5 Tips To find Your Personal Purpose

Invest some time in figuring out your real story and you'll be happier, less stressed and in the right job. By Richard Hytner

What’s your story? Your real story, I mean. Not some carefully curated version of yourself designed to impress friends on Facebook or to look more employable on LinkedIn, useful shortcuts though these social media provide to people wanting to get to know you.

The most authentic and enduring brands are built from the inside out. The least convincing, destined for a short shelf life, are those that believe they can communicate their way to greatness. That’s not branding, it’s spin, and people see that for what it is – manipulative, too good to be true, an over promise that the brand can only ever fail to deliver.

How to Become a Millionaire

By Jeff Schneider

You’ve wondered what the person sitting at the desk next to you is making. How they afforded that all-inclusive trip to the Bahamas and still afforded a new car. 

But did that person sitting next to you just inherit some money? Are they bleeding through an old trust account? Or maybe just burning through savings? Or worse, one of those horror stories you hear about racking up $60,000 of debt on credit cards. 

Perhaps your boss is giving them all those raises you’ve been missing out on the past few years. 

You can’t ask… 

Money is a taboo subject. 

It’s personal and you’d be better off ignoring those neighbors. 

Instead, we are influenced by these neighbors and it has left many people broke just a few years before retirement. 

A recent study of Americans between the ages of 50-64, showed that about 51% didn’t even have a retirement account. And those that did have an account, the average balance in all of their retirement accounts was $46,032. 

The power of RE: Mastering the power of "RE" at work and in our personal lives.

Over the holidays, I spent quite a bit of time thinking about a tiny word with giant implications. The word is “RE”. Strictly speaking it isn’t really a word at all, but a prefix derived from latin and meaning "back to the original place; again, anew, once more.”

I have been thinking about “RE” because it has come to play such an important role in our lives. Modern society, and popular culture in particular, has become obsessed with a quest to re-invent our world. This has resulted in the disruption and restructuring of entire industries - from publishing and entertainment to financial services, travel, and education. Blue Chip corporations and Silicon Valley start-ups alike are obsessed with re-imagining every aspect of our lives. But this pre-occupation with “RE” is not limited to business and technology. Look a little deeper, and you will find evidence of “RE” in almost every

AAYMCA Statement: Farewell son of Africa

The Africa Alliance of YMCAs today are united in grief as we mourn the loss of a

true African visionary, former South African President, Rolihlahla

“Nelson” Mandela. As a young boxer, Mandela would frequently train at his local

Soweto YMCA. During this time the centre was frequently used for

ANC political meetings, serving as a safe place for discussions which would

ultimately shape Mandela’s young mind, and South Africa’s future.

Decades later, his influence is still felt within those historic walls as youth

continue to visit the centre and shape their own thinking and

development.

Mandela led South Africa through her greatest challenge, ensuring that the

revolutionary end to institutionalised discrimination and repression,

Apartheid, was met with relatively little conflict and welcomed with a determined

spirit of peace and reconciliation.

While the world will feel the loss of such a remarkable man, Africans have lost a

leader who steadfastly worked to prove that the continent is capable

of peaceful conflict resolution through leadership that aspires to moral honesty,

tolerance and acceptance.

Born on 18 July, 1918, to the Madiba clan of Mvezo in the Transkei, Mandela spent

much of his life striving to educate himself and standing in

political opposition to an unjust system. His stand against seemingly insurmountable

prejudice is a cause for which he sacrificed much in the face of

great threat to his life and freedom. Following a conviction for sabotage and

conspiracy to overthrow the government, Mandela spent 27 years in

prison, but throughout this time maintained a strong loyalty to peaceful resistance

and the unconditional repealing of the Apartheid system. Following

his release in 1990, Mandela guided South Africa through her first democratic

elections and stepped in as South Africa’s first African statesman

when he shouldered the presidency in 1994. Perhaps his most significant contribution

to African politics is the implementation of South Africa’s

first constitution which is perceived world-wide as one of the most forward thinking

constitutions in global governance today.

Since then, Mandela has received more than 250 awards, many for his humanitarian

work, including the US Presidential Medal of Freedom and the Soviet

Order of Lenin. His work has been internationally recognised through his awarding of

the 1993 Nobel Peace Prize which he shares with former Apartheid

president F.W. de Klerk.

The contribution Mandela played in African politics will forever stretch far beyond

the current South African landscape. His legacy to Africa is true

leadership that is both thoughtful and honest but does not prize retribution and

corruption. Mandela ensured that the African Renaissance has a

framework for peaceful conflict resolution and that in all things, human rights

becomes a principle of long-lasting social evolution.

We mourn together as Africans, in much the same way that we celebrated together the

achievements that Madiba brought through his actions. We are a

better continent today through his determination, sacrifice and unflinching faith in

an Africa capable of peaceful change.

