Roberto Seif

Most people downplay their success. 🙁👎

They use the wrong metrics.

Here are 10 ways to measure how badass you really are: 😁👍

1️⃣Toxic situations and people you've walked away from.

2️⃣Things and people you've changed your mind about.

3️⃣ Positive relationships you've built and nurtured.

4️⃣Fears you've overcome and risks you've taken.

5️⃣ Empowering habits you've developed. 

6️⃣ Unique problems you've solved.

7️⃣ Problems you aspire to solve.

8️⃣ People/groups you've helped.

9️⃣ New skills you've acquired.

🔟 Your vision for the future.

Focus on how far you've come, not on how far others have gone.

Every person's journey is unique.

You're a hero.

🚀 What's a leap you've made in the past 12 months?🔥

Share your comments below 👇👇👇

#careers #success #mid-career #growth #employpreneur

Four Ingredients to build career resilience in the "AI-everywhere Era"

(because a tsunami of change is just around the corner) 

👇👇👇

1️⃣ CLEAR INNER COMPASS 🧭

Who you want to become is more important than which role you should target.

"Don't let the noise of other people's opinions drown out your own inner voice." – Steve Jobs

2️⃣ ACCELERATED LEARNING 🚀

Don't soak up an entire topic. Focus on the 20% that delivers 80% of the results.  

"Learn from the mistakes of others. You can't live long enough to make them all yourself." – Eleanor Roosevelt

3️⃣ EXPERIMENTAL COURAGE 🔬

When you take a step forward, the universe responds.

"The only way to make sense out of change is to plunge into it, move with it, and join the dance." – Alan Watts

4️⃣ ACCOUNTABILITY PARTNERS 🙋🏻‍♀️🙋🏾‍♂️

Without a co-pilot, it's easy to fall asleep at the wheel.

"Surround yourself with people who hold you to a higher standard than you hold yourself." – John Assaraf

💥Comment Below💥

How are you preparing yourself? What else should we add to this list? 

#ai #careers #bestadvice #midcareer #employpreneur

When you stare at a problem long enough, it might start to look like the solution.

Here's how it applies to your career and well-being.

Since you spend 8-12 hrs/day at work, you think...

Your job situation impacts your mood, outlook, and self-esteem.

The more fulfilling your job ➡️  The better your quality of life.

Change jobs.

Right?

Well... not always.

Flip around the statement:

Your mood, outlook, and self-esteem impact your job situation.

The better your quality of life ➡️ the more fulfilling your job.

Examine what's missing in

your life.

Pull back and make sure you're solving the right problem.

AI will reshape your profession, but it will not make you redundant.

The fear that it will replace teachers, lawyers and writers is overblown.

Here are 10 examples of professions that thrived by embracing technologies that threatened to replace them.

1) Pilots using autopilot systems = Improved stability and altitude control.

2) Computed Aided Diagnosis vs Radiologists = improved detection of cancer

3) Turbo Tax vs CPAs = shift focus to premium advisory and planning.

4) Sequencers vs musicians = lower production costs, new musical genres.

5) CAD software vs architects = dynamic modeling, lower costs

The list goes on...

The great mistake is to assume that we are only capable of doing things the way we do them today.

If the last five years were bumpy, the next five will feel like an earthquake.

Expect more uncertainty as AI reshapes your career.

Here are 3 mastery areas you'll need to cultivate over the next 3 years.

1) JUST-IN-TIME LEARNING

The firehose of information and choices is only growing. Peripheral information will only slow you down.

Old model: Read 10 books about a topic before getting started.

New model: Launch a project and consume the minimal necessary knowledge to cross the next hurdle.

2) SYSTEMS THINKING

The AI revolution will make know-how accessible to everyone.

The next level of expertise will be your ability to integrate and remix various platforms and knowledge domains like Lego blocks.

Old model: Master and manager of tasks (e.g. write code, answer technical questions, etc)

New model: Designer and manager of convergences, exchanges and workflows (e.g. interdisciplinary prompt engineering, integration of workflows, etc)

3) SOCIAL CAPITAL

Soon it will be impossible to tell whether you’re receiving content and information from a human or a robot.

Human connections will become more important than ever.

Old model: Making useful connections

New model: Building and nurturing trusting relationships

What other mastery areas can you think of?

Please share your comments below!

#careers #ai #transformation #employpreneur

Success happens when preparation meets opportunity.

Soul searching without experimentation is a recipe for inertia.

Here's a better framework:

1️⃣ CLARIFY YOUR INNER COMPASS 🧭

Who you want to become is more important than what you want to do.

