to action for next steps.

Scenario 3:
Following up after a meeting or call to move to next steps in doing business together

It was great meeting you the other day and chatting about [something they mentioned they care about]. I’d love to get started on working on [project or deal you’re working towards] so you can [benefit they want].

Tip: Include something personal and give them context about who you are. People are often so busy that just seeing your name in their inbox may not be enough to remind them of who you are. Focus on adding value by reiterating a problem you can solve for them or benefit/goal you can help them achieve. Finish with a call to action telling them what you need them to do and why it’s important.

Scenario 4:
Following up after sending something that requires action and waiting to hear back

Tip: Keep the follow-up email brief. Ask if they’ve looked over the thing you sent them and if they have any questions to confirm they’ve received it and understand what’s needed. Finish by including a call to action about what you want them to do.

Scenario 5:
Following up after sending an invoice and haven’t received payment

Tip: Be brief but direct. Ask a question instead of pointing out the obvious that you haven’t received payment, for example asking to confirm they’ve received it and whether or not they have questions about it. Finish with a call to action telling them what you want them to do.

Scenario 6:
Following up after sending an estimate/quote

Have you had a chance to look over the quote I sent you [date you send the quote] for [project you’re working on]? Would love to get started on [project or service you’re providing] so you can [benefit they want].

Tip: Be brief and ask a question instead of saying you’re just following up on the invoice. Remind them of the value you can add or problem you can solve to emphasize what’s in it for them. Finish with a call to action by being clear on what they should do next.

Scenario 7:
Following up after asking someone to do something and no response

Have you had a chance to [work you’ve asked them to do]? Once I get [work you’ve asked them to do] then I can [next steps and benefit that they care about].

Tip: Be brief. Be polite by asking if they’ve looked it over rather than accuse or point out that you haven’t received it yet. Add value by giving them context for the urgency if needed or urgency about the next steps. Finish with a call to action so they know what you want them to do and why it’s important.

Scenario 8:
Following up after no response from the last email

Tip: When you’ve followed up and had no previous response, be brief and ask them why, while making it easy for them to answer by giving them options. Finish with a call to action letting them know what you want them to do.

Summary

Hopefully, you find these polite follow-up email samples helpful when writing your own follow-up emails. The main things to keep in mind when writing a polite follow-up email is to be brief, focus on adding value, and include a call to action. If you follow these tips you can avoid wasted time sending follow-ups that don’t get responses and start getting answers!

Last Thoughts on Follow-Up Emails

There are various scenarios in which you could use email marketing without a follow-up strategy and still get replies. You could, but why would you? The follow-up is a huge part of what makes email the king of customer acquisition and retention. Following the steps above can help give you the best shot at getting prospect replies.

How many follow-up emails should I send?

There is no magic number of follow-ups that will get your foot in the door with a prospect. However, it’s generally considered that more than five follow-ups is the bare minimum you should do, and up to around 10-12 in total.

How long should I wait to send a follow up email?

The problem with follow-ups is that you don’t want to follow up too soon, nor do you want to follow up too late. Sales professionals differ in terms of their ideal duration number, ranging anywhere from three days to a week or two. An effective strategy should center around your specific sales cycle – starting with a couple days between touchpoints before extending to longer durations (1-2 weeks) in the subsequent follow-ups.

Can I automate my follow-ups?

Where can I find examples of follow-up emails?

Source:

https://www.hubspot.com/sales/follow-up-email
https://marketcircle.blog/8-polite-follow-up-email-samples/
https://mailshake.com/blog/follow-up-email-strategy/

How to write a good email

Even though there are a multiple communication modes, email is still considered the most reliable and formal mode of communication. Unlike social media platforms or chat applications, email is universal. This makes email one of the most preferred communication tools, for work. With more and more organizations adapting to hybrid mode, where some employees work from distributed remote offices and some of the employees work from their homes, email conversations have increased manyfold. While chat, comments in team collaboration software can be to the point and a bit informal, business email is still considered formal and elaborate. It is one of the most important asynchronous modes of communication. The recipients can receive the email, read it, understand it and then respond to the email.

​
A well-drafted email with a neat structure provides the reader an understanding of what you are trying to convey and the details that they need to respond with. While writing an email is an art, it can be perfected with practice. Some of the best practices in drafting a perfect email – the one that the recipient doesn’t miss among the heap – are listed below:

You Might Also Like

How to Write a Knowledge Sharing Email

Improving your email writing skills in English

The best way to learn how to write English language emails is to read (and write) as many emails as possible. Check out samples online, sign-up to mailing lists, or read back through your inbox to identify English email examples you like.

To improve your email writing skills in English, one great approach is to keep a list of phrases you like and want to use. Over time, you’ll find this helps you understand the building blocks of perfect English emails and improves your vocabulary as well as grammar skills.You can also build a bank of email templates that you can use to save time when writing emails in English language. This resource can help you identify successful (and unsuccessful) emails, helping you develop your own style of writing formal email English.

Lastly, we must tooth our own horn. Flowrite’s blog features dozens and dozens of articles on how to write formal and professional emails in English. They cover all the aspects of daily communication needed in various jobs and can help you become more productive at work and your personal life.

However, that not all. Our AI writing assistant can help you to communicate with confidence by turning short instruction into ready-to-send emails in perfect English. If you don’t believe us, check out the example of Flowrite in action below. As you can see it can be as easy as click of a button.

We hope that this blog post has helped you to learn how to write emails in English. If you found it helpful, we suggest that you bookmark this page to refresh your memory in case you ever have doubts about grammar, etiquette, phrases or format of email English. To relief yourself from any doubts make sure to try Flowrite and start to supercharge your daily communications.

Source:

https://www.zoho.com/mail/how-to/write-an-email.html
https://www.wikihow.com/Write-an-Email
https://www.flowrite.com/blog/email-english

How to complete a job application

Submitting a job application is often the first contact you have with a potential employer, so you better make a good impression. Knowing what to write and what the hiring manager is looking for will help you to submit an application that gets you an interview. There are several important steps that you should follow when completing your job application. You should:

Reading the job application may seem like an obvious step but people frequently skip it. Even if you scanned the job description before you decided to apply, it is still a good idea to go back and read it a couple of more times to make sure you did not miss any details. Employers typically receive hundreds of applications for a position. One of the most common methods they will use to narrow the applicant pool is to eliminate anyone who they think did not read the job description or requirements.

Many employers also use something known as an applicant tracking system (ATS). This is an automated system that can be fine-tuned to reject applications that are missing information or do not have the right keywords. Even though you may not be able to completely predict what the ATS is looking for, you can still advance your application in the system by making sure to include the correct information.

Follow the instructions

Sometimes a field calls for a full paragraph, a couple of sentences or just a “yes” or “no.” There are also fields that require you to spend some time answering in-depth questions. Regardless of what the specific questions require, make sure you are answering them correctly. Read the question a couple of times to make sure you understand and take some time to formulate a thorough answer.

There are employers who ask a variety of types of questions, including character, behavioral and hypothetical. If you want to increase your chances of success, you need to respond to these questions effectively and accurately. Not all applications will include long answer questions, but it never hurts to adhere closely to the instructions. Taking care while filling out the information demonstrates to an employer that you are a worthy candidate and invested in the hiring process.

By Type (2)

Part I. Personal Information

(1) Applicant Name. The Job Applicant, who will submit this application, will need to be identified at the beginning of this process. His or her name is expected in the standard presentation of “First,” “Middle,” and “Last” where requested.

