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Globe and Mail
a day ago
- Entertainment
- Globe and Mail
Your daily horoscope: June 28, 2025
If you feel the need to change jobs this year, or even switch to a whole new career, you must be brave and take the plunge. Why stay stuck in a working environment that does not appreciate you or reward you appropriately for your outstanding talents? With Neptune in your sign you may want to save the world but common sense should tell you to lower your sights a little. Is there someone you know – a family member or a friend – who is in need of assistance? Focus exclusively on them. You may suspect that someone is playing games with you but how can you know for sure? The simply fact is you cannot, so be on your guard this weekend but don't erect the kind of barriers that make it obvious you no longer trust them. You must speak plainly and clearly over the next 48 hours, even if what you have to say is unlikely to endear you to other people. Mercury, your ruler, will encourage you to work out what is really going on and then let everyone know about it. You may not be entirely convinced that what others insist is a golden opportunity is right for you but don't dismiss it out of hand. It could be that if you give it a go now you will come into some serious money early next week. You know what it is you want out of life and you will go all out to get it over the next few days. Anyone who thinks they can dissuade you from following your dream could find themselves in their own living nightmare! You may not be one for keeping secrets but if you are smart you won't go public with information that could one day benefit you personally. Knowledge is power and what you know could be worth a great deal of money as well. Try to be realistic about what you can expect from other people. Not everyone shares your drive and ambition, or your clear-sighted views of what needs to be done in the world, so make allowances for those of lesser talents and fainter hearts. You need to stop pussyfooting around on the work front and get started on something that could one day bring you both fame and fortune. Don't wait for the stars to align and everything to be perfect, just go for it and make it happen. Differences of opinion with friends and colleagues are inevitable this weekend but if you don't make too a big deal of them it's unlikely they will hold you back. You can disagree a little and still work together toward a common goal. The planets warn that some of the people you will be dealing with this weekend have extremely thin skins, so try not to be too critical about what they are doing and how they are doing it. You don't want them to break down completely. You will need to be on your guard this weekend, especially when dealing with situations that are in some way alien to you. If you don't know what your next move should be then don't be afraid to ask someone who has a lot more experience. A sudden insight into how to make money must not be ignored. The fact that no one else seems to have noticed it does not mean it is wrong – it just means they don't have the imagination to see past the traditional way of doing things. Discover more about yourself at
Entrepreneur
2 days ago
- Business
- Entrepreneur
How to Beat Your Deadlines and Reach Goals Faster — Without Burning Out
Try these 5 "Voluntary Force Functions", which are designed to push you towards action Opinions expressed by Entrepreneur contributors are their own. We've all faced high-pressure situations that force us to learn quickly, not because we wanted to — but because we had to. Whether it's cramming for a crucial exam, racing to meet a demanding deadline at work, or having to get your life back in order after getting laid off, we've all experienced moments that require us to get out of our comfort zone and figure things out, fast. To do this, I practice what I like to call "Voluntary Force Functions." As an entrepreneur and advisor to several start-up companies, I've seen firsthand what a self-inflicted challenge can do to a person's mental and physical health. It's why I wrote my new book, Lean Learning: How to Achieve More by Learning Less. Please understand that a Voluntary Force Function is not about "hustle" or having to sacrifice happiness and comfort to endure pain like it's a rite of passage to success. Instead, these scenarios are about purposefully extending yourself just beyond your comfort zone, for a measured amount of time, to experience personal and professional development. Voluntary Force Functions are designed to create intentional constraints that compel action. They are the chosen conditions that make a desired behavior nearly inevitable. These functions excel at long-term habit formation or to overcome procrastination on daunting tasks, serving as structural changes to our environment and routine that promote ongoing success. Let's break down each element of an effective Voluntary Force Function. A Leap of Faith Moment What exactly is a "Leap of Faith Moment"? It's that pulse-racing moment when you decide to turn "someday" into "starting now." Remember that this leap of faith you take is not about reckless abandon. It's a deeply considered