Curated by the Knowledge Team of ICS Career GPS
Career
How to leverage the most valuable person of your career
Excerpts from article by Amy Blaschka, published in The Forbes
While you’ve likely had a few terrific bosses and even a fabulous mentor or two, you may be overlooking the one person essential to your career progress: YOURSELF.
We tend to look externally for answers, validation and wisdom, forgetting or discounting our power. Happiness from career fulfillment is an inside job and entirely within your control.
Here are 7 ways to take action and leverage your career’s true ‘Most Valuable Person’:
1. Make clarity your best friend
When you’re clear, everything becomes easier. People understand you, what you offer, your value, what differentiates you, how you can help them, and how they can assist you. Clarity helps others know, like and trust you.
Having clarity also enables you to align your goals with a plan to achieve them and stay away from the things that can derail you. The best way to gain clarity is to slow down and reflect on what you want most. Your answer may surprise you, especially if you can’t remember the last time you asked yourself this.
2. Become your biggest cheerleader
The stories you tell yourself are the most important words you speak. Negative self-talk, such as telling yourself, “I’m not good enough,” is rooted in fear and can hold you back. Be mindful of your words and replace self-criticism with supportive self-talk. The truth is that everyone has doubts, but the ones who succeed are those who move past their fears. Remember: No one will believe in you unless you do.
3. Invest in yourself
You’ll never regret investing in yourself. Your ability to adapt and learn is essential to the survival and growth of your career, so make a conscious effort to add to your skill set by reading books, watching educational videos, and listening to informative podcasts. Investing in yourself also means saying yes to growth opportunities. Move past your comfort zone and embrace a new challenge. Aim to be a lifelong learner.
4. Share your wisdom with others
Sharing your wisdom doesn’t diminish your impact; it amplifies it. And today, the best way to magnify your message is to harness the power and reach of social media. Amplify your thought leadership by consistently sharing your unique perspective and insights in your zone of genius through your social media content. When you freely share your wisdom, you provide value to others and proactively help them know, like and trust you.
5. Protect your time
Time is a precious and nonrenewable commodity; it will continue to move forward, and you can never get wasted time back. Outsource those necessary tasks you dislike, lack the acumen to accomplish, or that would use too much of your valuable asset, so you can focus your time putting your talents to their highest and best use. We must choose, with intention, how to spend our time and then set boundaries to protect it. Invest yours wisely by prioritising and focusing your attention on what matters most, scheduling first those things that are non-negotiable for you.
6. Prioritise your well-being
Living in a world of “always on” culture can wreak havoc on your well-being. You can’t pour from an empty cup. Prioritising your well-being means getting restorative sleep, nourishing your body with proper nutrition and movement, and recharging your spirit through meditation, prayer, reflection, spending time in nature, and visiting loved ones. Self-care is also about understanding that being “selfish” about it means that you’ll show up fully energised and as the best version of yourself, ready to tackle challenges and to help others without sacrificing your sanity or health in the process.
7. Cultivate your relationships
At its core, business is powered by people. Your next job, client or opportunity will likely come from someone you know, so it makes sense to cultivate your relationships. Focus first on being a great colleague and friend to others, so when you need a favour, introduction, support or feedback, you can reach out to them for help. And if there’s a particularly vexing area, don’t hesitate to enlist the help of experts and coaches. Partnering with someone whose skill set is complementary to your own can help you go farther than you could alone.
Education
Fintech finds a new and thriving customer base
Excerpts from article by Aparajita Saxena, published in YourStory.com
In today’s increasingly competitive world adults are no longer the only ones thinking about making and increasing their money.
New-age neo-banks and fintech apps, specifically targeting children (below the age of 18 years), are not only helping kids track their pocket money and expenditures, but are also teaching them important financial skills, such as saving and compound interest rates.
Startups such as Birdfin, a fintech app that teaches children money management through gamification; FamPay, India’s first neobank for teenagers that lets parents track spending and savings; Finin, a neobank that provides AI-driven insights on expenditure and tracks savings; and Walrus, a payments app for teens, are creating big waves in the fintech for children and young adults category with their creative offerings.
Most of these apps have some common features like:
- Pocket money transfers from parents’ accounts to the kids’
- Parents being able to track their children’s expenditure
- Goal-setting where the user can set up “goals” and save money consistently until they have enough to buy what they were saving for
- Earning money for chores set out by the parents
- AI-led insights into the user’s spending and saving habits accessible by the parents and children
Specialised offerings
These days, startups with specialised offerings are integrating with specific aspects of the children’s lives from apps that allow students to pre-book their canteen meals, pay for special after-school classes to ones that even help plan funds for higher education – driving value for not just children, but also their parents.
EduFund helps children and parents save money for higher education. The child inputs their college preferences and the country they want to study in and the app shows various investment recommendations based on the time remaining for the said course and how much funding they need. It also encourages children to save up their allowances and contribute towards their higher education, in conjunction with their parents.
Financial knowledge
Children having access to financial apps not only helps them gain discipline when it comes to money but also introduces them to financial knowledge parents might lack.
Fintech apps geared towards young users tend to offer several learning opportunities, along with basic features, so that financial jargons and instruments aren’t an alien concept to them.
Over the last two years alone, nearly 10 startups offering financial services to children have been launched.
Digital banking is the way for Gen-Z
Behavioural researches conducted showed that for Gen Z, digital banking is how they are likely to carry out financial transactions. Fintechs have also recognised several long-term positives of catering to this impressionable age group. Getting children used to digital wealth makes it easier for them to become more involved with financial tools like online banking, investments, and insurance early on in life.
For the ecosystem, more users mean more regulatory oversight and compliances, which ultimately creates a stronger online ecosystem where there are several layers of protection against cybersecurity violations such as data theft, and fraudulent apps and services that scam people.
(Disclaimer: The opinions expressed in the article mentioned above are those of the author(s). They do not purport to reflect the opinions or views of ICS Career GPS or its staff.)
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