(3) Address. The Job Applicant’s residential address must be distributed to the next area. Two lines are provided for this purpose. It is inadvisable to use a P.O. Box address unless absolutely necessary. Most if not all Employers will need the home address of each potential Employee to support a background check.

(5) Telephone Number. Many potential Employers will contact the Applicant by telephone for important matters, questions, or decisions. The Job Applicant’s cell phone and/or home phone number(s) should be displayed with his or her other contact information.

(6) Social Security Number. A generally accepted and extremely reliable means of verifying one’s identity is his or her social security number. Therefore, a specific area has been reserved for the Job Applicant’s social security number to be displayed.

(8) Desired Pay. The pay rate that is expected by the Job Applicant can be defined as a dollar amount paid by the hour or a set yearly salary. The production of this information should be made as a dollar amount followed by either the “Hour” or “Salary” checkbox selected.

(10) Employment Status Sought. It should be indicated whether the Job Applicant seeks “Full-Time,” “Part-Time,” or “Seasonal” employment. If the Job Applicant is flexible, then any combination of these checkboxes can be selected so long as it matches the Job Applicant’s intention.

Part II – Employment Eligibility

(11) Legal Eligibility To Work. The ability to legally work in the United States should be one of the Job Applicant’s qualities. If so, the “Yes” box should be marked or selected. Otherwise, if the Job Applicant is unable to legally work in the United States (i.e. he or she may require Sponsorship), the “No” box should be selected.

(12) Previous History With Employer. The “Yes” box should be selected if the Job Applicant has worked for the Employer accepting this application. If not, then the “No” box should be marked. Bear in mind that if the Job Applicant has worked for this Employer before then a production of the first calendar date and the last calendar date of his or her term of employment with this Employer must be included in this section.

(13) Criminal Status. The criminal history of the Job Applicant will need to be established. If he or she has never been convicted of a (felony) crime then the “No” box must be chosen. If not, then the “Yes” box should be checkmarked or selected and a discussion of the nature of the conviction on the circumstances that led to the conviction as well as its result will need to be documented.

Part III – Education

(14) High School. A brief history of the Job Applicant’s academic history is required for this application. Thus, the name of the high school that he or she attended should be supplied along with the city and state where it is located.

(16) Completion Status. The “Yes” box should be marked if the Job Applicant graduated from high school and the degree he or she earned should be dispensed. If the Job Applicant did not graduate high school then the “No” box should be marked.

(19) Degree Status. If the Job Applicant is a College graduate, then the box labeled “Yes” must be selected and the degree he or she earned should be selected. Otherwise, if he or she did not earn a degree, then the “No” box must be marked.

(20) Other Educational Facilities Or Courses. A record of any other type of education attained by the Job Applicant should be included. For instance, if the Job Applicant attended a trade school, the name of the school along with the city, state, the dates attended, and the degree or certification obtained by the Job Applicant should be dispensed for review.

How to format an application letter

1. Use a professional format

A job application letter should be more professional than a thank-you card or an email to a coworker or friend. The alignment of the document should include single spacing, one-inch margins and left alignment. It’s best to use a professional and traditional font, such as Times New Roman, in a size from 10 to 12 points. Try to keep your job application letter to one page. When a hiring manager reviews your job application letter, they will get their first impression of you as a potential employee, so take time to format it professionally and keep it concise.

2. Create the heading

Use a formal business heading for your job application letter. The heading should include your name and contact information, the date and the company name and address. If you send your job application letter via email, you can eliminate your name and contact information from the header and put it at the bottom of the email after the signature instead.

3. Address the letter to the hiring manager

In your research, try to find the name of the person reviewing applications for the job. Address your letter to this person with a common business greeting, such as “Dear Mr./Ms.” and their last name. If you’re unable to find their preferred gender pronouns (she/her, them/they) of the individual reviewing your application, you can use “Dear [first and last name]” or “Dear Hiring Manager.”

Resources:

https://www.indeed.com/career-advice/finding-a-job/completing-job-application-to-get-an-interview
https://eforms.com/employee/application/
https://www.indeed.com/career-advice/finding-a-job/how-to-write-an-application-letter-for-a-job
https://www.successcds.net/learn-english/writing-skills/job-application-bio-data.html

CogniFit – Planning

Confirm that the use of assessments and training is for yourself You are going to create a personal account. This type of account is specially designed to help you evaluate and train your cognitive skills

Please confirm that the use of cognitive training and assessment is for your patients. You are going to create a patient management account. This account is designed to give your patients access to CogniFit evaluations and training

Confirm that you want to offer training and/or cognitive assessments to your family or friends. You are going to create a family account. This account is designed to give your family members access to CogniFit evaluations and training.

Please confirm that the use of cognitive training and assessment is for research study participants. You are going to create a research account. This account is specially designed to help researchers with their studies in the cognitive areas.

Please confirm that the use of cognitive training and assessment is for your students. You are going to create a student management account. This account is designed to give your students access to CogniFit evaluations and training.

You and Your Team Series

Resilience Is About How You Recharge, Not How You Endure

How to Evaluate, Manage, and Strengthen Your Resilience

You’re More Resilient Than You Give Yourself Credit For

Just as we tend to recognize that skills like creativity, analysis, or writing can come much easier to some than to others, ease with planning is something that we’re either born with or we’re not. But it doesn’t mean that we can’t develop those skills by actively building neuro-connections in our brain through persistent practice.

As a time management coach, I’ve intuitively picked up on the importance of this truth. I’ve seen clients who have never been able to plan effectively in their entire lives develop this skill simply by looking for help, keeping at it, and pushing through the struggle — essentially, building resilience.

Recognize your natural strengths and weaknesses. If you find planning extremely difficult, you likely don’t have natural brain dominance in the back-left part of your brain. To find out what part of your brain dominates, do the self-assessment in the book Thriving in Mind or participate in the more formal Benziger Thinking Styles Assessment. Learning this can help you better understand what works for you and then use that to adjust your habits. By taking the Thriving in Mind self-assessment, for example, I gained clarity on why certain types of work came so naturally to me and why I found myself avoiding other types of tasks.

Accept the difficulty. If we think something should be easy when it’s hard, we tend to get upset and are more likely to give up. But if we set expectations that a task will be difficult, we may still flounder, but we’re more willing to work through any issues, since we understand that challenge is part of the process. When my coaching clients first start planning, they describe it as frustrating, disorienting, tiring, or even anger-inducing because they don’t want to accept the limits of reality in terms of how many activities can fit in a day. The clients who accept and work through those feelings are the ones who make the most progress. They find that on the other side, they have more peace, more confidence, and more clarity on how to structure their time well.

Let go of all-or-nothing thinking. One interesting phenomenon I’ve observed with people whose natural brain strength is not in planning is that they tend to fall into all-or-nothing thinking. They think that they must follow their plan perfectly, or their efforts have been wasted. Or if they can’t plan every day, they shouldn’t plan at all. Instead, view learning as a process where improvement counts and every day matters. This will build your resilience because you won’t beat yourself up as much when you deviate from your plan, and in turn, you will find it easier to get back on track.

Find systems that work. Instead of forcing yourself into an established scheduling process, find a system that works for you. For example, if you tend to have a strong tendency toward visuals (a common front-right brain dominance quality), find a way to organize that takes that preference into account. Put to-do items on sticky notes, draw on whiteboards, or use mind maps. If you love spreadsheets (often found when you have a strong front-left brain dominance), put your to-do lists and plans in Excel, or consider using apps that will allow you to track your progress in a numeric fashion. If you like to see time as a flow and rhythm (a favorite of back-right dominance), use tools like paper lists that will allow you to adapt and adjust the cadence of your day as needed, instead of feeling boxed into rigid time frames. There is no wrong way to plan. Experiment until you find the right fit.