1) Define your core values and innate strengths.

2) Write your obituary (it's morbid but effective).

3) Write a retrospective letter from your future self.

2️⃣ PAY ATTENTION TO WHAT YOU PAY ATTENTION TO 👀

99% of the time, the greatest opportunities are staring you right in the face.

1) List things you love working on and bring out the best in you.

2) List challenges you overcame in the last 10 years.

3) List human problems you're most drawn to (what do you read about? what podcasts do you tune into? what can you talk about for hours?)

3️⃣LAUNCH SMALL EXPERIMENTS AND LOOK FOR SIGNALS 📡

One small step forward, follow the breadcrumbs, and then look back for patterns.

1) Help someone overcome a problem you've solved for yourself.

2) Take a class -- learn a new skill (any) to put you in a growth mindset.

3) Spend an hour with someone who does something that intrigues you.

Remember, action speaks louder than a thousand plans, so take the first step and watch your world expand.

👉 Thanks for reading! If you enjoyed this post, follow me 🔔 for more tips and insights to transform the second half of your career.

Do you know what’s scary?

Building a business in front of 900 million people.

A year ago, I relaunched myself as a coach. I was 49.

I’ve been writing on LinkedIn for 365 days.

Writing a good post every time is hard... sometimes exhausting.

And many of my best ideas have landed flat.

Crickets! 🦗🦗

But every other week, someone I’ve never met reaches out. 🙋🏻‍♀️

To tell me how much these ideas meant. 🫶

To remind me of the impact of showing up every day.

To keep building those muscles 💪

To continue aiming in that direction.

To keep fine-tuning every day.

🔥 And here’s the lesson 🔥

When you don’t see massive results right away...

Don't let the noise of instant gratification distract you.

Instead, pay attention to the signals.

And let the breadcrumbs show you the path.

It means you’re on to something big.

Remember: your journey is different from everyone else’s.

💥 The fruit falls when it ripens.

Keep going!

💡 Share your thoughts. How do you remind yourself to stay the course?

#careers #transformation #employpreneur

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👉 If you enjoyed this post, follow me 🔔 for more insights to transform the second half of your career.

There are two ways to think about pursuing a full-time job.

One is fragile and dependent.

The other is resilient and self-sufficient. ⬇️

🌊🏊 EMPLOYEES "practice" their profession.

They swim IN the water.

• Handle daily duties of their job description.

• Prioritize job security over risks.

• Acquire relevant skills to grow in-role

• Change happens "to them."

🌊🏄🏿‍♀️ EMPLOYPRENEURS "develop" their profession:

They swim ON the water

• See their job as a platform to spot opportunities.

• Prioritize learning and growth.

• Collaborate, network, and share ideas, to evolve their role.

• Change happens "for them."

Same water, different mindsets.

Employees steer away from waves. Employpreneurs pursue them.

Which one are you?

I used to think that transforming my career required bold moves.

The problem: Big, bold moves are risky and intensive.

Here's a risk-free way to transform your career in only months.

💡 Consistent -- Small -- Daily -- Habits 💡

• 1 new connection request every day (5 min)

• 1 chapter of a book, 1 training module, or instructional video (15 min)

• 1 new technology tool to tinker with (20 min)

• 1 helpful idea / reflection turned into a short LinkedIn post (20 min)

• 3 x 30 push-ups and abs (10 minutes)

Fast-forward one year:

• 365+ new connections.

• 50-100 books and 5-10 new skills.

• 300+ new technologies to talk about.

• 100k+ people engaging with your ideas.

• Strong, healthy body and increased energy.

Time commitment: 60 minutes.

Effort: Low.

The 🐢 always beats the 🐇.

#careers #transformation #employpreneur #midcareer

👉 If you enjoyed this post, follow me 🔔 for more insights to transform the second half of your career.

Gone are the days of stability and predictability at work.

Embrace the "Employpreneur" era.

"Employpreneurship" means treating your career like a business:

1️⃣ Act as your own CEO.

You don't hope for opportunities. You create them.

4️⃣ Continually learn and adapt to new needs.

You're a work in progress. Always prepared to pivot.

2️⃣ View your employer as your current client.

They owe you money, not self-esteem.

3️⃣ Focus on outcomes delivered, not duties performed.

Your role doesn't define you. Your value proposition does.

5️⃣ Build social capital both within and outside your organization.

Your career will only go as far as your network.

Resilience and self-reliance are the new job security.

💥 Become an Employpreneur.💥

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PS. If you enjoyed this post, follow me 🔔 for more tips to transform the second half of your career.

