Jumpstart Your Dream Life

How to Start Over Again After a Bad Ending

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In 1914, a massive fire burned through Thomas Edison’s life’s work.

The flames engulfed five city blocks in New Jersey, including Edison’s lab complex. Fueled by chemicals, flames licked the sky at 100 feet high. The firefighters fought the fire from a nearby building called the Battery Factory, which had been built with his durable Edison cement and produced batteries for experimental vehicles.

Nikola Tesla, a rival inventor, heard the tragic news. He sent his condolences in a telegraph: “As one of the millions of your admirers, I send you my sympathy. It is not only a personal and national loss, but a world loss, for you have been one of its greatest benefactors.”

Newspapers ran articles on the story, clamoring about how the fire was the worst thing to happen to Edison, who was 67 years old at the time. Was this it for him? Was this how he would see all his hard work go down?

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5 Ways to Prevent Cabin Fever When Working Remotely

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Working from home is the new norm.

What formerly caused eyebrows to rise and stir up feelings of envy has now become not only a benefit, but an expected part of work. People are working from home more than ever. In fact, research shows that remote work has grown by 159 percent from 2005 to 2017.

Companies and employees alike are increasingly recognizing the benefits of working remotely. Remote workers report being more satisfied, less stressed, and feeling healthier than the average worker. When you work within an environment of your own choosing, it’s understandable that you feel happier during the day.

But just as there are benefits, there are drawbacks.

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The Entrepreneurship Myth: Scalable vs. Non-Scalable Professions

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Entrepreneurship. The word itself sounds magical. It conjures up all sorts of wonderful images. You imagine yourself coming up with a brilliant idea, building a great product, and resting on your laurels for eternity. You can earn more income without putting in extra effort.

Employee. What does that word feel like to you? Words such as “bland”, “unimaginative”, and “restrictive” come to mind. You picture someone breathing down your neck, telling you what to do.

Not only does being an employee sound unappealing, but there’s a ceiling to your earning potential. As an employee, your salary is fixed. Yes, you get raises, but they’re fixed and ultimately decided by someone else.

And what about professions that charge hourly rates? A consultant may earn hundreds, even thousands by the hour, but the consultant is still limited by something finite: time. At some point, the person’s earnings are capped by the number of hours worked. The moment the person stops working is the moment money stops coming in.

The relationship between time and earnings is the difference between scalable and non-scalable professions.

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ProWritingAid: Grammar Check Your Writing, Improve Your Style, and Become a Better Writer

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Have you ever felt that you were just naturally good at something?

It didn’t matter whether you were a fresh beginner or a seasoned expert. You had practiced a skill, gotten the hang of it, and since then, kept doing things the same way. Maybe you were learning to swim, cook, or perform a task at work.

Then someone comes along and tries to help. They offer a suggestion, advice, or some insight. Being used to your way, you brush the person off.

But after awhile, you hit a roadblock. You start to realize that you don’t know everything. You try implementing the person’s advice. And it works!

You begin looking at things in a different light. Gradually, it dawns on you that there is a whole other level… one you had no idea existed.

This is what writing is like. Easy to learn but hard to master, writing often takes a second pair of eyes to help you figure out what you’re doing right, and what needs fixing.

Today, I’m going to discuss ProWritingAid, a popular online grammar checker and style editor. I’ll cover what it does, how to use it, and whether it’s right for you.

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QuickBooks Self-Employed: Track Business Expenses, Create Invoices, and Maximize Mileage Deductions

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Are you a freelancer, a contractor, or self-employed?

If the answer to any of these is “yes”, then you know what a hassle it is to organize all your expenses for tax time.

You have supplies purchased for work, along with weekend family dinners, all on one credit card statement. Then there’re the regular drives for client projects. And what about that invoice you sent out a month ago that’s been sitting unpaid?

Is there a more efficient way to track expenses? How can you maximize your tax deductions? How do you calculate your car mileage?

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5 Ideas on How to Never Run Out of Fresh Ideas

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Coming up with ideas is a funny thing.

The harder you search for that gem of an insight, the more frustrating your efforts become. Yet there are times when a “Eureka!” moment seemingly pops out of nowhere. And of course, it happens just when you’re far, far away from your work desk.

So if forcing your way towards a great idea isn’t the answer, then what is?

The problem is that relying on intense concentration isn’t enough. Simply trying to think your way outside the box often leads nowhere. You’re stuck running in circles.

Instead, what you need is a trigger. Something that inspires you, something that forces you to think outside your current train of thought. Once you step outside that cycle, you can generate one creative idea, which leads to another, and so on.

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Don’t Start From Scratch. Build On Others’ Successes

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When you think of the word “innovation”, certain connotations pop up. Revolutionary. Progression. Success. A person perceived as innovative flies ahead of the pack, solving problems and creating solutions based on their ability to think outside the box.

But what about the word “imitation”? Does the word carry similar connotations as well? Does it have that positive ring?

Not so much.

In fact, when we think of a person who imitates, negative associations form in our minds. We use phrases such as “copycat”, “wannabe”, or a poor man’s version. Given a choice, who would pick imitation crab over real crab?

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Use Failure As Feedback

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Most of us are afraid of failure.

The time and effort wasted, the humiliation, the headaches – it’s just too much.

Most of all, what if our failure confirms our worst fear: that we’re not good enough?

As we grow older, fear of failure becomes more and more real.

Eventually, not trying anything new seems like a better option because we’d rather not know the limit of our capabilities.

Failing in any area of life can be terrifying when you look at it that way.

But recently, I’ve been looking at failure from a different perspective. It’s one that a lot of entrepreneurs and innovative companies use to test out new ideas.

Here’s how it works.

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