Borrow other people’s brains. If you know people who excel in planning or have organization skills, ask for their advice and insight. They may be able to easily offer potential solutions to problems that overwhelm you. Getting suggestions from others on organization systems that you can then test, instead of trying to develop your own, can save you lots of time. A few caveats: Avoid critical people who may discourage you in your learning process. Change is tough enough without being torn down. Second, ask them for simple solutions. Don’t aim for expertise in an area when you’re just learning; a basic level of knowledge is a good start.

Keep trying. One of the definitions of resilience is “the ability to spring back into shape.” When you find yourself getting frustrated in the process of planning, have self-compassion when you make mistakes, refocus when you get distracted, and adjust your plan when new issues crop up. For example, you may decide to move a project you thought you would get done today to the next day. Or you may reach out to a colleague for help on getting a certain deliverable done.

Resource:

https://www.cognifit.com/science/cognitive-skills/planning
https://hbr.org/2017/07/a-way-to-plan-if-youre-bad-at-planning
https://online.hbs.edu/blog/post/how-to-develop-strategic-thinking-skills

Comforting stressed students bigger challenge for teachers than teaching

What is going on so wrong in our society that our kids are under the constant pressure of something or the other? We’ve seen frazzled kids, especially kids nearing breakdown on things like school performance, scholarships etc. This has become a major challenge for teachers to comfort these teens before they think of anything dangerous about their health and the worst- suicide. We’ve seen students who won’t come to class since they would prefer not to exacerbate their mental condition. We’ve heard individuals from a student board audaciously clarify that they felt troubled by their remaining tasks at hand and basically needed “the focus.” It’s really gotten regular for student breakdowns to occur and for guardians to demand their child’s forthcoming assignments ahead of time, realizing they’ll be out of school.

Situations like these are making us re-think about ourselves as parents, teachers and guardians and ask ourselves whether students are actually excessively pushed—or simply deficient with regards to time management. Research on stress among students have shown unbelievable figures. As indicated by a 2019 Pew Research Poll, 70 percent of over-viewed youngsters concur that pressure is a significant issue. Crisis room visits for self-delivered, nonfatal wounds among kids and grown-ups expanded by 5.7 percent from 2008 to 2015, while the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) found that somewhere in the range of 2007 and 2017, additional youngsters were genuinely considering suicide or harming themselves in suicide endeavors than in past decades, as per the research.

Financial Burden

Let’s face it, college isn’t exactly cheap. Year after year, it is getting more expensive. If you add up the cost of tuition, books, room and board, it can be staggering. Unless you’ve received a full-ride scholarship, college can be a financial burden. It is not uncommon for students to take part time jobs to augment their college expenses. Evaluate college costs on an annual basis about how you can reduce college costs.

Do not fret as there are solutions to every hurdle. Be easy on yourself, with the right frame of mind and a positive outlook, which are very important things in surviving college, you will find that any of the stressors mentioned can be managed. Do not take things on alone. Consult your support system including resident counselors, professors, academic advisors, family and friends. How you manage stress determines how much stress you have.

Bio: Marquis is as free as the statue of liberty. She is now a part-time writer who loves to write an article based on surviving college and a professional blogger whose work revolves around blogging, managing websites, web content, social media.

The major effects of stress on college Students

Naturally, a little amount of stress is good for students, as it’s necessary for being self-motivated. But it becomes dangerous when there is too much stress. If any student is in too much Depression or a stressful situation then the stress negatively affects the student mentally. In this situation, their thoughts and presence of mind may become confused and jumbled. Their thinking and ideas become focussed on tension or worrying about things. In these conditions, it becomes harder or impossible for them to make the right decision.

Emotionally

The too much stress of college life can also negatively affect a student emotionally also. Most students seem in depression at the time of their higher studies the main reason behind it the stress of college life. We can see many negative effects of the stress in many students. The common emotional effects are frustration, panic, hopelessness, anger, emotional withdrawal, despondency, impatience, depression, unhappiness, and irritability.

Physically

How can college students combat stress?

• The first wealth is your health, if you want to combat stress then you should have to maintain a healthy diet for your daily routine.

• If you want to combat your academic stress then you should have to manage your time for doing all your daily homework, assignments and make sure to complete them before the deadlines.

• Much research has proved that exercise is very helpful for a human being to reduce their stress. So if you want to win the battle with stress then make sure to exercise daily.

• If you are doing a part-time job with your studies then you can handle the stress of a part-time job and studies easily. You just need to make a schedule for your study according to your job time duration.

We have mentioned all the major causes and effects of stress on college students. We also mentioned all the key points that one should follow to combat stress. So we hope that our blog becomes helpful for you to understand all the reasons behind the stress of college students, along with you also get a better understanding of the negative effects of too much stress on students’ life. But still, if you find any confusion regarding any of the academic problems then don’t feel any hesitation to contact us anytime at AustralianAssigment.com.

WE have a team of experts that is available for all types of academic assignment help at 24*7 hours. We are providing our services all around the world at an affordable price. Along with we are also providing our services to the students who are looking for Assignment Help Canberra and Assignment Help Brisbane.

Resource:

https://www.ecoleglobale.com/blog/causes-of-stress-in-students/
https://collegeparents.org/2021/12/08/5-main-causes-of-stress-for-college-students%EF%BB%BF/
https://australianassignment.com/blog/cause-and-effect-of-stress-on-college-students/
5 Main Causes of Stress For College Students

Here are five common causes of stress in college students:

Unhealthy Competition

Healthy competition is amazing, but what happens when we cross the line to unhealthy? When we obsess on getting a high GPA, this can cause additional stress. We all know student’s grades can impact their future. Failing grades can cause rejection for career and academic opportunities, revoked scholarships, or reversal of graduate school acceptance offers.

But too much emphasis on grades may result in those failing grades. Instead, encourage meetings early in each semester with professors and academic counselors to determine a course load that balances academic progress with a reasonable amount of time spent.

Parental Expectation and Style

Don’t choose your students majors or overly dictate their academic schedules. Considering your students’ interests and talents is vital. After all, you can’t tell an artist they’re an accountant. Living up to parental expectations may be more difficult than the classwork. Gradually, the mental stress of trying to live up to unrealistic expectations becomes mental stress leads to anxiety, depression and unfortunately, sometimes suicide. They can prove themselves in the major they choose by making smart decisions about career explorations with career counselors at their college.

Homesickness

Ask any students who go to college; did they expect to feel homesick? It’s more common than you think. Even the hardened students feel some form of sadness as they separate from their old lives. Fortunately, they can seek help from family, friends and mental health counselors on campus.

Social Anxiety

College life can be intimidating and anxiety-provoking at times especially during the students’ first year. Although some are naturally outgoing, most have to work harder to make connections. You will see students who tend to isolate themselves for fear of being rejected.

For students who want to make the first connection, try changing your unrealistic expectation to a realistic one. Turn your negative thoughts to a positive one. Join activities and organizations. Be aware of your body language. Good eye contact and a smile can do wonders. Try using open ended questions such as why, how, what, and when to get a conversation started. These are some important steps in surviving college.