Networking isn't about job hunting.

It's about "relationship- insight- inspiration" hunting.

Compare two approaches:

🅰️ "Can you help me find a job?"

vs.

🅱️ "Tell me about your journey and what you learned."

Which one opens more doors?

A meaningful conversation or a desperate plea?

Choose wisely, my friends.

#Networking #CareerAdvice #midcareer

Applying for jobs online seems efficient, but it's not.

Even with a great resume, it's like throwing spaghetti at a wall.

Here's why...

Application A --> Wait --> 90% no call --> Dead End

Application B--> Wait --> 90% no call --> Dead End

Application C --> Wait --> 90% no call --> Dead End...

📆 Months of sitting at home wondering and hoping

🎢 Emotional roller coaster

😩 Feel deflated, demoralized, and full of self-doubt

➡️ Here's a better approach.

No connections?

No clear idea of what you're looking for?

No problem.

1️⃣ Reach out to 5 old connections to catch up on life.

They'll be eager to chat, take an interest and help you.

2️⃣ One of them will likely offer an introduction.

👨‍🦱 --> 🧑🏽‍🦰

Don't expect this to be a ticket to a job but a door to a new circle.

3️⃣ Schedule an exploratory conversation.

🧑🏽‍🦰 💡

Objective: Gain insights and inspiration to inform your search.

4️⃣Ask for one or two introductions at the end of the conversation.

🧑🏽‍🦰 --> 👩‍🦳 + 👨🏾‍🦰

Always reciprocate.

5️⃣ Repeat the cycle: exploratory conversations + introductions

👩‍🦳 💡--> 👨🏿‍🦲💡 + 👱🏻‍♂️💡 -->

👨🏾‍🦰 💡--> 👨🏽‍🦳💡 + 👩‍🦰 💡-->

6️⃣ In weeks, your calendar fills up with exploratory conversations. Let compounding do its magic.

👨🏿‍🦲 + 👱🏻‍♂️ + 🧑🏽‍🦰 + 👨‍🦱 + 🧓🏼...

👨🏽‍🦳 + 👩‍🦰 + 👨🏾‍🦰 + 👱🏻‍♂️ + 🙋🏻‍♀️

Sooner than you think...

🙋🏻‍♀️💥 "OMG, I think you'd be a great fit with my team!"

Online job applications = 3 months of busy-ness

Exploratory conversations = 3 months of progress

Here's what gets mid-careerists stuck in their job search:

They don't realize that they are "actively procrastinating."

Here are the five most common mistakes:

1️⃣ Searching for inspiration online (a.k.a. drinking from a firehose)

2️⃣ Tweaking their resume and elevator pitch compulsively.

3️⃣ Getting caught up in fantasies of radical career changes
(a.k.a. Shiny Escapist Object Syndrome).

4️⃣ Feeding an addiction to personality assessments.

5️⃣ Passively consuming advice from experts.

In truth, these are just a way to bury the head in the sand, hoping for all of this to go away.

Busy ≠ Effective

Instead, here are 4 ways to make leaps.

👉 Gather inspiration and insights from real conversations.

👉 Learn a new skill -- sign up for a class.

👉 Share knowledge openly to help others.

👉 Engage with others who are on the same journey.

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#careers #bestadvice #midcareer

Here are 10 quotes from highly successful people who had a mid-career crisis in their 40s

⬇️

• "I went through a period of self-doubt in my mid-40s. I had to rediscover my passion for what I do."
- Jeff Bezos

• "I had a midlife crisis in my late 40s. I had to take a step back and figure out what I really wanted to do with my life."
- Marc Benioff

• "I had a midlife crisis at 45. I realized I had been chasing success without knowing what it meant to me."
- Gary Vaynerchuk

• "I had a midlife crisis in my late 40s. I had to step back and reevaluate my purpose and my mission."
- Richard Branson

• "In my early 40s, I hit a wall. I felt like I had lost my way and didn't know what to do next."
- Oprah Winfrey

• "I went through a midlife crisis when I was 42. I had achieved everything I set out to achieve but felt unfulfilled."
- Hugh Jackman

• "I had a midlife crisis at 45. I was successful but felt like I had sacrificed too much for my career."
- Arianna Huffington

• "I had a midlife crisis at 44. I realized I had been living someone else's dream, not my own."
- Diane Lane

• "In my 40s, I started to question everything. I wasn't sure if I was on the right path."
- Jennifer Aniston

• "I went through a period of self-doubt and uncertainty in my mid-40s. I had to take a step back and reevaluate my priorities."
- J.K. Rowling

🤷🏽‍♀️ If you're feeling directionless and full of doubts about your career, you're not alone. 🤷🏾‍♂️

💥Even the brightest and most talented people get stuck.💥

100% of professionals go through a mid-career crisis.