decision that launches you out of the planning phase and into action. It's about trusting your ability to rise to the challenge and that you have the resources and resilience to see it through. A Time-Locked Commitment The key to a time-locked commitment is to treat your deadlines as nonnegotiable. People set goals for themselves, or deadlines, only to push them back repeatedly. I see this pattern again and again among my students. Although I understand life can interrupt our plans, I also know that when a deadline truly cannot be moved, we somehow find a way to meet it. The easiest way to solidify your commitment, if it's not baked into the leap of faith you've already made, is to put it on your calendar — but not in the way you probably think you should. Ask a champion of yours (ideally, a mentor) to create the deadline on their calendar and invite you to the event. You won't be able to move it, and you'll know it's on the calendar of the person who is holding you accountable. It will be harder to get out of, which means you are more likely to follow through. High Stakes It's vital to keep in perspective what "high stakes" means. We imagine the worst: irreparably damaging our reputation or making a mistake so severe that recovery is impossible. But by realistically assessing the risks and asking ourselves, "What's the worst that could happen?" we uncover the truth — our fears are exaggerated. When setting up your own Voluntary Force Functions, aim for stakes that push you out of your comfort zone but remain within a threshold that promotes action. This might involve making a promise to a mentor, risking a sum of money, or something else. Not doing it needs to hurt a little— but not be so terrifying you're afraid to risk it. Find that sweet spot where the risk is enough to keep you driven, but not so daunting it overwhelms you. Author Steven Pressfield suggests that fear is not always an enemy; it emerges precisely when we are about to do something meaningful, something that matters. Let that guide your efforts. High stakes should motivate, not debilitate. Meaningful Challenge When designing your own Voluntary Force Functions, it's crucial to select challenges that are not only difficult but also deeply meaningful to you and align with your values. Consider the following: Personal resonance: Choose a challenge that resonates with your core values and aligns with your long-term goals. Whether it's con- fronting a long-held fear, mastering a complex skill, or making a significant impact in your community, the challenge should feel pro- foundly important to you. Motivation through meaning: The more the challenge matters to you personally, the stronger your drive will be to engage with it and succeed. This connection turns a daunting task into a compelling mission, infusing your efforts with purpose and determination. Assessing impact: Ask yourself, what are the potential outcomes of conquering this challenge? How will overcoming this particular hurdle enhance your life or career? Understanding the tangible benefits can provide additional motivation and clarify the challenge's value. By ensuring your challenges are meaningful, you're not just setting goals, you're crafting milestones that reflect your deepest aspirations and desired impact. This alignment makes the journey as rewarding as the destination, ensuring sustained effort and engagement. Rewards on the Other End This is key to the Lean Learning process: you have to keep going. The small wins are only significant when you leverage them for larger wins down the line. In designing your own Voluntary Force Functions, first think beyond the immediate challenge— but then zoom out and consider what else it could make possible. Ask yourself: "What new opportunities could this open up for me, if I did?" Perhaps, mastering public speaking could lead to leadership roles or more keynote opportunities. My conquering a personal fitness goal could inspire a business idea or health blog. Or, maybe like me, a weird obsession with trading cards could open up a whole new career for you. Consider the doors your current challenge might unlock, but don't limit yourself to what you think is possible. Just be open to what could come. You never know what bigger skills your next pursuit will help you build. Try to keep the bigger picture in mind, even if you don't know what the future holds. Think of how mastering this fear or that skill could catapult you into all kinds of arenas, enhancing your life and career. This broader perspective can serve as a powerful motivator, especially when obstacles arise. You're not just doing this for today; you're doing it for what could come tomorrow. By viewing your current challenge as a stepping- stone to greater things, you reinforce the value of pushing through, ensuring that each step forward not only brings personal growth but propels you to broader opportunities. It's not just about what you achieve by conquering the challenge—it's about what conquering the challenge allows you to achieve next. Excerpted from LEAN LEARNING: How to Achieve More by Learning Less. Copyright © 2025 Pat Flynn. Reproduced by permission of Simon Acumen, an imprint of Simon & Schuster. All rights reserved.