Financial Burden

Let’s face it, college isn’t exactly cheap. Year after year, it is getting more expensive. If you add up the cost of tuition, books, room and board, it can be staggering. Unless you’ve received a full-ride scholarship, college can be a financial burden. It is not uncommon for students to take part time jobs to augment their college expenses. Evaluate college costs on an annual basis about how you can reduce college costs.

Clear the Hurdles

Do not fret as there are solutions to every hurdle. Be easy on yourself, with the right frame of mind and a positive outlook, which are very important things in surviving college, you will find that any of the stressors mentioned can be managed. Do not take things on alone. Consult your support system including resident counselors, professors, academic advisors, family and friends. How you manage stress determines how much stress you have.

Bio: Marquis is as free as the statue of liberty. She is now a part-time writer who loves to write an article based on surviving college and a professional blogger whose work revolves around blogging, managing websites, web content, social media.

How to Develop Good Spending Habits in College

Balancing fun and finances is never easy, especially in college. During these memorable years, students should balance their education and social lives.So, what exactly is the best way to ensure you’re setting yourself up for a healthy financial future during and after school? For the most success in developing great spending habits and making intelligent […]

The Case for The Public University – Honors College

For college bound families evaluating schools it is useful to consider the case for the public university Honors College that is asserted by The New York Times – Frank Bruni. Bruni is well known for his best selling book – Where You Go Is Not Who You’ll Be: An Antidote to the College Admissions Mania, 2015 […]

College Admission Rates – A New Discussion

Resource:

https://collegeparents.org/2021/12/08/5-main-causes-of-stress-for-college-students%EF%BB%BF/

Most students will be aware of video calling software such as Skype and FaceTime by now, and this technology is becoming even more easy-access as computer companies integrate quality cameras into their products and internet connection speeds get faster. As the overall technology improves, so too do the versions available on smaller devices. Using FaceTime on an iPhone has become as easy as making a call, while Skyping on a tablet makes it brilliantly possible to cook dinner/browse the web/compose a text while talking to your parents back home. Other video call apps include imo and Tango.

Lecture capture apps

Just a few years ago, students attending lectures would have to spend the entire time scribbling wildly on notepads, in order not to miss any vital bit of information. Then along came technology, and now, lecture capture apps are a reality. Although the recording of lectures has been common practice within universities for a while, lecture capture apps allow you to record and listen back to classes without having to spend extra money on expensive recording equipment.

SoundNote (iOS) is a popular lecture capture app for iPad users, acting as a notepad and audio recorder, so you can store an entire lecture in both visual and audio form. If it’s a whiteboard you want to capture, however, Office Lens allows users to photograph a whiteboard, convert it to a PDF, Word or PowerPoint file and store all the data via OneNote or OneDrive for catch-up and revision purposes.

Office Lens

Depending on what you’re studying at uni, you might find yourself faced with a real humdinger of a diagram from time to time. But what’s the best course of action? Frantically scribble it down, or drop your pen and let the lecturer explain it?

Thanks to Office Lens, you no longer have to choose. All you have to do is hold your camera up to the board and take a picture, and the app will crop out everything around it (including any pesky backs-of-heads).

What we like most about Office Lens: If you take a picture of something at an angle, the app will align and edit the image to appear as though it’s directly in front of you. If you’re okay with this kind of black magic, Office Lens is ideal for when you’ve been cast to the edge of the room.

Microsoft Office

Now, unless you’re a total hipster, you’ll almost certainly use Microsoft Office to get your work done. Chances are that you only really use the Three Amigos (PowerPoint, Excel and Word), but it’s comforting to know that you also have access to Outlook, OneNote and OneDrive if necessary.

The good news is that Microsoft has made apps for Office’s leading lights, and they’re available on all the major platforms. It’s great to be able to escape your work but, equally, it’s a massive pain when you’re out and about and suddenly realise there’s something huge that you should (or worse, shouldn’t) have included in your essay.

What we like most about Microsoft Office: Microsoft has finally caught up with Google and introduced a collaboration function, meaning anyone with access to a document can simultaneously edit it. Aside from the obvious prank potential, this is a great feature if you’re working on a group project.

The Bookworm

If you have a favorite study spot in your school’s library, keep a highlighter and flashcards handy, and enjoy reading the course literature before every lecture, you might be a studious Bookworm. As you’re clocking long hours in your study circle, it’s clear that you love learning, and your good grades show it! Study apps will make your life even easier by placing efficient study tools at your fingertips.

Quizlet flashcard app

No matter what subject you’re studying, flashcards are an effective way to help your brain remember connections. With the Quizlet flashcard app, you can create customizable flashcards – helping you remember the key pieces of information you need to ace your classes!

If you’re running out of study time, this student planner app has a flashcard library with millions of pre-created flashcards available for free! This app is especially helpful for international students looking to learn some of the local language in their study abroad country. Browse the library to find a deck of flashcards in your subject area and add them to your daily study routine!

Evernote

Tired of rifling through notebooks and folders for the right notes? Organize your coursework, track due dates, type notes, and save related handouts, websites, and whiteboard pictures- all in one place. Evernote also allows you to save webpages for markups, and can even be integrated with Google Drive and Outlook!

If you are always forgetting where you save things, you can search tags and text, even within uploaded photos of your handwritten class notes. You will never have to worry about losing connection, as this student planner app is usable even if you’re offline.

The Language Lover

There are many reasons to learn a new language. Maybe you want to travel, communicate with new friends, or would just like the pleasure of learning something new. Whatever your current level of fluency is, study apps made specifically for language learning online can help you make progress outside the classroom. If your goal is to order a coffee on your next trip overseas or if you’re nearly fluent and want someone to practice with, these apps will make it even easier!

Duolingo

It’s a fun and addictive game-based learning platform where you earn points for correct answers, race against the clock, and level up. Exercises are adapted to your vocabulary and learning style, and you’ll receive feedback immediately as well as tips for improvement. Duolingo forums also provide a great way to talk to others about specific linguistic questions or language learning in general!

This app is ideal for Language Lovers looking for a fun, fast way to boost their language skills. A study has shown that just 34 hours of Duolingo is equal to 1 university semester of language courses, making it one of the best apps for college students who want to learn languages!

HelloTalk

They say the best way to learn a language is by using it with native speakers, and this app delivers the ultimate language exchange! HelloTalk allows you to learn a language while exploring new cultures and making new friends around the world.

The app hosts a worldwide community of users dedicated to helping you practice more than 100 languages. Connect with native speakers who will teach you their language while you teach them yours! Chat via text, voice recordings, voice calls, video calls, and even doodles.

Sources:

https://www.topuniversities.com/blog/most-helpful-apps-students
https://www.savethestudent.org/bills-utilities/mobilephones/essential-apps-that-every-student-needs.html
https://www.educations.com/articles-and-advice/apps-for-every-kind-of-student-18489
Students apps

Built in with different features allowing you to see bundles of similar emails, check off or snooze your reminders from calendar, Inbox allows you to have things done instantly and also get back to old tasks at anytime.

10 Best Apps for Students in 2021

Whether you want help with finding the best note taking apps for students, keeping focus during study sessions, or even finding discounts to help keep you under budget each month, we’ve got a comprehensive list of apps for your smartphones, tablets and laptops, to help you navigate through your student years

Referencing can be a tedious process, especially if you lose track of what books and resources you’ve used along the way. Fortunately, RefME has developed a clever app that makes the process of finding and citing resources much more efficient, saving you time (and endless headaches).

For new students, the app has thousands of open educational resources which can be a great place to start your academic reading and prompt further research. This saves hours spent scrolling through Google, trying to find relevant papers for your studies.

