After I graduated from college, I moved back home with my parents and started an entry level job with the Sprint Corporation.  My sister gave me a book called 'Maximum Achievement' by Brian Tracy.

In this book, Mr. Tracy recommended having written goals.  I fumbled my way through the goal setting process, but it got me started and I got better at it as I went along.

In this episode, I walk you through my original goals, critique them and then explain what I would do differently today.  My most important recommendation lies in the book I recommended for the month of August entitled 'The 10X Rule' by Grant Cardone.

In my mind, the book 'How to Win Friends and Influence People' by Dale Carnegie is a foundational book that should be required reading.

Through high-school, undergraduate college and my masters degree, there were only TWO classes that dealt with working well with others in the workplace.  These two classes were helpful, but a deeper study on how to deal effectively with people would have gone a long way.

In this episode, I share Mr. Carnegie's three fundamental principles from Part I of his book, 'Fundamental Techniques in Handling People'.  They are:

Principle#1:  Don't criticize, condemn or complain.
Principle#2:  Give honest and sincere appreciation.
Principle#3:  Arouse in the other person an eager want.

If you've not read this book, please listen to this episode and its my hope that you'll seek out the rest of this valuable content by reading his book or listening to the audio version.  The book is carried by most libraries.

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There are a number of leaders today that, when caught making a mistake, will go to the podium and offer an 'expression of regret' as if that expression will make it all go away.

Contrast that with a strong statement of owning your mistake, making a commitment to fix the mistake and accepting the consequences that come with the mistake.

In this episode, I share my thoughts on how being known as someone that is accountable can be your competitive advantage.

Society and the culture has this fascination with perfection which manifests itself in a constant stream of criticism.  Social Media has amplified this constant stream of negativity.   This irritates me.   The reason it irritates me is that this can scare people into doing NOTHING.  Further, the people doing the finger pointing typically don't have the resumes to give them the right to judge ANYBODY much less you.   I'm right on this.  Think about it.  Think about your favorite professional athlete.  Do they get on social media and make fun of the people that got cut from the team?  NO.  They've got better things to do.  Actually, the true greats will extend a hand and try to help.   The critics produce nothing.  They're just finger pointers.   In this episode I share some of my earliest setbacks 'failures' and how things worked out in the end.   Please share, comment and ask questions.  Please let me know how I may be helpful to you.
Please follow me on Instagram @decadenavigator  

When you are just getting started, you may not have a lot of opportunities or people to talk with about jobs.  Informational Interviewing is a great way to learn about different career paths AND build a network of people.

In this episode, I walk you through how to get started with interviewing people, who to talk with, how to ask them and what to ask them.

Please leave comments!  Please follow me @decadenavigator on Instagram.

Control Your Calendar   After graduation, your most abundant resource is likely TIME.  Much of our identity can be tied to our lives as students and when that ends at graduation, we might feel a little lost and not know what to do next.   In this episode, I share how I chose to use my time after I graduated from college.  This led to me being employed in less than 8-weeks after graduation during a not-so-great job market.   Here is a summary of what we’re going to discuss today:

1. Psychology of Post College/School - Much of our identity can be tied to our lives as students and when that ends at graduation, we might feel a little lost and not know what to do next.
2. Get Control of Your Calendar! - Developing a regimented schedule right out of the gates is your best defense against lost time.  Commit to a set structure for your Monday-through-Friday to increase the likelihood of good things happening to you.
3. Your Job is Finding a Job.  Work at it FULL TIME. - Activities that make the world around you move are better than useful activities that do not lead to movement.  Devote your 'work day' to the right activities and you'll land that first job in no time.

The intent of this podcast is to help the 18-34 year olds out there that are just starting the transition from student to full time work OR are struggling a bit with that transition.

What do YOU want to know more about?  What do you need help with?  I’ll be more useful to you if you communicate with me and tell me what you’re looking for, so to steal a bit from the movie ‘Jerry Maguire’ please help me help you.   Put your questions and share your struggles and/or victories in the comments on Instagram @decadenavigator   Make it a great week!

When I was 29-Years old I had everything that people told me I should want to have as an adult.  I was:  married, owned a home, 2 nice cars, Masters in Business degree and a high paying job.  Nice people around me kept telling me how great I was doing.

Then, during a breakfast with a work colleague at a Waffle House in Tuscaloosa, AL a bombshell hit me like a ton of bricks.  The bombshell was these two things:

1)  The job that I worked hard to get wasn't interesting to me at all, in-fact I didn't like it.

2)  My work colleague was 65-years old and retiring.  I was 29-years old and just starting.

My BEST case was that if everything went tell that in 36-years I'd be able to retire like my friend across the booth from me.  36-years was longer than I had been alive, so basically to commit my life to something I didn't like sounded a lot like a death sentence.

I had worked hard and done all the 'right' things and ended up in the wrong place.

Learn how I reinvented myself and got onto a better path and how my experience may be able to help young people who are starting their careers avoid ending up in their own 'wrong place'.