Nelson Mandela never wavered in his devotion to democracy, equality and learning.

Despite terrible provocation, he never answered racism with racism.

His life has been an inspiration to all who are oppressed and deprived, to all who

are opposed to oppression and deprivation.

Mandela is survived by his wife, Graca Machel, 3 children, Pumla Makaziwe Mandela,

Zenani Dlamini and Zindzi Mandela, 17 grand-children and 14

great-grandchildren.

Our thoughts also go to the extended family of his late former wife Evelyn Mase and

his former wife Winnie Madikizela.

As we mourn our deep loss, let us pledge to ensure that Mandela’s legacy lives

through us and that our children are able to fully appreciate the

freedoms he and his peers fought so hard to attain.

Carlos Sanvee, AAYMCA General Secretary

Sipho Sokhela, South Africa YMCA National General Secretary

The Africa Alliance of YMCAs (AAYMCA) is a leading pan African youth development

network on the continent, representing national movements in 20

countries, 16 of which are very active. The first YMCA in Africa was established in

Liberia in 1881, and the AAYMCA was founded in 1977 as the

umbrella body for all national movements on the continent. www.africaymca.org

7 Financial Decisions Made in Your 30s That May Haunt You in Your 50s

People often say “life is short” as a justification to do or buy something immediately rather than waiting. But the truth is, life is not short. Life is long. The average life expectancy for an American male is 76.2 years, and 81 years for a female. A thirty-year-old discussing a short life may actually be looking at another 50 long years.

This is good news! And, financially speaking, a long outlook on life is important, because the decisions we make early on have a significant impact on the remainder of our lives. Specifically, these decisions can make or break our retirement plans.

5 Smart Money Moves For Couples

Here are 5 practical steps every couple (married or engaged) can take to protect and strengthen their relationship, while implementing sound financial habits.

  

1. Straight money talk

  

Money has been a taboo subject among couples for way too long. It's time to break the silence and start talking. Set aside one night a month for your "money talk." Do it over coffee and dessert, or after your children go to bed so there are no interruptions. Be honest with each other and listen. Use that time to discuss problem areas and possible solutions. Don't waste it on playing the blame game.

4 Totally Depressing Things Workers Say About Retirement

"Too often financial stress and the weight of uncertainty surrounding one's ability to accomplish their goals can cause them to remain inert and unwilling to look truths about their financial future in the eye," says Michael Liersch, director of behavioral finance for Merrill Lynch. "Recognizing that these challenges are in most instances not insurmountable, and admitting to one self that there are behavioral changes that can be made to address them, are simple but critical first steps. From there, even small, positive actions today can have a significant impact on improving near- and longer-term financial wellness."

BY Brian O'Connell

Ask Yourself These Three Questions

Doing Business

All else being equal, we want to do business with people that we know, like, and trust. That's a pretty simple equation for success, and it's amongst the easiest factors to control in your business and career. Today, you'll discover three simple questions from my friend Bedros that will get you on the right track to adding this magic quality to your life and success journey.

Craig Ballantyne

"One reason so few of us achieve what we truly want is that we never direct our focus; we never concentrate our power. Most people dabble their way through life, never deciding to master anything in particular." - Tony Robbins

Getting Momentum on Your Side

Get Started

If you want to roll a snowball downhill, it just requires a few simple steps. First, you get started. Nothing happens until you get started. Then you roll a piddly little snowball and push it. It gets bigger. You push it again. It gets bigger still. You repeat this sequence until suddenly the snowball is big enough to benefit from its own momentum and it starts rolling and getting bigger by itself. That's how success works in real life, too. Let me explain with a little history about the New ETR.

Craig Ballantyne

Whatever is in your way, you're stronger than it, you're tougher than it, and you're better than it. You're going to beat it.

A New Era for Global Leadership Development

BILL GEORGE

Bill George is professor of management practice at Harvard Business School and former chair and CEO of Medtronic.

The realities of globalization, with increasing emphasis on emerging markets, present corporate leaders with enormous challenges in developing the leaders required to run global organizations. Too many multinational companies — particularly Japanese, Indian, German, and some American ones — still concentrate vital decisions in the hands of a small group of trusted leaders from their home country. They hire technical specialists, local experts, and country managers from emerging markets but rarely promote them to corporate positions. Instead, they groom future global leaders from the headquarters nation by sending them on overseas appointments.

This approach worked relatively well for companies selling standard products in developed markets, but as multinationals transition into truly global organizations relying on emerging markets for growth, it's far from adequate. In order to adapt to local cultures and market needs, companies must shift to decentralized, collaborative decision-making. That requires developing many leaders capable of working anywhere.