But its main highlight is the ability to automate citations, reference lists, and bibliographies with ease – again giving you plenty of extra time to spend improving your work. How? Simply scan the barcodes of all the books and journals you’re using and RefME will automatically generate the citations within seconds.

Spotify

Spotify collects user, usage, and plan verification data. You can also choose to share voice data, payment and purchase data, and contests, surveys, and sweepstakes data with Spotify. Spotify also collects data from third party sources which include authentication partners, technical services partners, payment partners, and advertisers. Spotify uses user data to improve user experience and "for marketing, promotion, and advertising purposes." Spotify "may process certain personal data to help Spotify understand your interests or preferences so that we can deliver advertisements that are more relevant to you." You can read its full privacy policy here.

Tinder

College is a great time to meet new people and explore your sexuality, and Tinder is a great tool for meeting new people to do just that. You can also enroll in Tinder U with your college email, which prioritizes other students in your swiping.

Tinder collects your usage information, device information, and other information you share with your consent like geolocation. Tinder shares this information with other uses, service providers and partners, and other MatchGroup businesses. It may also ask for your consent to share your information with third parties like advertisers in a "non-human readable form." You can read Tinder’s full privacy policy here.

RealCalc Scientific Calculator

The name of this application itself perfectly describes its features and functions. If you are a math student, and you always need a calculator to solve equations quickly, you are welcome to download RealCalc Scientific Calculator. Now you will never be afraid of forgetting your calculator at home (well, you can still forget your phone, but anyway).

How often do you use copy and paste buttons while writing your essay for example? Some students simply add a couple of their own thoughts to that copied material, and here it is—a new essay! Sound familiar? Then JumpCut is your savior here: this application saves you a lot of time, giving you access to all texts that you have copied and pasted before, even if a new text has been copied by you again since then.

Chegg

When a new semester comes, and you have to buy many new textbooks to continue your study, do not be in a hurry to sell your soul and spend all your money. Download Chegg, a free application which lets you find rentals of textbooks you need! Just search for a book, and if they have it, put in an order. And when you no longer need a textbook, you can easily rent it again via Chegg. Easy to use and useful to try.

Being a college student in 2014 means having a large number of Google Docs (and big chances are, that this number will be much bigger than you could even imagine). It’s logical, that you will need access to all these documents from everywhere; so, the best decision here would be Google Drive application for your mobile device.

Sources:

https://oxfordsummercourses.com/articles/best-apps-for-students/
https://mashable.com/article/best-apps-for-college-students
https://www.lifehack.org/articles/technology/25-apps-college-students-shouldnt-live-without.html
Students apps

Did you know? Most smartphones have built-in tools for tracking screen time and setting limits. They might not be as fancy as Forest and Freedom, but they can get the job done in a pinch. Look for ‘Screen Time’ (iOS) or ‘Digital Wellbeing’ (Android) to explore your options.

How to Promote Apps for Students

If you’re considering creating and marketing an app, students are among the best audiences to target. Students are always looking for new apps to try out, whether they’re for helping them in their academic life or managing their personal life. While these audiences are worth connecting with through your app marketing, you need to take the right approach to both app creation and promotion to reach these users.

Students, particularly in today’s younger generations, continually look for the perfect app experience. Today, 79% of teens between the ages of 13 to 18 own a smartphone , and college students are even more likely to carry them, with 93% of individuals with a higher education owning smartphones as of 2021. If you want to establish a relationship with these audiences, you’ll find them to be a lucrative market for your app.

Steps for Promoting Apps to Students

The key to connecting with teenage and young adult students is to develop a marketing strategy that appeals specifically to them. Unlike audiences who aren’t attending school, students have unique needs that you must address in your campaigns. The following are some specific ways to promote your app to students and convert them into satisfied loyal users.

1. Create a Plan

Before you can begin marketing your app to students, you need to have a clear plan in place. Otherwise, you won’t be able to determine how successful you are in your efforts, and you may find that you’re wasting your budget on ineffective campaigns.

The first step to take here is to establish well-defined and realistic goals that you can achieve. Also, make sure you have the ability to reach these goals within a reasonable timeframe. You can do so by developing a detailed timeline that helps you track your progress and determine where you are compared to where you should be.

2. Encourage Word-of-Mouth Advertising Through Testing

Word-of-mouth advertising is one of the most effective ways to promote your app without direct involvement. This form of marketing can complement the rest of your campaigns as students recommend your app to others. The fact is that 92% of consumers still trust recommendations from friends and family over strangers and brands, and students are no exception.

You can drive word-of-mouth advertising by selecting a group of students to test your app and reward them for participating. You can then encourage them to share their experience with people they know and their social media connections, offering a reward in exchange for spreading the word about your app.

3. Connect with Influencers

As you approach your app’s public launch, try to reach out to relevant influencers and bloggers in your industry. The best time to connect with influencers to market your app to students is when you’ve prepared all of your marketing materials, before the official release.

Many influencers have large followings consisting of students, which is why you should take the time to perform some outreach to build relationships with these individuals. You don’t need to go after big influencers with millions of followers, either. Micro-influencers within narrower niches often have hundreds or thousands of loyal followers.

When getting influencers involved, you can offer them a free premium version of your app or a free product in exchange for videos and live streams discussing their experience. This is a great way to generate excitement and build trust among these influencers’ audiences.

4. Offer Incentives to Maximize Engagement

When students start using your app, give them in-app incentives to continue using them. These rewards could include points that contribute to savings, free in-app items, and others that drive engagement. This will help establish your app as part of students’ daily routines.

5. Get Creative With Social Media

Students and social media are as inseparable as ever, which is why you need to take advantage of these platforms when promoting an app for students. Although younger audiences still use Facebook, students are becoming increasingly loyal to Instagram, Snapchat, and TikTok , which offer a more visual experience.

Using social media, you can raise your brand’s awareness while nurturing relationships with prospective users. On platforms like TikTok and Instagram, you can share screenshots and videos of your app that entice students, while ads supplement them. You can also offer free trial periods, behind-the-scenes footage and details of your development teams, and other ways to engage with these audiences.

Three happy students dressed casual using tablet for school project and sitting at desk in library.

6. Gain a Deep Understanding of Your Audiences

While you may have an idea of what students want from your app, you should take steps to gain an even deeper understanding to ensure you connect with them. Keep in mind that the students of today are different from students even a few years ago, with rapid changes in technology and trends making it important for you to keep up with them.

It’s not enough to research audiences online—consider physically visiting campuses to speak with students in person and get their input. In addition, you could attend conferences in the education industry to help further promote your app.

7. Maintain Good Communication

You can communicate with audiences via social media platforms, requesting feedback from users while responding to comments or complaints. You should also make sure your communication is personal, with email content and other messaging that speaks directly to prospects and users.

Productivity apps for students

Alright, so you’ve got distractions out of the way and some background sounds on loop. Now let’s talk about some good apps for students that will help you get the most out of your study time. The next two study apps help you organise your schedule and stay on top of assignments so you can achieve more and cram less.

4. Todoist

Todoist can organise your school subjects, assignment deadlines, homework and… pretty much your whole life, if you want it to. This is one of the best apps for students because it keeps your schoolwork on track while also holding you accountable.

5. myHomework

This study app for high school students tracks all your classes, projects, assignments and tests, and it sends you reminders of due dates. The myHomework app also syncs across all your devices, so you can check your assignments and timetable from anywhere and anytime – at school on your laptop, at home on your tablet or on the bus on your phone.