But most people use the wrong approaches to deal with it.

Here are 5 popular approaches that never work:

1) Search online for jobs with a vague idea of what they want.

2) Focus on better narratives for their accomplishments.

3) Explore radically different career paths.

4) Become addicted to personality assessments.

5) Seek advice from experts.

Here are 5 uncommon approaches that work like magic:

1) Reach out to old connections from 10+ years ago.

2) Enroll in a course and learn a new skill.

3) Reframe the purpose of the existing career (value proposition).

4) Share knowledge just because it may help someone out there.

5) Learn from people who are on the same journey.

What's your best method to get your mojo back?

#careers #personaldevelopment #midcareer

In 2022 I relaunched my career as an executive coach.

It took a year of soul-searching to find the big idea for my pivot.

Now, I devised a hack to cut it down to 20 minutes.

I used ChatGPT as my ideation partner. Here's how:

1️⃣ Upload your resume. Ask the bot to give you 10 ideas for roles you'd be suitable for.

2️⃣ List your superpowers (special talents) and ask the bot to recreate the list considering this information.

3️⃣ List criteria that bring out your zone of genius at work (i.e. types of projects, people, situations, etc). Then ask ChatGPT to refine the list considering this information.

4️⃣ Choose the two ideas that excite you the most. Ask the bot to give you 10 ideas to position yourself at the intersection.

5️⃣ At this point, you'll likely spot a great idea.

If you want to see my ideation session with the bot, I wrote an article about it last week.

Follow the link in the comments section. ⬇️

A mid-career reinvention is more than a switch of jobs.

It's a profound reframe of your professional identity.

It requires new mindsets, systems, and habits -- a reboot of your internal operating system.

It's like the difference between a long-distance runner and a sprinter:

Both are elite runners, but they train, eat, think, and measure success differently.

What got you here won't take you there.

#careers #jobseekers #midcareer

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👉 If you enjoyed this post, and want more ideas to transform the second half of your career, follow me 🔔.

💥And if you want to join other mid-careerists who get one free actionable tip to pivot and relaunch their careers, I'm leaving you a link in the comments section.⬇️

Hard work that's not appreciated is a ticking time bomb.

The first time, you give them the benefit of the doubt.

The second time, you ask for feedback (growth opportunities?)

The third time, some jerk gets promoted, and you don't.

Now it's personal! How dare they do this?

You dream about giving them an ultimatum:

"If you don't promote me, I'm out of here. You hear me??"

But you know well that threats will only backfire.

Putting your head down and waiting to be noticed is a recipe for disappointment.

So, how do you handle the conversation?

Everyone is moved by the same question: “What’s in it for me?”

Reframe your mindset from “why YOU deserve it” to “how it will benefit THEM.”

Here's how:

1) Scaling your

impact:
Showcase your results to date and craft a plan to 5x the impact if they put you in the driver's seat.

2) From broken to fixed:

Paint a picture of today's issues and why/how elevating you will benefit the organization (e.g., faster, bigger, better, etc.)

3) Make your bosses shine:

Build a case for how your proposal will support your bosses' agenda and elevate their image and legacy. Play to their ego.

The only way to get what you want is to help others get what they want.

Five toxic beliefs of bosses who won't promote their staff:

1) "It took me years to get promoted. What makes them special?"

2) "Until I move up, no one under me moves up."

3) "They have no idea how easy they have it... thanks to me."

4) "They still have much to learn and improve (in my opinion)."

5) "They are not polished or have a presence as I do."

People often measure others based on how they were measured.

Don't let anyone define the limits of your potential.

👉 If you enjoyed this post, follow me 🔔 for more thoughts and tips to relaunch the second half of your career.

These are the networking tools of the average:

1) Polished resume

2) Elevator pitch

3) Case studies

4) Industry Insights

5) Answers and opinions.

What's the message? Me, me, me...

Result: "uhm... yeah, I'll pass along your resume (I guess)"

--

These are the networking tools of the exceptional:

1) Study profiles of the people they're about to meet.

2) Questions to learn more about their professional trajectory.

3) Questions about their craft, industry and role.

4) Questions about their goals and pain points.

5) Helpful resources to support them.

What's the message? You, you, you...

Result: "I want to introduce you to some amazing folks."