Forbes
3 days ago
- Business
- Forbes
Why Career Growth Often Looks Like Standing Still To Others
You don't need a new job to be growing. You need new questions, better boundaries, and more truthful ... More reflection. That's how careers move forward Career growth is usually imagined as a visible ascent. A new title. A bigger office. More direct reports. But often, the most significant development happens out of view. You become more measured in meetings. More selective about the battles you fight. More comfortable saying 'I don't know.' You stop chasing visibility and start chasing value. Yet when that happens, the world may not notice. At least not right away. To others, it might seem like you are coasting. Like your ambition has flattened. Or worse, like you are stuck. What they don't see is the rewiring underway beneath the surface. The shift from performing to mastering. From collecting experiences to integrating them. From showing potential to realizing it. This tension can be uncomfortable. Especially if you've spent years proving yourself through constant motion. Slowing down—even intentionally—feels risky. But much of career development operates like adult learning theory suggests. The shift from surface learning to reflective depth often looks, from the outside, like less activity. In fact, it is evidence of growth. Understanding that difference is key. Not just for your own peace of mind, but for the way you support others who may be evolving in quiet ways too. When You Plateau Publicly but Rise Internally You used to speak up in every meeting. Now you speak when it counts. You used to say yes to everything. Now you know which opportunities are misaligned. You once sought exposure. Now you seek influence. These are signs of maturity. But to a casual observer, they may look like a loss of edge. Or worse, complacency. This is the paradox of growth. As you develop sharper judgment, you often become less visible. Less reactive. Less insistent on being the loudest voice in the room. But that restraint is a form of power. And over time, it compounds into authority. You can reinforce that growth without self-promotion. For example, when you decline a project, explain why. You might say, 'This isn't aligned with where I'm focusing this quarter, but I'd be glad to recommend someone else.' That response demonstrates clarity, not disengagement. If a manager misreads your quieter phase as stagnation, consider reframing. You could say, 'I've been investing more time into depth than breadth recently. Fewer projects, but more meaningful ones.' That one line shifts the narrative from pause to purpose. And if you worry that others are passing you by because they appear busier, remember that activity is not always leverage. Growth that lasts tends to look deliberate, not frantic. Why Clarity Can Look Like Indifference There comes a point in most careers where you no longer need to prove you can work hard. The question becomes whether you are working smart. This shift often leads you to simplify your calendar, limit your commitments, and protect your energy. But minimalism can be misread. When you stop volunteering for every committee or reduce your output to sharpen your focus, others may assume you are pulling back. The truth is you may finally be learning to prioritize. This is where self-determination theory becomes relevant: it suggests that true motivation thrives on autonomy, competence, and relatedness. The more you gain control over your time and attention, the more your performance reflects internal clarity, not external pressure. To make that visible without over-explaining, link your current choices to strategic goals. For instance, you might say, 'I'm focusing my efforts this quarter on two priorities that tie directly to our team's long-term plan.' That statement signals alignment, not withdrawal. You can also invite others into your thinking. Share frameworks you use to evaluate opportunities. Offer insight into how you are measuring progress. Over time, this kind of transparency helps others understand that your quieter mode is not a retreat. It is a recalibration. Not Every Chapter Needs an Announcement We live in a culture of updates. New roles. Certifications. Project launches. The pressure to be visibly advancing is strong. But real growth does not always follow that rhythm. Sometimes your development looks like managing your team more effectively, even if your title stays the same. Sometimes it looks like handling a conflict with emotional maturity you didn't have three years ago. Sometimes it is invisible to everyone but you. That kind of growth doesn't show up on LinkedIn. And that is fine. You could keep a private log of professional wins no one claps for. A time you navigated pushback without defensiveness. A moment you created space for a quieter colleague. An instance where you spoke less and listened better. These moments are not trivial. They are the foundation of leadership. If you mentor others, normalize this too. When someone says, 'I feel like I'm not going anywhere,' ask what skills they've deepened in the past six months. Help them name the ways they've matured, even if the org chart hasn't shifted. Progress isn't always upward. Sometimes it's downward into clarity. Or lateral into complexity. Or still, for a season, to recover perspective. You don't need a new job to be growing. You need new questions, better boundaries, and more truthful reflection. That's how careers move forward, even when they appear still.
Yahoo
01-06-2025
- General
- Yahoo
People Are Sharing The Things That Ruined Their Quality Of Life So Much, They Wish They'd Ditched Them Sooner