Apps for sorting your study notes

Are you the type of student who needs their notes neatly alphabetised or colour-coded? Or do you thrive on the chaos of having your notes jumbled together? Either way, these study apps can store your notes safely online and organise them any way you like.

6. Evernote

Evernote gives you the freedom to take notes on the fly and edit them with rich formatting tools. This means your notes will look exactly how you like them when it’s time to revise them. And if you didn’t organise them, no problem. The powerful search tool will find what you need – even in handwritten notes and pictures. You can also add documents, images and audio recordings to your notes.

Not sure how to sort your notes? Evernote provides handy templates to get you started – check out ‘Class Notes’, ‘Cornell Notes’ and ‘Project Overview – School’. The app also lets you sync your notes across devices (two devices on the free plan, unlimited on premium).

Top tip: Evernote isn’t just a good app for studying. It’s also a great app for life during and after high school. If you find it helpful at school, it will continue to serve you well at uni and work.

7. LiquidText

Taking digital notes has never quite captured the flexibility and satisfaction of pen and paper… until now. LiquidText delivers the best of both worlds. This app works on an iPad, Mac or Windows computer, but it really hits its stride with a touchscreen and stylus. You can handwrite notes, connect items by drawing lines and use gestures to zoom from page to page.

From creating mind maps to highlighting class materials, LiquidText gives you versatility and feels great to use. This is what makes it one of the best apps for students who use an iPad and/or touchscreen laptop.

Sources:

https://appsamurai.com/how-to-promote-apps-for-students/
https://future-students.uq.edu.au/stories/best-apps-students
https://www.edutopia.org/article/apps-students-special-needs-school-buildings-shutter

Knowing and choosing the correct format for a given piece of writing—based on your goals and intended audience—will give you the appropriate amount and type of space to share what you need to, and it’ll set your reader expectations correctly as well. Going back to the earlier example, if your manager sees a Slack message, they’ll expect that to take at most a few minutes to read, but if you send them a long document, they’ll be prepared to receive a lot of information (and might hold off on reading until they have the time they need to digest it).

Find a Writing Partner

If you work at a reasonably sized company, the chances are pretty good that there is at least one other person who is also wondering how to become a better writer. Although writing is typically considered a solitary activity, the best writers know when it’s time to get much-needed feedback on their work.

Most people balk at the idea of standing in front of a room full of strangers and baring their soul to the world, but joining a writing workshop can be immensely beneficial – and a lot of fun (if you manage to find a good one).

You don’t need to have an unfinished novel hidden away in your desk drawer to join a workshop. These days, content marketing meet-ups and professional development groups are becoming wildly popular. Join one of the many content marketing groups on LinkedIn to meet like-minded writers, or search for writing workshops near you on sites like Meetup. Pick a topic, write something, listen to the feedback of the group, and then revise it. Rinse, repeat.

Grammar, Punctuation & Co.

Grammar Girl
Mignon Fogarty’s quick and dirty tips for better writing. Grammar Girl provides short, friendly tips to improve your writing. Covering the grammar rules and word choice guidelines that can confound even the best writers, Grammar Girl makes complex grammar questions simple with memory tricks to help you recall and apply those troublesome grammar rules.

Jack Lynch’s Guide to Grammar and Style
These notes are a miscellany of grammatical rules and explanations, comments on style, and suggestions on usage put by Jack Lynch, an Associate Professor in the English department of the Newark campus of Rutgers University, for his classes.

40+ Tips to Improve your Grammar and Punctuation
“Purdue University maintains an online writing lab and I spent some time digging through it. Originally the goal was to grab some good tips that would help me out at work and on this site, but there is simply too much not to share.”

Proofread

No matter what you’re writing, taking a last look to check for any typos or mistakes can save you a lot of headaches in the long run. Did you contradict yourself somewhere or leave the verb out of a sentence? Read anything you’ve written out loud if possible. Sometimes things look OK on a screen, but when you try to say them, you realize something’s not right. In a similar vein, you might also print out your writing and correct it on paper, Smith says. Often this is enough to see your writing in a different way, making it easier to spot errors. If the writing has higher stakes or the impression it makes on the reader matters a lot, try to get someone else to read it as well, Goodfellow says.

There are plenty of programs and plug-ins that claim to “fix” your writing, such as WritingProAid, Sapling, Grammarly, and even the spelling and grammar checkers built into word processors. These tools can make it easier to write well, Smith says. But they shouldn’t be your one source of truth. Computer programs tend to miss key context that human readers would understand. “Spell-check can help but there are many words that are ‘correct’ but may not be what you intended,” Goodfellow says.

None of these tools should stand in for a thorough proofread. As a professional editor, I use tools like this to call attention to possible errors, but I always look at their suggestions before accepting them and consider whether they’re actually correct or clear. I also look carefully for errors the tools didn’t catch at all. Computer programs can easily miss homophone mix-ups, tense switches between sentences, incorrect word choice, and other issues. And sometimes you may need to write in a style these tools aren’t programmed to support. For instance, if you’re writing about investing, they might mark stock tickers and common financial abbreviations as errors.

If you’re applying for a writing-heavy job, you may be asked to submit a writing sample along with your application or complete a skills test at some point during the interview process. But you can showcase your writing skills at other stages as well, no matter what kind of job you’re applying to.

In Your Cover Letter

When writing a cover letter (and you should write a cover letter), you’ll want to follow all the same advice as when you’re writing a resume. But cover letters give you more room to really show off your writing skills. Rather than rattling off lists of qualifications you have, use your cover letter to write succinct but persuasive anecdotes that come together to tell a coherent story about why you’re the right person for the job. Choose past experiences that are relevant to the job you want and support your overall narrative. And make sure your sentences and paragraphs flow in a logical way and it’s always clear why information is being included. You can also inject more voice and personality into a cover letter than you can in a resume to give the reader the sense of who you are as a person.

But you’ll still be communicating with your prospective employer via email throughout the process. “Taking the time to craft well-written email responses is a fabulous way to make a solid first impression,” Smith says. “Recruiters and hiring managers will notice a difference between well-thought-out responses vs. rushed comments.”

Remember you’re being evaluated not just for your ability to do a specific job, but for your potential as a teammate. A coworker or direct report who communicates via email in a clear and professional way will make everyone’s work easier in the long run, whereas someone who’s hard to understand in writing might seem like a future headache they’ll have to address—especially if you’ll be communicating with people outside the company through email.

Regina Borsellino is a NYC-based editor at The Muse covering job search and career advice, particularly resume best practices, interviewing, remote work, and personal and professional development. Before joining The Muse, Regina was an editor for InvestorPlace, where she also wrote about topics such as investing and biotech companies. She holds a BA in English language and literature from the University of Maryland and an MFA in creative writing from American University. Find her on LinkedIn and Twitter.

Sources:

https://www.wordstream.com/blog/ws/2014/08/07/improve-writing-skills
https://www.smashingmagazine.com/2009/06/50-free-resources-that-will-improve-your-writing-skills/
https://www.themuse.com/advice/writing-skills-examples-how-to-improve

2. Build your vocabulary
Having once mastered Hangul, you can begin to form your vocabulary. Better to start with numbers (both Korean and Chinese numerals are used in Korea), days of the week, and simple conversational phrases. Then add words that are related to your reason for learning a language. If you decide to learn Korean for the upcoming trip, pay more attention to the words related to the direction of movement and transport. Do you like Korean food? Then work on food-related words. And be sure to write the words in a notebook as you learn new ones. This will help you practice writing and capture words in your memory. The effect of memorization will be much better if you imagine a picture or a funny story.

I Want to Learn Korean… Now What? 3 Steps to Get Started

There is a fairly obvious place to begin learning Korean, and that is Hangul—the Korean alphabet. If you want to pursue the language seriously, you are going to need to be able to read. The alphabet has 24 letters: 14 consonants and 10 vowels.

Luckily, Hangul is a surprisingly easy alphabet to learn. When I first looked at it, I could make neither head nor tail of it. But once I learned the logic and simplicity behind its systematic creation, I mastered the entire alphabet in a single afternoon!

Vowels are made up of three symbols: a dot representing the sun (written as -), a horizontal line (ㅡ) representing the Earth, and a vertical line (ㅣ) representing humans, who connect the Earth and sun. You can read about the symbolism of Hangul in more detail here.

• Omniglot – Korean — Omniglot briefly explains the history and linguistics of Hangul, which I find fascinating. Scroll down to see the letters separated into consonants and vowels, with a recording of the basic pronunciation of each letter.

• An Introduction to Korean — Don’t let the outdated appearance of this site turn you off; it might just be the best place to learn Hangul online. Each page is quite brief, making it really useful for learning Korean step by step. This site gradually teaches you the letters in a logical order and in an effective way. Click on “Consonants and vowels” in the bottom right corner to begin. As you progress through the mini-lessons, there will always be a link like this in the bottom right corner (next to the small green arrow) which you click to move on to the next step.

• Hangul a Day — This site gives great examples of how to pronounce each letter. But just be aware: When used in actual words, there are several irregularities in how some letters are pronounced—depending on what letters they follow. The next site will help you learn these irregularities.

• Learn Korean Language— As mentioned above, this site clearly explains pronunciation irregularities. They may seem impossible to remember at first, but once you start speaking Korean you should find that they are actually very logical rules that make pronunciation far more natural.

How to Practice Hangul

One way to learn is to spend a week just learning the most basic eight vowels, followed by a week on the y-sound vowels and vowel combinations. Then you can move on to consonants, again breaking them into groups of about eight letters each. That way, by spending ten minutes per day (on average) reviewing flashcards, you can read Hangul in about a month.

Once you have the individual letters down, reading words can come surprisingly quickly. The more you read (even if you cannot understand a word of what you’re reading), your reading speed will improve greatly. I practice most often through social media, particularly by following Korean people of interest on Twitter and Instagram, as the text is extremely short.

Sometimes I look up what the words mean, but other times I simply practice reading the words as quickly as I can. You may also find that writing in Hangul (even if you’re actually just transliterating English words) will get the letters into your head more quickly and naturally.

Collect Vocab

Once you’ve learned to read the Korean alphabet, the next step is to begin collecting vocab. I once read a novel in which a character who speaks upwards of 20 languages brushes off his remarkable skills as “you really only need about 500 words.” When I read that, I practically snapped my fingers: That’s less than 10 words a week for a year! Perhaps his statement was a wild exaggeration, but it’s still a fantastic start. So if you like this idea as well, let 10 words a week be your goal.

Sometimes it’s difficult to decide which vocab to learn, which is where categories can be helpful (i.e. greetings, honorifics, food, animals, common adjectives, transportation). You can also let popular culture provide you with thematic vocab. For example, by watching a drama set in high school you can pick up school-related language, or learn romantic language by listening to K-pop lyrics.

How to Practice Vocab

One way that I like to interact with language is to learn the words for things in a room in my house—for example the Korean words for all the items I commonly use in the kitchen (i.e. refrigerator, toaster, plate, bowl, chopsticks, etc.). Stick a portrait of your favorite K-pop star on your fridge, for example, to remind you to say the Korean names of items as you use them. Other kitchen ideas include putting a souvenir magnet or postcard from Korea on your fridge, eating off Korea-related placemats or even labeling each item in Hangul with Post-its.

Making little habits like this are a great way to get your brain practicing, without using up effort remembering to review. And the more you can ramp up the fun factor by engaging with whatever makes Korean language or culture interesting to you, the less effort it’s going to take to make yourself practice.

An easy way to bring Korean into your daily life can be by watching Korean videos. There are a lot of different resources for finding good Korean videos to watch and tons of different ways to incorporate Korean into your daily life.

When I want to watch authentic Korean videos, I use the FluentU app. That way, when I stumble across new words, I can learn them with the Korean and English subtitles. It’s nice to be able to just hover my mouse over the word to see what it means in the context of the video that I’m watching.

Korean videos are excellent because there’s really something for everyone. If you’re into cooking, for example, make one night per week “Korean night,” where you make a Korean dish while learning the names of the utensils and ingredients in Korean. Maangchi’s blog is an awesome source of Korean recipes, and she always refers to the dishes by their Korean name in her videos—which is very helpful for pronunciation!

Go back to your original motivation for learning Korean; that’s where you find your inspiration! Whether it’s watching movies and dramas, making kimchi from scratch, singing along to K-pop or boning up on North-South relations, all areas of interest come with a wide rage of vocab to learn. And following your curiosity is the most exciting way to learn those Korean words.

How to Learn Korean

This guide has everything language learners like you need for learning Korean. In each section, we provide lessons on reading, writing, speaking, vocabulary, and pronunciation that you can study Korean. It will help if you follow the lessons in this language-learning guide in order. However, if you already started learning Korean, feel free to skip any parts of the online lessons that you already know.

Learn Korean Online

First, do the primary lessons. Once you are comfortable with the main lessons, you may want to consider studying the related lessons. The related lessons will be helpful but are not necessary to move on to the next section.

Best way to learn Korean

The best way to learn Korean is to do a bit each day. For example, it’s much better to study for 20 minutes a day than to study once a week for 2 hours. Find a pace that’s comfortable for you, and make sure you’re having fun with it!

Korean Lessons

The Korean Alphabet (Hangeul)

The first thing you’ll want to do is learn the alphabet. The Korean Alphabet (한글 | Hangeul) is one of the simplest alphabets to learn, even if you are an absolute beginner. You can learn this writing system in a few hours with some simple lessons. Once you complete the lessons, you’ll be reading Korean sentences on the same day.

We provide a free step-by-step lesson that will teach you how to read the Korean Alphabet in only 90 minutes using visual associations and stories. It’s based on psychology so you will be sure to remember what you learned!

This is probably the most critical step for making any progress with learning the Korean language. Spend the 90 minutes learning to read the alphabet or the Korean writing system, and you’ll learn Korean quite quickly. This will also help you learn to speak Korean since the pronunciation of Hangeul is much more precise than the romanized version [한글 (hangeul) vs. Hangeul, for instance] using the English language.

How to Read Korean

Spend some time reading some simple words, such as Korean slang or the colors in Korean. This will be great practice to enhance your reading skills and will help you become more familiar with the words you see on a regular basis. With frequent practice, you’ll find it easier to speak Korean words and phrases and soon you’ll be reading Korean wherever you go! You’ll even be able to read the lyrics of your favorite Korean music or song.

Korean Pronunciation

Along with learning how to read the alphabet, you should learn how to correctly pronounce the letters and words. Improper pronunciation is a mistake that many Korean learners make. Instead, focus on sounding like a native Korean speaker.

First, the Korean letters are unique and each letter has its own sound. Second, the English letters associated with them are just a close approximation of the letters’ sounds. This will bring us back to how important it is to study Korean letters.

Korean Numbers

The Korea System takes a bit more time to learn, so we recommend starting with the China System first. You can use this system when you first start to learn Korean. You can learn about the Korea System later.