The popular saying goes, "Hindsight is always 20/20." And this is true no matter what you apply it to — relationships, a job, or pretty much anything else you can think of. Reddit user ibuprofriendd recently asked, "What ruined your quality of life so much that you wish you ditched it sooner?" Here's what people had to say: 1."Staying in a job that drained me mentally for way too long. I wish I had left earlier for my peace of mind." —u/tricon3d 2."Worrying about stuff I can't change." —u/NotABurner2000 3."Long commutes." —u/dekion101 4."Not working out. I used to run track but then stopped running for a year — lost all my stamina, and for two and a half years I've been trying to build it up again. Unfortunately, I'm nowhere near where I was." —u/Deathly-Mr-Fish 5."Anxiety. I'm on the right track now, but I missed some opportunities that would have altered my life and important milestones in my teens and 20s, all because I was scared." —u/xBR0SKIx 6."Not knowing how to set boundaries and what it meant to do so." —u/AstroAve 7."I'm 39 years old and 42 days sober from alcohol. I wish I had never started drinking." —u/Left0fcenterr Related: 15 Times Someone Bravely Took A Photo Of The Very Worst Design This World Has Ever Seen 8."Changing myself to try to fit in with people I wanted to be friends with." —u/Opening_Acadia1843 9."Stress. It caused me so many health problems." —u/Fluid-Interaction-80 10."Not getting at least eight hours of sleep a night." —u/AlwaysOnTheGO88 11."Phone notifications. I turned off everything but phone calls and text messages. My days are filled with less dread and anxiety." —u/cipher1331 Related: Tattoo Artists Are Sharing The Tattoos They Felt REALLY Uncomfortable Doing, And I Have No Words 12."Wallowing in self-pity." —u/jarc23 13."Smoking. I have terrible lungs now." —u/MainEarCode 14."I've realized not trusting my intuition or being polite ends up biting me in the long run." —u/AineMoon 15."Looking for love when I should've found new ways to love and appreciate myself. I'm single now and doing better because I finally chose myself, but I wish I had chosen myself sooner and not the validation of someone else." —u/CancelWaste3214 16."Cheap mattresses and cheap pillows. Sleep affects everything in your life." —u/karmy-guy 17."Codependency and not allowing myself to speak my truth. I'm just now starting to come out of this. It's painful to realize how much time you've spent trying to please others when all that energy could have been bettering yourself instead." —u/This_0neGirl 18."Toxic family members." —u/PopPsychological4129 19."Being too close to guitar amps." —u/XploringTheWorld 20."Credit cards." —u/alld5502 21."Complaining a lot. That negative energy penetrates all aspects of your life. It impacted my mood, my energy, and my relationships. —u/Refrigerated2679 22."Social media." —u/steakvolcano 23."Trauma. It'll never be gone, but I'm learning to recognize its aftermath and redirect myself better." —u/sluggremlin What did you leave behind that improved your quality of life in the long run? Share your thoughts in the comments! Note: Some responses have been edited for length and/or clarity. Also in Internet Finds: 51 Wildly Fascinating Photos Of Disorders, Injuries, And Variations In The Human Body That I Cannot Stop Staring At Also in Internet Finds: 23 People Who Tried Their Best, But Crapped The Bed So Bad Also in Internet Finds: 27 Grown-Ass Adults Who Threw Such Unbelievable Temper Tantrums, Even The Brattiest Toddler Couldn't Compete
Globe and Mail
30-05-2025
- General
- Globe and Mail
Your daily horoscope: May 30, 2025
You can, if you wish, charm the birds from the trees but if you leave our feathered friends alone and focus instead on your life goals you will soon be flying as high as they are. Why keep your feet on the ground when your prospects are unlimited? No matter how chaotic the world around you may be at the moment it won't stop you pushing on towards your ultimate goal. Mind planet Mercury will make it easy for you to focus on what matters to you personally – as for the rest, just ignore it. You may not be in the mood to listen to advice but don't be too stubborn about it because friends and family members can see things that you appear to have missed. Adopting a contrary viewpoint may not be in your best interests. The sun's union with Mercury in your sign will clarify your thinking and enable you to focus with laser-like intensity on what you most need to do. Anyone who thinks you can be persuaded to tone down your ambitions needs their head examined. You need to get over the fact that something you attempted did not work out the way you intended. Just because you got it wrong does not mean you were wrong to try it. Now move on and try something even more adventurous. You don't need to be told by others how wonderful you are, you know that already, but it's nice to be reminded that friends and loved ones value your presence in their lives. Now let them know that you value them every bit as much. Mercury, your ruler, joins forces with the sun today, making this the perfect time to get your head together about the direction your life needs to be moving over the next few months. The clearer your career goals the closer you will be to success. If you feel the need to rock the boat a bit today by all means do so. You are under no obligation to desist from saying things just because they might upset people of a sensitive disposition. Maybe that's their problem, maybe they need to toughen up. If you are smart you will readily admit that you don't know everything and that it's okay to learn from the people around you. Leave your ego at home today and seek out knowledge that can enrich you both emotionally and financially. You may not be the most cautious member of the zodiac but cosmic activity in your opposite sign means you must take account of what loved ones and work colleagues are doing before pushing ahead with your own objectives. Don't work against them, work with them. With so many opportunities available to you now you may be confused as to what is the best route to take. Sit quietly for a bit, away from the hustle and bustle of daily life, and listen to what the intuitive side of your mind has to say. A Sun-Mercury link in the most dynamic area of your chart means now is the time to organize your thoughts and set yourself goals of a creative nature. The universe is very much on your side at the moment, so don't hold back in your plans. You may think you know someone very well but what they do today will shock you into understanding that you have been taking them for granted. Don't take it personally if they do the opposite of what you suggest. Let them make their own decisions. Discover more about yourself at