Korean Vocabulary Words

As you learn Korean, you’re definitely going to want to level up your vocabulary skills. The lesson above should help since it gives you a list of the most common words in the Korean language. Learn this vocabulary first.

Once you get the basic words down, you can move on to other common vocabulary word lists, such as body parts, animals, fruit & vegetables. There are lessons on those topics below. Having a strong vocabulary base will help you understand more about what you hear in conversations.

How to Remember Korean Words

However, there are some great strategies that can help you learn new words quickly. One strategy is to use associations, mnemonics, and stories for the vocabulary words. For example, the word for “house” in Korean is 집 (jip). The words “house” and “jip” sound very different from each other. However, the word “jip” sounds like “Jeep”, so you can make a story using imagery about it.

The more vocabulary words you know, the faster you’ll be able to learn Korean and put your skills to use in everyday situations. We recommend learning 2 – 20 new words each day and use an SRS system like Anki. Keep in mind that the more new words you add, the more reviews you’ll have to do each day.

Korean Phrases

Korean Grammar

As you continue to develop your language learning skills, you’re going to want to start to understand Korean grammar. You don’t need to know it in-depth just yet. Instead, focus on learning the basics of Korean grammar.

The good news is that it’s fairly easy to learn the fundamentals of Korean grammar. Once you begin learning the basic grammar structure of the language, you can up your game and connect your sentences together. You’ll gain confidence in your grammar skills, and have bragging rights reserved for those who take the time to come this far with learning the language.

You’ll also want to learn Korean particles, but don’t spend a lot of time on this grammar point at the beginning. Particles are often omitted in speech, so just understand a basic overview of how they work. You can find out more about them and related grammar with the related Korean lessons below.

Sources:

https://www.fluentu.com/blog/korean/i-want-to-learn-korean/
https://www.90daykorean.com/learn-korean/
https://overseas.mofa.go.kr/no-en/brd/m_21237/view.do?seq=46

For one thing, a simple means or medians comparison ignores the fact that not everyone receives the same earnings boost from a college degree. There are vastly different earnings outcomes depending on factors like the school you attend, the major you choose, the state you live in, random luck, and many others. It is entirely possible that the average return to college might be large, but at the same time, it winds up being a bad investment for some people. The focus of this report is thus not the average financial benefit from attending college, but the likelihood that such an investment pays off for an individual who enrolls.

Is University Education Necessary for Success? Term Paper

A lot has been said in the debate on whether education is necessary for success. However the truth remains that education is not necessary for success. Many of the proponents of education as a necessity for success seem to miss the real meaning of success. These people tend to define success as the acquisition of knowledge that will help a person work well for others and that will also help him/her to exploit entrepreneurial opportunities as they arise.

However, this is not the correct meaning of success. Success is holistic, and thus it includes material wealth, a strong personality, good spirituality, and even having many genuine friends, and admirers/supporters. With this definition, it is evident that education is not necessary for success. This paper examines the debate of whether education is necessary for success, and establishes the truth behind it.

You Don’t Need a College Degree to Be Successful — Here’s Why

The truth is that a college degree is a required step of many careers, but not all. Decide what career you want first and check if a degree is needed. Even if a degree is not needed in the beginning, it may be required in order for you to move higher up within your company or field.

That being said, you can certainly be successful without a college degree — your skills and talents can get you hired. Find out exactly what skills are needed for your career path and work hard to excel in them. You will have to be determined, self-disciplined, and goal-oriented. In the end, both education and marketable skills are key. It’s up to you how you want to get that education and skills — through an institution, or on your own in the real world.

Finally, do employers really check degrees? They sure do, if it’s important for them. For companies that require degrees, they may check your resume to find out if you really completed the accomplishments you put down. They will likely ask you about it in your interview as well.

However, many new companies today do not look at resumes during the hiring process. Instead, they will ask for written answers and a preliminary skills test during the application,and a more thorough and in-person skills test during the interview process. Your skillset, personality, and recommendations will go a long way for companies such as these.

What are colleges really here for?

Yes, going to college will teach you some things you never knew and yes you will leave with better life skills but is there a bigger picture of why colleges really exist? The reason college is so glorified goes deeper than you may think. At the end of the day, college is a business that offers education to the public and a piece of paper that says you complete units to graduate and are an expert in that field. What people don’t realize is that they are putting themselves in debt over the course of their college journey and once they graduate, they realize how much money they are in the hole.

They also realize the loan they took to go to college has interest on it and will keep compounding till the day they finish the payments. According to Forbes, the student loan debt in America has reached a staggering 1.6 trillion dollars.

Most of the “successful” graduates you see have a debt to pay with all the other bills they have and it just puts a burden on them but hey, at least they have a piece of paper they can show off to their friends and family.

A college is really a place where the banks can make money off of students as they try to get that degree. With all this in mind, is it really worth the “success” by going to college? Is it really worth the countless hours of studying for a subject that you will never use in your life? Is it really worth the $35,000+ student loans you will have to pay off?

Society and the media glorify college more than ever before and put pressure on high school seniors to go so they can look like they are doing something in their lives. As college and its expenses incrase, the people going to college are getting trapped into that mindset and can’t really do anything about it. They are scared of the backlash they will get from parents and friends if they choose to go through a different route.

Is College Necessary?

Is college necessary? Well, it depends who you ask. From an early age, children are told that if they want to get a good job then they have to go to college. Ingrained in our societal beliefs is that a college education provides more money which leads to success. Numbers back up those beliefs and show that people who attend college and earn a bachelor’s degree do make more money than those with a high school diploma.

The data suggests that in order for students to prosper, they need to go to college. The majority of youth are hearing these messages. In 2015, the percentage of students enrolling in college in the fall following high school graduation, was 69 percent. In 2017, some 20.4 million students were projected to attend an American college or university, representing an increase of about 5.1 million since fall 2000. And these numbers are expected to rise over the next decade.

Is college really for everyone and does a degree lead to true happiness? Educational organizations would like for us to think so, but isn’t happiness more about discovering our talents, finding our passion and landing a job that embraces our strengths?

What about the student who doesn’t have an interest in going to college? Does that mean this student is doomed to an unsuccessful life? There may be a variety of reasons why some students aren’t interested in postsecondary education such as:

As difficult if may be for some to admit, college isn’t for everyone and that’s OK. Just because some youth choose to forgo a college education, that doesn’t mean they won’t be successful. In fact, there are many successful people who didn’t earn a college degree.

Conclusion

It is difficult, if not impossible, to characterize the financial value of a college degree in a single number. The largely individualized nature of both the costs and benefits associated with higher education make such assessments quite challenging. In the analysis above, I try to provide the reader with a wide range of both metrics and scenarios to comprehensively communicate the scenarios where a college degree is likely to be a good investment.

A college degree has substantial financial value, both on average and for the vast majority of graduates. This is true even after making a number of “adjustments” to lifetime earnings which provide a much more accurate view of the value afforded by attending college. Attending college is not without risk, however. The financial and time investments will not pay off for everyone—especially if we continue to see about half of those who enroll at the average 4- year college not holding a degree 6 years later.

References:

https://ivypanda.com/essays/is-university-education-necessary-for-success/
https://www.uopeople.edu/blog/do-you-have-to-go-to-college-to-be-successful/
https://landoflearn.com/why-college-isnt-necessary-to-be-successful/
https://www.psychologytoday.com/us/blog/teen-angst/201804/is-college-necessary
https://www.thirdway.org/report/is-college-worth-it-going-beyond-averages